Episode 29: Episode 29: Indigenous Pedagogy in Physical Education

A-Z Health and PE Presented by NYS AHPERD

Welcome to the NYS AHPERD A-Z Health and PE Podcast. In this episode, we will be discussing Culturally Responsive Pedagogy with a tremendous scholar Dr. Joannie Halas. We are very fortunate to have Dr. Halas join us from the great white North and the province of Manitoba for today’s show.
Dr. Joannie Halas (PhD, University of Alberta, 1999) is a Professor Emerita in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management at the University of Manitoba. Now retired, Joannie's integrated teaching, research, and community service was in the area of access to culturally relevant physical and health education for Indigenous and other under-represented populations, including racialized minority youth. A seminal feature of Joannie’s nationally funded research has been the development of the Rec and Read/Indigenous Youth Mentorship Program for All Nations, which was awarded the international MacJannet Prize in 2014 for exceptional university-community student engagement initiatives. With the purposeful intent of using her settler, white colonial heritage and university privilege, Joannie worked with Indigenous colleagues and community partners to develop and deliver the Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation in the Community Certificate as a pathway to post-secondary education for Indigenous students. In 2013, Joannie gave the Physical and Health Education Canada ‘R Tait Mackenzie Scholar Address’ at the national conference, where she drew attention to Canada’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls; using examples from her own work, she emphasized the potential of physical and health education to play a transformative role in mitigating the harmful impacts of colonization on First Nations, Metis and Inuit students in their schools and communities. You can also connect with Dr. Halas directly on the X social media platform using @fightinggopher