Sarena Johnson

Lecturer (MEd)

Office: WH 66
[email protected]

Sarena Johnson (she/they) is a member of Caldwell First Nation, as well as Nehiyaw Michif and Lenni Lenape. She worked in the Indigenous community in Tkaronto before moving into Indigenous Student Services, Educational Development and Academic Administration, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Adult Education and Community Development at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto. She did her B.A. at the University of Toronto, and M.Ed at York University in Urban Indigenous Education. Sarena teaches in the Faculty of Education at Brock University.

Research Interests and Activities

  • Traditional Indigenous pedagogies, Indigenous teaching and learning, Antiracist educational praxes, Land based learning, Anti-colonial feminisms, Equitable citational practices, Non-artist creative praxes, Anti-colonial Educational Development, Indigenous knowledges and the academy, Transformational teaching praxes, Indigenous pop culture representation, Nutritional sovereignty, Indigenous ontologies and Artificial Intelligence.

Recent Publications

Johnson, S., & Rumboldt, J. (2025). Current Considerations for Indigenous Educational Development. In S. Mazrouei, D. Samuel, A. Valdespino, & L. Hasunuma (Eds.), Perspectives of Educational Developers of Color (1st ed., Vol. 1, pp. 159–165). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003448204-27

Johnson, S. & Johnson, A. (2025). Do Rez Dogs Dream of Chat GPT? (A Multi-modal Playscript). Brock Education Journal.

Pobuda, T., Johnson, S, Paypompee, M. (2023). TechGyrls: Two-Spirit, Cis and Trans Girls, Non- Binary Youth in STEM Learning. [Online community curriculum series & National programming for female identified youth]. YWCA Canada. https://www.ywcahamilton.org/youth-programs/tech-gyrls/

Johnson, S., Mandamin, S., Paypompee, M., Caribou, J., Whissel, K., Stone-Debassige, M., Black, M., Pobuda, T., AKME, Dacosta, K., Desjarlais, K. (2022). In Their Moccasins. [OER PressBook]. Toronto Metropolitan University. https://pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca/intheirmoccasins

Johnson. (2021). No Thrills & Bougie Bannock. Pp 257-262. In Bolduc, D., Gordon-Corbiere, M., Tabobondung, R., & Wright-McLeod, B. [Eds.]. Indigenous Toronto: Stories That Carry This Place (1st ed.). Coach House Books

Courses Taught

  • Introduction to Indigenous Studies (INDG 1F90)
  • Indigenous Perspectives in Media (INDG 3P85)
  • Indigenous Research Methodologies (INDG 3P30)
  • Culture, Identity, and Pedagogy: Advancing a Lived Curriculum (EDUC 5V03)