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Abstract

Indigenous Peoples comprise a significant portion of the population whose mental health needs must be appropriately addressed, and schools are important contexts for this service provision. The author presents findings from a culturally-grounded, strengths-based, qualitative, Two-Eyed Seeing study that engaged with current and previous Indigenous graduate students from Canadian mainstream and Indigenized counseling psychology programs to explore their graduate school experience and dream for the future of psychological education and training. Community-led analysis with aspects of qualitative thematic analysis guided a collective results narrative. Eight findings emerged including: (1) the importance of relationality in education and training; (2) the significance of experiential learning (i.e., land and art-based, ceremonial, interpersonal relations); (3) diversity in knowledge sharers and inclusion of elders in psychology education; (4) critical decision-making about cohort member inclusion (i.e., all indigenous cohorts vs. mixed); (5) mandatory Indigenous pre-requisite courses; (6) cultural humility; (7) teachings about how to be a good person rather than how to be a good counselor; and (8) interviews for program entry. These findings are discussed in the context of future practice, intervention, education, and training of school, educational, counseling, and clinical psychologists, as well as pedagogical and curricular programmatic changes in multi-educational levels (i.e., K-12 and post-secondary). Considerations and areas of future research are discussed.

Keywords

Indigenous mental health Indigenous pedagogy Indigenous education Indigenization school psychology education and training in psychology

Indigenous Peoples, who include First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people (Dyck & Tannas, 2019), are a foundational thread of the woven populous fabric of Canada. Although Canada has attempted to eradicate Indigenous Peoples through removal from traditional lands, creation and enforcement of the Indian Act, assimilation and abuse through the Indian Residential School System (IRS), cultural suppression (Dyck & Tannas, 2019), and attempted enforcement of the white paper (Government of Canada, 1969), the growing Indigenous population indicates our strengths in overcoming violent colonial forces. Amidst our strengths, however, reside health inequities resultant of colonization efforts (Duran & Duran, 1995; Kirmayer & Valaskakis, 2009; Loppie, 2018; Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada [TRC], 2015).

Holistic health inequities including mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects (TRC, 2015) of Indigenous individuals, families, communities, and Nations indicate insufficient and/or incongruent programmatic accessibility for Indigenous people within these spheres. For example, pathologizing health labels (Ansloos et al., 2019; Loppie, 2018) irrespective of cultural and colonial contexts (Duran, 2019) and Indigenous Peoples’ mistrust rooted in historical and present-day harm (Auger et al., 2016), invalidation, and discrimination within healthcare systems (Browne & Fiske, 2001; Elders and Old Ones, personal communication, n.d.; Turpel-Lafonde, 2020) minimize healthcare accessibility.

An important facet of health program, policy, and practice development is educational training evolution, due to its integral role in supporting innovative skills, practices, and values for future healthcare workers and leaders. The holistic health inequities outlined above provide important grounds for the national standards for training school and related psychologists in Canada to shift. Meaningful consideration of the needs of Indigenous Peoples—both as givers and receivers of mental health care—is necessary. Furthermore, the Canadian Psychological Association’s (CPA, 2018) TRC task force critically interrogated how Indigenous holistic health equity could be obtained through post-secondary educational shifts in the field of psychology. The CPA’s (2018) analysis was particularly significant in addressing Calls #7 and #18-24 from the education and health sections of the TRC (2015) Calls to Action. The task force (CPA, 2018) recommended that Indigenous epistemologies, praxis, and pedagogies be included in psychological education—this challenge extends in important ways to the future of school, educational, counseling, and clinical psychology (SECCP). Thus, SECCP must reckon with the multiplicity of colonial impacts educational systems have enacted, and the complexities of service provision within this broader context in order to strive toward culturally safe (i.e., critical analysis of structural health determinants within education and health systems [Baba, 2013; Hart-Wasekeesikaw, 2009]) psychological training and practice.

