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