Yvonne Poitras Pratt in ceremony with Treaty 7 Elders at the 2011 Aboriginal Graduation community event at the University of Calgary.

Yvonne Poitras Pratt, PhD

Pronouns: she/her

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

Scholarly Activity

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.

Interests:
  • 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

Current:
  • 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