School psychologists aiming to meet the holistic mental health needs of Indigenous people seeking support, while upholding the CPA’s (2017) ethical principles and standards, is an important framing of the responsibilities of care for school psychologists working with Indigenous people (Fellner et al., 2020). That said, the CPA (2018), Fellner et al. (2020), and the TRC (2015) state that disproportionately poor mental health outcomes and limited accessibility of mental health services for Indigenous people are grounded in part from insufficient Indigenous mental health providers. This raises an opportunity for SECCP programs to critically reflect upon how to address the educational and training transformations necessary to ethically promote (e.g., create emotionally, pedagogically, and culturally safe training for Indigenous SECCP students) increased Indigenous SECCP student enrollment and retention (Ansloos et al., 2019); hopefully, this would support improved mental health outcomes for Indigenous people through a robust Indigenous-led SECCP sphere nationwide. Following Ansloos et al. (2019)’s challenge to address psychology educational futures through the lens of strengths-based research, Indigenous graduate students’ aspirations for the field of psychology must be considered.

No literature presently exists specific to Indigenous graduate student experience in SECCP programs in Canada—this study sought to close that gap. This article is based on the author’s master’s thesis. Following principles of self-determination—the freedom for Indigenous people to shape our futures rooted in our own values and priorities (Murphy, 2014)—and Ansloos et al.’s (2019) call to frame Indigenous psychological education advancement within a strengths-based lens, the author asked current and previous Indigenous graduate students involved in counseling and school psychology spheres the following questions: What is your dream of your counseling psychology graduate school experience? How does this dream compare with your reality?

Methodology

Participants

Six current (n = 2) and previous (n = 4) Indigenous graduate students from Canadian mainstream (little-to-no inclusion of Indigenous epistemologies), Indigenized (blended Western and Indigenous epistemologies), and Indigenous-centered (interwoven Western and Indigenous epistemologies alongside experiential traditional healing and ceremony) counseling psychology programs participated in this study. All participants identified as First Nations women from diverse Nations across Canada, in their 20s to 60s, with school, on-reserve, and private counseling backgrounds with children, adolescents, and adults.

Recruitment Procedure

Ethics approval was received by a university research ethics board. Purposive sampling (Johnson & Christensen, 2014) was used. The author invited students from the mainstream counseling psychology program, then collaborated with two acquaintances familiar with the two Indigenized counseling psychology programs to pass along the study invitation with the author’s contact information. The author held pre-existing relationships with some of the participants through previous Indigenous community engagement—it is common for Indigenous researchers to have previous relationships with research participants, as we tend to explore topics in which we have lived experience (Loppie, personal communication, July 2020). In fact, the pre-existing relationships may have supported enhanced trust within this Indigenous research process (Kovach, 2010). Finally, the author beaded earrings and gathered small medicine bundles and gifted them to participants in a show of deep respect for their sharing of stories, time, and dream for the future of psychological education.

Indigenous Paradigm Overview

As an Oneida scholar, the author worked within a culturally-grounded, strengths-based, qualitative, Two-Eyed Seeing research methodology (M. Marshall et al., 2015; D. H. Martin, 2012; Rowett, 2018). The research process was conducted within an Indigenous paradigm, including working in ways that honored: collective ownership of knowledge to benefit beings beyond the researcher (Wilson, 2001); Indigenous worldviews, including holism, subjectivity, all things as living beings, equality, reciprocity, land as sacred, spirituality, relationality, and humility (Absolon & Willett, 2005; Brant Castellano, 2000; Hart, 2010; Simpson, 2000); and relationality, which is significant to uphold with the land, spirit, humans, self, living and non-living world throughout this work (Brant Castellano, 2008; Hart, 2010; Kovach, 2015), and is integral to upholding relational accountability (Rix et al., 2019; Wilson, 2008). In fact, Wilson (2001) equates fulfilling our roles and obligations (i.e., relational accountability) in Indigenous research to Western notions of reliability or validity.

