Yvonne Poitras Pratt, PhD
Positions
Associate Professor
Werklund School of Education, Specialization, Adult Learning
Contact information
Phone number
Office: 403.220.6116
Location
Office: EDT614
For media enquiries, contact
Clayton MacGillivray
Content and Media Specialist
Email: clmacgil@ucalgary.ca
Twitter: @UCalgaryEduc
Background
Educational Background
Doctor of Philosophy Communications, University of Calgary, 2011
M.A. Communications, University of Calgary, 2005
B.A. Canadian Studies; minor Education, University of Calgary, 2002
Biography
Dr. Yvonne Poitras Pratt is a Métis scholar whose family ancestry traces to the historic Red River Settlement and, more recently, to the Fishing Lake Métis Settlement in northeastern Alberta. Dr. Pratt was recruited to the Werklund School of Education in 2013 as an Assistant Professor after serving as Associate Director, Métis Education at the Rupertsland Institute, a Métis Centre of Excellence and her doctoral completion in 2011. Yvonne teaches at the graduate and undergraduate level, and has taught the mandatory Indigenous education course (EDUC 530) to pre-service teachers since 2013. She was the recipient of the 2018 Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations (CAFA) Distinguished Academic Early Career Award, the Werklund Teaching Excellence Award in 2016, and the Students Union Teaching Excellence Award in 2017. Dr. Poitras Pratt also led the creation and development of the “Indigenous education: A Call to Action” graduate program in 2016 where she continues to explore the potential of reconciliatory pedagogy through her scholarship.
Professional & Community Affiliations
Dr. Poitras Pratt offers her expertise within Indigenous education to a variety of stakeholders, including educational leaders and community organizations; importantly, a large component of her efforts are dedicated to supporting the Métis Nation of Alberta in achieving their educational aspirations.
- Alberta Métis Education Council – council and founding member
- Rupertsland Centre for Métis Research – community member
- College of Alberta School Superintendents – affiliate member
Research
Areas of Research
Dr. Poitras Pratt’s research concentrates on the multiple ways in which transformative learning can be invoked within classrooms and at the community level through experiential learning and creative imaginings. In her 2019 Routledge Press publication, Digital Storytelling in Indigenous Education: A Decolonizing Journey for a Métis Community, Yvonne ethnographically explores the process and potential of digital storytelling to revitalize oral traditions and foster intergenerational learning within Métis communities. Her scholarship builds on the use of media, and other aesthetic expressions, as catalysts for transformative learning within difficult learning environments. Dr. Poitras Pratt publishes in the area of reconciliatory pedagogy, critical service-learning, Indigenous education, anti-racism and social justice studies, with a special interest in the integration of arts in a variety of learning environments.
- Transformative education
- Métis education
- Métis research and ethics
- Integrating technology in education
- Aboriginal education
- Aboriginal/Non-Aboriginal Relations in Canada
- Adult education and community development
- Arts education
- Scholarship of teaching and learning
- Service-learning
- Social justice and equity in education
Courses
| Course number | Course title | Semester |
|---|---|---|
| EDER 65515 LEC 02 02 | Comparative Education | 2020 |
| EDER 65516 LEC 03 03 | Comparative Education | 2021 |
| EDUC 530 | Indigenous Education | Fall 2021 |
Projects
- Tea, bannock, and a narrative tradition (Werklund Community Engagement grant to explore the use of Metis digital stories within the Alberta K-12 curriculum)
- Teaching Scholars (2016-19) Program: Building stronger connections between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, schools, and communities through praxis-based learning opportunities (PI, with Dr. Patricia Danyluk)
- Moving toward critical service-learning as a signature pedagogy in Aboriginal communities: Why good intentions are not enough (PI, with Dr. Patricia Danyluk)
