Documentation:II-Design Lab/About
What is II-Design Lab?
Indigenous Initiatives Design Series ("II-Design Series") is a professional development workshop series hosted by Indigenous Initiatives at the Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Technology (CTLT) at the University of British Columbia. The series has been intentionally designed to span 3 months, where participants have the opportunity to reflect on their learnings in between sessions and adapt the learning to fit their own context. The goal of the workshops is to create space for instructors and members of the UBC teaching and learning community who come to Indigenous topics with different levels of knowledge and expertise to: share practices; redesign elements of their teaching and learning projects and resources; model and explore educational materials; and apply classroom climate principles to everyday learning design situations.
Who is it for?
- This workshop series is suitable for members of the UBC teaching and learning community who:
- have some familiarity, knowledge and experience designing and delivering their own courses and are interested in integrating Indigenous perspectives and topics in their courses;
- have previously attended Classroom Climate series workshops or have attended other workshops offered by Indigenous Initiatives; and/or
- have other knowledge and experience working with Indigenous communities or Indigenous pedagogies.
Registrants in this workshop complete a pre-survey prior to attending. To explore your eligibility for the series, contact us.
Structure, Format, and Time Commitment
Completion of the full series requires approximately 15 hours total time commitment, including attendance and participation in two half-day workshops, one full-day workshop, and homework/preparation.
- 3 in-person workshops, totaling 12 hours face-to-face time commitment
- 2-3 hours required preparation, homework and blended-learning activities
Workshop Descriptions
Part 1: Motivation and Context (3 hours)
In this session, participants will consider your own motivations and interests for integrating Indigenous perspectives and topics in your course, aspects of your teaching contexts that may either support or challenge your efforts, and strategies for setting goals and mobilizing support. Through interactive, blended learning activities and peer-to-peer discussion, we will take a closer look at classroom climate, instructor/student positionality, and place.
Part 2: Positionality and Place (3 hours)
Building off previous work on motivation and context, this session explores the "big ideas" of your course and how to scope out openings for threading Indigenous perspectives and topics into your fabric of what you are teaching. We will also explore introductory learning resources that may help provide background for introducing Indigenous topics related to your course content.
Part 3: Design Lab (6 hours)
In the last session, series participants will meet with the II-Learning Community to check in on goals, discuss what you have learned, and provide feedback on different ideas, techniques, and work-in-progress.
Upon completion of the II-Design Series, participants will be invited to join the Indigenous Initiatives Learning Community (“II-Learning Community”).
History of the Series
Exploring Indigenous Perspectives in Teaching Practice and Learning Design ("II-Design Lab") is a series of professional development workshops hosted by Indigenous Initiatives at the Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Technology (CTLT) at the University of British Columbia. The goal of the workshops is to create space for instructors and members of the UBC teaching and learning community who come to Indigenous topics with different levels of knowledge and expertise to: share practices, redesign elements of their teaching and learning projects and resources, model and explore educational materials, and apply classroom climate principles to everyday learning design situations.
The series was envisioned to complement the Classroom Climate series at CTLT, which supports participants to gain skills in working with Indigenous content and socially contentious topics in the classroom. The II-Design Lab extends these themes and brings focus to matters of teaching and learning design, and is intended for participants with some familiarity with Classroom Climate and/or course design.
The workshop was developed in response to questions from colleagues and Classroom Climate participants who wanted to learn how to "indigenize" course design and seeking practical guidance on how to respond to Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action in course content. Through an iterative process, the workshop facilitation team has developed a series of exploratory workshops focused on introducing some existing learning resources, surfacing key questions around place and positionality, and opening space for mutual feedback and support.
The first of these workshops was offered in December 2016 and titled Integrating Indigenous Content Into Your Course Design, with participants ranging from different disciplinary backgrounds such as Sociology, Science, Forestry, and Education. Since then we have welcomed educators from other fields such as Business, Language and Literacy Studies, and Psychology, encompassing other BC post-secondary institutions and higher education organizations including Simon Fraser University, the Justice Institute of BC, Quest University, and BC Campus
Facilitators
Sue Hampton
Educational Consultant, Professional Development
Sue provides design and facilitation services to the UBC teaching and learning community. Sue is involved in program planning and facilitation across various TLPD programs and she leads the Course Design Intensive. She is engaged in supporting TLPD’s integration of diversity and anti-oppressive pedagogy across our programming and has a particular interest in supporting educators who are navigating relationships as allies in social and racial justice initiatives. Sue is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education, and describes her research as a critical exploration of alternative career pathways for PhD students and how they come to “be” in their careers.
Janey Lew
Educational Consultant, Indigenous Initiatives
Janey joined CTLT’s Indigenous Initiatives team in August 2015 and is grateful to work and learn at UBC on the unceded, ancestral territories of the Musqueam people. As Educational Consultant, Indigenous Initiatives, Janey supports faculty engagement and professional development on topics related to intersectional differences, social justice, and critical Indigenous studies in teaching and learning. Janey is an experienced facilitator in a variety of community and educational settings, and holds a PhD in Comparative Ethnic Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining CTLT, Janey taught courses in the Asian American Studies Program at UC Berkeley, the English departments at Capilano University and Douglas College, and the First Nations Studies Programs at SFU and UBC.
Amy Perreault
Strategist, Indigenous Initiatives
Amy is the Strategist, Indigenous Initiatives at the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT) at the University of British Columbia on the traditional and unceded territory of the Musqueam people. She works with staff, faculty groups, training programs for teaching assistants, new faculty, and administrators, to support the development of a higher standard of professionalism in conducting discussions of Indigenous and other contentious social issues in curricular settings. Amy is a co-developer and researcher for the educational resource What I Learned in Class Today: Aboriginal Issues in the Classroom and manages the development of Indigenous Foundations. Work on these projects, as well as her own experience as an Indigenous student at UBC, clearly identify the complexities and challenges of classroom conversations involving contentious cross-cultural discussions, and in specific discourse around Indigenous curriculum.
Erin Yun
Educational Consultant, Classroom and Campus Climate
Erin is thankful to live, work, and play, on the unceded, ancestral, and traditional land of the Musqueam people. Erin supports and leads UBC teaching and learning community’s professional and capacity development in helping to create a classroom climate that is supportive to teaching and learning. She provides consultation, process design, facilitation, programming and resource development services to faculty, staff and graduate students, focused on difficult conversations related to classroom and campus climate and Indigenous engagement within teaching and learning.
Previous facilitators included Jennifer Thomas from SFU.