Finding the common ground – “a place where what we have in common is neither true nor untrue, a place where we come together in agreement not about what to believe but about what it is to believe” (loc 3187-3193 of 3425). Chamberlain writes about it. We have just explored it. The common ground of our class. Where our lives intersect around the theme of ‘home’, and where they depart from one another. These stories are a part of us. They are out there in the world now (King).
We have a starting point in gaining deeper understanding of each other. This is a crucial aspect of understanding others, of seeing that there are multiple perspectives: a crucial consideration when interacting with others.
Over this week, I have learned more about each of you – you who make up a big part of the ‘we’ Erika talks about in lesson 2:1. We are here, we are learning together.
I have learned of some places where we come together in shared understandings, values, and stories of home:
Home is not a fixed location, but a collection of spaced that have meaning and importance to us
Home is the feeling of content, of relaxation
Home is the memories, reminders of something gone, that we carry with us
Home is a collection of experiences that make us who we are
Home is a feeling of connection to the land, to past lives
Home is the call of nature
Home is the bonds we create, the people who we love and love us in return
Home is where we learn how to love
Home is the familiar, the comfortable, the safe
Home is happiness and sadness and anger and pride
Home is a promise of the future
I have learned where we diverge:
Home is also acceptance, it is where we are able to grow and learn without judgement.
Home is also growth, is change.
Home is also compatible – it is the people we bring with us.
Home is also family.
Home is also a weird combination of isolation and connection.
Home is also where personal and working life begin to merge.
Home is also the space of exploration, of where knowledge forms.
Home is both connection and isolation.
While reading, I recognized many values that I associated with home in the past. Some I had not even realized I no longer held as important; it opened my eyes to just how much my understanding – my assumptions – of home had changed over the years.
Some stories were light hearted, some deeply personal. I loved seeing the connections between the stories, and felt honored to have a chance to witness them. To see a bit closer into each of our lives, to know where we come from, how we grew to be who we are.
Some final thoughts…
Throughout lesson 2:1 (Paterson), my mind was constantly being drawn to Susan Dion’s book Braiding Histories. This is a resource I talked about within my introduction post, but this week felt particularly connected to the concepts that Dion covers.
The Braiding Histories project started with Dion recognizing a need for greater authentic representation of First Nations literature – there was a drastic need to step away from “position[ing] Aboriginal people as figures of the past, of peoples of a make-believe world” (5), of the “romanticised, mythical Others” (8).
The first connection I made to Dion was listening to Lorraine Weir’s interview. Within, she states that each of us have a different experience, which shapes our understanding, and shapes who we are. She makes this comment in reference to her students understanding of First Peoples literature: some students have the textbook historical knowledge required for understanding First Peoples literature, some students have lived experiences of what others can only read about, and some have minimal understanding of our collective past. Sometimes, students experiences have not prepared them for the stories they are about to learn, and are forced to “confront unsettling truths about [our]selves” (Dion 169).
It is this – forming a better understanding of our collective histories – that Dion aims for within her Braiding Histories project. Within her book, Dion stresses that our “ways of knowing” (182) are formed by our own experiences, and our “participation in particular cultural practices” (182). She encourages us to collect artifacts – assumptions, values, stories – that have built up our experiences, and store them in a ‘File[s] of (Un)certainties‘ (180) where we can look more deeply at them. Where we can begin to understand why we view things the way we do. We can begin to see where our assumptions and biases begin.
In a way, our stories of home reminded me of this process. We collected artifacts on what home meant to us, we shared them, compared them. It brought us all to a better understanding of each other, and reinforced the notion that each one of us is shaped by different experiences, and as such each of us view home a different way.
Works Cited
Chaktsiris, Mary. “Dion, Susan. “Braiding Histories: Responding to the
Problematics of Canadians Hearing First Nations Post-Contact
Experiences.” (2002)”. The History Education Network, 2011.
http://thenhier.ca/en/node/584.html. Accessed on 15 February 2021.
Chamberlin, J. Edward. “Eleven – Ceremonies”. If This Is Your Land,
Where Are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground. Kindle ed. Toronto:
Vintage Canada, 2004, loc. 2882 – 3193 of 3425.
King, Thomas. The Truth About Stories. eBook. House of Anansi Press Inc.,
2011. Halifax Public Libraries.
Manuel, Kathryn. “File of (Un)Certainties as a Critical Pedagogy of
Remembrance”. The Teacher Kat’s Adventures, Weebly, n.d.
http://theteacherkat.weebly.com/file-of-uncertainties.html. Accessed on
15 February 2021.
Paterson, Erika. “Lesson 2:1”. Canadian Literature, University of British
Columbia. 4 February 2021. Lecture notes.
Weir, Lorraine. “Instructor Interviews: Session 12”. What I Learned In Class
Today: Aboriginal Issues in the Classroom, 14 April 2008,
https://intheclass.arts.ubc.ca/interview-archive/session-
information/instructor-interviews/. Accessed on 1 Februray 2021.