Inquiry: Just Imagine! Imagination is the store of human possibility (Huebner)
Julie Machnaik, ECS210, Oct. 2012
Interconnectedness of SelfPlace, Language, PedagogyWhat do we see/not see and through what lens?What do we hear/not hear and in what key?Look at the presence/ absence,View the interplay of knowing,What is being communicated and in whose language?View with imagination…Look at the foreground,Background, middle ground.Face the inbetween.See the possibilities… J. Machnaik, 2009
“We cannot understand schools today without a look at what they were yesterday.”
Becoming a Teacher, 2012, p. 60
What were the ‘places’ of schooling like long ago?
Essential characteristics of the teacher:
instructional efficiency
technical knowledge and skills (with well thought out lesson plans)
physical efficiency (all teachers should be beautiful with no physical abnormalities or weaknesses)
efficiency in control (because disorder means idleness and good discipline is the foundation of moral training)
social quality (to know how to act and who to socialize with in the community)
professional spirit and enthusiasm
high personal character
mechanical proficiency where the "ability to stand at the blackboard and impress instruction by illustrative drawing is always a source of power in the teacher”
Normal School, School Management (1912) textbook
Teachers as Learned PractitionerLearn about students, the what and how to teach.Blend theory & practice but little anti-oppressive methods that focus
on differences, equity, power and oppression.
Problematic: only certain insights possible and others impossible-only certain ways of knowing students privileged
Need to trouble, disrupt knowledge, see what different insights, identities, practices & changes it makes possible while critically examining that knowledge to see what insights it closes off. Need to teach the contradictions, the gaps, the partialities.
Teacher as ResearcherNeed to be lifelong learners, reflect on own teaching practices, self-
reflecting on readings/discussions, research projects, working to bridge theory to practice. Learning to teach involves reflecting on, raising own questions and doing research.
Problematic: Doing research does not in itself promise anti-oppressive change.
Need to look at what we have already learned (and desire continuing to learn as it is comfortable) and what we desire to not learn (where we feel discomfort).
Need to ask…what do our students desire learning, how do we desire teaching, and how do these desires make anti-oppressive changes difficult? Teacher research needs to examine teachers’ desires for only certain things and resistances to others.
Teacher as Professional Learning to teach characterized as an entry into a profession; clear
certification expectations with relevant components of program, knowledge, skills, and perspectives valued in society.
Problematic: some in society prescribe ahead of time what all teachers need to know and do and be in order to be “good” teachers; may insist on only certain knowledge and do not encourage troubling knowledge and looking beyond.
Need: to problematize any effort to predetermine what it means to be a “good” teacher; commonsensical definitions of good teaching are often complicit with different forms of oppression just as “progressive” definitions of good teaching are partial and contradictory and are always in need of rethought.
New Landscape
Context is the window
of understanding…
Northern Experiences in Nunavut
“An example of what the future may hold is Piqqusilirivvik, “a place that has those things important to us”...”where classrooms are called learning studios.”
Becoming a Teacher, 2012, p. 83
Clyde River, Nunavut
Clyde River
So what would this LOOK like?Photo Gallery
Inukshuk in Pangnirtung, Nunavut (or Pang, also ᐸᖕᓂᖅᑑᖅ)
Inquiry Minds to Guide Our Journey
Huebner’s Messages:We must surpass technical
foundations of educationWe require historical
awareness of:where we once weresensitivity to present
problems, resistances and binds
and openness to future possibilities
Dwayne E. Huebner’s (1923 - ) Philosopher of education and
curriculum theorist
Poses Questions:What are/should be the
purposes of education?Who does/should control
education?What do/should children learn?What relationship do/should
schools play with respect to society and justice?
Paulo Freire (1921-1997)Critical Pedagogy
Shortly before his death, Paulo Freire is reported to have said: “I could never think of education without love and that is why I think I am an educator, first of all because I feel love.”
Maxine Greene
Experiential learning ImaginationArtsMaking meaningMaking sense of the worldAsk questions, take action
Inside the Academy:
Maxine Greene
(Maxine Greene, 1917- )Educational philosopher, author, social activist and teacher
Releasing the Imagination (1995) by Maxine Greene Essays on Education, the Arts, and Social Change
“We can't separate imagination from the ethical, the political, the social...it is our opening to what is not yet, what might be, new possibilities...“
Nel Noddings Known for her work in philosophy of
education, educational theory, and ethics of care.
Makes distinction between natural caring and ethical caring
Educating the ‘whole’ child Centred around happiness Build community of learners Books:
The Challenge to Care in Schools (1992) Happiness & Education (2003) Educating Citizens for Global Awareness
(2005) Critical Lessons: What Our Schools
Should Teach. (2006) (1929- )American feminist, educationalist & philosopher Nel Noddings YouTube
John DeweyTruth as process of discoveryEducation and learning are social & interactiveHands-on, experiential learningSchool is a social institution where social
reform can and should take placeProject Based Learning (PBL) students as
active researchers...“Learning is doing” “We need to prepare our students for their
future, not our present or our past” “Give students something to do, not something
to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results!”
John Dewey: His Life and Work(1859 – 1952)Father of Progressive Education
Reflections...Revisit…Rethink…Respond
How do school experiences shape what we believe?
What do life stories have to tell us about who we are today and who we may become as ‘teacher’?
What do we believe about teaching and learning?
What is YOUR story?
Common sense is not what should shape curriculum design; it is what needs to be examined and challenged.
Common sense often makes it easy to continue teaching and learning in ways that allow the oppressions already in play to continue to play out unchallenged in our schools and society.
Kumashiro, K. (2009). Against Common Sense, p. xxxvii
Project-Based/Problem-based Learning (PBL)Project-based learning emphasizes learning activities
that are long-term, interdisciplinary, student-centered, and integrated with real world issues and practices.
Inquiry…Inquiry…Inquiry…InquiryProblem-based learning actively engages the student
in constructing knowledge. PBL includes real-world problems that can be solved in many different ways and have more than one solution.
http://pblmm.k12.ca.us/PBLGuide/WhyPBL.html
So…what are the possibilities of Inquiry Learning?
Just Imagine!
Student Action ProjectsPrepares students toIdentify and carry out
solutions to problems in their school, community or beyond
Learn through thoughtful, positive, responsible action
Critically reflect
Inquiry…Inquiry…Inquiry…Inquiry
Kumashiro urges us to…Transform schools into spaces where all students will
be safe, addressed, and affirmed
Create spaces within schools where students can go for help, support, advocacy, and resources
Change the knowledge that all students have about people who are labeled ‘different’
Broaden students’ understanding of differences and different groups of people by integrating into the curriculum a richer diversity of experiences, perspectives & materials.
Kumashiro, K. (2009). Against Common Sense, p. xxxvii
• Inukshuk means “likeness of a person” in Inuktitut
• Signposts left by fellow travelers
•Guide for new travelers & provides direction in unknown territory
• Respects the ‘place’ and honours all who journey
“An anti-oppressive teacher is not something that someone is. Rather, it is something that someone is always becoming.”
Kumashiro, K. (2009). Against Common Sense, p. 15
“I have a long way to go. But I’m on my way.” Salas, K.D. (2010)Time to Learn, The New Teacher Book