Trust has developed over the 6 years that we ’ ve been working together .
Shuana : What does that future vision look like ?
Fatima : This part of the research is complete now . We are moving onto a different level of work , which is informed by the last 10 years of work . It ’ s not that we are finished working with each other ; we are finished with what we ’ ve been working on . Fran : We are moving into the impact and influence phase . Fatima : We have developed an " imaginary " of what a decolonial relationship in education would look like , so we ’ re writing a book for preservice teachers and for educators to see the possibilities of working with difference . And our next phase , now , is to move into professional development for educators at the university level . How does someone work in a decolonial way to educate students ?... We want to look at it from a decolonial lens , from more pluralistic and more cosmopolitan ways of being and doing .
Fran : A few years ago , at a joint U of Regina / U of Exeter event , we made some contacts with some people in the UK . One contact in particular runs a community interest company , working with both inservice teachers and teacher educators . He calls it cooperative values-based education and he has become very interested in what we are doing , and likewise we are interested in what he is doing . He ’ s trying to work in ways that bring values back into education because in the UK we are so driven by the neo-liberal commodified version of education where everything is about assessment , targets , pupils are clients , input / output , everything is value for money ... He ' s trying to work with teachers who want to work otherwise than colonial . But there is also a decolonizing movement that has started in England , and we ' re in at ground zero . Universities are coming to understand that they are not going to be able to do what they have been doing . All the others are focusing on the curriculum . Our focus is on the relationship and then the curriculum will follow .
Shuana : What would you say was the most significant , most exciting moment in your work thus far ?
Fatima : When we discovered that we ’ d actually developed this imaginary that was working , that we could see how this could work in education . We weren ’ t even sure if it was going to be a heuristic , a framework , or an approach , and then we decided it had to be called an imaginary , because it has so many possibilities . Fran : The work is all about trying to re-imagine what educational relationships are all about . Fatima : Within that educational relationship , it ’ s about relationship to people , to the space , so we ’ re taking in posthumanism — I don ’ t like to use the word posthumanism because this concept has existed for thousands of years in other communities ...— Fran : Human and more than human ? Fatima : Yes , [ the imaginary ] encapsulates all that . I ’ m enthralled with it . We ’ ve seen how what we ’ ve been doing each year , how we ’ ve grown from our own understanding for how we can do it , and we can see the possibilities for our others to take this on .
Fran : I would say that equally my own personal shifts and growth as a result of this relationship , opening my eyes and understanding to things that I was completely ignorant or unconscious of before . Ignorant in the sense of you don ’ t know what you don ' t know . Fatima : I love working with Fran . Fran : Fatima ’ s generosity — as we ’ ve gotten to know each other , we ’ ve opened up our families to each other , as well , and Fatima has opened up her faith and given me insights that I would never have got otherwise , and that has been immensely rewarding .
Shuana : Key message to other researchers ?
Fran : I would always recommend that researchers collaborate but in order to successfully collaborate , first of all you need to be in it for the long term , and secondly , you need to be prepared to stick through all the really , really tricky stuff .
Fatima : Critical relationality is the key to a long-term collaboration . �
HOW ONE INTERNATIONALLY EDUCATED TEACHER BECAME A TEACHER IN CANADA
Photo ( L-R ): Anna Lucero shaking hand of Domenic Scuglia , Director of Education , after she signed her continuing contract with Regina Catholic Schools Division ( May , 2019 ). Photo credit : Gordon West , RCSD
Anna Lucero was a teacher in the Philippines for 15 years before moving to Canada . After taking three University of Regina courses , and her TESOL language test , she was eligible for her Saskatchewan teaching certificate . She is now teaching elementary students in Regina and is also a lecturer for elementary math education at the University of Regina . Her work as a teacher in Canada has exceeded her expectations and hopes . The following is her
story :
Not long before moving to Canada , Anna had landed her dream job of teaching at an exclusive school in the Philippines : “ The position in the Philippines was like a birthright . You had to wait for someone to retire to get such a position .” Over the 15 years of teaching elementary school mathematics , Anna had worked to prove herself capable of such a position , taking master ’ s courses and honing her craft , and in time , her dream became reality .
Also a devoted mother to two children and wife to Paulo , Anna had everything she could hope for . But it wasn ’ t long before their family was faced with a big decision : Paulo had been offered a job in Regina , Saskatchewan , Canada . After much discussion and weighing of pros and cons , they finally decided to immigrate to Canada .
An optimistic , energetic person , Anna thought she would easily be able continue her teaching career in Canada . But teaching started to seem like a faroff dream when she was told by others that it was not possible for her to teach
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