Issue link: https://takingitglobal.uberflip.com/i/1177976
Young people spoke of the different ways we may think about education and employment systems. We spoke about what decolonization could look like in these spaces and drew a number of examples from Indigenous communities who are engaged in this work. We wondered if decolonization is in fact possible in colonially-rooted institutions such as those we were asking about or if it were more useful to focus our attentions on creating anti-colonial spaces rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing and being. There are no definitive answers; only steps toward further questions. Indigenous young people felt as though their Indigenous identity became a statistical advantage for their school systems and employers, who were seeking funding for reconciliation work. They felt commodified, and articulated how capitalistic ideals conflict with Indigenous concepts of reciprocity and communal ownership. Further, the competitive nature of capitalism forces Indigenous peoples to work individually for merit, oftentimes to the detriment of their colleagues or community members around them. Not only is competition difficult when Indigenous communities have been put at a disadvantage economically, educationally, geographically, and socially for many generations, but it also is does not support an interdependent system that Indigenous cultures often operate within. Colonial systems are rooted in knowledge systems originating in European traditions and cultures. These values and knowledges are imparted on us through mainstream education and media. Colonialism also authorizes itself as the dominant system; a one-size-fits-all approach. Young people spoke to the need for diversity, not only in terms of representation, but also in manner of operation. That is to say that many young people found the systems of schooling and employment to follow an unnecessarily rigid structure that was not suitable for all people. Some students we spoke to experienced success as a result of their ability to fit the systems put onto them, but recognized that not all members of their Future Pathways Summit Report 18