Learning Together Series is a space for the MEd in School Counselling community to explore the work of decolonization and Indigenization as well as the work around diversity, equity, and inclusion. It is a space for different perspectives and approaches and a space for community members to offer learning and dialogue opportunities for others.
It is guided by the teaching of gifts that comes from Indigenous knowledges. Everyone has a gift and can contribute to the community, for the benefit of all. All gifts are different, unique, and are all valuable for the community. They should be shared. Our community is fortunate to include people with different perspectives, backgrounds, knowledges, passions, and gifts.
The Learning Together series is a space for us to share our gifts with each other, to learn with and from one another. This work is an ongoing process for all of us, and this learning can flourish in a relational, kind, and reciprocal environment, so the series space is open to all students, faculty, and staff, open to our community.
Past Events
Reimagining Place-Based Learning for Inclusive Urban Classrooms
How can educators meaningfully incorporate Indigenous perspectives into teaching without appropriating Indigenous knowledge?
This interactive session introduces a practical framework for designing Indigenous-informed learning in urban classrooms. Drawing on Nisga’a pedagogical principles and contemporary educational scholarship, participants will explore how place can be understood not simply as geography, but as relationship, responsibility, and pedagogy.
Rather than focusing on adding Indigenous content to existing courses, the session examines how educators can intentionally design learning environments that foster relational accountability, intercultural dialogue, ethical engagement, and community-connected learning across disciplines. Participants will leave with practical design principles and reflective questions they can apply to their own teaching while respecting Indigenous authority and knowledge systems.
About the Presenters
Natella Isazada is a non-Indigenous scholar-practitioner specializing in leadership, communication, and pedagogical design in higher education. She is an Assistant Professor at University Canada West and a doctoral researcher at the University of Calgary, where her research examines how human–AI collaboration is reshaping leadership, decision-making, and institutional practice in post-secondary education. Earlier in her career, she taught at Native Education College, an experience that sparked a lasting interest in Indigenous-informed teaching and learning.
Bert Azak is a member of the Nisga’a Nation in northern British Columbia and a criminologist with a professional background in enforcement. He currently leads the Indigenous Justice Studies program at Native Education College, grounded in Indigenous perspectives on justice, law, and community well-being. His work centers Nisga’a knowledge systems, Indigenous governance, and culturally grounded education.
Learning with Dr. Brian Thomas-Peter Ph.D., MBA., M.Clin.Psychol., B.Sc. (Hons)
Qualified as a Clinical Psychologist in the UK in 1975, he worked with troubled children, in adult mental health, and with elderly people with cognitive challenges. In 1982 he joined high‑secure forensic psychiatry services, specialising in work with young personality‑disordered offenders and completed a PhD.
In 1987 he was appointed Director of Psychological Services for the West Midlands Forensic Psychiatry Service, leading the development of a nationally and internationally recognized service for mentally disordered offenders and multi‑agency clinical programs. As a result of this, in 1993 he was seconded to Western Australia for a year, to established a doctoral training program in Forensic Psychology for Clinical psychologists. During more than two decades in the West Midlands he also provided expert evidence in major trials and advised Mental Health Tribunals and the Parole Board on high‑profile cases.
After completing an MBA (Public Service) in 1997, he advised Australian state governments on forensic and offender treatment programs, contributed to hospital reviews and major inquiries in the UK and internationally, represented the British Psychological Society on forensic matters, and advised UK government departments on services for individuals with severe personality disorder.
He has held senior honorary academic appointments, including an 11‑year Chair at Birmingham University, teaching doctoral forensic and clinical postgraduates, published extensively, and presented internationally. In 2002 he became the inaugural Chief Supervisor for the BPS Division of Forensic Psychology, redesigning training to Chartered status and overseeing more than 400 trainees. He was accredited as a Behavioural Investigative Advisor to the Police from 2004 to 2008.
In 2008 he joined the Oxford regional forensic psychiatry service as Program Director and in 2010 returned to Canada as Provincial Executive Director of Forensic Psychiatry in British Columbia, where the service achieved a ‘superior’ Accreditation Canada rating within one year, placing it in the top 1% of Canadian hospitals.
Since retiring he spent three years as a Dean at Douglas College before completing two published novels, one of which depicted the experience of generational trauma among the Doukhobor community of BC and was nominated for the Scotia Bank Giller Prize in 2020. Currently he is a sessional lecturer at the University of British Columbia and continues to write.