- Exploring power and privilege within responses to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit education: Improving our teaching practice through ‘difficult learning’ (PI, with Dr. Aubrey Hanson)
Awards
- Alan Blizzard Award for Collaborative Teaching, Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. 2021
- Werklund Community Engagement Award, 2021
- Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations (CAFA) Distinguished Academic Early Career Award , 2018
- Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Canada Graduate Scholarship (2005-2008), 2006
- Students Union Teaching Excellence Award, 2017
- Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Masters Scholarship (2003), 2005
- Werklund Teaching Excellence Award, 2016
Publications
- Applying Indigenizing principles of decolonizing methodologies in university classrooms. Yvonne Poitras Pratt; Dustin William Louie; Jacqueline Ottmann; Aubrey Jean Hanson. (2017)
- Merging new media with old traditions. Yvonne Poitras Pratt. (2010)
- Learning what schooling left out: Making an Indigenous case for critical service-learning and reconciliatory pedagogy within teacher education. Yvonne Poitras Pratt; Patricia Danyluk. (2017)
- Navigating a pathway for individual and collective well-being: Academics speak out. Janet Groen; Patricia Danyluk; Yvonne Poitras Pratt; Colleen Kawalilak. (2017)
- Merging new media with old traditions. Yvonne Poitras Pratt. (2010)
- Indigenous instructors’ perspectives on pre-service teacher education: Poetic responses to “difficult” learning and teaching. Aubrey Jean Hanson; Yvonne Poitras Pratt. (2019)
- Pedagogy and practices that work in difficult learning. Yvonne Poitras Pratt; Aubrey Hanson. (2019)
- Reconciliatory Pedagogy: Planting seeds of reconciliation. Patricia Jill Danyluk; Yvonne Poitras Pratt. (2019)
- Resisting symbolic violence: Metis community engagement in lifelong learning. International Journal of Lifelong Education. (2021)
- Ensemble mentorship as a decolonising and relational practice in Canada. Poitras Pratt, Y., Bodnaresko, S., & Scott, M.. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice. 177-194. (2021)
- Profile of Olive Patricia Dickason. C. J. Voyageur; D. R. Newhouse; D. Beavon; Yvonne Pratt. University of Toronto Press. 157-160. (2011)
- Taking a stance: Aboriginal media research as an act of empowerment. S. B. Hafsteinsson; M. Bredin; Yvonne Poitras Pratt. University of Manitoba Press. 163-182. (2010)
- The Alberta Métis Education Council: Realizing self-determination in education. Solange Lalonde; Yvonne Poitras Pratt. UBC Press, Purich Books. (2019)
- Transforming preservice teacher practices and beliefs through First Nations, Métis and Inuit critical service-learning experiences. Patricia J. Danyluk; Yvonne Poitras Pratt. John Wiley & Sons Inc.. 171-190. (2018)
- Student Afterword. Sharon MAH; Yvonne Poitras Pratt. University of Calgary Press. (2007)
- A family of learners: the Metis people of Canada and their education lifeworlds. Susan Brigham; Yvonne Poitras Pratt; Robert McGray; Kaela Jubas. (2019)
- Digital Storytelling in Indigenous Education: A Decolonizing Journey for a Métis Community. (2019)
- Metis remembrances of education: Bridging history with memory. Poitras Pratt; Lyn Daniels. Galileo Educational Network/Werklund School of Education. pp. 179-187. (2014)
- Pathfinders: Realizing reconciliation through lessons learned. Alyssa Fehr; Patricia Danyluk; Sarah Charlebois; Sarah Beech; Angela Sanregret; Clancy Evans; Amanda Neilsen; Yvonne Poitras Pratt. Proceedings of the University of Calgary Conference on Learning and Teaching. 95-102. (2018)
- Designing and sharing relational space through decolonizing media. Yvonne Poitras Pratt. (2016)
- Responding to the TRC Calls to Action: Indigenizing a graduate program. Yvonne Poitras Pratt; Solange Lalonde; Patricia Danyluk; Aubrey Hanson. Werklund School of Education. 103-111. (2017)
- Moving toward critical service-learning as a signature pedagogy in Aboriginal communities: Why good intentions are not enough. Yvonne Poitras Pratt. (2016)
In the News
- University of Calgary introduces new program to address need for indigenous dialogue. 660 News Network. (2016)
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