Ms. Michelle Smith
- Mawachihitotaak Metis Thinkers Committee (MĂ©tis Studies Symposium)
- Indigenous Community Table, Dawson College
- Chaire-réseau jeunesse: Volet Autochtone | Youth Network Chair: Indigenous Stream, Research Associate
- Self-determined education
- Indigenous education
- Inclusive education & pedagogies
- Post-secondary education
- Storytelling and MĂ©tis methodologies
- Decolonizing methodologies
- Community-based education
- Participatory media
- Youth media
- Education, Health & Wellness
Michelle Smith is a Red River Michif educator and filmmaker born and raised in St. James, Manitoba. She is a member of the Manitoba MĂ©tis Federation. She has worked in Indigenous education for more than a decade as a teacher, advocate, researcher, mentor, curriculum and program developer at Quebec colleges and in community contexts. She is Principal Investigator for the First Peoples Post-Secondary Storytelling Exchange (fppse.net), a community-based research collaboration building more responsive post-secondary education for First Nations, Inuit and MĂ©tis students and honouring Indigenous approaches to teaching and learning. She established the Journeys First Peoples Transition program at Dawson College where she taught for over a decade.
She is a Vanier scholar and is completing her PhD in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill. Her doctoral research involves co-constructing creative teaching and learning spaces that promote healing and cultural connection. She is partnering with Kativik Ilisarniliriniq (Nunavik School Board) and Inuit youth to co-develop an Inuit arts and culture college degree program in Nunavik, northern Quebec. Research interests include arts-based, storytelling and MĂ©tis methodologies, community-based education, youth agency, decolonizing practices, and Indigenous educational sovereignty.
- PhD (C) Education, McGill University, Canada
- MA Media Studies, Concordia University, Canada
- BA Honours, Anthropology, McGill University, Canada
- 2021, Vanier Scholarship, SSHRC, McGill University, Canada
- 2016, Community and College Social Innovation Fund, SSHRC, Dawson College, Canada
- Smith, M., Phillips, M., Ives, N., Horne, K., Partridge, P. Recherche vivante : Les voix des jeunes dans l’échange d’histoires des Premiers Peuples au post-secondaire In NATASHA BLANCHET-COHEN ET VÉRONIQUE PICARD eds. LES JEUNESSES AUTOCHTONES AU QUÉBEC : DÉCOLONISATION, FIERTÉ ET ENGAGEMENT. Presses de l’Université Laval. Forthcoming.
- Smith, M. What Indigenous Students have taught me about Culturally Safe Classrooms. Bulletin de la documentation collégiale. Forthcoming.
- Smith, M. (2023). Shining Our Bright Light, documentary film.
- Smith, M., Partridge, P., Quittich-Niquay, M., Dyer, K., & Miller, E. (2023). Decolonizing Documentary Spaces: Enacting Care-Full Methods within Educational Frameworks & Fissures. Interactive Film & Media Journal, 3(2). , M. & Smith, M. (2020). Miskâsowin & Wâhkotowin: Coming into being through creation and kinship pp 25-39. In Dr. Catherine Richardson & Dr. Jeannine Carriere eds. Speaking the wisdom of our time. J.Charlton Publishing Ltd.
- Miller, E. & Smith, M. (2012). Dissemination and Ownership of Knowledge: Refugee, Aboriginal, Youth, Participatory Media, Video. pp. 331-348 In EJ Milne and C Mitchell eds. The Handbook of Participatory Video. Alta Mira Press.
Not taking new students during the upcoming application period.