Week 6
Moving Beyond “Common Sense”
Moving Beyond “Common Sense”
Looking back through my notes and commonplace book entries, I am struck by how much my attitude has already shifted. In our first class, I remember feeling skeptical. “But I know this!!” I wrote in my first entry. I came into this course feeling like I already knew the basics when it came to topics of social justice, with most of my friends at least somewhat involved in leftist activism. By no means did I ever consider myself an expert, but I believe in true equality for all, a free Palestine, that Black lives matter. I donate to mutual aid funds, support my neighbours in encampments, respect my friends’ gender identities, and attend protests for causes I believe in. I felt after that first class like, ok this should be familiar content! And in some ways this was true, but I’ve realized that understanding these concepts is vastly different from enacting them in a classroom as a leader and educator—someone entrusted with others’ children. While some of this may feel like “common sense,” I recognize that systemic and personal biases are so deeply ingrained they can easily go unnoticed without constant vigilance.
Writing my entry for Week 3 on the GLSEN article about pronouns made me confront complex feelings I have about inclusivity, language and “political correctness”. It felt cathartic to just dump out all my thoughts on this topic that I don’t usually feel comfortable sharing out loud. I was prompted to have conversations outside of class with friends in my cohort, particularly Max, who does not agree that “guys” ever operates as a gender-neutral term. While Max and I are friends, we disagree on this! It is both uncomfortable and exhilarating to be pushed outside of my bubble, and have these sticky conversations with people who challenge my beliefs.
The entry prompts for Weeks 4 and 5 that touched on the trauma and systemic violence inflicted upon Indigenous communities in Canada forced me to confront major gaps in my own education. I am aware that I only learned half-truths about Canada’s history when I was a child in school, and still have so much learning and unlearning left to do, before I will feel fully equipped to responsibly teach these histories to my future students. I’m now reading Indigenous Writes by Chelsea Vowel, which I plan to review for our upcoming Executive Book Summary assignment.
Dr. ABC’s advice to “say the things without saying the things” resonated with me last week. I’m learning to balance my desire for open discussions with the realities of working within institutional boundaries. This course so far has been a journey of self-reflection, deep conversations, and finding practical ways to embody my values in a classroom setting. While I still have many questions, I feel better equipped to navigate the tensions of being an inclusive educator—one who not only teaches, but also learns and grows, onwards and upwards with her students.