A place of story : teaching, learning, watching and resistance: a TribalCrit perspective on the professional lives of Aboriginal BC public school teachers

This dissertation explores the lived professional experiences of 16 Indigenous teachers working in British Columbia’s K–12 public school system and the meanings they made of these experiences. Guided by Tribal Critical Race Theory (TribalCrit) and Indigenous Storywork, the study engages with how the participants spoke their truths about belonging and exclusion, cultural and curricular struggles, resilience, and racism within schools. The study uses a qualitative methodology grounded in Storywork’s principles of respect, responsibility, reciprocity, reverence, holism, interrelatedness, and synergy. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted online during the coronavirus pandemic with teachers from five regions in British Columbia: the North, Vancouver Island, the Interior, Fraser Valley, and Vancouver Coastal. After conducting a thematic analysis, in combination with intuitive listening, the teachers’ stories were woven into three composite counter-stories. The composites not only helped to protect confidentiality; the approach also became a form of cultural practice, by weaving many voices into shared truth. The counter-stories include two narrative orators, Raven, a sharp observer who calls out colonial contradictions, and Bear, a grounded witness who reflects on love, care, and persistence. Together, Raven and Bear guide the reader through the teachers’ experiences in the findings chapter. The findings take the form of three counter-stories. Speaking into Silence reveals how colonial institutions attempt to silence Indigenous presence and voice, often through neglect, tokenism, or lateral violence. Love as Resistance highlights the emotional labour and spiritual resilience needed to create relational and culturally safe spaces within schools, while Holding the Door Open addresses the teachers’ roles in Indigenous curriculum, leadership, policy advocacy, and cultural resurgence, acknowledging their efforts to reform the public education system from within. The dissertation contributes to literature on Indigenous teacher experiences in Canada by offering a narrative, relational, and theory-informed account of how Indigenous educators navigate systemic racism while creating spaces of cultural strength and community care. This study offers recommendations for school districts, teacher education programs, and provincial policymakers committed to reconciliation, equity, and Indigenous educational sovereignty.