Raising Our Consciousness: Enhancing the Vitality of Indigenous Languagesin Our Teaching & Learning

2019 is UNESCO’s International Year of Indigenous Languages (IYIL 2019). Noting the key role that Indigenous peoples and their languages play in sustainable development, good governance, peace building and reconciliation, key objectives of the IYIL 2019 action plan include:

• Taking concrete and sustainable measures   at   every   level   to   support,   access   and   promote Indigenous   languages   around   the   world  in   accordance  with   the   legitimate rights of Indigenous peoples
• Mainstreaming the knowledge areas and values of Indigenous peoples and cultures within broader   sociocultural,   economic   and   political   domains, such as education.

As part of this effort, please join us for this interactive round table focusing on the crucial role that education can play in enhancing the vitality of Indigenous languages.  The three discussants, Dr. Candace Galla (LLED & CIS), Andrea Lyall (Forestry) and Billy Rowluck (LLED), will share their experiences of integrating Indigenous languages and knowledge within their research, teaching and learning. Together, we hope to broaden the discussion to how all of us involved in education can take meaningful steps to help sustain and value Indigenous languages in our classrooms and wider communities.

Candace Kaleimamoowahinekapu Galla (Kanaka Maoli ) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education, and a Faculty Associate in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies. Her research seeks to better understand how language learners and educators are using digital technology to reclaim and revitalize Indigenous languages.

Andrea Lyall is a PhD candidate with the Faculty of Forestry. She is a citizen of the Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis First Nation of the mid-coast of British Columbia. She will be speaking from her experience as a new learner of the Indigenous language Kwak̓wala and about some of her research that includes Kwak̓wala.

Billy Rowluck is a PhD student in the Department of Language and Literacy Education. He is a member of the Nlaka’Pamux Nation, his home community being Lytton First Nation. Through his experiences as an elementary and middle school educator, he discovered the enjoyment of creating curricula that reflected First Nations.

January 10 th | 12:30-14:00
University of British Columbia
Ponderosa Commons Education Centre, Multipurpose Room 2012

This round table will take place on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm ( Musqueam ) First Nation.