Dear EDST Community,
We are honoured to share the special issue of The Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education (JCIE) in honour, memory, and celebration of the life and work of Professor Michael Marker. https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/jcie/index.php/JCIE
The articles in this special issue, Indigenous Historiographies, Place, and Memory in Decolonizing Educational Research, Policy, and Pedagogic Praxis: Special Issue in Honour and Memory of Professor Michael Marker (1951-2021), include contributions from scholars, educators, researchers, colleagues, former students, and those inspired by Professor Marker’s courageous, disruptive, and necessarily political scholarship. In additional to the traditional academic articles, the journal also includes honouring songs by Drs. Alannah Young and Eduardo Jovel. These were recorded around a sacred fire at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm Garden in memory and celebration of Professor Marker. The journal concludes with a very special contribution from Michael’s family — Cecilia Morales, with Nakos Marker, Yonina Marker, and Miska Marker. They remember Michael through their sharing of family photographs, stories, drawings and four songs by Michael. The articles in this journal capture and honour not only Professor Marker’s spirited scholarship, but the passionate spirit of Michael himself.
This special issue has been sponsored by a group of Professor Marker’s colleagues: Drs. Hartej Gill, Deirdre M. Kelly, André Elias Mazawi, Bathseba Opini, Amy Parent, Michelle Stack and Pierre Walter. Members of this group served as an ad hoc editorial collective. Kelsey Sablan Martin, who joined the editorial collective as a Journal Editing Intern, went above and beyond in her role. We thank Dr. Sam Rocha for his assistance in recording and editing the songs by Drs. Alannah Young and Eduardo Jovel. We thank Cecilia Morales as well as Nakos Marker, Yonina Marker, and Miska Marker for sharing the family’s photos, stories, songs, and memories of Michael. We raise our hands to Kristin Kozar, Executive Director of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, for her generosity and care in supporting the curation of the family’s contribution. To the family and Kristin, we are so grateful for the time, emotions, and love that you put into organizing this thoughtful collection. Thank you to the team at the Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education for the editorial assistance and encouragement as well as to the Department of Education at UBC for its generous financial support. Finally, we wish to acknowledge the scholars who responded to the call to honour and celebrate the works of Dr. Michael Marker, his scholarship, leadership, mentorship, collegiality, and commitment to speaking truth to power, challenging the status quo, dismantling racism and colonialism, and advocating for and living Indigeneity, decolonization, sovereignty, and solidarity (see Mazawi, 2022).
We hope you will enjoy this collection in honour of our late colleague and friend, Michael as much as we enjoyed putting it together and look forward to you joining us for the journal launch in the spring.
With gratitude, shukria, saina ma’åse’ and best wishes for a wonderful holiday season and much love and peace for all in the world
Hartej, Deirdre and Kelsey (on behalf of the special JCIE issue editorial advisory group)
