CYNTHIA CHAMBERS AWARD RECIPIENT
Jessica Irvine , recipient of Cyntha Chambers Award
Jessica Irvine ( BEd ' 08 , MEd ' 19 ) is recipient of the CSSE-SCEE Cynthia Chambers Award for her master ’ s thesis , Writing and Teaching Curriculum With Relationships in Our Place : A Critical Meta-Analysis of Saskatchewan Core French Curricula ’ s Cultural Indicators , which she successfully defended on November 29 , 2019 . Irvine was supervised by Dr . Heather Phipps . Committee members were Dr . Valerie Mulholland and Dr . Anna-Leah King . The External Examiner was Dr . Michale Akinpelu , La Cité Universitaire Francophone . The following is an interview with Irvine .
What personal and / or professional circumstances prompted you to take your master ' s degree ?
I have been a Core French educator with Regina Public Schools since 2008 . Primarily , and most recently , I teach elementary , Grades 1-8 . When the new elementary Core French curriculum was released in 2010 , I felt disconnected to it . I also felt students were disconnected to Core French overall and most complained about having to take it . I couldn ’ t figure out why that was . I began to question if it was me as a teacher ? Or me as a person ? I came to a point where I had to find the answers and how to change this negative response to Core French or I ’ d lose the passion to teach Core French that I ’ ve had since I was a child .
I also felt overwhelmed by the Core French curriculum , which has outcomes and indicators for student tasks based on the recommendation of 120-200 minutes of French education per week . Students only receive 60-90 minutes typically in a week due to timetable constraints .
Further , the new curriculum introduced several Indigenous cultural knowledge strands . Because I completed my Bachelor of Education in 2008 , I did not have any teacher training or education on Indigenous content in the curriculum . To be honest , I was scared to teach it as I wasn ’ t sure I could or if I ’ d teach it wrong . For the first few years of the new curriculum , I avoided Indigenous content .
However , in the 2015-2016 school year , when I was teaching a unit about the fur trade , about Carnaval de Québec , to Grades 6 - 8 , a student spoke up and said that he wished we learned more about the Indigenous people and their languages in school . He expressed that my lesson on the fur trade is another example that French came after Indigenous languages , so why are they rarely taught ? The student had a Cree and Saulteaux background and what he really was asking “ Why aren ’ t we learning more about what ’ s relevant to me , too ?”
His question promoted a class discussion and almost every student had the same final thought when I collected sticky notes — because the Indigenous were here before the French and there is so much intertwined history with both cultures — why is it we are only seeing the one side in schools ? Why is it we are only offered Core French at a majority of schools ?
This led me to applying for my Master ' s of Education , to a course-route program initially . But after the first few classes , I realized that what brought me back to school and learning was my students ' questions which couldn ’ t be answered unless I confronted the issue full on by writing a thesis on it .
Why did you choose the U of R to do your Master ’ s degree ?
Mainly it was about being able to teach and learn at the same time . I didn ’ t want to take a leave to go to another university as I felt that I would learn more by teaching at the same time of my learning — really my unlearning , too .
I also wanted to take classes at the U of R because I knew many professors who would be able to help me on this journey . The University ’ s dedication to reconciliation was important to me .
What was your rationale for framing your research with Senator Sinclair ’ s ( 2016 ) four questions : Where do I come from ; where am I going ; why am I here ; and who am I ?
I was fortunate to hear Senator Sinclair speak at the Woodrow Lecture . When I heard him ask these questions , my mind immediately returned to my classroom with my students who were really asking me those exact questions . And I realized , that as their teacher , I didn ’ t even have the answers to those questions . I had to be able to answer them first if I was ever going to be an educator that helped guide students to their own answers . By framing my research with those questions , I was forcing myself to answer the questions from my students .
What was your initial research question ? Did your question change as you researched ?
Without recognizing it , my initial research question began in my first course with Dr . Lace Brogden . One of the articles I was assigned to present on was by Dr . Cynthia Chambers . Her theories on land-based learning and culturally appropriate curricula began to inspire me to want to learn more about the land I lived on . My second course , Indigenous Methodologies taught by Dr . JoLee Sasakamoose , was the first of many unlearnings . I encountered many moments of discomfort as I learned new perspectives that were never a part of my previous education . I formed several supportive relationships in this course that I still am blessed to have in my life now . I also took a directed reading course with Dr . Heather Phipps focused on Life Writing and Literary Métissage as an Ethos for Our Times by Dr . Cynthia Chambers , Dr . Erika Hasebe-Ludt , and the late Dr . Carl Leggo . The course and text guided me to my research question . I knew I wanted to find out if or how French and Indigenous languages and culture could both be taught through a Core French program without forgetting my role as a French educator , but also not forgetting that I ’ m an educator on Treaty 4 lands .
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