Abstract
In the decade since the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, many schools and universities in Canada have publicly committed to addressing historic and ongoing injustices related to Indigenous peoples, including through efforts to decolonize curriculum. Amongst Canadian librarians there is growing recognition of the role that libraries play in upholding colonial systems and epistemology, often to the exclusion of other ways of knowing (Campbell & Sich, 2023; Edwards, 2019; Leung, 2022; Loyer, 2018). Through initiatives such as the newly established Indigenous Curriculum Resource Centre, Simon Fraser University Library plays a key role in supporting the University’s broader goal of “the decolonization and Indigenization of courses and programs” (Simon Fraser University, 2025), however, there remains considerable work to be done when it comes to decolonizing the library’s own instruction. While there is a growing body of literature proposing how academic libraries can support more culturally appropriate approaches to research on Indigenous topics, there is less on decolonizing the curriculum and pedagogical approaches of an academic library instructional program as a whole. Western Library’s efforts to decolonize their library curriculum (Campbell & Sich, 2023) is a notable exception.
To meaningfully advance decolonization within library instruction, we wanted to ground our work in Indigenous perspectives on teaching and learning. According to Jo Chrona, Indigenous-informed pedagogy is “a framework that reflects Indigenous knowledges and understandings about effective teaching and learning processes and environments that Indigenous Peoples in Canada have had since time immemorial” (Chrona, 2022, p. 94). While there are many Indigenous pedagogies, the First Peoples Principles of Learning (FPPL) is a broad framework of shared learning principles articulated by Indigenous elders, scholars and knowledge keepers to help guide Indigenous-centred teaching within the provincial public education system.
In keeping with a decolonial approach to learning, we took an intentionally slow, collaborative, and relational approach, working with our library instruction community of practice to create ongoing spaces for this complex and vital work. Over the summer and fall of 2025 we hosted a series of reading circles where we collectively reflected on the FPPL and considered how we might be able to bring them into our library instruction. Through a collective analysis of teaching materials for a general undergraduate information literacy class, SFU Librarians considered the ways in which these principles invite a reconsideration of current information literacy instructional practices at the individual, curricular and systemic levels.
In this presentation we will introduce the context for decolonial instruction at SFU Library, outline the FPPL and provide initial reflections on the challenges and possibilities of incorporating Indigenous-informed pedagogy into general library information literacy instruction. We will then conclude by outlining some next steps for further exploration in this long-term project. Audience members will have the opportunity to reflect on the epistemology that underpins traditional academic library information literacy instruction and consider how a community of practice can create space for collective decolonizing work.
References
Campbell, H., & Sich, D. (2023). Library Curriculum as Epistemic Justice: Decolonizing Library Instruction Programs. Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship, 9, 1–39. https://doi.org/10.33137/cjal-rcbu.v9.40964
Chrona, Jo. (2022). Wayi wah! : Indigenous pedagogies : an act for reconciliation and anti-racist education. Portage & Main Press.
Edwards, A. (2019). “Unsettling the Future by Uncovering the Past: Decolonizing Academic Libraries and Librarianship.” Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research 14 (1). https://doi.org/10.21083/partnership.v14i1.5161
Leung, S. (2022). The Futility of Information Literacy & EDI: Toward What? College & Research Libraries, 83(5), 751. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.83.5.751
Loyer, J. (2018). “Indigenous Information Literacy: Nêhiyaw Kinship Enabling Self-Care in Research.” In The Politics of Theory and the Practice of Critical Librarianship, edited by Karen Nicholson and Maura Seale. Library Juice Press.
Simon Fraser University. (2025) SFU Academic Plan [2025-2030]. https://www.sfu.ca/vpacademic/our-role/academic-planning/academic-plans.html
