I feel like being in Canada is like what Talburt says,
“immersing in the process of looking outward in order to look inward (2009).It
seems to me that I coming to know of my own Country and about my identity in my
country by studying about the issues in Canada. I have come to know the value
of curriculum and how it can play with our minds. Curriculum can show a totally
different picture in contrast to what an actual picture of a country
looks like in terms of history related to identities and memory.
In trying to understand the issues related to the
indigenous people in Canada I tried to relate the issues to the issues existing
in India and I was surprised by my finding. Just like the curriculum in Canada
fails to address its issues, Indian curriculum also fails to address its
issues. I never read anything about Northeast Indians, Kashmir and other parts
of India in my school. I can’t comment on the current curriculum status of
Indian schools.
In Indigenous Education and Cultural
Resistance, Njoki Nathani Wane suggests critically
deconstructing cultures and education systems in order to understand the
underlying curriculum issues. From what I as a teacher have experienced
universalization of curriculum as said by Wane’s professor has
failed before it gets implemented. While implementing an international
curriculum, I and my colleagues had the same view. The students
were losing more than what they were learning. And according to Chambers(1999)
, Chambers(2003) and Wane(2008) students lose their history, the whole idea of
“Place”. To add more, Anderson-Levitt ‘s statement, “children in different
countries do not learn the same things at the same rate” (p. 362) resonates
with my experience as a teacher. Indian students study more science and math
curriculum without calculator till grade 12 than Canadian students. And
students of our schools were left behind in science and math. Wane(2008)’s
experience reminds me of my times as a student in Catholic school. The
educational structure of Indian school is completely influenced by
Britain. You can see also the influence in the books of science, Math,
and social studies.
I agree with Wane when he neglects the idea of taking
curriculum from global perspective without situating it within a context.
Wane(2008) supports the idea of Luke to include “new voices and historical
memories, literary texts and narratives, and world views and sciences that
hitherto had been repressed in mainstream curriculum formations” (p. 145- as
cited in Wane, 2008). This will provide the knowledge of ‘place’ and what
lies beyond that place to the learners. Just like what Wane
says "There is a need to find ways to have the local and the foreign
taught simultaneously. Our students should be provided with a glance of what is
out there in relation to what is in their backyard," (2009, p. 176).
References:
Wane, N. N. (2009). Indigenous Education and Cultural
Resistance: A Decolonizing
Project. Curriculum
Inquiry, 39 (1), pp. 159-178.
Chambers, C. (2006). “Where do I belong?” Canadian
curriculum as passport home.
Journal.
Chambers, C. (2003).“As Canadian as possible under the
circumstances”: A view of
contemporary
curriculum discourses in Canada. In William F. Pinar (Ed.),
International
Handbook of Curriculum Research (221252). Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence
Erlbaum.
Chambers. (1999). A Topography for Canadian curriculum
theory. Canadian Journal
of
Education, 24 (2), pp. 137150.
Talburt, S. (2009). International Travel and Implication.
Journal of Curriculum
Theorizing,
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