Dear Ms. Mahmoud,
I was pleased to receive your email and I am looking forward to welcoming you in person next month to our school. As to your questions about “core knowledge” in Canada — especially “what every Canadian should know” — I hope the absence of one clear answer will not disappoint you. Instead, I will share my own thoughts on the topic in the hopes that these will illuminate your understanding of my methods, and spark your imagination as you seek to understand and appreciate Canadian culture at large.
In order to ground ourselves in the land on which we live and teach, it is important to remember that those of us who do not identify as First Nations, Inuit or Métis are all immigrants to Canada. The people who today call themselves Canadian come from all over the world: from the first western European colonists, to the many waves of agricultural settlers, to the many millions of immigrants escaping global conflict in the past century. Canadian culture is rich with stories of immigration, and these are both precious and central to our collective conscience.
Being an immigrant in Canada means being invited to learn about the proud histories of those who settled here before and after us, but it does not demand subservience, nor does it recuse us from public service, public critique or national debate. Although Canadian politics is still currently dominated by white men of (predominantly) western European descent, this is something we are working on. The increased presence of diverse voices in Canadian government, broadcasting, culture and business will benefit Canadian society, and does not require those voices to assimilate to any real or perceived “Canadian values” espoused by the vocal few.
Au contraire, this country’s core knowledge runs much deeper than the “knowledge” currently on display by our elected officials, so please do not take their inaction on environmental crises, their undermining of Canadian cultural and scientific institutions (including the public broadcaster, CBC), or their perpetual political in-fighting as your cue. In my class, I take these three particular issues very seriously. My students are asked to consider environmental crises from local, global and eco-justice perspectives. My students are exposed to a wealth of Canadian art, poetry, journalism, music and culture, in the hopes that they will be life-long patrons of the arts and supporters of public funding for culture. And finally, my students are asked to consider how their words and actions can damage — or strengthen — the community of the class we work in every day. I hope it does not sound pompous to say that I believe Canada would be a better place if our politicians had been schooled in this way.
Being a Canadian, à mon avis, invites us to speak out about the issues that must be addressed in the public sphere. Public education, being arguably the most important sphere in which to protect these rights, is my domain, and yours, Ms, Mahmoud. It is for that reason that I invite you to read Canadian educational policy documents with a healthy dose of that Canadian scepticism. The curriculum, like anything, is a social construction that is constantly under construction. Your reading of it will vary from mine, and any approach you take with Canadian students will, no doubt, be a valuable addition to their “core knowledge” simply by virtue of you being a visitor in their class, with a new perspective on the world to share with them.
I look forward to continuing this conversation in person, and I hope you will enjoy your time with us. Safe travels.
Sincerely,
Amy Clausen