Kathryn's Teaching Journey

04Nov 2019 by Kathryn No Comments

What is Math?

Uncategorized

Growing up, I did not see how my education was not entirely inclusive. As someone with white privilege from a privileged background, I didn’t always notice when my classmates weren’t represented in the curriculum or if some of the course material was discriminatory, since it didn’t seem to affect me. I now know I was wrong, and I work not only to notice oppression (and to work against it), but to bring awareness to other people about this discrimination. One thing I did notice, especially in high school, was that math was really designed to be done in English and when translated to another language, there were always some difficulties. My high school offered a French immersion program, and my friends who opted for that program had to take math…

28Oct 2019 by Kathryn 2 Comments

I have White Privilege, how do I address that in the classroom?

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I had a very privileged upbringing, I grew up in a white, middle class household with two parents who both had reasonably-paying jobs. All of my teachers were white, most of the novels I read where written by white people (normally males), the storylines we discussed almost always featured a white, middle-class female like myself, and there was not much diversity in what I learned. There were not many opportunities to discuss other perspectives or to explore the concepts of racism or oppression; we often discussed the “classics” such as plays by Shakespeare, and when we discussed the meanings of these plays in class, there was always a “more right” answer that the teacher was looking for. I did not notice many of these things until I was finished high…

21Oct 2019 by Kathryn 1 Comment

How Much of Curriculum is Actually About Teaching?

ECS 210

Curriculum is for the most part developed as a political decision and statement, and “any issue that is politically contentious can also turn into a curriculum dispute” (Levin, 15). As Levin notes, decisions that shape curriculum documents include debates on what subjects should be included and to what extent. Curriculum debates involve a lot of self-interest (for politicians working to push their political agenda, for experts trying to advance their field, for employers trying to prepare students for their field). It reflects the values of those in positions of power (politicians, experts in subject areas, majority groups, etc), and, therefore, can often fail to acknowledge the opinions of educators and minority groups. However, formal curriculum often fails to account for the experience and expertise of teachers (and thus, their ability…

17Oct 2019 by Kathryn No Comments

We are ALL Treaty People

ECS 210

The treaties are at the heart of Canadian identity. Treaty Education is important and can be related to any area of subject matter in teaching. It is not just for Indigenous students! The treaties have created the country that we live in and know today as Canada. They have created the social hierarchies and injustices that still persist to this day as well as the racist and colonial views of seeing indigenous peoples as ‘other’ and less than. Everyone who lives in Canada is a treaty person, we are all living in conditions created by these treaties and the cultural genocide and exploitation that followed. To simply ignore this past or deny it, is to do as many of our ancestors did, and it allows the negative perceptions of indigenous…

07Oct 2019 by Kathryn 3 Comments

What Role do Teachers have in Decolonization?

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This week’s article, “Learning from Place: A Return to Traditional Mushkegowuk Ways of Knowing” by Jean-Paul Restoule, Sheila Gruner, & Edmund Metatawabin, highlighted the importance of place-based learning (and re-inhabitation) in the process of decolonization. The project that this article discusses involved connecting different generations of a community to learn about the history of their land through the land; it fostered conversations between youth and Elders in the community that passed on traditional knowledge about: the history of the land; how to live off of the land and rivers; and the original names associated with that land (as well as Cree concepts associated with the land). Through this process, not only were the relationships between community members strengthened, but the relationship between the community and the land was also strengthened. …

30Sep 2019 by Kathryn 5 Comments

Good vs. Bad: Is there such thing as a ‘bad’ student?

ECS 210, Uncategorized

A ‘good’ student according to the commonsense is a student who comes to school ready to learn, open to learning, follows instructions well, is still and not restless, and is quiet. A ‘good’ student is willing to learn and listens to what the teacher tells them is right. Students who grew up with the same values used in their school are privileged by this, as they do not have to conform their values to fit in with the social norm. There is a significance placed on certain kinds of societal values and behaviors that disadvantages students who do not fit in to this ‘norm’ and who have different values and beliefs. ‘Commonsense’ ideas expect students to leave schools with more knowledge than they entered and to have their previous knowledge…

23Sep 2019 by Kathryn 1 Comment

Dis/Abled Narratives in The Classroom

ECS 210, Uncategorized

For Assignment One, I chose to explore the concept of Dis/Ability and its relation to curriculum. I found it difficult to find articles from the sources/journals listed that focused on Inclusive Education, however I was able to find an article by Mark Helmsing (“Disability Plots: Curriculum, Allegory, & History”)about “the intersection of curriculum studies(what knowledge is of most worth?) and disability studies(how is our knowledge shaped by normality, impairment, and dis/able-embodiment?)” (Helmsing, 110). Ifound that we often exclude the narratives of people with dis/abilities from our history courses and content, and when we do cover them, it is minutely. When we fail to touch upon these historical narratives and perspectives, it becomes part of the Null Curriculum and we are (maybe inadvertently) teaching students that dis/abilities are a taboo subject.…

16Sep 2019 by Kathryn 1 Comment

Curriculum Theory and Practice

ECS 210, Uncategorized

The four models of curriculum as described in Smith’s article, ‘”Curriculum Theory and Practice”, are as follows: curriculum as a body of knowledge to be transmitted; curriculum as an attempt to achieve certain ends in students (a product); curriculum as a process; and curriculum as praxis. The first model, which sees curriculum as something to be transmitted (a syllabus) sets out the areas that may be examined in a course. Its main (only) focus is content and it relies quite a bit on the setting of behavioral objectives. A syllabus, however, can be quite general and often does not elaborate on what areas of study will be most important or the order they will be studied in. As well, as the article mentions, those who follow this model often use…

12Sep 2019 by Kathryn No Comments

The Problem With Common Sense

ECS 210, Uncategorized

How does Kumashiro define 'commonsense?' Why is it so important to pay attention to the 'commonsense’? Kumashiro defines ‘commonsense’ as something that we assume everyone should know, or a facet of life that we take for granted as being a given/the status quo. According to Kumashiro, it can offer a sense of content and ease as we find comfort in familiarity and repetition. However, it can also allow for us (directly or indirectly) to either engage in oppressive behavior or to passively allow this type of behavior to continue. It can be hard to break habits, as we are leaving that sense of comfort when doing so, but it is important to be self-aware and to recognize these types of behavior. Common sense makes it super easy to just continue…