 Figure 1: Hiking -Image of Hope (Mobbs, 2022) |
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In Bourn’s
article Pedagogy of Hope: Global Learning and the Future of Education (2021)
the argument being explored is that hope is an essential aspect of pedagogy,
or way of teaching, for an increasingly interconnected global
community. As humanity is faced with immense global challenges such as
climate change, we are also struggling with an understandable sense of
hopelessness in the face of such enormous, complex problems.
Bourn challenges us to innovate our definitions of learning and teaching in
light of the unprecedented historical challenges we face, quoting |
|
Bourn encourages us to look to the ideas
of Paolo Freire, especially his Pedagogy of Hope (2004), which challenges the
prevailing “banking concept” in education, “essentially an act that
hinders the intellectual growth of students by turning them into receivers of
information that has no real connection to their lives” (Bourn, 2021, p69).
Freire, Bourn and many others critique modern schooling where education is
seen as a commodity and the “market come[s] before the needs of the people”
(Bourn, 2021, p67). |
|
Figure 2: Paolo Freire and the Development of Critical Pedagogy (Wanta, 2019) |
|
Figure 3: A Tribute to bell hooks. What Teachers can Learn from her. (Burnout Teachers, 2021) |
Bourn
encourages us to innovate/transform the role of teachers in order to help us
better address the global crisis we face. Bourn (2021) envisions teachers as
“motivators for engaging learners in social change, and in promoting
scenarios for the future that can lead to a more just and sustainable world“
(p. 75). He adds “a key element of a pedagogy for hope has to be
not only imagining the future, but also providing the skills to enable
learners to seek social change” (Bourn, 2021, p. 71). He
references bell hooks (2003) in his redefinition of teaching and learning,
“where she sees a successful pedagogy of hope built on students’ and
teachers’ interactions in a form that is anti-oppressive and encourages
reflexivity, dialogue and criticality"(Carolissen et al., 2011 as cited
in Bourn, 2021, p.70). |
|
|
Bourn’s ideas also remind me of the ideas of many Indigenous educational scholars such as Chrona (2023), Battiste (2013) and Morcom (2017), who essentially are advocating for the same kinds of anti-racist, anti-oppressive social changes such as the decolonization of education, Reconciliation through education, and Indigenizing education under the guidance of First Nations leaders. |
Figure 4: Marie Battiste - Knowledge as a Key Site for Decolonization (Different Knowings, 2011) |
While Bourn doesn’t explicitly discuss creativity or innovation in his article, I wonder if his definition of hope might parallel the concept of creativity itself? For example, he quotes from Warnock (1986) at the beginning of the article noting
Hope is akin to energy, to curiosity, to the belief that things are worth doing. An education which leaves a child without hope is an education that has failed
(Warnock 1986: 182 as
cited in Bourn, 2021, p68). This definition of hope as “curiosity” and
“energy” seems quite a lot like a positive definition of creativity.
Perhaps that spark of wondering, of trying new things, of
attempting to making something better, that hope, is another way of
understanding creativity, the spark behind innovation?
References
Battiste, M. (2013). Decolonizing
Education: Nourishing the learning spirit.
Bourn, D. (2021).
Pedagogy of hope: global learning and the future of
education. International Journal of Development
Education and Global
Learning, 13(2),
65-78.
Burnout Teachers (2021,
Dec. 2) A Tribute to bell hooks.
[video] YouTube.
https://youtu.be/yIKTYdZkQcg?si=dTHZFw5EGzLAitjT
Chrona, J. (2023) Wayi
Wah:Indigenous
Pedagogies: An Act for Reconciliation and Anti-
Different Knowings (2011)
Marie Battiste: Knowledge as a key site for decolonization.
[video]
Youtube. https://youtu.be/Evxpt0u4tOU?si=du4TvOY2ijwjh8aQ&t=52
Mobbs, M. (2022) Hiking,
image of hope. [image]
Morcom, L.A., Davis, J., & Freeman, K. (2017). Rising like the thunderbird: The reclamation
of Indigenous teacher education. In T. Christou (Ed.), Canadian Teacher Education: A
Curriculum
History (pp.
23-40). New York: Routledge.
Comment sent to me on this post
ReplyDeleteHi Melanie,
Pedagogy of hope - what a perfect article to include in your blog: Educators As Indigenous Allies. I really enjoyed Bourn's article and while reading had a moment of clarity. In BC's curriculum, Core Competencies have become a focal point for intellectual, personal and social-emotional growth. From my experience, teachers often engage in activities that help build students communication and thinking skills, but struggle with the personal/social.
"The Personal and Social competency is the set of abilities that relate to students' identity in the world, both as individuals and as members of their community and society. Personal and social competency encompasses what students need to thrive as individuals, to understand and care about themselves and others, and to find and achieve their purposes in the world" (BC's Curriculum, 2024).
As I read Bourn's article I could make connections to how we could build up students as global citizens. If we can start to encompass a pedagogy of hope, we can also target the personal and social core competencies.
Leah
Reference
BC’s Curriculum. (2024). https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/