Thinking who we are becoming : a collage of possibility for teachers

As society becomes increasingly influenced by neoliberal ideology, and knowledge and education become slaves to the economy, the concept of the teacher is becoming less rooted in relationships and more in instrumentality. I find this increasing instrumentalization of my profession dehumanizing, where I am left “feeling like a chess piece or a cog or even an accomplice of some kind” (Greene, 1995, p. 11). If we are not to be accomplices in the damaging structural change occurring in our world and profession, I contend that teachers must think ourselves differently—must think the world differently. In this thesis I ask: How might teachers respond to such socio-political forces in ways that recover the relational and open up possibilities for themselves, their students, and the world? I then present one possibility in the form of this thesis as a collage or assemblage of ideas. The deliberate poetics of this piece of creative scholarship is both an exposition and an example of thinking the world differently. By juxtaposing autobiographical, theoretical, and poetic writing in textual collage, I demonstrate how thoughtful articulation and action in myriad forms can succeed to effect change in as yet unimaginable ways. The Prologue and Epilogue are pieces of life writing “promoting emancipatory projects of learning and teaching” (Hasebe-Ludt and Jordan, 2010, p. 2). Together with poetic interludes created from the text of the Prologue, life writing provides the frame of the thesis. I also include historical and contemporary narratives about the education and work of teachers. I conclude the thesis with an exploration of what might be possible for teachers, teaching, and teacher education when we acknowledge the contingency of the educational project.Education, Faculty ofCurriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department ofGraduat