The aspects of the Indigenous paradigm outlined above, such as collective ownership and relational accountability, are demonstrated through the research aim to improve SECCP educational systems, which would improve Indigenous student program experience, thus increasing Indigenous student enrollment rate, and finally, resulting in holistic mental health care led by Indigenous people for Indigenous people. Further, these benefits may extend to the land, animals, spirits, and Earth through enhanced community healing and well-being; the circular and relational collective ownership of knowledge as a living entity. Two-Eyed Seeing, the appreciation and integration of Indigenous and Western sciences (M. Marshall et al., 2015; D. H. Martin, 2012; Rowett, 2018) was utilized through the amalgamation of the Indigenous paradigm described above alongside the use of videoconferencing, qualitative organizational tools (e.g., NVIVO) to support analysis, and writing an academic thesis that met university academic standards for rigor largely based in colonial perspectives.

Data Collection

One-on-one semi-structured storytelling visits between the author and each participant took place via the videoconferencing platform Zoom. The visits were collaboratively-informed by agreed upon guiding questions and research processes by the author and all participants. Participants’ input was essential to the authenticity of this study within an Indigenous research paradigm. Within these visits, collective dreaming was emphasized through sharing stories about the dream for the future of psychology education. Dreams are a form of story and knowledges within many Indigenous cultures (Brant Castellano, 2000; Hart, 2010; Kovach, 2015). For example, E. A. Marshall et al. (2016) state that “Indigenous dreams and visions are words from our ancestors, grandmothers and grandfathers, the teachers who came before us” (p. 14). Dreams are also akin to formulating future experiences (Duran, 2019); they are embedded in the community process of creating or expanding knowledge through introspection (Hart, 2010). Finally, engaging with dreams can be experienced as healing through engaging in relations with our ancestors as teachers in navigating our futures (Wesley-Esquimaux & Smolewski, 2004). Therefore, the concept of collaboratively dreaming about educational futures in psychology aimed to integrate healing, connection to ancestors and stories, connection to one another as an Indigenous community in psychology, and strengths-based future-oriented knowledge that could support change for generations to come. The author received feedback from participants that the collective dreaming did spark introspection, healing, and hope for the future. This honors the ethical necessity for Indigenous research to heal or benefit Indigenous people in the research process (Absolon & Willett, 2005; Flicker et al., 2015; D. H. Martin, 2012).

Oskanhe’ yukniyo:té: nen teyakyatátisnye¹: Meaning Making

The author aimed to amalgamate the one-on-one storytelling visits into a single, yet collective, narrative—this required the integration of each participant’s identity, experience in their counseling program, and dream for the future. First, the author transcribed the visits, entered them into the qualitative analysis software NVIVO, and created inductive codes from prominent data. Then, the author created overarching themes based on the codes to facilitate the organization of the final collective narrative. Beyond these themes, the author grouped many excerpts into a code titled “Identity,” which captured aspects of the participants’ identities that were irrelevant to the themes, but were relevant to the storyline development and context of the collective narrative.

Further, upon completion of the visits, consistent with community-based Indigenous research methodology (Smith, 2012), the author offered to send the Zoom recordings of the visits to each participant for their review—what underlying meanings through their own worldviews arose for them? With each participant’s consent, three participants chose to watch the Zoom recordings of the other participants to deepen the collaborative meaning-making process and knowledge gleaned from this work. In addition, a visual mind-map reflecting the eight overarching themes created with NVIVO was sent to all participants—four participants elected to review it. Based on the participants’ review of the Zoom recordings and mind-map, collaborative discussions validated the codes and themes that the author created in NVIVO and importantly, they contributed to imagery, character development, and storylines within the final collective narrative.

The author developed three intergenerational family members to serve as the main characters of the collective narrative—an aksótha,² yuknulha,³ and kheyatléha⁴—who had attended a master’s level mainstream program, Indigenized program, and had prospective interest in a master’s level counseling program, respectively. This aspect of the research process illustrates Two-Eyed Seeing; instead of utilizing thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019) and dismantling participants’ individual storytelling visits to showcase prominent themes, the author put the themes back together into a whole and cohesive story in line with Indigenous values. This was congruent with aspects of traditional intergenerational oral storytelling within Indigenous cultures through sharing knowledge, values, and wisdom (Hart, 2010; Kovach, 2015; D. H. Martin, 2012; Wilson, 2001) and the responsibility of Elders to pass down teachings to younger generations (Brant Castellano, 2000). The characters—aksótha, yuknulha, and kheyatléha—remained intentionally unnamed to promote relatability to the characters among readers through diverse lived experiences. A written and voice-recorded draft of the collective narrative were shared with study participants. Feedback was invited to ensure accuracy, request removal of content, and understanding. Four participants chose to review the collective narrative, and no changes were suggested. Although no changes were required, this invitation for feedback held the author relationally accountable to all study participants, upheld validity of the stories, and upheld caring for one another and working together as equal members, oskanhe’ yukniyo:té: nen teyakyatátisnye.

