City : Waterloo, ON

Category : Temporary

Industry : Education

Employer : University of Waterloo

Term: 18 months.

The Centre for Teaching Excellence aims to foster teaching excellence, innovation, and inquiry by supporting instructor development, promoting a community around teaching, and nurturing a culture of teaching and learning at Waterloo. The primary purpose of the Educational Developer, Indigenous Knowledges, is to support faculty, graduate student teaching assistants, and postdoctoral fellows seeking to Indigenize and decolonize academic programs, courses, and pedagogy. Reporting to the Senior Educational Developer (SED), Indigenous Knowledges, the position will work closely with CTE’s programming teams and curriculum team as well as interacting with staff from the Indigenous Initiatives and Equity Offices. 

In the University of Waterloo’s Strategic Plan 2020-2025, it states, “We particularly recognize Indigenous students, faculty, staff and alumni. We are committed to learning about the rich history and culture of Indigenous people of this land and an institutional response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls for action.”

In line with the University’s Strategic Plan, and Indigenization Strategy, Indigenous Initiatives strives to address the underrepresentation of Indigenous people and to increase specialized support.

The successful candidate will be First Nations, Inuit or Metis with familiarity of the diversity of Indigenous peoples in Canada and a keen understanding of Indigenous history, current affairs and a strong knowledge of Indigenous educational issues and the Truth and Reconciliation Final Report.

The University is committed to implementing the Calls to Action framed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. We acknowledge that we live and work on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River.

Consultation and Teaching Development 

• Plans, delivers, and evaluates faculty and some teaching assistant programming in support of Indigenous ways of knowing 
• Supports instructors seeking design consultations to enhance individual courses, assessments, and/or teaching and supervision approaches by building on Indigenization and decolonization frameworks
• Supports instructors seeking to understand protocols for assignments, visits, or guests in particular courses 
• Sits on or consults with University committees related to Indigenization and decolonization 
• Collaborates with Indigenous Initiatives and any Faculty-based Lecturers in this area 
• Contributes to CTE staff member professional development and to other relevant programming offered by CTE as needed 

Curriculum and Quality Enhancement 

• Provides consultations and programming in area of specialization to teams seeking to transform curriculum via redesign or new program development
• Designs and facilitates curriculum exploration and/or program review for Indigenization at the Department or Faculty level for both undergraduate and graduate programs
• Develops resources related to aspects of curriculum design and development, including culturally-relevant assessment of student learning 
• Consults on embedding experiential learning approaches within programs  

Relationships with Community 

• Connects with student- and faculty-facing counterparts in Waterloo’s Faculties and at the Affiliated and Federated Institutions (AFIWs)
• Builds and maintains relationships with local Indigenous communities on behalf of CTE and the University of Waterloo
• Networks with Indigenous educational developer community more broadly 

Scholarly and Academic Contributions 

• Networks with educational development specialists at other institutions
• Makes scholarly contributions to the higher education field
• Represents the University of Waterloo at regional, national, and international professional meetings and conferences 
• Seeks opportunities to teach where appropriate 

• Completion of a Master’s degree in a relevant discipline or equivalent education and experience in Indigenous-specific frameworks, together with knowledge of educational development and scholarship in higher education; PhD an asset
• Lived experience through Indigenous ancestry (i.e., Turtle Island – First Nations, Status and Non-Status Métis and/or Inuit) and strong ties to First Nations communities.
• Experience teaching in higher education in any discipline is an asset
• Background in educational development, consultation, and curriculum design
• Experience with long-term individual, departmental, and/or institution-wide change management initiatives
• Knowledge of Indigenous approaches to education, Indigenous world views, decolonization theories and practices, the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action, and the importance of relationality/ community
• Understanding of local Indigenous cultural contexts   
• Sensitivity to discipline-specific contexts and the challenges of change management in academia 
• Proven expertise in meeting and workshop facilitation and individual consultations
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to work collaboratively, confidentially, and autonomously
• Quantitative and/or qualitative research skills together with knowledge of Indigenous methods and methodologies
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Proficiency with the Microsoft Office suite, familiarity with learning management systems, ePortfolio tools like PebblePad 

The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is co-ordinated within our Office of Indigenous Relations.

The University values the diverse and intersectional identities of its students, faculty, and staff. The University regards equity and diversity as an integral part of academic excellence and is committed to accessibility for all employees. The University of Waterloo seeks applicants who embrace our values of equity, anti-racism and inclusion.  As such, we encourage applications from candidates who have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized, including applicants who identify as First Nations, Métis and/or Inuk (Inuit), Black, racialized, a person with a disability, women and/or 2SLGBTQ+.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

The University of Waterloo is committed to accessibility for persons with disabilities. If you have any application, interview, or workplace accommodation requests, please contact Human Resources at hrhelp@uwaterloo.ca  or 519-888-4567, ext. 45935.