Knowing the Past, Facing the Future

This book provides innovative reflections on long-standing issues in Indigenous education in Canada and suggests possible pathways to address the educational debt that Canada owes Indigenous peoples. I recommend it to educators, students, and administrators, to anyone interested in learning about the history of residential schools, and to all readers who are interested in reconciliation and decolonisation.
  Valentina de Riso, Nottingham Trent University, British Journal of Canadian Studies

There is no doubting the importance of the subject tackled by this edited collection... In eleven highly diverse chapters, plus a substantial introduction by editor Sheila Carr-Stewart, this collection seeks to shed light on the mechanisms of educational exclusion and sound out the prospects for a different kind of education in the future. Mark Fettes, Simon Fraser University, University of Toronto Quarterly

Readers who are new to the topic, such as practicing teachers who wish to enhance their responsiveness to Indigenous students or undergraduate history majors, will gain accessible historical and policy context, alongside complex and nuanced representatios of the challenges that pervade Indigenous education today. Heather E. McGregor, Historical Studies in Education

Knowing the Past, Facing the Future is critical reading for those invested in Indigenous education, as all Canadians ought to be. By confronting colonialism and racism as they intersect with reconciliation, the contributors of this collected work address the role and responsibility of education in decolonizing a society. I recommend this book be read by all educators. Margaret Kovach, author of Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts

New and seasoned readers to Indigenous education in Canada will value how the authors tackle old issues in new ways, uncover challenges that have been ignored, and present innovative possibilities that learn from the past for a much better future. Jo-ann Archibald (Q’um Q’um Xiiem), co-editor of Decolonizing Research: Indigenous Storywork as Methodology

This must-read collection of essays provides needed historic reflections on treaties and Indigenous peoples’ aspirations for education, and much needed insight, support, and research to address the reconciliation agenda and correct the longstanding educational debt owed Indigenous peoples. Marie Battiste, author of Decolonizing Education: Nourishing the Learning Spirit

An important book for students, educators, and administrators who want to understand the colonial history of First Nations education in Canada and help create a better future. Margaret Wilson, professor emerita, Faculty of Education, University of Alberta