Peter Cole is a member of the Douglas First Nation, one of the Stl’atl’imx communities in SW British Columbia, and also has Celtic heritage. He has taught at universities in Canada, the United States and Aotearoa-New Zealand, most recently as Associate Professor in Aboriginal and Northern Studies at the University College of the North where he was Chair of the Research Ethics Board. Peter has played key roles in the development of the Aboriginal & Northern Studies degree program at UCN; the Developmental Standard Teaching Certificate with four Vancouver Island First Nations communities to certify language teachers to teach their Indigenous languages in schools; and, while at Massey University in Aotearoa-New Zealand, was invited by Maori colleagues to participate in the reshaping of the pakeha Technology in the New Zealand Curriculum document into Hangarau: i roto i te Marautanga o Aotearoa, a curriculum based on Maori spiritualities, knowledges, and technologies. Beginning in January, 2001, Peter has been instrumental in initiating a dialogue with the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada to be more inclusive and respectful of Aboriginal research protocols, epistemologies and methodologies.
Peter has been a Visiting Noted Scholar at Deakin University (Australia), Queen’s National Scholar at Queen’s University and Noted Scholar at UBC, and has given keynote addresses at several conferences including the 4th Biennial Provoking Curriculum Studies Conference (2009), 5th World Environmental Education Congress (2009), and Technological Learning and Thinking Conference (2010).
Peter has published in many national and international literary and academic journals and books, and is the author of Coyote and Raven go Canoeing: Coming Home to the Village (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2006), a book based on research with Indigenous Peoples internationally in the area of culturally relevant education. This book was written using poetic, dramatic and storytelling voices which helped to break new ground by making orality the foundation of its scholarship. Peter is also co-editor of Speaking for Ourselves: Environmental Justice in Canada (UBC Press, 2009).
Peter’s Ph.D. is in Curriculum Theory & Implementation which he completed at Simon Fraser University (2000).
