As part of a larger study focusing on the interdependence of creative and critical curricula, thi... more As part of a larger study focusing on the interdependence of creative and critical curricula, this research examines how an arts experience in an elementary school was re-storied, with the guidance of local and place-based First Nation community members, as an exploration of decolonizing curriculum. A school-based musical theatre experience titled Re-Storying Canadian History, which intended to address concerns about Canada's 150th anniversary, served as a critical and creative medium for increasing awareness of the existing plurality of First Nation identities, cultures, and languages. Framed as a case study, the experiential narratives of elementary school students and their educators provided a space, a time, and a place to initiate and to discuss decolonization processes in elementary school curricula. Three interpretive devices, storying and re-storying, broadening, and burrowing engaged educators and their students in reconnecting teaching and learning with Indigenous cont...
Recently in British Columbia (BC) a redesigned K-12 curriculum plan was introduced (BC Ministry o... more Recently in British Columbia (BC) a redesigned K-12 curriculum plan was introduced (BC Ministry of Education, 2016). Undergirding the plan are The First Peoples Principles of Learning (FNESC, 2008; 2015), a learning philosophy that offers nine descriptions of what learning is, what it supports, involves, recognizes, and embeds (FNESC, 2008; 2014). The rationale for embedding the principles into all aspects of the curricular plan is to prioritize Indigenous perspectives and worldviews in classrooms for all students and at all times (BC Ministry of Education, 2015). As a practicing educator, my self-study research illuminated the FPPL as a vehicle for teacher education through the opportunity to develop my own curricular theory in relationship to my context (Chrona, 2014). A significant body of educational research makes it evident that a teacher's understanding of curriculum is a primary influence with and for their curricular enactment (
Educational philosophers and scholars (Derrida, 1992; Biesta, 2013; Whitehead & Huxtable, 2015) o... more Educational philosophers and scholars (Derrida, 1992; Biesta, 2013; Whitehead & Huxtable, 2015) offer that education can be understood as gifting; acts of reciprocity and exchange. Indigenous scholar Kuokkanen (2007), posits that Indigenous knowledge is a gift that offers new perspectives for
A large-scale arts experience marking and celebrating Canada's 150th anniversary serves as a ... more A large-scale arts experience marking and celebrating Canada's 150th anniversary serves as a critical and creative medium for increasing awreeness of Indigenous as well as non-Indigenous histories contributing to the identities, cultures, languages, values and ways of knowing, constituting what it means to be Canadian. The arts experience opens the primary research quest concerning the formation fluid, purposeful learning contexts, exploring needed conditions and supports towards building dialogical, multi-voiced curricular conversations instead of monolithic curriculum. A three-year community partnership with an elementary school and associated teachers, administrators, and curricular, Indigenous, and historical studies expertise from the University, are involved in this research. Intersecting music, dance, visual, language, and performing arts, the intent is to explore and embody narratives of Canadian history, critically and creatively, and attend to the learning significance...
As part of a larger study focusing on the interdependence of creative and critical curricula, thi... more As part of a larger study focusing on the interdependence of creative and critical curricula, this research examines how an arts experience in an elementary school was re-storied, with the guidance of local and place-based First Nation community members, as an exploration of decolonizing curriculum. A school-based musical theatre experience titled Re-Storying Canadian History, which intended to address concerns about Canada’s 150th anniversary, served as a critical and creative medium for increasing awareness of the existing plurality of First Nation identities, cultures, and languages. Framed as a case study, the experiential narratives of elementary school students and their educators provided a space, a time, and a place to initiate and to discuss decolonization processes in elementary school curricula. Three interpretive devices, storying and re-storying, broadening, and burrowing engaged educators and their students in reconnecting teaching and learning with Indigenous content,...
In 2016, the province of British Columbia introduced a redesigned K-6 curriculum. Undergirding th... more In 2016, the province of British Columbia introduced a redesigned K-6 curriculum. Undergirding this plan is the learning philosophy, the First Peoples Principles of Learning. This paper is written from the perspective of a settler teacher as she engages in self-study research to develop her understanding of the curricular plan. The author describes her emerging self-awareness as opening to a deeper understanding of her Euro-American worldview, cultural narratives that maintain gaps between settler teachers and First Peoples perspectives, and how ongoing self-inquiry is a way to improve as an educator.
