Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies (JCACS)
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Symposium: Understanding the Connections Among Creativity, Spirituality and Wholeness, and their Significance for Teaching, Learning and Living
No full textThis symposium will initiate an inquiry into the relationship that exists, can exist and should exist between creativity and spirituality, and the significance of looking at creativity and spirituality from holistic perspectives. The panelists will explore these relationships in light of their own scholarly research and artistic and teaching practices, and they will underscore the significance of understanding these relationships for teaching, learning and living. The key questions that the panelists will explore in this symposium include the following:
• How are creativity, spirituality and wholeness connected?
• What is the significance of exploring and understanding these notions in relation to each other? For instance, how does seeing creativity as linked with spirituality and wholeness result in a more fulsome understanding of creativity?
• How might understanding the interconnections between creativity, spirituality and wholeness impact how we teach, learn and live?
• How may we introduce ourselves and our students to the inter-relatedness of creativity, spirituality and a notion of wholeness? Why is doing so important
Making Space in the Academy for the Curriculum of Belonging: Exploration of Indigenous Self, Coloniality and Relationships to Land
Get PDFWhat does it mean to reconcile our relationships with the Land, the assimilative and violent policies of the settler colonial project that is now Canada? How can we begin to understand our own responsibilities as we relate to this Land and all our relations? How do we untangle our familial curriculum of dislocation, as we unravel the stories of the wounds and bloodlines that make up our physical, social and spiritual DNA? Taking up these questions alongside Simpson’s (2014) wholistic definition of theory as “generated and regenerated continually through embodied practice and with each family, community and generation of people” (p. 7), I began my journey from the fractures of my familial wounds, the wounds of my Mi’kmaq ancestors and their ignored relationships to the Land in Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland). Through journal entries, poetry and photographs, I documented my journey to familial sites in Ontario and Newfoundland with my teenage sons in the summer of 2019 as my own emerging curriculum of belonging. As educators, it is incumbent upon us to allow similar epistemic spaces for all learners to interrogate their own complex histories as they relate to the Land, coloniality and to the thousands-year-old relationships Indigenous peoples of North America have had with the Land. We must make spaces for them to invite the embodied, familial, personal stories to take form so that they can begin to enter their own curriculum of belonging (and responsibility) with this Land, wherever they are
Postcolonial Critical Pedagogy of English Language: Formulating Good Practices
Get PDFInitially due to colonial invasion, and later through globalization and neocolonial power relations, the English language has increased in its all-pervasive authority. The superior status of English over other languages is maintained in all sectors, including its pedagogy, at the structural level through gatekeeping policies, at the functional level through extending its scope, and the cultural level through the normalized attitudes and professional/social practices relating the language. To mitigate this situation and to advance the cause of linguistic decolonization and linguistic human rights, I intend to derive recommendable good practices for a Postcolonial Critical Pedagogy of English Language (PCPEL). The formulation of PCPEL is carried out by using the constructive grounded theory method under the methodological framework of generic benchmarking for an eclectic selection of quality statements suitable for multiple postcolonial settings. These quality aspects are accumulated from the relevant literature in a cross-matching and iterative or constant-comparative manner through coding, conceptualizing and categorizing. The outcome is a list of twenty quality standards under four quality categories for English language teaching (ELT)—ELT policy essues, ELT principles, ELT content, and ELT methods—which may be used as a quality framework to implement and assess ELT from a postcolonial critical perspective
Discomfort, Revolt and Abjection in Skim
Get PDFThis presentation emerges from our experiences teaching an online, asynchronous children’s literature graduate course. Across its six-year history, teacher-participants have responded variously to the graphic novel Skim. Recently, when confronted with an image in the novel depicting a kiss between a female high school student and her female teacher, some course members focused solely on the kiss, seeming to dismiss the text entirely. To think through this unprecedented occurrence, and to consider its philosophic and curricular constraints/possibilities, we draw on the thinking of Julia Kristeva and those who interpret her work. Specifically, we are thinking about the role of discomfort in leading to Kristeva’s abjection—or, a casting out of the perceived other—and Sonja Arndt’s “dominant need to know” as possibly protecting against dwelling within the uncertain chaos of discomfort and the resulting redefinition of self. This presentation contributes to the ongoing conversation around pedagogies of discomfort. We also consider the distinct temporal experience of reading a graphic novel and suggest that the unique temporality of both the assigned reading and teacher-participants’ lives may encourage/discourage dwelling in discomfort. In closing, we discuss possible curricular and pedagogic shifts we might make to open spaces for dwelling with/in discomfort
