Confirmation of Candidature - Candidate : Jerad Kozey

Since 2016, the Truth and Reconciliation's (TRC) Calls to Action (CTA) have placed the responsibility of revolutionizing post-secondary education to improve access for Indigenous learners and mitigate the inequality at educational institutions directly on the shoulders of educational administrators in Canadian higher education (Truth and Reconciliation, 2015).  Realistically, these commitments do not stop at the classroom, online environments also need to be evaluated to ensure courses are culturally inclusive, and that Indigenous students are being engaged and supported.  This thesis uses a pragmatic approach to explore the existing literature, and assist in the adoption of the Indigenous research methodology, talking circles, which will highlight 18 Indigenous voices’ all of which are either students, instructors, or support staff attending or working at one of the few Indigenous post-secondary institutions in Saskatchewan’ regarding their experiences, preferences, and their opinions on how Indigenous institutions are innovating their online classrooms to be inclusive of the array of Indigenous cultures in the province.  By examining, recognizing, and identifying the unique the ways of knowing and doing prescribed to by these Indigenous institutions, and the experiences of their students, instructors, and support staff have had, potential guidelines and frameworks to informing educational institutions on how to better their Indigenous student populations experience might be found.

For more information, please email the Graduate Research School.  For the Zoom link, please refer to the latest GRS Bulletin.