Jen Fischer's Blog

Teaching Credo (in flux) I believe in fostering students’ change-making capacity. My objective is to support students to become critical thinkers and engaged citizens so that they feel like they belong, matter, and can make a difference in the world. My framework is anti-oppressive—one that encourages anti-racism and allows all students to feel seen, safe, and proud in their identity whether it be their race, ability, gender, or sexual orientation. I believe in place-based, experiential education that thrives in nature and in the community. I believe in the tribology of…read more

Vanessa Andreotti (Indigenous scholar at UBC) suggests that cultural shifts can only occur when we are willing to really discuss the hard pieces of its complex problems. We need to be okay with fragility. In other words, we need to be okay with our vulnerability, even in an institutional setting. When discussing social issues in the classroom, there has never been a space to insert how their complex and messy parts, personally connect with my life. Perhaps there is space to discuss positionality, but never really move beyond the quantitative…read more

Ceremony is a theme I’ve thought a lot about since witnessing the Sundance in July 2017. Settler society for the most part, participates in ceremonies that stem from forms of consumption and capitalism- Christmas, Valentine’s day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, probably one of the most removed from capitalism is problematic for its ties to colonization and celebrating white supremacy. Then there is Remembrance Day- the idea of protecting a white Canada. Also, what is the difference between ritual and ceremony? Is it authentic ceremony if it advances capital profits instead of rejuvenating…read more

“Modernity’s ‘shine’ is articulated in ways that hide its shadow, or the fact that the very existence of the shiny side requires the imposition of systematic violence on the others.” (Vanessa Andreotti) “The link between deep investments in modernity and the role that these investments play in the systemic production of violence must therefore be denied (foreclose) for those who want to continue believing themselves to be good, altruistic people progressing towards a homogeneous future of rational, consensual harmony.” (Vanessa Andreotti)

Vanessa Andreotti (Indigenous scholar at UBC) suggests that with more education that we can move further to the “right” and move from soft reform to beyond-reform. With more knowledge than we can become ‘woke’. I struggle with this sentiment only because folks who live in the “everything is awesome” paradigm struggle to see their place in the mosaic of colonization’s harm. The benefits of privilege are too great. I have to admit, they are for me.  We receive praise in this culture for being: educated, fit/ thin, white, able bodied,…read more

Counter Stories, in response to Majoritarian Scripts, serve four functions: a) They can build community among those at the margins of society by putting a human and familiar face to educational theory and practice, (b) they can challenge the perceived wisdom of those at society’s center by providing a context to understand and transform established belief systems, (c) they can open new windows into the reality of those at the margins of society by showing possibilities beyond the ones they live and demonstrating that they are not alone in their position,…read more

Majoritarian scripts: Are narratives so normalized that they are not question. These are stories that benefit the social location of the middle/upper class, white & hetrosexual. Majoritarian scripts are of interest because people of colour and other disenfranchised groups might also tell them.  For example, when something bad happens in a “good” neighbourhood, we are surprised, if bad things only happen in “bad” neighbourhoods. Bad being a place where poor folks and people of colour occupy.  Scholars Daniel G Solozano & Tara Y. Yosso describe this: “Whether told by people of…read more

Critical Race Theory & Experiential knowledge:  Critical race theorists view this knowledge as a strength and draw explicitly on the lived experiences of people of colour by including such methods as storytelling, family histories, biographies, scenarios, parables, cuentos, testimonios, chronicles, and narratives (Daniel G Solozano & Tara Y. Yosso)