Results

The results section of the author’s master’s thesis was written as a collective narrative; it read like a fictional story with dialogue between the characters described above. The brevity of this article negates the ability to share the collective narrative (it was over 40 pages). Instead, the eight overarching findings are outlined below through salient quotes from the collective narrative, followed by a discussion of their implications. Several of the quotes are lengthy; this is intentional, as this is the first time Indigenous psychology graduate students’ voices have been centered in scholarly literature to inform future SECCP program development.

The Importance of Relationality in Education and Training

All participants in this study spoke to the importance of relationality within psychological education. The following excerpt reflects yuknulha’s experience of relationality through peer support in an Indigenized counseling psychology program, stating,

I remember our first day of the program, we sat in circle, and we were all vulnerable. We all shared parts of who we are and where we come from. I didn’t know anyone in the circle, yet our circle lasted from early morning into late afternoon because we all shared things of meaning to us. And I think this points to a difference between my program and aksótha’s program – in my program we all had a mutual respect and understanding that we came from diverse Indigenous lived experiences and communities, and we wanted to honour the spirit and emotions from each person there as special, whereas in aksótha’s, the mind and the theory took precedence over the people as a whole (Day, 2021, p. 100).

Additionally, aksótha reflected on her dream for the interaction of meaningful self-location and relationality within counseling psychology programming,

You see, when self-location is not an ongoing emphasis in the program, racism or eurocentrism can sneak in at any time, and it can be really wounding for us. So self-location can actually alleviate a lot of unknown and encourage transparency, trust, and safety for all in the group, and I dream for you to experience this shared self-location in your program to ensure your cultural, emotional, and spiritual safety and growth (Day, 2021, p. 109). Aksótha further stated, “I dream for you to experience a program that values relationality as central to all program threads – relationality in the content, process, instruction, and evaluation methods. Relational ways of being open space for the cultivation of trust amongst the program members through requiring self-location as I just mentioned, and for building a sense of interconnectedness and family. Us Indigenous Peoples, we are relational beings, and that just has to be at least of equal value to theory in these programs if we are going to heal and help others heal” (Day, 2021, p. 110).

These quotes illustrate transparency, trust, and relational safety as integral to effective learning environments for Indigenous graduate students in psychology; beginning with respectful and human-to-human, as opposed to scholar-to-scholar, relationships.

Significance of Cultural and Land-Based Experiential Learning

SECCP as taught within academia is deeply engrained with theoretical, head-centered knowledge (CPA, 2018). Although valued within the field, participants of this study longed for its balance with cultural and land-based experiential learning. For example, yuknulha reflected on the impact of experiential ceremony within her Indigenized counseling psychology program, which encompassed the collective, relational, and reciprocal principles that Loppie (2007), McCormick (2009), Shield (2009), Stewart (as cited in Ansloos et al., 2019), and Stewart and Reeves (2013) speak to,

Well first of all, they brought ceremony into the room. We would sit in circle with a blanket at the centre that held sacred medicines and objects that students could use if we needed grounding from talking about hard things. . .every time we met, the professor used sage for smudging, offered a cedar brush off, and sang a song to start our time together. . .The ceremony the professor brought in through these actions energetically changed the space for the cohort. It added an air of seriousness, respect, and sacredness to our work together. As well. . .it modelled the power of smudging, brush-offs, and song in our counselling work with Indigenous Peoples in our futures. . .So instead of talking about creating a sacred space for people we work with in counselling, we actually created a sacred space within our program each and every time we met, to model and enact the work we would provide for others. . .If one of us in circle had strong or painful emotions arise, it was the circle members’ responsibility to take care of one another because the program always kept our traditional knowledges and values at the forefront. The modelling from one another in how we learned to be healers as we each supported each other through sharing our experiences, sometimes breaking down, and sharing positive times, that’s where I think the majority of our learning took place (Day, 2021, pp. 99–100).

