Karen Ragoonaden

Creating Identity and Culture in the Great White North

This article raises the question of how the Canadian educational system can avoid the polemics of massive immigration from non-European countries and strive towards developing an equitable, fair and sustainable society based on socially just, cohesive principles. The discussion revolves around the concepts of culture and identity in a pluralistic society and how the educational system responds to these challenges. The focus is on understanding the multiple identities of Canadian students, including aboriginal epistemologies, by creating culturally responsive teachers, developing intercultural competence programmes and establishing the foundations of multicultural education. This multi-thematic study explores ways in which contemporary ways of teaching and learning can be transformed into a diverse, sustainable and global curriculum which is inclusive of all students, regardless of their multiple identities.

Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices and Critical Pedagogy: The Fifth Moment in a Teacher Educator's Journey

In order to research and improve her practice, a teacher educator examined her life history and its relation to the ethical and moral discourses of society using autobiography as a self-study methodology. This critical reflection provided the basis for contextualizing praxis-oriented teacher education in an urban school. Based on the transformative framework of critical pedagogy coupled with a self-study of teacher education practices, this article explores how a teacher educator engages in research relating to the self, professional practice, and the analysis of the tensions surrounding otherness and oppression. Critical pedagogy provided the means and the methods to facilitate reflection upon her own earned and unearned privilege in society and paved the way for an agency of change in her practice.

Book Review: The Ingredient of Challenge, Future Citizens: 21st Century Challenges for Young People, Knowing Our Place: Children Talking about Power, Identity and Citizenship

The reality of learning is more than setting the standards and assessing performance, but determining ‘what matters and what works, as well as what needs to change to promote success’ (Darling-Hammond, 1998, p. 3). Accommodating each student’s particular learning style continues to be a challenge. The Ingredient of Challenge focuses on the theme of pedagogy and challenge, ‘children need challenge to become motivated about learning ... Good teachers know this and work hard to keep their pupils challenged by responding to their needs and interests, providing wellconsidered activities and carefully planned tasks’ (Winstanley, 2010, p. ix). The premise of this book analyses and reflects on the ‘elements that contribute to challenge and the principles that underpin the concept. It is solidly based on practice and grounded in theory, with research-based evidence presented throughout and applied to pedagogy, without losing sight of the concrete constraints within which practitioners have to work’ (p. ix). This book is written by an accomplished lecturer, researcher and author, with particular responsibility for Learning and Teaching at Roehampton University, United Kingdom. In addition, the writer works with highly able children and is also the author of Too Clever by Half. She puts forward the view that: