I started out believing that people were responsive to their surroundings and developed to suit them. The role of the teacher was not about correcting but directing students to have the desire to expand their own knowledge independently. 

Pedagogy:

My pedagogy is one of: Anti-Oppressive Education and can only be approached as a socially moral lesson that must be taught and continually reinforced over time and throughout all your teachings and dealings with both staff and students but also in your daily life as well. What you represent at any moment is an active part of what you unconsciously teach to others around you and if you are not representative of the lessons you are teaching then you undermine its value by actively disregarding it. . 

Curriculum:

My role in the curriculum is in guiding others to their own conclusions and decisions by introducing them to a variety of lenses that they can use to apply to any given issue and have a level of understanding not restricted to just a single lens of understanding. Teaching students to understand their own process of doing things that fits and grows with them as individuals, allowing each student to focus on being a better them and not trying to live up to impossible standards set by others. I am teaching and guiding them to be the best part of themselves but also the best part of society by introducing lessons as learning opportunities for their own lives. Making lessons personal drives them home and makes it more likely that the student will stay involved in their own learning and value what they learn. I try to introduce subject matter in equal parts beauty and hard truth/uncomfortable knowledge because each gives the other proper perspective, actively teaching to appreciate the “fun” lessons and paying respect to the darker subject matter that can be seen in our history or news.

My teaching is focused around behaviorism because people grow and develop by experiencing the world and people around them. Teaching each student to be involved in the classroom and applying those lessons to their other environments in such a way that benefits themselves as well as others. 

By understanding the wide array of differences involved with having so many varying cultural and religious beliefs in one common society we are better able to plan around and incorporate each individual’s learning. When we show students this respect and knowledge of understanding we invite them into a classroom of inclusive place-based learning. Including traditional and cultural knowledge and respecting the importance of this knowledge, using inclusive music not limited to traditional western/English works, and teaching an attitude of respect and non-hostility are all examples of using inclusive teachings in the classroom and are vital for open respecting communication. Teacher’s provide a sense of foundation and security to the student giving them a feeling of value and place within the classroom, presenting them with respect and giving them the understanding that their thoughts are heard and questions addressed during the course. Music, while a seemingly simple answer, provides one of the easiest and most universally appreciated methods to make an inclusive air within the class.

It is not enough that we no longer treat the Indigenous population as a subpar class; teaching of the hardships faced, the tortuous struggles lived through, the families destroyed, the children lost, and the identity stolen by the destruction of a culture and society that valued coexistence with all parts of life within their existence. The proof that these lessons have not yet been learned is that their impact has not been felt, rather they have been disregarded by a generation that does not feel accountable for the mistreatment.

Things that are uncomfortable to learn or hear are less likely to be forgotten or disrespected because they are more difficult to learn the first time around. 

I want others to be more aware of the world they live in and of the interconnected nature of it all. Learning harsh truths is a necessary step to developing solutions to make sure that those lessons need not be learnt again. I still take a cautious approach but I also provide everyone the chance to show me who they are as an individual because until they show you who they really are you have no way of knowing what they are really thinking or going through. After being raised Christian my parents taught me about residential schools and it changed the way I viewed not only education and the intentions behind it but of religion and belief that up until then I had just taken at a face value of fact. 

Remaining Fears and Plan to Address them:

I worry that petty discrimination will continue until long after my time and be the cause of many more hardships to come for people from all different places, cultures, and walks of life because discrimination is just that, petty and baseless. People are too quick to assume things that they do not know and when these assumptions are acted on as fact it creates an obstacle to productive learning on the subject. Teaching students to champion a cause by rallying all the louder when for a cause that has fewer voices I will be showing students the impact they themselves have and building their confidence to independently identify and productively address address inequality and discrimination when they see it without themselves devolving to the same level. I want every student at the end of their day to be able to say they learned something that they wanted to learn; students should be left with thought provoking self-reflections based off something learned everyday, this especially includes how the lesson is used or applied to daily life as they know it or how it could be applied in a beneficial way. By focusing on cohesive and understanding cooperation we teach students respect and in addressing discrimination in this way we are building a solid foundation for education as a whole. Focusing on this foundation early on and consciously reinforcing it throughout later years of education is the backbone to building future generations of students learning a more involved and representative curriculum.

• [“As a Sort of Blanket Term”: Qualitative Analysis of Queer Sexual Identity Marking]: In what ways is queer sexual identity marking both similar to and distinct from other forms of sexuality marking? 

It is the individual’s conscious and unconscious ways of socially identifying themselves to others as both distinctively unique and socially involved. Just as heterosexuals engage in marking when their sexuality is challenged or suggested to be something other than heterosexual, an act to assert themselves in their self proclaimed gender roled, meanwhile non-heterosexual individuals could either desire to distinguish themselves as being outside the “heterosexual normative” and wish to communicate this to other similarly minded people, they may also be in a position where this is not culturally, politically, or socially accepted behavior and instead seek to hide or diminish those same signals to others.  Heterosexual individuals engage in heterosexual marking when their sexual identity is questioned, challenged, or suggested to be something non-heterosexual meanwhile non-heterosexual’s may engage in marking either to reinforce there sexuality or to mitigate the claims against it. This idea of a binary system is a challenge to modern understanding because people are not limited to a binary scale of seual orientation and we are seeing more and more views and beliefs that further challenge it. Queer as a use for an umbrella term to target all non-cisgender or non-heterosexually indentifying individuals limits others understanding of how wide and varied sexual orientation and identity really is by using an umbrella term to refer to anything not included in teh normative narrative of sexuality. 

• [Queering Curriculum Studies]: What does integrating queerness into curriculum studies mean to you? What will it look like, sound like, feel like in your classroom?[Post-gay, Political, and Pieced Together- Queer Expectations of Straight Allies]: This research suggests that the idea of allyship is not fixed but can vary within a marginalized population, having different meanings for different people. With this in mind, what are teacher implications for allyship?

To me integrating queerness into the curriculum looks like the point at which people have changed on a social level where non-heterosexualities are treated in such a way that they are no different than any other member of society. An individuals sexual orientation should not impact the way they are viewed or treated in any environment and the thought of attaching stigmatized misconceptions towards such any such person is appalling. Sexual identity is just a single part of everyone’s identity regardless of the orientation and people should not feel judged or restricted when it comes to their expression of that identity. Non-cisgender and non-heterosexual people should not be viewed or presented as an “other” just because they challenge the heterosexual normative narrative because this treats them as a foreign concept or identity and creates barriers to social ”Any repopulation of queerness in curriculum studies has to interrogate these logics of White supremacy so that it doesn’t slide into becoming merely the rehabilitation of White, Western lesbian and gay perspectives and bodies.” We need to remember that this is not just approaching the issue of non-heterosexual identities in Western society but about the global situation. When we limit the issue to the Western dominantly white perspective we are creating limitations and further issues for those who identify themselves as non-heterosexual but do not fall within that limited social view. Targeting the social stigma at its source by actively challenging and changing the views of students at a young age and in all cultural environments by showing and teaching them that being non-heterosexual is not a break from normality but another fact of what we perceive as “normal”. A teachers goal is to prepare the students for life after education and this includes making them aware of and educated on the topic of gender identity including non-heterosexual identities by challenging the “straight” normative as being ‘correct’ or ‘proper’ in anyway and instead showing that each is an expression of personal identity. Inequality is unequal regardless of what group of people is being marginalized, treating gender identity as being limited to one “proper” way is the act of denying students and people the opportunity to express themselves in a way that is representative of themselves as individuals. A teacher’s job is to only further a student’s capability of expressing their individualism and provide them those opportunities in a socially supportive manner that they may otherwise not have access to. When we as educators are enforcing limitations rather than presenting opportunities then we are no longer providing for a students growth but instead trying to shape them into a falsely reinforced “ideal” normative that does not accurately reflect them as an individual.

How has your upbringing/schooling shaped how you “read the world?” What biases and lenses do you bring to the classroom? How might we unlearn / work against these biases?

Which “single stories” were present in your own schooling? Whose truth mattered?