Aksótha expanded upon this, sharing her dream for land-based experiential learning,

I also dream for you to experience learning and knowledge gifted to you from the land. . .I want you. . .to be able to facilitate some of those [cultural] ways of healing for others when they need them. I dream for your program to incorporate monthly sweat lodge ceremonies, pipe ceremonies, circle work, fasts, and the gathering and harvesting of traditional medicines and foods. You know, it would be so inspiring to learn on the land instead of only about theory in a classroom. . . For this part of the dream. . .It can’t be integrated as a Westernized checklist of okay, that ceremony happened once in the entire program, now I can use that in how I counsel people, check. Instead, this would be an opportunity for the program to allow personal development and transformation amongst the individuals and the group as a collective – She paused, deep in thought. A significant action of inviting the heart, body, and spirit into the program instead of just the head (Day, 2021, pp. 113–114).

Diversity in Indigenous Knowledge Sharers

Ansloos et al. (2019), the CPA (2018), and Fellner et al. (2020) recommend the integration of diverse guest speakers and knowledge holders, and Indigenous knowledges and cultural literacy within psychology education. Aksótha reiterated this,

I also dream for you to experience a vast diversity of guest speakers, knowledge holders, and Elders who can share traditional knowledge and uplift our strengths as opposed to our deficits. . .I guess I just think it’s time for our stories to be told by us, within narratives that represent our innovations and survivance. . .I want them to be a planned and valued part of the program foundation. . .Basking in the presence of Elders and knowledge holders brings the knowledge being shared to life, because you form a relationship with the speaker and their stories as opposed to only reading about those concepts theoretically (Day, 2021, p. 115).

Critical Decision-Making About Cohort Member Inclusion

The prospect of all Indigenous compared to mixed cohorts was not fully agreed upon; some participants desired all Indigenous, whereas others saw benefits to Indigenous and non-Indigenous peers learning collectively. Aksótha spoke to these tensions,

It would be my dream for an integral part of the program to be led by Indigenous people and professors – it would bring me so much peace to know that you would be culturally supported and safe, in an environment that nurtures you, your blood memory, ancestral experiences, and the experiences of the next seven generations to come. . .So I guess I waver between. . .having only Indigenous instructors and students in the program, to potentially inviting in non-Indigenous people. . .as well. You see, I really believe in some sacred spaces and teachings for Indigenous people only, but then at the same time, non-Indigenous people must be part of the actions of reconciliation in Canada. . .So in the meantime, counselling programs must instill sufficient knowledge to non-Indigenous people who engage in counselling to increase the cultural, emotional, and spiritual safety of Indigenous people who seek counselling support as we walk along the path of enhancing our Indigenous counselling field (Day, 2021, pp. 116–117).

Aksótha underscores critical developmental considerations that SECCP programs must undergo to provide culturally safer experiences for Indigenous students—this is echoed by Fellner et al. (2020). Ansloos et al. (2019) reiterate some of the tensions aksótha spoke to stating, “. . .the field must also grapple with how to best prepare non-Indigenous practitioners in professional psychology for work with Indigenous communities” (p. 266).

Mandatory Indigenous Pre-Requisite Courses

Aksótha suggested that mandatory counseling pre-requisites should explore colonization, IRS, and intergenerational trauma to promote future momentum in the field as opposed to static learning reinforced by insufficient general knowledge of Indigenous Peoples,

So I think my dream for you would include critical reflection by the program about relevancy – when is it relevant to bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous counselling students together, and when is it relevant to allow Indigenous people the opportunity to learn and grow only amongst themselves, in a sacred space? Maybe that looks like mandatory prerequisites prior to counselling program entry that is required only for non-Indigenous students, you know, about colonization and the historical and present-day issues we face. Because, you know, counsellors must know the history of us and our communities to fully understand our intergenerational trauma, circumstances, and strengths (Day, 2021, p. 117).

