Disconnect Between Learning about Indigenous Peoples and Application in the Classroom: Pre-Service Teachers Self-Reported Efficacy

Teacher education programs have taken the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action seriously (TRC, 2015), with many adding a mandatory Indigenous education course to their programs as well as weaving Indigenous knowledges into other courses. Still, there appears to be a disconnect between learning about Indigenous Peoples and integrating this knowledge into the classroom. This study examines the self-reported efficacy of pre-service teachers’ understandings and application of Indigenous knowledges at various stages in their program. Drawing upon a decolonizing theoretical approach and mixed methods methodology, data from a survey and personal autoethnographies are utilized to shed light upon the disconnect. Findings indicate that while the mandatory Indigenous education course led to an increase in efficacy, the explicit weaving of Indigenous knowledges in other courses needs to be made visible. The lack of time to both decolonize pre-service teacher thinking and consider how this knowledge can be applied in the classroom, points to the necessity of an additional Indigenous education course as part of teacher education programming.