Growing up and learning, the school experience has taught me that not only are skills valued differently but people have been as well. Schools value what students are capable of on a skewed scale that does not value them on an equal playing field. Whether consciously or not people are constantly judging and re-judging you on things that you are not always capable of changing such as your skin colour, sexual orientation, culture, or even accents. We are too caught up with oppressive behaviours that separate and divide people in a time that has no need or reason for those divisions to exist. Until I reached high school I was a very independent and untrusting person that only ever  expected the worst, I could hardly imagine that others were willing to help you out without ulterior motives and I had kept that mindset for a long time. Highschool showed me people and friends that were able to squeeze rocks into lemonade and provided me the welcoming experience needed to make me more trusting of others. I still take a cautious approach but I also provide everyone the chance to show me who they are as an individual because until they show you who they really are you have no way of knowing what they are really thinking or going through. After being raised Christian my parents taught me about residential schools and it changed the way I viewed not only education and the intentions behind it but of religion and belief that up until then I had just taken at a face value of fact. “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete.” (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 2009) My biases are: untrusting of authority figures and of men, skeptical untrusting nature, I tend to like the things and people I am familiar with. Working against biases like these is to openly teach our histories bluntly and factually in a way that allows students as individuals to take in and evaluate the intentions behind our actions. Growing up, schools valued the old white male view of education that valued “traditional” or “cultural classic” learning and heavily relied on old English and European literature for this. If you wanted to matter or had your voice heard you had to be financially well off and typically be an influential white or male; this has been a skewed value system that devalues the contributions of minorities and financially disenfranchised students that tells them they do not matter and are valued as lesser than another. These single stories only empower this outdated idea of what it takes to be a member of society and do not present the many truths and perspectives of other groups in education. By removing these other lenses you are losing their views and learnt experiences that could only ever come from living a life from a perspective you yourself could never have. “A major objective of social studies and core curriculum is to teach critical and creative thinking. Teachers must not deny this process to the students by insisting on a single values position in the classroom.” (Saskatchewan Curriculum 18) Rather than coming to the classroom with preconceived assumptions of others based off incomplete information we must change the classroom to one where a difference of race, culture, or beliefs do not create a barrier to education or to a students social experience. The fact is that we are all human and that nobody can ever be fully aware of what others have lived and experienced during their lives because everyone’s lives are unique and provide different learning experiences.

The Saskatchewan Curriculum “Social Studies 10 Social Organizations A Curriculum Guide”, Grade 10. Regina: Saskatchewan, Ministry of Education, 1992.

Mathematics is treated as having one correct method or way to do things and does not typically promote new methods. Whereas other subjects provide opportunity to be influenced by culture and worldviews, math is not taught in a way that provides the same clear and open opportunities. This is not a fault of mathematics itself but of the way it is taught and understood. “Inuit children develop spatial representations that are different from those of children who live in a city like Montreal.” Inuit children are taught in a more nature involved way that is meant to teach them life lessons for both living and surviving their environment. The teaching methods used by most teachers in the North (paper-and-pencil exercises) are not based on the ‘natural’ ways of learning of Inuit children. Instead they are an adaptation to their teaching influenced by Eurocentric methods of learning that are typically far less involved with the natural world in stark contrast to traditional methods. “Furthermore, Inuit teachers tell me that, traditionally, they do not ask a student a question for which they think that student does not have the answer.” Here Poirier learns why the systems of educating students are so different, they have opposite intentions behind what is really being taught. Where the typical ‘Western’ method is to ask questions or pose problems that task students with constantly learning new things and introductions of new concepts, the Inuit method is based around asking the student to think and reference what they already know and have learned. We rely on written tests and reading with a constant inflow while they have an oral method of learning and because of this their relative natured number system is linked with their ways of life and understanding, continually prompting and reinforcing lessons valuable to their survival in the North. “Precision in language brought the Inuit to develop several forms for each number to mark the context in which it is used.” This is seen with their understanding of ‘many’ twos or threes to be two-twos(4) and two-threes(6) respectively, just as their numerical system counts by multiplying 20 to reach higher values. Where the Eurocentric teaching model uses the 10 digits 0-9 as independent unique values and are multiplied by their placement on the decimal system; the Inuit peoples use spatial understanding and connected relations to other numbers (7 = not many fours, 8= many fours, 9 = not quite ten), these numbers communicate relational knowledge according to space around them rather than as a tool for holding written values or for calculations. Inuit teachings are constantly reinforcing the learners spatial awareness and applying that knowledge to natural living and day-to-day life. “The Inuit have developed an outstanding sense of space to help orient themselves. They have learned to ‘read’ snow banks and assess the direction of winds.” They are skilled at reading the natural signs in the environment and even use inukshuk to help guide and communicate: providing further visibility due to its height and that someone was there. These same structures are further applied as resourceful hiding spots from winds and for hunting caribou. Where we are stuck in the Eurocentric mindset of numerology being a value based system of calculation, the Inuit peoples use it as another tool of living that keeps them involved and connected to the world, people, plants, and animals living and breathing around them. This provides them a superior spatial knowledge understanding and challenges the idea that our own methods of learning are ‘superior’ instead questioning whether our own methods are flawed or just improperly practiced.

