Introducing Dominic Beaudry | Academic Newsletter | Seneca Polytechnic

in the December 2017 issue

Dominic Beaudry joined our team at the School of English and Liberal Studies this fall and we are pleased to welcome him to Seneca. His office is in room D2021, so drop by and visit when you get a chance. He will be teaching general education courses and facilitating the Anishinaabe Language Social Club with the First Peoples@Seneca. He will also be assisting and co-teaching with a variety of departments as a special advisor to ensure appropriate Indigenous pedagogy and curriculum are facilitated in the classroom.

Dominic has a Bachelor of Arts in History and Native Studies from Trent University, a Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University, and a Masters of Arts degree from the University of Toronto. His work experiences include classroom teacher, high school principal, education director, and policy analyst with the Ministry of Education. His graduate research was on the ‘Socio-economic History of First Nations on the Great Lakes Region.’ He has a passion for Indigenous history and incorporating this narrative into daily lesson planning.

His recent academic conference presentations include the World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education, this past July. He presented on the topic ‘Discrimination and Mascots’ and the harmful effects Indigenous-themed sport mascots can have on First Nations, Metis, and Inuit students. He was a co-presenter on ‘Forward Focus: Implementing and Monitoring Changes to Improve Learning’ at the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI) in January 2017. His presentations highlight the need to present Indigenous knowledge with meaningful purpose as First Nations, Metis, and Inuit histories and narratives contributed to modernization and state development. We need to reframe Indigenous people as people with ‘agency.’ Education in the classroom must be delivered in positive and meaningful ways, so the students can take pride in their culture; this is the only way learning can be engaging and relevant for all learners.

Dominic enjoys facilitating the Anishinaabe Language Social Club. They meet to socialize, learn, and share the Anishinaabe language and history. The group meets every Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the First Peoples@Seneca Office at Newnham Campus. The social club has utilized social media to go live (Facebook Live) and has had over 1,400 views with over 2,200 people reached. There is indeed an interest for Indigenous knowledge and the social club is a great place to learn the language and culture, while meeting with new staff and students. Join us, if you can, for future social club activities. For further information, you can follow First Peoples@Seneca on Twitter or like us on Facebook.

View the December 2017 issue of the Academic Newsletter.