During my studies I have been privileged to be able to immerse myself in an eclectic education. I have been particularly focused on representation, privilege and inequality. Inequality on all levels. For women, Indigenous groups, LQBTQ2S+, and other minority groups. I believe that this education will serve me well because it has broadened the way that I think about the world and the people in it. I believe that this will help me create an inclusive classroom. I also believe that this will allow me to create responsible, informed content for my students so that they too can be kind, informed citizens.
Below are a few examples of the courses that I completed that I believe will be assets to my teaching practice.
Sociology 2010 – Race and Ethnic Relations
This course confronted me with the idea that race does not really exist, but that the implications of believing that we come from various races often results in violence. I love this concept because while we come from different ethnic backgrounds, we are all created the same. This course helped me realize that race is not something that we are, it is something that we do. We racialize people to create categories of us vs them. I believe that those are dangerous ideals to live by, and I believe that children should be learning about the dangers of believing that skin colour determines the value of a person, or of an entire population of people.
Sociology 3610 – Social Inequality
This course was a broad overview of several different types of inequality. I always felt that coming from an Indigenous background that prejudice was prejudice. What I learned in this course is that there are various levels of prejudices, and that we all experience inequality differently. This course opened my eyes to more than just Indigenous inequality. I was privileged to learn about the struggles of all levels of society. Examples include, woman’s issues, LGBTQ2S+, ableism, and socio-economic oppression.
English 2200 – Queer Identities and Sexualities
This course was unfortunately done entirely online due to covid; however, we did have regular scheduled meetings times for audio/visual chats. I cannot say enough how much this class changed me as a person. I had never been the type of person to discriminate against someone for their sexuality or identity, but there was a depth to this class that challenged me to do my best work. I was extremely lucky to be in a class with students who were eager to educate those of us who were trying to achieve a new level of understanding. I do not know if I have ever asked so many questions in one class than I did here. I felt like I had to be courageous in my inquiry. I had the resources, I had the personal experiences, I had the opinions, all at my disposal, and I believe that I made the most that I could out of that class. It forever changed the way I think about the world and the people around me.
English 2250 – Women’s Bodies/Women’s Roles
This course focused on the representation of women in film and in literature. This course was delivered by the same instructor that delivered the Queer Identities and Sexualities course, and as such, there were several students from that class in this class as well. Those two courses combined created an entire year of learning for me. I was challenged to think critically about how women are represented, and the discrimination that they face. I think the most valuable thing that I took away from that entire year was the willingness of my classmates to answer my questions. I felt like my ignorance was disappearing week by week. I asked some heavy questions that I felt so uncomfortable asking, but that is where learning takes place, outside our comfort zone. I could never learn this type of subject matter on my own, making my own assumptions about how women feel about a variety of issues. I felt truly blessed to be part of such an eye opening experience.
Anthropology 2250 – Sex, Gender and Culture
This course focused heavily on how sex, gender, and culture are viewed globally. Some topics of discussion were the fluctuation of gender identity in various places such as Asia, India, Africa, and parts of Europe.
English 4470 – Special topics: Studies in Aboriginal Literature
When I had started my post-secondary studies I never thought I would have considered myself to be an English student by the end. I took this course going into my third year of studies. I had struggled with English back in 2006 during my first attempt at post-secondary studies. I was nervous to have to take an English course to satisfy the requirements for my BA when I came back in 2016. For this course specifically I had to email the instructor during registration to ask for special permission to enroll in the class. I was granted permission to join, but the instructor did warn me that my lack of experience in English would play a significant factor in my success. I was worried, but I also enjoy a challenge. I know that when I get my heels into something that I will succeed. This was an amazing course, it introduced me to such amazing texts; particularly, “Kiss of the Fur Queen” by Tomson Highway. It is a semi-autobiographical novel about two brothers who survive Indian Residential School. One becomes a gifted pianist, and believer of the Catholic faith, and the other falls into a painful world of addiction. This is a book that I would love to teach in a high school English class.
During my time in this course I wrote 3 essays, and it was my great honor to have been chosen to receive the “Council of Canadians” bursary.