It is about understanding that you do not have to be Indigenous in order to be taught about Canada’s peoples and their histories. We are all treaty people living on treaty land, a land that predates not only ourselves but the treaties as well. We are living on the lands that provided for the Indigenous peoples before settlers colonized the lands and negotiated the treaties with Indigenous tribes and bands; promising to provide for the communities in exchange for the peaceful use of the plains and fields that had done just that for them. As an individual living on these Canadian lands we ALL have the responsibility of continuing to care and maintain them, we ALL have the responsibility as a society that has wrongfully treated the Indigenous community to address those mistakes. It is not enough that we no longer treat the Indigenous population as a subpar class; teaching of the hardships faced, the tortuous struggles lived through, the families destroyed, the children lost, and the identity stolen by the destruction of a culture and society that valued coexistence with all parts of life within their existence. The proof that these lessons have not yet been learned is that their impact has not been felt, rather they have been disregarded by a generation that does not feel accountable for the mistreatment. They choose to perpetuate discrimination with racist remarks, detached from the humanity of the situation and the reality that they are a part of the dominant subjugating force responsible for it. It is even more important to reinforce these lessons where there are no Indigenous students because those schools are the ones most missing a voice of representation and accountability. In these situations the teacher and the lesson are the only voice left to speak and show the students that they ARE responsible. We have a duty as not just educators but Canadians to represent the truth and hold ourselves and others accountable. Indigenous students should not be needed in order for their history (the history of Canada’s settlement) to be told in the classroom. An inclusive teaching environment is needed especially when it involves TreatyEd, giving the subject the respect it needs because these are not games and these are not a part of someone else’s history, it is our own. We live on these lands and we are a part of its systems and that includes our duty to educate the new generations on their responsibility.  The history of oppression and subjugation, of voices silenced and justice left unserved, when these lessons are not learnt a cycle of discrimination and violence can only continue as evidenced in Dr. Capello’s class remarks.

Music allows students to be and feel a lot more involved as an active participant; a tool, that when used properly, both teaches important social skills and cooperative behaviour. However as a tool of inclusion the importance of understanding what music can represent in culture is an important step to a mutually respectful learning environment. In Kushner’s (1991) documentation of the experiences of children in a British school who believed that musical activities contradicted their religious beliefs but were, nevertheless, expected to participate in music events. These students felt conflicted, having to adhere to school practices by participating in activities that were seemingly in conflict with their religious beliefs. This is an example of how embodied musical experiences may not help students connect to their local environment. The extent to which teachers are able to deepen and broaden students’ musical experiences is dependent on factors such as available resources and time and community beliefs. By understanding the wide array of differences involved with having so many varying cultural and religious beliefs in one common society we are better able to plan around and incorporate each individual’s learning. When we show students this respect and knowledge of understanding we invite them into a classroom of inclusive place-based learning. Including traditional and cultural knowledge and respecting the importance of this knowledge, using inclusive music not limited to traditional western/English works, and teaching an attitude of respect and non-hostility are all examples of using inclusive teachings in the classroom and are vital for open respecting communication. Teacher’s provide a sense of foundation and security to the student giving them a feeling of value and place within the classroom, presenting them with respecting and giving them the understanding that their thoughts are heard and questions addressed during the course. Music, while a seemingly simple answer, provides one of the easiest and most universally appreciated methods to make an inclusive air within the class.

