Ixchel Bennett's Journey - Part 2: Continuing the Journey
Host: Ryan Neepin
In the conclusion of this 2-part conversation, Ixchel Bennett reflects on her ongoing doctoral work, educational leadership journey, and experiences moving from an urban to a rural community. She discusses the importance of relationships with Elders and community members in guiding her work and shares insights into transforming Indigenous education from within.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Shirley N. Hager & Mawopiyane. The Gatherings: Reimagining Indigenous-Settler Relations. https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781487545888
About the Guest
Ixchel Bennett
Guided by kinship, land, and responsibility, Ixchel is a Nahua/Zapoteca, Indigenous educator, tía, esposa, hermana, hija, amiga, sobrina from Turtle Island, born in Tenochtitlán (Mexico City).
With over twenty years of experience as a teacher, seconded faculty member, and educational administrator, she has worked primarily within First Nations, Métis and Inuit educational contexts across rural and urban communities and school boards.
She is a PhD candidate focusing on the experiences of Indigenous teacher candidates in the Waaban Indigenous Teacher Education Program. Her methodology is the tlayōlli (maize) cycle as a pedagogical approach to listening, understanding, and making meaning of shared stories.
Informed by her roles within family and community, her work centers Indigenous wisdoms of care, accountability, transparency and resurgence in education, affirming Indigenous knowledge as living knowledge rooted in community, land, and responsibility.
