Hello – Welcome to my personal blog for English 372: Canadian Studies. My name is Laura Metcalfe, my pronouns are she/her, and I am a second year teacher, teaching high school drama, music and English. I am looking forward to learning with all of you in this shared virtual space.
My impression of and hope for English 372 is that this course on Canadian Literature will ask us to think deeply and critically about what we mean by Canadian and what we mean by Literature. We will explore the challenging past and present of colonization and anti-indigenous racism in Canada, examine the power structures of writing and speaking and storytelling, and develop a deeper understanding of the intersections of race, history and story.
I have been very much enjoying both The Truth About Stories by Thomas King and If This is Your Land, Where are Your Stories? by Edward Chamberlin and I wanted to share a connection I’ve made as we begin our blogging journey. I received my Bachelor of Education from a small UBC program called the West Kootenay Rural Teacher Education Program, in Nelson, B.C. This program has a focus in rural and small-school education, as well being centred around Critical Pedagogy of Place. David A. Gruenewald introduced the term Critical Pedagogy of Place as a combining of two educational theories, Place-Based Education and Critical Pedagogy. He argued that these two theories had their merits, and that each had significant gaps. Place Based Education, focusing on connection to the natural environment and the unique local community, is often criticized for lacking a critical lens and omitting the social systems of power and oppression. Critical Pedagogy declares that education is not separate from social justice and systems of oppression and power. The critique is that Critical Pedagogy pays most of its attention to urban culture and omits the influence and importance of the ecological world. So, Gruenewald brought these theories together to create an educational pedagogy that promotes a deep understanding of place and natural environment, with a critical and intersectional social lens.
Though it has been a while since I’ve brushed up on my Gruenewald or my Sobel or my Freire, I am glad to be reminded of these theories as I start the course. It seems like learning about “Canadian Literature” demands that we practice a Critical Pedagogy of Place – fostering a willingness to explore this unique place with a hands-on curiosity, and with a critical eye to power structures, systems of racism and oppression, and histories of colonization.
I’ll be taking Critical Pedagogy of Place with me as we fumble our way through English 372.
Looking forward to it.
LM
Works Cited
França, J., 2019. “Henry Giroux: “Those Arguing That Education Should Be Neutral Are Really Arguing For A Version Of Education In Which Nobody Is Accountable.” CCCB LAB, http://lab.cccb.org/en/henry-giroux-those-arguing-that-education-should-be-neutral-are-really-arguing-for-a-version-of-education-in-which-nobody-is-accountable. Accessed 17 January 2021.
Gruenewald, D., 2003. “The Best of Both Worlds: A Critical Pedagogy of Place.” Educational Researcher, 32(4), pp.3-12, http://web.pdx.edu/~abyron/peace_ed/Wk3/critical_pedagogy_of_place.pdf. Accessed 17 January 2021.
Sobel, D., n.d. “Place Based Education: Connecting Classroom And Community.” Community Works Journal, https://magazine.communityworksinstitute.org/place-based-education-connecting-classroom-and-community. Accessed 17 January 2021.
Hi Laura. Wonderful post. As I’ve gone through the course syllabus and wrote my first blog post I thought much about education and the ways in which our past and current education systems have and continue to perpetuate systems of colonization and cultural genocide against our First Nations. I applaud the efforts of you and other newer teachers who are working to decolonize our educational systems and employ the approaches you mentioned in your post to examine critically sociocultural issues of colonisation and systemic oppression.
I’d only heard a bit about “critical pedagogy of place” and I’m particularly interested in the idea of place based education and the idea of “place” as important to examining societal issues. In a previous seminar I took, I studied Audra Simpson’s “Borders, Cigarettes, and Sovereignity,” where Simpson analyzed how borders oppress and divide, particularly in relation to Canada’s First Nations. You mention place based education’s focus on connections to one’s natural environment and local communities – does PBE also confront issues of borders and the formation of nation-states?
Hi Leo,
Thanks for your comment! I have not studied much about borders and the formation of nation states but it surely an interesting topic. I grew up in Nelson B.C. on the traditional territory of many nations including the Sylix/Okanagan Nation, the Ktunaxa Nation and the Sinixt Nation. Your question about borders made me think of the history of the Sinixt Nation whose land stretches north of Revelstoke, BC and south across the border to Kettle Falls Washington. I think borders begin to not make much sense when you look beyond the stories of those who created them.
I think Place-Based Education, like all educational theories and pedagogies has shifted and changed and evolved as different people take it on and apply it in different ways, so I am sure there are people working with PBE and Critical Pedagogy of Place that are deeply considering and engaging with decolonization and border politics and the creation of nation states. However, it seems to me that generally PBE does not take these things into consideration, and in fact works within the confines of colonial borders in terms of its definitions of “place.”
Thanks for your question!
Hello Laura,
Thank you for such a lovely introduction to you. I am pleased that the course takes you back to your readings of Paulo Freire – Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and I very much enjoyed reviewing Gruenewald’s piece, “The Best of Both Worlds: A Critical Pedagogy of Place. I couldn’t help but to stop and wonder about Place-based education in context with this course – what happens when ‘the place we study together’ is a virtual space connected by satellites in outer-space orbiting the planet?
“…, while critical pedagogy offers an agenda of cultural decolonization, place-based education leads the way toward ecological “reinhabitation.” [Gruenewald, D. p. 4].
Reading Gruenewald makes me ask, how does one describe the ‘ecological space’ of online education? Maybe that is a stretch inspired by the isolation of Covid-19, but an interesting one. If you have looked ahead to Unit 4 – Gruenewald’s discussion provides some interesting background thoughts for our Online Conference at the end of term. I am very much looking forward to our work together.