“The central problem of education in the industrial era, of bringing the child’s
inner nature into effective contact with the objective demands of the natural and the social
environment, still remains unaddressed today.”

As we have modernized alongside periods such as the industrial revolution, people and especially children have become more detached from the tangibility of real life and the impact our decisions have on things around us. Modernization has allowed for beautiful and amazing advancements in medicines and technology but also, it has made tremendous leaps for instant communication across vast distances. With this advancement our capabilities for networking and sharing information has never been faster or more efficient than today; with our newfound capabilities comes a duty to share and freely distribute information within these social networks for the betterment of humanity as a whole, providing a digital glue to connect and communities and peoples that otherwise could never feasibly meet or share their thoughts and ideas. Providing these opportunities and reinforcing the importance of these free communications is a vital step to reintroducing the social aspect of education to an extent that a social communal garden could not hope to reach. Just as Socrates called to his jurors in Athens to think for themselves and find truth; we now have an environment of great opportunity for change, teaching students to use the tools available to them to aid in the continued involved growth of communication. With the progress of technology and our newfound ease of global travel the world is no longer capable of sustaining racial walls of discrimination and closed thinking. When society is no longer propelled by war and discrimination then the education system must be made to reflect this change. Children are not born with these barriers and instead develop them from the environment they are raised in making it an important social issue to address in the education system. With open development we are able to view inclusive trends and strategies utilized in other parts of the world for the sake of evolving our own when we find such room for improvement. By continuing to push for an open form of communication, cooperation, and openminded learning we can remove some power of discrimination. By normalizing the attitude of inclusive thinking and equal opportunity we are giving the students and children the opportunity to learn without the same limitations we ourselves were forced to have.

Curriculum is the expression of our societal values: what we as a majority power hold to be a set of values that are needed in the real world environment and must be taught to our children in order for them to fit within this society. Curriculum is heavily tied to political beliefs and carries with it a hidden agenda written within it and this is heavily felt by those students who are put through our schooling system. When we as a whole fail to provide a consistent and supportive environment this can be seen in the eyes of our children among those students; when politically motivated agendas limit the freedom to express oneself then we are holding these motivations as having a higher value. While this political influence is itself a reflection of our own ideals, the addition of labels and operating under preconceived notions based of these beliefs, we must limit the extent of these influences for the sake of future generations of students. The process of coming to understand both the direct and indirect impact of both the curriculum and the ability to identify internal(personal) biases is the first step towards displacing your own values from the classroom. When you take this important step back you can get a more complete picture of the interconnected paths of influence that a school and the many combinations of classes within present to students on a daily basis. Understand that every single person within these boundaries is an independent influence that provides growth and learning opportunities, the value of which is only truly known by the individual impacted and may not be clear to others for some time. This stage of development leaves students open to learn but also vulnerable to the influences of prejudicial beliefs and by separating those two aspects is a step towards a more inclusive and understanding classroom.

-Francios d’Auteuil

(PS. Happy birthday and thank you to my Dad for giving me and my siblings the gift of waking up, it’s only after you miss the little things in life that you give full value to them.)

The commonsense understanding of “good” students privileges those who fall into our westernized pattern of beliefs and values giving heavy value to racial gifts and places the respect of familial bonds as being cornerstone to a healthy education. A History of Education poses the idea that students are the sum total of their race with preset gifts and weaknesses, giving respect to accomplishments from their country of origin while simultaneously devaluing the individuals of foreign descent. They also devalue the learnings and traditions of groups such as the Indegnous peoples as being uncivilized and barbaric showing no sign of higher thought to education, this way of thinking highly devalues traditional learnings. In this form of understanding: those who share similarities to our own education or are considered more “developed” are given a modicum of respect and honors, those who do not fall within these guidelines are viewed as bringing nothing to the table and lacking in the portrayal of civility. A “good” student will listen quietly as they memorize predetermined values and lessons, showing respect and obedience while within the educational environment. These values are based in the social and cultural beliefs of a Christianized Western-European society that has chosen the path of assimilation over integration; this is reflected by both continued discriminatory practices and an unwillingness to adapt with the social environment of a modern time.

