How do we define space, place and boundaries? Is your definition the same as your neighbours? Your friends? Your students?

Dr. Fatima Pirbhai-Illich and Fran Martin,  in their paper titled “A relational approach to decolonizing education: working with the concepts of space, place and boundaries“, help us define these terms by stating that space is the social, material (physical environment) and esoteric (spiritual) spaces that support the relationships that are integral to any classroom.

Places are sometimes referred to as points on the earth’s surface, or locations, such as a province in Canada, a town within that province and so on. Places each have a unique set of characteristics that are determined by the coming together of intricately intertwined elements, processes, and relationships that are always in flux. (McGregor, 2004)
Spaces are created in places.

Boundaries serve to indicate the limits or bounds of spaces and places. Boundaries may be material (physical) such as the walls of a building, or socially constructed such as national identity, and these boundaries may serve to indicate who or what is included within the boundary and who or what is excluded.
Space, place and boundaries are always in constant relation to one another.
Here is an example of some spaces and places that I spend time in on a weekly basis. These places are all places that I enjoy and encompass activities that I like to participate in.

 

Thinking both within the school and beyond the school walls, take a minute to think about all of the SPACES you spend time in on a daily basis.

There’s a lot of them, isn’t there?

 

Think about how many PLACES you visit on a weekly basis.

Visually analyzed image

There’s a lot of those, too, isn’t there?

 

Think about the BOUNDARIES we observe in our everyday lives.
Boundaries are literally everywhere in our society. Personal property is bound by fences; so are many of our school grounds.

I am a White settler Canadian which creates bounds to my identity and I’m a woman which means there are limits to my feminine identity.

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I feel pretty lucky to have received an education in the 1990’s. Things were different then. Much, much different.

Think about what classrooms look like today – the organization of the desks (do they even have desks?), where the teacher’s desk is situated and expectations of those students while in learning situations. Is it different than what you experienced at school?

During one of our modules of study, I did a quick sketch of what my classrooms were arranged like through elementary and junior high school. Does it look similar to your experience?

 

Because I know that NONE of the classrooms I’ve been in in the last ten years have been organized like all of mine were!

 

This is a good example of a power model that was common in classrooms for many years where the ideology behind teaching was that teachers and what teachers were saying were the most important thing in our classrooms. We’ve learned and grown in recent years and classrooms are now much more inviting for all staff and students. Decolonizing in education is a work in progress, but a goal that each school division should be working towards.

Above: An image from Dr. Fatima Pirbhai-Illich and Fran Martin’s paper regarding the power model in education.

As we move into having more experience in classrooms we should be taking note and notice the arrangement of the classrooms, the interaction that happens in our classrooms and who has the power in those classrooms.

Taking a deeper look into curriculum will show you that there are many boundaries surrounding curricular outcomes and the knowledge that our province deems necessary for our students to learn.

Although we have come a long way when it comes to education, there is much more work to be done when it comes to decolonizing education.