Importantly, aksótha further stated that these prerequisites would promote a future and solution-oriented educational environment to work toward improving the Indigenous mental healthcare landscape, as opposed to SECCP curriculum repeating Indigenous contextual considerations that many Indigenous students already know.

Cultural Humility

Aksótha recalled a heartbreaking memory from her mainstream counseling psychology program in which the only Indigenous professor was devalued by her non-Indigenous peers stating,

Here I was, finally feeling safe, heard, understood, valued, and seen, but my peers were so mean to this teacher. Not only did they speak negatively about their competence-level, since they emphasized Indigenous ways over Western ways, but they would also just be outright mean to them. It was so disrespectful, I just absolutely hated it. There was such outright disrespect that the professor would voice their discomfort to the class, and if I vocalized my appreciation for the professor, they would just say – in front of the class – that I was only saying that to protect them – as if they had no worth. It just reinforced the lack of value that is placed on Indigenous Peoples and our ways of knowing, being, and working, and it made me feel further isolated, unsafe, and discriminated against in the program (Day, 2021, pp. 95–96).

Although aksótha was not the direct target of disrespect in this example, she was negatively impacted by witnessing it toward the only Indigenous professor in her program, wherein no cultural humility was experienced. Additionally, the dismissal of this professor’s knowledge indicated she would be received the same way by her classmates. Aksótha provided an example of cultivating cultural humility in her dream from the future, perhaps an antidote to her previous experience,

I dream for cultural humility as a guiding light for the foundation of the counselling program you enroll in. As you know, us Indigenous Peoples, we’re all different. We have diverse historical and present-day experiences, cultural and ceremonial practices, relationships to the land, and more. . .Right from the start, I imagine the program inviting Indigenous people from the local territories you’re on to come and inform you about the land and protocols that should be followed to learn and work in a good way throughout your counsellor training and future career. This would enable you and your cohort members to lead as respectful visitors first and foremost, which cannot be an optional way of being as a counsellor who holds hearts tenderly in your work. . .as much as I would love for you to learn about counselling interventions grounded in Indigenous values and practice, I think it’s essential that the program leads with this cultural humility and orientation prior to the introduction of Indigenous ways of counselling and healing (Day, 2021, p. 108).

Teachings About How to Be a Good Person

Yuknulha reflected on the importance of prioritizing being a good person—becoming a good counselor fits within this characteristic,

. . .I really feel like my educational experience was a transformative rebirth of self, where we all had the chance to renew, refresh, and revitalize our spirits. It felt like across the two years, we started in the womb, went into the canal, and out through an impasse into the world anew. And like I already told you, the experiential learning environment and the safety amongst some of our Indigenous professors contributed to the safe net for our newly birthed selves to land. The experiential learning as opposed to an emphasis on how to be a good counsellor theoretically speaking was critical to our development. It’s like this program taught us how to be a good person, as opposed to how to be a good counsellor (Day, 2021, pp. 101–102).

This speaks to potential cultural differences among Indigenous and non-Indigenous perspectives of healing. The participants’ value on being a good person first and a good counselor second, aligns with Andersen et al. (2008), Fish and Syed (2018), and Stewart and Reeves (2013) who state the importance of post-secondary programs promoting personal growth, transformation, and healing when taught within an Indigenous paradigm. This idea also coincides with Duran (2019), who encourages psychology trainees to familiarize themselves with their ancestral roots and intersectional identities to enhance relational and therapeutic competence when working with Indigenous clients.

Interviews for Program Entry

Presently, many master’s level psychology programs do not interview students for admission. This limits faculty and staff’s observational experiences with prospective students in surmising their cultural and relational safety among people diverse from them. Aksótha dreamed for psychology programs to institute policies related to program admission interviews and cultural safety assessments to ensure safety of Indigenous students,

. . .I dream of a safe space for all Indigenous students in the program. From a broad organizational level, this would require program screening through interviews prior to program admission, and cultural safety assessments of prospective students in those interviews. You see, I know a lot of master’s level programs do not have interviews, and I think that exposes Indigenous students to potential harm. So many Westernized people have been academically trained to read and write well, and to make themselves look good on paper. But if us Indigenous Peoples are to be truly respected, valued, and safe, the program must demonstrate a willingness to value relational safety and interpersonal dynamics (Day, 2021, pp. 107–108).

