Page 397 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

372 C.D. Stonebanks

and participate in the evolution of the profession, from evaluating teaching methods to
shaping school curriculum. From a critical pedagogy perspective, education is ana-
lyzed in terms of the limitations of serving the needs of colonialism and imperialism
from schools in the economically privileged countries to schools in economically mar-
ginalized nations, building a teaching and learning environment in which potential
injustices can thus be revealed and, to the extent possible, acted upon.
but I think we need to examine the special fears teachers have about transforming
themselves. I’ve heard teachers talk directly and indirectly about their fears. They worry
about being fired if they practice emancipating education instead of the transfer-of-knowledge
pedagogy. (Shor and Freire 1987, p. 53)
Revealing such injustices involves risk.
In as much as critical pedagogy has a good deal to offer all people, what can be
learned from subjugated knowledge is often a clarity of perspectives that shatter
eurowestern claims of objectivity and neutrality – critical questions that are often
avoided in our schools.
One of the class participants asked how people acquired farms in the United States. In
response, the U.S. teacher researchers shared how land was taken from indigenous people
who were forced to relocate to less desirable land. This sharing of the eco-justice issue of
Native Americans being displaced from their ancestral land was remarkably similar to the
diaspora of villagers in Malawi. The elite top-down approach from experts or the govern-
ment for solving ecological degradation problems did not seem to resonate with the class.
(Glasson et al. 2006, p. 671)
A straightforward, critical question asked in a class in Malawi, results in a
dialogue that would leave many uncomfortable in our Canadian and U.S. schools.
After all, the transfer-of-knowledge pedagogy has inadvertently perpetuated a
eurowestern understanding of educators’ role in the world, as purveyors of
objective justice and disseminators of equity. For example, tackling ecojustice
conditions with an acknowledgment of who has power and privilege being an
essential part of the problem-solving process requires educators and learners to
question what has been told to them and wade through the dirty waters to find,
what can sometimes be, uncomfortable answers. And, of course mentioning “dirty
waters” brings us back to the conversation with Joe in a village named Mistissini,
I started this chapter with.

Raisins Floating in Soda Water

Always positive, inquisitive, and engaged, Joe listened intently, waiting to hear how
jars full of dirty water and water lice connected with his work. I continued to
describe the manner in which most (if not all) of the students would carry out the
supposed inquiry-based assignment. With observation and a response sheet in hand,
students would move uniformly from their desks to the jars, looking through the
various stages of dirty waters and the “bugs,” and dutifully complete their study
assignment. Statements like “Gross!,” and “That is so disgusting!” and “Cool!” are