Looking Backward, Moving Forward
Dalhousie University commenced its 200th anniversary celebrations with a re-telling of the institution’s history by esteemed alumnus, seventh parliamentary poet laureate, and Nova Scotian, Dr. George Elliott Clarke. The university’s decision to commission a bicentennial poem to look backwards as it also moves forward emphasizes how historical context follows us well into the future.
During Dalhousie’s history many difficult, oppressive, and complex legacies have made themselves known, forcing the community to seriously consider the university’s historical impact on the present, “ … un passé qui ne passe pas.” While the institution’s namesake carries the colonial weight of its founder, the university has been working towards intentionally recognizing the effects of such a legacy. In particular, a panel led by Dr. Afua Cooper is in the process of examining Lord Dalhousie’s associations with slavery and racial injustice. The release of their findings is expected during the bicentenary (McNutt, 2018).
Other initiatives that publicly address legacies of the colonial past include a mace re-visioning committee tasked with managing a process to create a symbol inclusive of all Dalhousie community members. Partnerships with under-represented student and faculty populations, and the inclusion of medicine pouches at convocation for Indigenous graduates and kente sash for African Canadian graduates begins to create space for a variety of voices. The introduction of curriculum modifications and addition of new programs such as the certificate in Indigenous Studies, an Indigenous Health Program in medicine, and a first-year course on Aboriginal and Indigenous Law in response to the TRC Calls to Action begin to address injustices that influence the present teaching and learning context. In The Story of Dalhousie; Or, The University as Insurgency, Dr. Clarke (2018) mentions important formative historic initiatives that encouraged some of the university’s most recent endeavours:
Arguably, anyway, the most rad uptakes at Dal
were the Transition Year Program
and the later Indigenous Black and Mi’kmaq Law Initiative,
both urged on by Burnley “Rocky” Jones’s analysis—
to whit, that one way that the poor and Indigenous,
the criminalized and “Coloured,”
remain perpetual paupers, social outsiders,
is via their supposed inadmissibility to university
and law-school palaver—
those organs and engines of bourgeois hegemony.
Add to these programs the Maritime School of Social Work
and Dal Legal Aid,
and Dal evolves into a nexus, a matrix,
of potential change-agents (i.e., Saul Alinsky acolytes)….
While these ventures move Dalhousie toward an improved future, there’s still much relational work to be done to achieve the ideal to which the institution aspires.
On May 2-3, 2018, those in attendance at the Dalhousie Conference on University Teaching and Learning (DCUTL) will tackle the theme “Exploring the Future(s) of Higher Education: Supporting Inclusive Teaching Excellence.” As a significant teaching and learning celebration during Dalhousie’s bicentenary, the DCUTL acknowledges that, “What it means to know, to learn, and to teach has changed significantly over the last 20 years, yet some aspects of our collective and individual teaching and learning practices have not changed at all. …Our choices about which pathways we will embrace are a crucial conversation for higher education” (Centre for Learning & Teaching, 2018). Participants at the conference are encouraged to envision and discuss what the future of teaching and learning could and should look like.
Imagining the future isn’t an easy task and often relies on what have become expected tropes. For example, my own work explores how popular agricultural exhibitions and World’s fairs often included futuristic elements as an opportunity to define progress and educate visitors according to that meaning. In 1934, the unique technological developments on display at the Calgary Exhibition & Stampede included Alpha the Robot – a “mechanical man” weighing 7000 lbs, and billed as “one of the scientific marvels of the age.” The “Salute to 100 Years of Progress” celebrated the centenary of Canada’s first act of Confederation and incorporated a display of laser beam equipment, video-telephones, and the “Rocket Man” who would zoom off into space twice daily (Joudrey, 2013). When we consider “the future” it can be difficult to ignore the science-fiction promises of flying cars, personal robots, or space settlements (I’m looking at you “The Jetsons”). These visions of what-could-be were heavily invested in mechanical and technological gains with less consideration for improving societal relationships.
Occasionally, we adopt a similar outlook when considering the future of higher education. It’s not surprising that many research hours have been dedicated to the important and influential technological and mechanical futures of post-secondary institutions. The technological changes in our society have been rapid, and educators and learners both hope to understand the impact of various technologies on learning. However, Jessica Riddell (2018), the Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chair of Undergraduate Teaching Excellence at Bishop’s University, recently had the opportunity to ask university presidents, administrators, faculty, educational developers, staff and students about the latest trends, opportunities, and challenges in learning and teaching. Responses were varied and included a range of concerns such as online learning, experiential learning, accessibility, mental health, Indigenization and inclusion. She suggests that we need multiple round tables to fulfill the individual desire to be treated with dignity and self-determination, and the first step is to,
…invite under-represented and marginalized people to our existing tables within the university. We must insist that every table includes the voices of our Indigenous peoples – as elders, administrators, faculty, students, community leaders. We must insist that students sit at every table. We must ensure that our existing tables are spaces that reflect equity, diversity and inclusion.
Like Riddell, the articles featured in this edition of Focus takes the importance of relationship very seriously. In anticipation of the DCUTL, the authors reflect on the future of teaching and learning at the university. Where have we been? Where are we going? How can we get there?
The authors’ commentaries speak to one other. All of the contributions demonstrate concern for future students, and hope to create space for diverse populations, diverse ideas, and diverse learning. In “Journeying towards inclusion,” Dr. Fiona Black, (Associate Vice-President, Academic) reminds us that we’ve only just set out on the path toward inclusive teaching. Dr. Black provides initial strategies for critically considering program curriculum to become truly inclusive. Adrienne Sehatzadeh (Instructional Designer, CLT) reflects on Dr. Craig Steven Wilder’s recent visit to campus in relationship to the Dalhousie context. Lindsay McNiff’s (Learning & Instruction Librarian) contribution “Bias and the internet: The role of libraries and information literacy” emphasizes the importance of informational literacy in combatting confirmation bias. Finally, Dr. Jill McSweeney, (Educational Developer, CLT) in her article “Reimagining Learning Spaces into Places of Learning” encourages us to consider the importance of learning spaces as places that develop both learning and community. Each of the authors recognize the necessity of acknowledging and addressing bias, whether internally entrenched or externally applied. Their perspectives are relational, which can be a challenging institutional quality to influence because relationship building requires mutual willingness. The discussions sparked by these articles will begin to lead us towards educational practices that address the lingering injustices, and move Dalhousie University into a more inclusive future.
References
Centre for Learning and Teaching (2018) “Dalhousie Conference on University Teaching and Learning” https://www.dal.ca/dept/clt/events-news/annual-events/DCUTL.html
Clarke, G. E. (2018) The Story of Dalhousie; Or, The University as Insurgency https://www.dal.ca/about-dal/history-tradition/bicentennial-poem.html
Joudrey, S.L. (2013) “Hidden Authority, Public Display: Representations of First Nations Peoples at the Calgary Stampede, 1912-1970,” PhD Dissertation, Carleton University.
McNutt, R. (16 February 2018) “Lord Dalhousie Panel’s Initial Report Expected This Spring,” Dal News.
Riddell, J. (2018) “Where do we wish to go in higher education?” University Affairs/Affaires universitaires, 27 March 2018.