Anne Robins

metis woman with short grey hair wearing black rimmed glasses and black top smiles directly into camera
As a Indigenous Sport and Recreation Graduate Certificate alumna (‘20), Robins applies learning to therapeutic recreation instruction

 

As a member of the Indigenous community and an instructor of Therapeutic Recreation at Saskatchewan Polytechnic, the Indigenous Sport and Recreation Graduate Certificate (ISRC) had meaningful impacts both personally and professionally on Anne Robins.

A recreation therapist for the past 27 years, the University of Regina graduate has spent the last six years as instructor as Sask. Polytech. Before completing the Indigenous Sport and Recreation Graduate Certificate, Robins also became a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist in 2019.

Changes to her role at Saskatchewan Polytechnic first drew Robins to the ISRC.

“[Saskatchewan Polytechnic] is Indigenizing their curriculum, and I felt this program was an excellent way to learn what Indigenizing curriculum would look like and to have the knowledge I needed to embed it into the curriculum.”

For Robins, the ISRC not only furthered her understanding and knowledge of the impacts of sport and recreation for Indigenous peoples, but also allowed her to learn more about her own culture and heritage.

“The biggest key learning for me is the history of Indigenous peoples throughout all of Canada from coast to coast to coast, and the impact that relocation had on their way of life then and now. This affects what I teach as relocation impacts sport and recreation for Indigenous peoples.”

As a Metis woman, the graduate certificate also expanded her understanding of her own people.

“As an Indigenous person one of the biggest key learnings for me is to learn about my ancestry and the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada. There is so much that we don’t know and don’t learn about. I also learned I am capable of doing more than I thought.”

Robins plans on using the ISRC to help create programs and instruction that will allow her students to have the knowledge to meet the needs of the people they will interact and work with.

Her academic life has also come full circle, as she is not only using the ISRC to expand on her curriculum, but she has also created the Anne Robins Scholarship for Indigenous students. The new scholarship targets Indigenous students attending Sask. Polytech and the University of Regina, who are studying therapeutic recreation.

“I want to be able to encourage Indigenous students to continue with their education. In my daily life I have started connecting more with my Indigenous community and started the conversation around sport and recreation programs for Indigenous peoples.”

“I found the experience of taking the Indigenous Sport and Recreation Graduate Certificate so rewarding. I learned so much that not only as an Instructor I can use but anyone in the recreation industry can use. The information you learn will make you a better person, more empathic and increase your knowledge of Indigenous peoples that you can use to add to the services one offers.”