My name is Kim Henrie (Pronouns: she/her). I’m a white settler of British and German heritage living and working in Hamilton which is situated on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishnaabeg nations, within the lands protected by the ‘Dish with One Spoon’ wampum agreement, directly adjacent to Haldimand Treaty territory.

 

I am a full-time professor at Mohawk College in the Programs for Newcomers department. The Hamilton area has been home to my family for a few generations; however, I am only the second person in my immediate family to receive a university degree.

 

Despite spending many years as a student in different post-secondary programs, I have rarely been the type of student who followed a linear program of study and becoming an educator was not something that I had envisioned. After reaching my 25th year of teaching, I’m always learning about how to meet the needs of my students while continuing to grow as an educator. I see the relationship between educators and learners as symbiotic with teaching and learning occurring in both directions. What truly excites me most about teaching, aside from watching my students reach their goals, is what I learn from the students.
 

As an avid language learner and linguist, I've studied numerous languages and methodologies relating to language teaching and acquisition and lived abroad while participating in immersive language programs. Although English is first language and the primary language of instruction that I use, I embrace the concept of translanguaging which provides a more fulsome understanding of language, particularly useful in the context in which I work as students often know multiple languages which are fundamental to their personal identities and relationships.

​