Purpose This paper documents findings from a qualitative research project on flourishing in schoo... more Purpose This paper documents findings from a qualitative research project on flourishing in schools using a positive organizational research approach. The purpose of this paper is to uncover and bring to description educators’ experiences of the conditions, forces and influencing factors for flourishing in their context. The main objectives were to inform research and practice in school improvement from a positive perspective, provide knowledge and practice about noticing and growing well-being for educators and to encourage an attention on individual and collective well-being as an organizational imperative. Design/methodology/approach To gain a rich description of what it means for educators to feel a sense of flourishing in their work, the researchers used qualitative, case study methods and appreciative research activities. For the case study reported on in this paper, data were collected through open-ended, appreciative, focus group conversations and researcher observations in ...
Journal of Professional Capital and Community, 2018
Purpose – This paper documents findings from a qualitative research project on flourishing in sch... more Purpose – This paper documents findings from a qualitative research project on flourishing in schools using a positive organizational research approach. The purpose of this paper is to uncover and bring to description educators’ experiences of the conditions, forces and influencing factors for flourishing in their context. The main objectives were to inform research and practice in school improvement from a positive perspective, provide knowledge and practice about noticing and growing well-being for educators and to encourage an attention on individual and collective well-being as an organizational imperative. Design/methodology/approach – To gain a rich description of what it means for educators to feel a sense of flourishing in their work, the researchers used qualitative, case study methods and appreciative research activities. For the case study reported on in this paper, data were collected through open-ended, appreciative, focus group conversations and researcher observations...
In this paper we (graduate student and supervisor) collaborate to improve our practice through ge... more In this paper we (graduate student and supervisor) collaborate to improve our practice through generating new educational knowledge using the conceptual principles of Living Educational Theory research (Whitehead, 1989, 2008). We examine how we might deepen our capacity to work and live in ways that make us feel whole within a variety of contexts through exploring our values of authenticity, diversity and love. To articulate our commitment to this inquiry we describe ourselves as 'servants of connectivity', meaning we prioritize understanding how our actions either connect or disconnect us from our values and from others. Through our inquiry we demonstrate how flourishing of self and community is an interconnected relationship and suggest this relationship can be nurtured by setting three intentions: 1) share spaces with love, 2) be self-fluid, 3) embrace new and creative ways of experiencing time and space. We found that through the collaborative process of our inquiry we c...
As part of a larger study focusing on the interdependence of creative and critical curricula, thi... more As part of a larger study focusing on the interdependence of creative and critical curricula, this research examines how an arts experience in an elementary school was re-storied, with the guidance of local and place-based First Nation community members, as an exploration of decolonizing curriculum. A school-based musical theatre experience titled Re-Storying Canadian History, which intended to address concerns about Canada's 150th anniversary, served as a critical and creative medium for increasing awareness of the existing plurality of First Nation identities, cultures, and languages. Framed as a case study, the experiential narratives of elementary school students and their educators provided a space, a time, and a place to initiate and to discuss decolonization processes in elementary school curricula. Three interpretive devices, storying and re-storying, broadening, and burrowing engaged educators and their students in reconnecting teaching and learning with Indigenous cont...
Recently in British Columbia (BC) a redesigned K-12 curriculum plan was introduced (BC Ministry o... more Recently in British Columbia (BC) a redesigned K-12 curriculum plan was introduced (BC Ministry of Education, 2016). Undergirding the plan are The First Peoples Principles of Learning (FNESC, 2008; 2015), a learning philosophy that offers nine descriptions of what learning is, what it supports, involves, recognizes, and embeds (FNESC, 2008; 2014). The rationale for embedding the principles into all aspects of the curricular plan is to prioritize Indigenous perspectives and worldviews in classrooms for all students and at all times (BC Ministry of Education, 2015). As a practicing educator, my self-study research illuminated the FPPL as a vehicle for teacher education through the opportunity to develop my own curricular theory in relationship to my context (Chrona, 2014). A significant body of educational research makes it evident that a teacher's understanding of curriculum is a primary influence with and for their curricular enactment (
Educational philosophers and scholars (Derrida, 1992; Biesta, 2013; Whitehead & Huxtable, 2015) o... more Educational philosophers and scholars (Derrida, 1992; Biesta, 2013; Whitehead & Huxtable, 2015) offer that education can be understood as gifting; acts of reciprocity and exchange. Indigenous scholar Kuokkanen (2007), posits that Indigenous knowledge is a gift that offers new perspectives for
A large-scale arts experience marking and celebrating Canada's 150th anniversary serves as a ... more A large-scale arts experience marking and celebrating Canada's 150th anniversary serves as a critical and creative medium for increasing awreeness of Indigenous as well as non-Indigenous histories contributing to the identities, cultures, languages, values and ways of knowing, constituting what it means to be Canadian. The arts experience opens the primary research quest concerning the formation fluid, purposeful learning contexts, exploring needed conditions and supports towards building dialogical, multi-voiced curricular conversations instead of monolithic curriculum. A three-year community partnership with an elementary school and associated teachers, administrators, and curricular, Indigenous, and historical studies expertise from the University, are involved in this research. Intersecting music, dance, visual, language, and performing arts, the intent is to explore and embody narratives of Canadian history, critically and creatively, and attend to the learning significance...