La résistance n'est pas futile : Badiou, simulacra et un récit des Pays-Bas occupés par les nazis
Get PDFThis paper engages with Alain Badiou’s understanding of evil as simulacrum in secondary social studies and history classrooms. Through family oral history as a vector for thinking with Badiou’s philosophy this paper explores Badiou’s premise that the Nazis upheld a simulacrum as truth, to the detriment and horror of millions. Anthonius and Johanna’s actions, members of the Dutch resistance during the Second World War, provide an example of the complexities of ethics during difficult times that can inform teachers as they explore nuances regarding how ordinary people can act independently from authority, but interconnected with others in troubling times. Personal anecdotes are powerful tools in shaping knowledge and attitudes; thus, stories of resistance in our classrooms are vital as we seek to make emancipatory and egalitarian changes to our world.Comment les éducatrices et les éducateurs peuvent-ils organiser le programme d'études sociales de manière à déterminer comment les maux historiques et contemporains se produisent et de manière à mettre en évidence les gens ordinaires travaillant collectivement en tant que des agents du changement ? Cet article fournit une avenue possible : appliquer la compréhension d'Alain Badiou de certains maux comme des simulacres aux histoires de résistance des Pays-Bas occupés par les nazis. À travers une analyse du discours des entretiens avec mes grands-parents paternels, je donne un exemple de la façon dont les enseignantes et les enseignants pourraient compléter l'étude de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale au but éducatif de leur encourager à devenir des sujets qui pensent indépendamment de l'autorité mais en interconnexion avec des autres. De cette façon, les enseignantes et les enseignants pourraient rendre les événements historiques plus personnels dans leurs classes, permettant aux élèves d'explorer comment les gens ordinaires et interconnectés dirigent les sociétés, par opposition aux héros ou méchants singuliers. Les histoires de résistance interprétées à travers la philosophie de Badiou fournissent un point de départ éthique aux élèves et aux enseignant(e)s pour réfléchir à la manière dont ils pourraient agir dans des circonstances similaires. Les anecdotes personnelles sont de puissants outils pour façonner les connaissances et les attitudes; ainsi les histoires de résistance dans nos salles de classe sont vitales alors que nous cherchons à apporter des changements émancipateurs et égalitaires à notre monde
Connections Between Children’s Motivations Toward Writing and Writing Competence
Get PDFThis paper explores how young children’s motivation to engage in writing processes aligns with their demonstrated writing competencies. Additionally, it examines connections between children’s self-concept as writers and their writing performance. During group research sessions conducted over the course of four years, three cohorts of 336 children in total, from Kindergarten to Grade 2, completed a prompted narrative writing task and a semi-structured language and writing attitude interview. A research assistant scored the narrative writing samples for quality and connection of ideas, using a six-point holistic scale, while another research assistant recorded children’s interview responses. In general, those children reporting a positive attitude towards writing and a positive self-concept as writers displayed greater competence in writing, as evidenced by higher writing quality scores. This further supports the role that affect plays in motivation and achievement. Interestingly, some children displayed a disconnect between their writing attitude, self-concept and their writing competence, with some children reporting positive attitudes, yet demonstrating low writing competence and others reporting negative attitudes, but demonstrating high writing competence. More in-depth interviews were conducted with three children whose responses showed a disconnect, thereby identifying more nuanced factors in the relationship between attitude and writing competence
Applications of Music Within the Neurolinguistic Approach in a German Bilingual School
Get PDFThis paper presents a study exploring applications of music within the Neurolinguistic Approach (Germain, 2018) to enhance second or additional language teaching in a Kindergarten to Grade 6 German bilingual school. Each participating teacher was interviewed about how they employ music in the classroom, how they create musical resources for teaching language, and what benefits and challenges they have experienced from its use. One of the key findings is that teachers use songs as oral models to teach both the implicit grammar of the target language and accurate pronunciation. Furthermore, teachers are adapting existing musical resources and creating their own to provide rich texts for classroom activities to help establish routines, to aid in emotional regulation and to facilitate the memorization of difficult concepts. Finding age-appropriate materials that are suitable for the skill levels of their students remains the greatest challenge. As one of the first studies to study music with the Neurolinguistic Approach, the findings suggest that this music-integrated approach has the potential to facilitate second language teaching
