Aboriginal education is the focus of a two-day conference in Saskatoon this week.
The 2014 Awasis Aboriginal Education Conference began Thursday morning.
The conference features a number of keynote speakers and workshops.
It opened with a keynote address from University of Saskatchewan education professor Verna St. Denis.
She says overcoming racial stereotypes is one of the biggest hurdles non-Aboriginal educators face.
“Once people get over themselves and stop worrying about their own image and begin looking at the problem of racism in our society, people go a long way in terms of learning the language, learning the analysis but also moving to a place where I don’t want to be the problem,” she says. “What can I do to make change?”
St. Denis adds some positive strides have been made in terms of incorporating Indigenous education in the classroom in recent years but there is still a long way to go.
“Public education has had very low standards in terms of incorporating Aboriginal content and so we’re playing catch up. The change doesn’t happen all at once.”
She says the increase in the number post-secondary institutions offering Native studies programs has been one of the steps in the right direction.
Awasis is the Cree term for “child.”
The conference wraps up on Friday.