As part of a larger study focusing on the interdependence of creative and critical curricula, thi... more As part of a larger study focusing on the interdependence of creative and critical curricula, this research examines how an arts experience in an elementary school was re-storied, with the guidance of local and place-based First Nation community members, as an exploration of decolonizing curriculum. A school-based musical theatre experience titled Re-Storying Canadian History, which intended to address concerns about Canada’s 150th anniversary, served as a critical and creative medium for increasing awareness of the existing plurality of First Nation identities, cultures, and languages. Framed as a case study, the experiential narratives of elementary school students and their educators provided a space, a time, and a place to initiate and to discuss decolonization processes in elementary school curricula. Three interpretive devices, storying and re-storying, broadening, and burrowing engaged educators and their students in reconnecting teaching and learning with Indigenous content,...
In 2016, the province of British Columbia introduced a redesigned K-6 curriculum. Undergirding th... more In 2016, the province of British Columbia introduced a redesigned K-6 curriculum. Undergirding this plan is the learning philosophy, the First Peoples Principles of Learning. This paper is written from the perspective of a settler teacher as she engages in self-study research to develop her understanding of the curricular plan. The author describes her emerging self-awareness as opening to a deeper understanding of her Euro-American worldview, cultural narratives that maintain gaps between settler teachers and First Peoples perspectives, and how ongoing self-inquiry is a way to improve as an educator.
Purpose This paper documents findings from a qualitative research project on flourishing in schoo... more Purpose This paper documents findings from a qualitative research project on flourishing in schools using a positive organizational research approach. The purpose of this paper is to uncover and bring to description educators’ experiences of the conditions, forces and influencing factors for flourishing in their context. The main objectives were to inform research and practice in school improvement from a positive perspective, provide knowledge and practice about noticing and growing well-being for educators and to encourage an attention on individual and collective well-being as an organizational imperative. Design/methodology/approach To gain a rich description of what it means for educators to feel a sense of flourishing in their work, the researchers used qualitative, case study methods and appreciative research activities. For the case study reported on in this paper, data were collected through open-ended, appreciative, focus group conversations and researcher observations in ...
Journal of Professional Capital and Community, 2018
Purpose – This paper documents findings from a qualitative research project on flourishing in sch... more Purpose – This paper documents findings from a qualitative research project on flourishing in schools using a positive organizational research approach. The purpose of this paper is to uncover and bring to description educators’ experiences of the conditions, forces and influencing factors for flourishing in their context. The main objectives were to inform research and practice in school improvement from a positive perspective, provide knowledge and practice about noticing and growing well-being for educators and to encourage an attention on individual and collective well-being as an organizational imperative. Design/methodology/approach – To gain a rich description of what it means for educators to feel a sense of flourishing in their work, the researchers used qualitative, case study methods and appreciative research activities. For the case study reported on in this paper, data were collected through open-ended, appreciative, focus group conversations and researcher observations...
In this paper we (graduate student and supervisor) collaborate to improve our practice through ge... more In this paper we (graduate student and supervisor) collaborate to improve our practice through generating new educational knowledge using the conceptual principles of Living Educational Theory research (Whitehead, 1989, 2008). We examine how we might deepen our capacity to work and live in ways that make us feel whole within a variety of contexts through exploring our values of authenticity, diversity and love. To articulate our commitment to this inquiry we describe ourselves as 'servants of connectivity', meaning we prioritize understanding how our actions either connect or disconnect us from our values and from others. Through our inquiry we demonstrate how flourishing of self and community is an interconnected relationship and suggest this relationship can be nurtured by setting three intentions: 1) share spaces with love, 2) be self-fluid, 3) embrace new and creative ways of experiencing time and space. We found that through the collaborative process of our inquiry we c...
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Papers by Kelly Hanson