Creuser des puits, deviner un programme d'espoir face aux fidélités glissantes
Get PDFJoanna Macy (2009) suggests that a shift toward a life-sustaining civilization includes reassessing values and relooking at perceptions of reality. In this editorial, the metaphor of divining is used to explain the creation of hope in the grief-filled epoque of the Chthulucene. Authors in this issue collectively ask: How do we live together? How do we see the world? How do we make meaning? How do we tell truths? How do we make a better world? Imagination is the self and the world merging and emerging, entanglements of making that challenge our commitments and obligations as researchers. As we conduct research, we are constructing new life worlds, dreaming and shaping futures. In this editorial, I’m thinking about hope, of metaphorically digging wells, committing to the difficult work of moving through layers of barriers toward the originary whys, and knowing there are multiple truths and needs. In this process we can come to places of relation, understanding, self- and world-healing.Joanna Macy (2009) suggère qu'un changement vers une civilisation qui soutient la vie comprend la réévaluation des valeurs et la relecture des perceptions de la réalité. Dans cet éditorial, la métaphore de la devination s’utilise pour expliquer la création de l'espoir à l'époque remplie de chagrin du Chthulucène. Les auteurs de ce numéro demandent collectivement : Comment vivons-nous ensemble? Comment voyons-nous le monde? Comment faire du sens? Comment pouvons-nous dire des vérités? Comment créer un monde meilleur? L'imagination est le moi et le monde qui fusionnent et émergent, des enchevêtrements de faire qui défient nos engagements et nos obligations en tant que des chercheuses et des chercheurs. Alors que nous menons des recherches, nous construisons de nouveaux mondes de vie, rêvons et façonnons des futurs. Dans cet éditorial, je pense à l'espoir, à creuser métaphoriquement des puits, à m'engager au travail difficile de franchir des couches de barrières vers le pourquoi originel et à savoir qu'il existe de multiples vérités et besoins. Dans ce processus, nous pouvons arriver à des lieux de relation, de compréhension, de guérison de soi et du monde
Penser à l’implication humaine/post-humaine de l’investigation poétique : Messages poétiques à destination et en provenance de Carl Leggo
Get PDFThis inaugural Dr. Carl Leggo Memorial Lecture on Poetic Inquiry was delivered at the 7th International Symposium on Poetic Inquiry on October 3rd, 2019. I share a poetic conversation I have crafted out of Carl’s work that allows me, and all of us, to enter into a continuing dialogue with Carl’s words, which survive and will live on without his earthly presence. I discuss the process I undertook to create these poetic missives, in my voice and Carl’s, following the dialogue. All of the work beginning with “Dear Monica” are found poems created from Carl’s writing—his prose, not his poetry. My own poetic messages to Carl are mostly original, although they include a bit of found poetry from the literature on posthumanism. And the abecedarian poem is definitely inspired by Carl’s love of this type of poem, and his playful joy, always, in exploring the possibilities of language and poetry.Cette conférence commémorative du Dr. Carl Leggo sur l’investigation poétique a été prononcée pour la première fois au 7ème Symposium International, tenu le 3 octobre 2019. Je partage un entretien poétique que j’ai mené à partir des œuvres de Carl qui permet à moi et à nous tous de nous lancer dans un dialogue continu aux œuvres de Carl, qui survivent sa vie par terre. Je discute les étapes empruntées pour accoucher ce discours poétique, avec ma voix et celle de Carl, suite à l’entretien. « Chère Monica » est l’expression qui commence les poésies découlant des œuvres de Carl – de sa prose, mais non pas de sa poésie. Bien que mes messages poétiques tirent leur inspiration de la littérature post humaniste, ils sont majoritairement originaux. Et la base du poème-abecedaire est définitivement inspirée par l’amour de Carl pour ce type de poème, et sa joie amusante à explorer continuellement les possibilités du langage et de la poésie
Creating Love Letters to Nature: A Case Study of Children’s Multimodal Literacy Practices
Get PDFCanada welcomes large numbers of immigrants each year, including children. It is certainly important to understand immigrant children’s educational experience beyond standardized tests in reading and math. This paper draws on a sociocultural approach by situating language and literacy learning in social and cultural contexts and by emphasizing the active role of learners in different contexts. Specifically, the multiliteracies framework (The New London Group, 1996) is used to understand how culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) children choose to use different literacies and modes to make sense of their surroundings and to create artistic texts to express their understandings of nature, such as water and forests. A qualitative case study was conducted to understand five CLD children’s meaning-making process in a community setting. Data was collected through observations, informal conversations, semi-structured interviews and artifacts. The initial findings of the study indicate that CLD children are active and creative meaning-makers who select different linguistic, cultural and artistic resources as well as various modalities to effectively express their ideas and perspectives according to audience, purpose and context. The presentation discusses two nature projects and shares the artwork of the participating children to highlight a range of multilingual, multicultural and multimodal literacy practices