Hi Erika,
Sorry it has taken me so long to respond. Thank you for your comment. This idea of our learning place being a unique online realm kind of broke my brain. As I read through the introduction blogs I imagined that our shared space was made up of the “real” spaces we each inhabit in our daily lives – as in, I’m coming from my computer in my home in Vancouver, and another person is coming from their home in Toronto. I had not considered this course existing in an online space separate from our individual spaces. I find this fascinating and baffling, and maybe even a little terrifying?
Maybe this relates to the comment I just responded to from Leo – maybe our online space is borderless and doesn’t exist within colonial definitions of place? But at the same time, it inevitably exists within colonial definitions of place because we exist within colonial definitions of place and this shapes the beliefs and values and experiences and identities that we bring to this online space.
I am struck by how I have never thought of this and it seems so relevant in this digital age. To discuss “place” with students, and ignore this nebulous digital realm is so naive, as so much of our time ( and especially so much of my students’ time) is spent there.
So I don’t really have an answer except to be startled by this question and excited for it to rumble around in my mind for a long while.
Thanks for confusing me!
Hi fellow teacher!
I’m currently a Teacher Librarian on a Temp contract at an elementary school — though with COVID measures, I am affectively an ELL/LRT teacher without the training. Like you, I’m also a second year teacher, having graduated from UBC out of the TELL-3C cohort.
I’m so happy that you received a Teacher-Education rich in Critical Pedagogy of Place! My cohort operated quite differently, and we explored many different Pedagogies (almost all of them critical) throughout the program. The program was case-based, so it largely depended on where our research took us, rather than strict plans from the department, which was a nice way to experience an inquiry approach to education, but it also meant that I didn’t get to spend a lot of time in one Pedagogy. All this is to say that Gruenewald’s work on Critical Pedagogy of place was the most inspiring piece of Pedagogy that I had come across in that program, and I wish I had more time to study it in depth as a Teacher Candidate.
Thinking about this response has prompted me to look back at some of the articles that I went over during this case, and I’m reminded of the dimensions of place Gruenewald mentions in “Foundations of Place: A Multidisciplinary Framework for Place-Conscious Education”: Ideology, Sociology, Ecology, Perception, and Politics[619-649]; and how all these dimensions intertwine with our roles as educators — being accountable not just for what we are teaching, but how we are teaching it.
I’m fascinated by how these elements will interact with storytelling, and how the places that we are in speaks to the stories that are told there. How can we talk about decolonizing our storytelling, while also using colonized settings to tell those stories?
It also makes me wonder about how I find myself in this position of wishing that my education as a teacher had not been so broad (though, perhaps stretched?). I love the idea of going through the program with just one focus on a critical pedagogy instead of the exploration that I had gone through, seeing all the different ways pedagogies have been formed. What does it speak to the nature of teaching that the ways that children are taught is not universally constructed from a Critical, Place-based lens? Not to assume that this would be the case for you, but I can’t imagine that the critical pedagogy of place would easy to engage in if there weren’t a culture of teachers that was ready to support your work as you engage in it this way.
Hi Zac,
I’m so late in this response, but grateful to re-read your comment and take a moment to respond. You asked ‘How can we talk about decolonizing our storytelling, while also using colonized settings to tell those stories?’ and I think this links to your final comments about how it must be challenging to engage in critical pedagogy of place without a culture of educators also doing the same. This is the question I ask myself over and over again in different forms. How can I decolonize within a colonial society? How can I decolonize my teaching if the students have grown up learning within a colonial structure? It’s interesting and deeply complicated. As a new teacher, it’s a one step at a time kind of game. I learn some things about decolonizing my teaching, or about teaching from a critical lens, and then I try to implement them and practice them and engage my students in them. And then I learn more and I ditch some of what I was doing and adapt. And I try to be explicit and discuss these challenges with my students and have them help me come up with ways to adapt. Ultimately, I do not know the answer except that I believe it must be ongoing. It is not a book you read or course you take or a degree you complete. It is life long learning and adapting in order to counteract the long-standing structures and traditions that are so deeply set within this country, culture and education system.
Thanks again for your thoughts and questions!
Hello Laura!
I very much enjoyed reading your introductory post. 🙂 I found your descriptions of your experiences in the West Kootenay Rural Teacher Education Program particularly fascinating, and want to thank you for introducing me to the concept of Critical Pedagogy of Place. As Dr. Paterson noted above, the sudden paradigm shift into this “shared virtual space,” as you cogently termed it, provides a fertile ground for discussion regarding ideas related to Critical Pedagogy of Place. Have you discovered any links between virtual learning and Critical Pedagogy of Place during your current experiences with your students?
I’m looking forward to working and learning more with and from you over this course!
Cheers,
Magda
Hi Magda,
Catching up on some overdue replies. Thanks for your comment!
Of course, critical pedagogy of place and place-based learning are pretty challenged by the current pandemic. Shelburne Farms is a non-profit organization in Vermont that usually engages in place-based education. They describe this challenge as follows:
“You want experiential education in the COVID-19 pandemic? Go right ahead. Just don’t gather in groups, don’t go anywhere and don’t have any experiences together.
You want to reconnect students to the community? Fine. Just don’t interact with other people or leave your front porch.
You want to understand the connections between lake health and human health? Lovely. Of course, you can’t go down to the lake.”
So it is a tough an interesting road block for sure.
Another teacher friend of mine began engaging in what she called “analog learning.” This was learning that students were doing from home, but that was intentionally not online. This allowed the students to still be engaging with place-based thinking.
I also found an article that dove into the distinction between place and space. Place being more literal and physical, and space being broader and more contextual. They created a new term, splace, to encompass the current blur and overlap of our places and spaces!
Thanks again for your comment!