As this quote indicates, interviews could assess for cultural safety of prospective students, which may explore whether they are aware of health inequities rooted in colonial, social, political, and historical systems, and the impacts of racism, discrimination, and prejudice that many Indigenous people experience in Canada (Baba, 2013; Hart-Wasekeesikaw, 2009). Importantly, if prospective students’ cultural safety presents in early learning stages, the interview could explore openness to learning, perspectives on cultural diversity within the practice of psychological treatment, and interpersonal skills across cultures. Finally, interviews could also present a case-study of an Indigenous client and ask prospective students their initial impressions of the client and their context, and how they could go about working with them.

Discussion

Considerations

The diverse age range of participants contributed to varied lived experiences shared; however, purposive sampling (Johnson & Christensen, 2014), small sample size, lack of gender diversity (i.e., participants all identified as women), and no representation of Inuit or Métis voices are considerations for future research. Furthermore, the use of a Two-Eyed Seeing research methodology is a strength, yet also limiting, because results are not generalizable or representative of the dream for the future of all Indigenous graduate students in SECCP in Canada.

Recommendations for Future Research

It is recommended that further research be conducted on this topic to increase the representativeness and wholeness of the findings. For example, a similar study on a larger scale that surveys a larger and more diverse sample specifically in school and educational psychology would be beneficial. Additionally, expansion of the circle of participants (e.g., voices of community members, Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff and faculty, policy decision makers within institutions, and community agencies, etc.) would enhance the future accessibility and overall vision of holistic mental health services for Indigenous people in Canada.

The findings from this study suggest programmatic policy changes to mandate SECCP instructors to lead by example in relationally proficient, culturally safe, and anti-racist environments for Indigenous graduate students. Indigenous graduate student experience in mainstream counseling and related programs is largely negative. Participants in this study indicated they often feel tokenized, lack of faculty and peer mentorship, the need to work to meaningfully incorporate Indigenous perspectives into academic work and discussions in which Western theories are taught, and lack of cultural and relational safety due to emphasis on theoretical and cognitive demonstrations of competence as opposed to relational competencies that uncover intersectional aspects of self-location and how these interplay within psychological practice (Day, 2021).

Unfortunately, this negative experience is consistent with the literature that explores Indigenous undergraduate and graduate student experience in general, not specific to SECCP. For example, faculty and peer mentorship have been described as essential to Indigenous student support and retention in higher education (Ansloos et al., 2019; Barney, 2013; CPA, 2018; Fish & Syed, 2018; Gallop & Bastien, 2016; Guillory & Wolverton, 2008; D. E. Martin & Kipling, 2006; Rochecouste et al., 2017; Stewart & Reeves, 2013; Weaver, 2000), yet it is an uncommon experience for Indigenous students. Further, studies have found that cultural and social isolation and feelings of invisibility by Indigenous students arise from differences in perceptions, values, worldviews, and communication styles (Bailey, 2016; Brayboy et al., 2015; Fish & Syed, 2018; Guillory & Wolverton, 2008; Masta, 2018), which participants in this study described. Finally, it has been noted that Western and positivist-based education perpetuates colonization (Ansloos et al., 2019; Barney, 2013; CPA, 2018; D. H. Martin, 2012; Stewart & Reeves, 2013), and it seems apparent that participants in this study faced barriers against learning, engaging, and practicing in self-determining ways that felt true to their Indigenous cultural values. The results of this study serve as a starting point for suggested changes, and further research could explore specific policy changes that would support SECCP programmatic changes in these areas.

