{"id":35,"date":"2018-06-19T17:54:44","date_gmt":"2018-06-19T17:54:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenizationfrontlineworkers\/?post_type=chapter&p=35"},"modified":"2024-08-19T21:05:34","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T21:05:34","slug":"moving-forward-reconciling-intent-purpose-and-practice","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenizationfrontlineworkers\/chapter\/moving-forward-reconciling-intent-purpose-and-practice\/","title":{"raw":"Moving Forward, Reconciling Intent, Purpose, and Practice","rendered":"Moving Forward, Reconciling Intent, Purpose, and Practice"},"content":{"raw":"Moving forward means ongoing self-reflection and assessment of one\u2019s own individual roles and responsibilities to supporting Indigenous students, and the following sections will guide you through this process. Moving forward also must come with clear financial and human resources support to provide ongoing professional development opportunities and targeted hiring practices.\r\n\r\nWhen surveyed, BC Aboriginal post-secondary coordinators indicated that hiring Indigenous people in student services and other front-line services as the most supportive way to help with Indigenization in an institution.\r\n\r\nFront-line services also require a way to transform institutional culture so the values of Indigenization continue. Too often, champions who initiate Indigenized practices and relationships are recognized as innovators to the department and institution; very rarely do these practices and relationships become common procedure or guiding policy. When the champion retires or changes jobs, the practice and relationship ceases. Staff engaging in this decolonizing, Indigenizing, and reconciliation practice need to be supported in their intentions, and they need to have space and time to discuss the challenges and celebrate areas of growth and success.\r\n

Becoming an ally<\/h1>\r\nAcknowledging the overt and systemic forms of racism and discrimination within public post-secondary institutions is a core part of decolonization. It\u2019s also important to understand that by shifting individual mindsets and practices, we can make structural changes in institutional cultures, policies, and programs, thus Indigenizing the institution and ourselves. Becoming an [pb_glossary id=\"352\"]ally[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong> is an important practice that addresses how to do this.\r\n\r\nAn\u00a0ally\u00a0is someone from a privileged group who is aware of how oppression works and struggles alongside members of an oppressed group to take action to end oppression. Anne Bishop explains:\r\n\r\nAllies are people who recognize the unearned privilege they receive from society\u2019s patterns of injustice and take responsibility for changing these patterns. Allies include men who work to end sexism, white people who work to end racism, heterosexual people who work to end heterosexism, able-bodied people who work to end ableism, and so on. Part of becoming an ally is also recognizing one\u2019s own experience of oppression. For example, a white woman can learn from her experience of sexism and apply it in becoming an ally to people of colour, or a person who grew up in poverty can learn from that experience how to respect others\u2019 feelings of helplessness because of a disability.\r\n\r\nIf you are a non-Indigenous person engaged in the work of Indigenization, you can better understand your role in this movement as being an\u00a0ally\u00a0to Indigenous people.\u00a0An\u00a0ally:\r\n