We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

Learn more about Indigenous Education and Cultural Services

Search the:

Apply Donate Crisis Centre

Category:

Helping students pursue education their way

Janet Mazzulla | Class of 2013
Master of Education

Teaching in the Visual Arts, Business and Technology departments at an Ajax high school, Janet wants to help students discover and explore their intellectual areas of interest using multiple modalities.

To achieve this, Janet decided to go back to school herself. “I needed to know more about how to work effectively with students – for whom the wired, connected world has always been a reality – so that I could provide them with authentic, relevant learning experiences,” she said.

She chose UOIT because it was a leader in innovative course delivery and had an enthusiastic and knowledgeable faculty members. “I loved the professors, all of them,” she said. Janet recalls how one professor got into a canoe and lectured from the middle of the lake to demonstrate the power of online learning. She was also impressed that the graduate program director, Lorayne Robertson, taught numerous courses.

Janet has found that her experiences at the university help her every day in the way that she approaches what she does with, and for, her students. “As educators, we need to recognize there is a fundamental shift in learning preferences and therefore develop strategies and learning paths that will keep students engaged and motivated."

She sees a transformation away from the one-size-fits-all model of education with this new generation of students who are "used to following their own interests.” Janet visualizes an education system in the future where she will teach a number of students while also helping them explore their own personal intellectual areas of interest.