Relevance to the Practice of School Psychology

This study’s findings are relevant to all SECCP fields. The results presented in this article provide a meaningful foundation for school psychology training programs to re-envision their curricular, pedagogical, organizational, and relational practices to align with and incorporate Indigenous values, knowledges, people, ethics, and structures with the overarching goal of promoting positive academic, behavioral, emotional, and mental experiences (National Association of School Psychologists, 2014) among diverse students, families, and school-wide initiatives.

One key responsibility for school psychologists is to “Appreciate historical influences of educational, community, state, federal, and organizational dynamics on academic, social and emotional functioning” (American Psychological Association [APA], 2020) through supporting teachers and organizations to deliver optimal learning within healthy relationships and environments (APA, 2020). Within the Canadian context, this responsibility should extend to school psychologists’ ability to competently and respectfully navigate historically rooted, yet present-day perpetual Indigenous-related tensions (e.g., colonialism; IRS system) that occur within school settings. Tensions within K-12 settings may include cultural incongruencies among curricular and pedagogical practices and expectations from Western-centric teachers, diverse familial values and practices among Indigenous students and families, and behavioral differences among Indigenous students tied to intergenerational trauma (Directions Evidence and Policy Research Group, LLP, 2016). For example, in the collective narrative from this study, kheyatléha expressed feeling “trapped” as the only First Nations student in her middle school class, and “terrified” of classmates finding out due to their negative stereotypes surmising it is “. . .not good to be Native” (Day, 2021, p. 83). This highlights the importance for school psychologists to be competent in the complex emotional experiences Indigenous students often face throughout many developmental ages that are inextricably tied to their oppressed identities within an assimilative educational system. Given the known significant gaps in Indigenous-centered epistemologies and practices within school and related psychology graduate training programs (Ansloos et al., 2019; CPA, 2018; Day, 2021; Fellner et al., 2020), it is likely that many graduating school psychologists are ill-prepared to support healthy—culturally safe—learning spaces and relationships.

Uniquely, the collective narrative story (i.e., results) approach is novel to the intersection of SECCP, Indigenous student experience, and educational training development. This decolonized methodological approach shows promise for future Indigenous and allied school psychology students who relate to gathering and analyzing knowledge in community-based ways that step beyond standard qualitative collection and thematic analysis. Hart (2010) wisely speaks about elements of a radical Indigenous research paradigm, stating they “. . .resist the pressure to participate in academic discourse that strips Indigenous intellectual traditions of their spiritual and sacred elements” (p. 6). Hopefully, the methodological approach to this study contributes to further acceptance and value placed on Indigenous and decolonial research methods in school psychology scholarship at the post-secondary level.

In conclusion, the findings of this study further the CPA (2018) taskforce recommendations through supporting greater SECCP educational accessibility for Indigenous graduate students through suggested post-secondary education and training future directions, hopefully leading to their increased SECCP program-enrollment and obtainment of faculty positions, and culturally safer mental health care for Indigenous people by Indigenous and non-Indigenous emerging school psychologists.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Stephanie J. Day

Notes

Author Biography

Stephanie Day is a proud member of Oneida Nation of the Thames, and is a PhD student in Clinical and Counselling Psychology at the University of Toronto. In addition to providing psychological counselling, she researches Indigenization and Indigenous student experience within post-secondary psychology education and Indigenous mental health and healing.

References

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Collectively Dreaming Toward Indigenized School Psychology Education and Training

Abstract

Keywords

Methodology

Participants

Recruitment Procedure

Indigenous Paradigm Overview

Data Collection

Oskanhe’ yukniyo:té: nen teyakyatátisnye 1 : Meaning Making

Results

The Importance of Relationality in Education and Training

Significance of Cultural and Land-Based Experiential Learning

Diversity in Indigenous Knowledge Sharers

Critical Decision-Making About Cohort Member Inclusion

Mandatory Indigenous Pre-Requisite Courses

Cultural Humility

Teachings About How to Be a Good Person

Interviews for Program Entry

Discussion

Considerations

Recommendations for Future Research

Relevance to the Practice of School Psychology

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

Funding

ORCID iD

Notes

Author Biography

References

Oskanhe’ yukniyo:té: nen teyakyatátisnye¹: Meaning Making