Kumashiro places value on the individual showing that it is not that they are unable or unwilling to learn but that our own traditional methods and belief in what makes a proper classroom does not always work for or meet the needs of the individual. A system of learning where completing set assignments and repeating on exams the correct definitions, where the closer a student is to repeating the right things in the right ways the higher the students grade, does not value the unique skill sets and capabilities of the individuals learning within it. By mainstream society placing value on certain kinds of behaviour, knowledge, and skills, schools are left leaving students disadvantaged if they do not teach what is realistically valued  in schools and society. However, learning is about learning MORE, Expanding a student’s minds to new possibilities, Building a foundation of knowledge for them as individuals to fall back on when confronted with new ways of understanding, Increasing our understanding of the world and the interconnected nature of social interactions found within it.

“Not everything the student already learned was problematic, but much of this knowledge had been culled together from cultural myths, stereotypes, and taken-for-granted assumptions that permeated daily life. Much of what the student had learned consisted of ideas that had thus far helped the student to navigate and understand the world the student lived including what was normal or good, or what it meant to be happy or to belong.” The student learned what it took to feel comfortable with what was repeated in daily life and got comfortable with the support of a status quo. It is not about correcting student knowledge but influencing the students as individuals to have a desire to expand their own understanding of a subject. Any single worldview is flawed having both strengths and weaknesses based on the experiences of the individual’s unique perspective and place in life, new standards or ways of thinking do not replace the lens previously used to view the world but it can influence a change for the better when properly applied. Sometimes change is noticeable and other times change takes a more minute path of subtle small changes. When a student is on the cusp of either form of change they need the healthy opportunity to work through the fallout of these changes as it can impact daily interactions taken as commonplace in their lives. Rather than being disheartened or dragged down by the discomfort of change by making it a more accepted normal you release some of the tension and angst that can cause resistance or denial when presented with a radical change. In order to change and evolve the status quo of a student’s life must be challenged in order to induce change. The job of a skillful teacher is in challenging a student’s views and beliefs in a creative way that encourages growth and a more thoughtful narrative view of what is being taught and presented to them. A truly good student is one that enters a learning environment open to having their worldviews and beliefs challenged to include a new perspective from a lens of view they would otherwise never have access to or the knowledge of its existence.

Reference List

Painter, F. V. N. (1886, January 1). A history of education, by F. V. N. Painter: Painter, f. v. n. (Franklin Verzelius Newton), 1852-1931: Free Download, Borrow, and streaming. Internet Archive. Retrieved September 26, 2021, from https://archive.org/details/historyofeducati00painiala/page/10/mode/2up.

Kumashiro, K. K. (2015). Preparing Teachers for Crisis: a Sample Lesson. In Against common sense: Teaching and learning toward Social Justice (pp. 19–33). essay, Routledge Taylor and Francis Ltd.

Commonsense represents an underlying issue in the teaching process. When we stop actively thinking about the situations presented to us we lose control and begin the dangerous slide down the slope of meek acceptance. By allowing general assumptions to become “common” knowledge and general acceptance we are losing both our individuality and our ability to express and understand empathy and its purpose in daily life. People are intrinsically unique and by taking wide general assumptions as fact we deny them this individuality; as a species we continue to grow and evolve socially, the acceptance of ‘commonsense’ is the act of actively denying people and the next generation their own opportunity to further this growth and development. A classroom is designed to be a welcoming and enlightening environment to encourage growth and development allowing each generation to not only learn from, but teach and contribute to the current understandings that we as a people have. Commonsense shelters the individual from culpability and it is this very aspect that makes it truly dangerous, it is easier to blindly follow and blame others rather than take responsibility and actively oppose the issue. We have established the teaching environment to be a fluid living creature representing our own knowledge as a society. This does not mean that the current system is perfect rather it exemplifies the flaws placed within it, commonsense understandings endanger the continued refinement and development of humanity as a people within a teaching environment.