Reimagining the Canon

Source:

Worlds, M. & Miller, H. (2019). Miles Morales: Spider-Man and reimagining the canon for racial justice. English Journal, 108(4), 43-50.

Gist:

The authors argue that racial hierarchies and oppression in the English classroom will continue as long as teachers continue to hold the literary canon as the standard for what must be taught. They conclude that "reimagining the canon with books like Miles Morales: Spider-Man can begin to splinter the racial hierarchy that reigns over English curricula.

What is sacred:

When left unchallenged, the canon is a weapon of the colonial project, which perpetuates Eurocentrism and violence against people of color (Durand and Jimenez-Garcia)

English language arts classrooms must be sites to name, challenge, and ultimately dismantle oppressive systems.

Connection to current/future work:

The EDSE 428, which is my secondary English/language arts methods course, was able to have conversations around this article as a way to talk then about incorporating suggestions in the article (like side by side pieces) to create bridges for their students instead of border walls.

What I realized about myself as professor versus myself as teacher, is that although my aim to decolonize and push back against oppressive, colonizing curriculum has not changed, my strategy has mellowed when I am now responsible for other teachers. The teacher in me was ready to do what I felt was necessary to blow up curriculum because the only job I was willing to lose was my own. However, when I have these young teacher candidates under my wing, I need to teach them how to work within the system so that they can get tenured before they are encouraged to blow up the "system." That will be for the graduate level courses.

Comments

Professional Practice Dissertation Pre-Proposal, Part 1 of 4

My dissertation proposal as a culture-based education (CBE) version of Chopped All-Stars Please indulge my need for metaphors and analogies to make sense of my world. This is Part 1 of 4 blog posts to clarify my thinking on my proposed dissertation topic. How will this study work? Gather strong chefs, leaders and innovators in their own right and challenge them to create synergistic culinary masterpieces in the CBE Project, a professional development program. change chef to teacher; change culinary masterpieces to culture-based education-infused practices and curriculum ) The parameters: time (Kamehameha Hawaiʻi 4-week course with deadlines for teachers' own action research and learning portfolio to follow) key ingredients ( CBE practices , moenahā framework, makawalu , and the National Writing Project program model) the course (teachers' own content area and current curriculum) The question: How doe...

Dissertation Proposal 4 of 4: Timeline

Timeline Summer 12 - pre-proposal, lit reviews, submission for B-credit, negotiations for a course (place, time) Fall 12 - build the course using the village, build in indigenous, developmental evaluation and sustainability Spring 13 - submit IRB approvals, pa ʻa the logic model, recruit teacher leaders Summer 13 - Alana Summer Institute Fall 13 - teacher action research and gathering of data Spring 14 - analyze data, write Summer 14 - write, collaborate, present This is a "in an ideal world" timeline that does not take into account the village, the permissions from higher ups, the ability to exist on a non-budget, the recruitment of teachers willing to participate in this work with me, the full time job duties that I already have AND the fact that Iʻm supposed to be in 6 or 9 credits worth of my own courses in the Summer of 13 on Oahu when I want to serve my Big Island teachers. Any suggestions?

Dissertation 3 of 4: Research Methods

"From the vantage point of the colonized, a position from which I write, and choose to privilege, the term 'research' is inextricably linked to European imperialism and colonialism. The word itself, 'research,' is probably one of the dirtiest words in the indigenous world's vocabulary." ( Tuhiwai Smith , 1999) Paula Moya, a Chicana researcher says, "identities are fundamental to the process of all knowledge production" ( p. 102 ). Like Tuhiwai Smith, I must also embrace my identity as a colonized researcher. Moya goes on to say that education, "should not be about merely inculcating status quo values," but to reject the status quo as a way to inculcate a "transformative multicultural education" that will educate all learners for democracy and social justice (p. 109). The Alana Project, starting with this professional development course, which becomes my dissertation action research, sees transformative multicu...

Pure Manaʻo

Search This Blog