Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education

This MOOC is a non-credit online course offered by the University of British Columbia through the open education platform edX. This self-paced course is to be completed in the span of six weeks. No real-time events are scheduled. For the full experience, students are recommended to participate regularly in the online discussions. In the event there is an opportunity or need to connect with you in real time, the instructor will make an announcement during the course.

This course will help you envision how Indigenous histories, perspectives, worldviews, and approaches to learning can be made part of the work we do in classrooms, organizations, communities, and our everyday experiences in ways that are thoughtful and respectful. In this course, reconciliation emphasizes changing institutional structures, practices, and policies, as well as personal and professional ideologies to create environments that are committed to strengthening our relationships with Indigenous peoples.

For educators, this means responding to educational reforms that prioritize improved educational outcomes for Indigenous learners. In addition, educators must support all learners to develop their knowledge and understanding of Indigenous people’s worldviews and cultures as a basis for creating equitable and inclusive learning spaces. To support these goals, teachers, administrators, young people, school staff, and researchers will learn from Indigenous Elders, educational leaders, and culturally relevant learning resources as part of their experiences in this MOOC.

For others who want to build their own competence and the capacity of those around them to engage in relationships with Indigenous peoples based on intercultural understanding, empathy, and respect, this course will help get you started in this process.

• Explore personal and professional histories and assumptions in relationship to Indigenous peoples histories and worldviews.
• Deepen understanding and knowledge of colonial histories and current realities of Indigenous people.
• Engage with Indigenous worldviews and perspectives that contextualize and support your understanding of the theories and practices of Indigenous education.
• Develop strategies that contribute to the enhancement of Indigenous-settler relations in schools, organizations, and communities.
• Explore Indigenous worldviews and learning approaches for their application to the classroom or community learning setting.
• Engage in personal and professional discussions in an online environment with others committed to understanding and advancing reconciliation.

It is 100% free to audit the MOOC, for anyone. If you wish to pursue a Verified Certificate for your participation in the course, there is a fee of $50 USD. We recommend you read about the Verified Certificate option, and also check with your employer to determine whether or not you should register for the Verified Certificate, to showcase your achievement.

The Verified Certificate is a digital certificate that you can print.

edX now offers financial assistance for learners who want to earn Verified Certificates but who may not be able to pay the Verified Certificate fee. Eligible learners may receive up to 90% off the Verified Certificate fee for a course. To apply for financial assistance, enroll in the audit track for a course that offers Verified Certificates, and then go to: https://courses.edx.org/financial-assistance.

Please note that all fees are non-refundable. If you have any questions about refunds, please contact us.

While this will be unique for each participant, based on the course work the estimated commitment is approximately 2-4 asynchronous hours per week.

Once the course starts, you can progress at your own pace, although assignments will have specific due dates/times.

If you are new to MOOCs and to the edX platform, you may wish to review this webpage and watch the intro video: https://www.edx.org/how-it-works. It will answer many of your questions about how it works, including how to register and use the edX platform.

edx also offers a short demo course, DemoX, that is designed to show new students how to take a course on edX. You will learn how to navigate the edX platform and complete your first course.

Registration is done on the edX website. Go to the course webpage and click on the "Enrol Now" button on the right side. If you don't have an edX account, you'll be asked to create one.

NOTE: You must verify your email address before you can log in to edX and begin the course.

Once you are registered, and the course has officially begun, you simply to to:

1. Go to http://edx.org/
2. Click on the “Sign In” button at top right, enter your login information (email and password)
3. Click on the course title (IndEdu200x Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education) under “Current Courses”.

If the course title does not appear under "Current Courses" it means your registration is not complete. Just search for the course once you are signed in, and register again.

Difficulties accessing the course?

Once you set up your account on edX and then selected to register in the course, please ensure that you verify your email address – if you did not receive the confirmation email you may need to check your spam/junk folder. This has to be done before you can log in to edX and begin the course.

For any additional support, you can contact edX directly:

• Check the Help Centre - https://support.edx.org/hc/en-us
• Submit an email - https://www.edx.org/contact-us

If you missed registering before the course begins, you can still register. Note, that there are peer-assessed assignments in this course, which means if you register after the peer-assessed assignment is due, you may not be able to get thoughtful feedback. Nevertheless, you can still access the content without participating in the assignments, up until the end of the course.

NOTE: A Verified Certificate can only be pursued in the first two weeks of the course, and during those two weeks you can switch from Verified to Honour Code and vice-versa (with a refund available too).

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• Account Questions

You can also submit your question directly to edX right here.