Yvonne Poitras Pratt, PhD
Positions
Associate Professor
Werklund School of Education, Specialization, Adult Learning
Affiliations
UCalgary Research Excellence Chair
University of Calgary
Rupertsland Centre for Metis Research Research Affiliate
University of Alberta
Contact information
Web presence
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
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Learning opportunities
Transdisciplinary research with a specific focus on how education might work with others on questions of decolonizing and Indigenizing is where we might together work to create a better world.
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 card-holding citizen of the Metis Nation of Alberta whose family ancestry traces to the historic Red River Settlement and, more recently, to the Fishing Lake Métis Settlement in northeastern Alberta. Dr. Poitras Pratt served as Associate Director, Métis Education, at Rupertsland Institute from 2012-13. She joined the Werklund School of Education in 2013 and earned tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 2018. Yvonne teaches at both the graduate and undergraduate level and specializes in Indigenous education. Dr. Poitras Pratt has earned multiple awards for her teaching and research activities, including: the 2018 Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations (CAFA) Distinguished Academic Early Career Award, the Werklund Teaching Excellence Award in 2016, the Students Union Teaching Excellence Award in 2017, Werklund Community Engagement Award in 2021, the Alan Blizzard National Award for Collaborative Teaching in 2021, and most recently the University of Calgary Faculty Association Community Service Award in 2023.
Her book Digital Storytelling in Indigenous Education: A Decolonizing Journey for a Métis Community has sold over 270 copies around the world and her most recent publication, Truth and reconciliation through education: Stories of decolonizing practices features alumni stories from the “Indigenous education: A Call to Action” graduate program that Dr. Poitras Pratt designed with colleagues in 2016.
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 fellow Metis in achieving their educational aspirations.
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
Participation in university strategic initiatives
Courses
| Course number | Course title | Semester |
|---|---|---|
| EDER 655.16 | Decolonizing through Arts and Media | Summer 2023 |
| EDER 655.15 | Decolonizing Theory | Summer 2023 |
| 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
- Lifetime Achievement Award, Metis Nation of Alberta - Region 3. 2023
- Faculty Association (TUCFA) Community Service Award, University of Calgary. 2023
- Alan Blizzard Award for Collaborative Teaching, Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. 2021
- Werklund Community Engagement Award, 2021
- Students Union Teaching Excellence Award, 2017
- 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
- Werklund Teaching Excellence Award, 2016
- Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Masters Scholarship (2003), 2005
Publications
- 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)
- Resisting symbolic violence: Metis community engagement in lifelong learning. International Journal of Lifelong Education. (2021)
- Reconciliatory Pedagogy: Planting seeds of reconciliation. Patricia Jill Danyluk; Yvonne Poitras Pratt. (2019)
- Pedagogy and practices that work in difficult learning. Yvonne Poitras Pratt; Aubrey Hanson. (2019)
- Indigenous instructors’ perspectives on pre-service teacher education: Poetic responses to “difficult” learning and teaching. Aubrey Jean Hanson; Yvonne Poitras Pratt. (2019)
- Applying Indigenizing principles of decolonizing methodologies in university classrooms. Yvonne Poitras Pratt; Dustin William Louie; Jacqueline Ottmann; Aubrey Jean Hanson. (2017)
- 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)
- Truth and reconciliation through education: Stories of decolonizing practices. Poitras Pratt, Y. & Bodnaresko, S. (Editors). Brush Education. 288. (2023)
- The Alberta Métis Education Council: Realizing self-determination in education. Solange Lalonde; Yvonne Poitras Pratt. UBC Press, Purich Books. (2019)
- Digital Storytelling in Indigenous Education: A Decolonizing Journey for a Métis Community. (2019)
- A family of learners: the Metis people of Canada and their education lifeworlds. Susan Brigham; Yvonne Poitras Pratt; Robert McGray; Kaela Jubas. (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)
- 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)
- Student Afterword. Sharon MAH; Yvonne Poitras Pratt. University of Calgary Press. (2007)
- 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)
- 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)
- Designing and sharing relational space through decolonizing media. Yvonne Poitras Pratt. (2016)
- Moving toward critical service-learning as a signature pedagogy in Aboriginal communities: Why good intentions are not enough. Yvonne Poitras Pratt. (2016)
- Metis remembrances of education: Bridging history with memory. Poitras Pratt; Lyn Daniels. Galileo Educational Network/Werklund School of Education. pp. 179-187. (2014)
In the News
- University of Calgary introduces new program to address need for indigenous dialogue. 660 News Network. (2016)
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