Affirming Our Shared Vision

In early 2025, a remarkable milestone unfolded across the Anishinabek Nation. Over several months, regions came together for transformative sessions designed to inspire visioning and collective learning. Through collaborative circles, communities embraced appreciative inquiry and Indigenous knowledge, shaping a strength-based approach that affirms what truly works in early learning and childcare.

These collaborative circles were part of the Ezhi-Mno-Gshke’ewizing Kognaawsang Nookiijigan (How We Raise Our Children in a Good Way Project) which is an initiative that brought communities together to share knowledge, values, and aspirations for high-quality Indigenous early learning and childcare. From these rich conversations, the Early Learning and Child Care Quality Improvement Project team captured community-driven wisdom and partnered with artist Delaney Cox of Think Link Graphics™ to create a visual story map ‘a dynamic representation of the shared vision and commitment to high-quality early learning’. This visual story map reflects the principles and priorities that emerged from those conversations.