21st Biennial Conference of the International Study Association on Teachers & Teaching

Teachers and Truth-telling Pedagogies: a global perspective

Jessica Maree Gannaway¹, Emily Dobrich², Helen Knowler³

¹University of Melbourne, Australia; ²University of Toronto, Canada; ³University College London, UK

This symposium brings together researchers from Canada, the UK and Australia to explore truth-telling pedagogies across a range of contexts. Educators are increasingly tasked with addressing historical injustices in the classroom. At a time when the teaching profession is facing unprecedented crises, this symposium underscores the importance of keeping truth-telling conversations at the forefront of educational agendas.

Paper 1

The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission highlights the harmful legacy of the residential school system, and the need to work towards reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada (TRC, 2015). Drawing on decolonizing discourses of diaspora (Haig-Brown, 2009) this paper shares findings from an educational research project created for immigrant women to connect in reflective discussions to learn more about Indigenous Peoples in Canada and discuss ways to take action to support reconciliation.

Paper 2

In the context of national calls for truth-telling in Australia regarding the colonial violence committed against First Nations peoples, educators assume a pivotal role in fostering historical awareness in their classrooms. This paper presents data from a two-year project about capacity-building for discomfort (Britzman, 1998; Zembylas, 2015) in an ITE subject that directly confronts these histories. This study explores pedagogical approaches to prepare educators who can navigate discomfort and contribute to a more reconciled educational landscape.

Paper 3

The Eugenics Legacy Education Project works with staff and students to develop guidelines, staff resources, and learning opportunities that embed visibility and awareness of UCL’s history of eugenics. A reparative theorisation of education posits that not only should educators recognise institutional harm and injustice in their teaching but should also ask how this should be addressed (Sriprakash, 2022). We outline the tensions of reckoning with these problematic legacies and amplify the transformative potential of student collaboration to develop reparative pedagogies to address harmful histories.

Conference Agenda