Pedagogy of Possibility for Those Living In-Between
It has been clearly stated by linguists that the meaning of what is said or written is culture bound, which necessitates that semantics be analysed and understood through a sociocultural perspective (Jaszczolt, 2001). We affirm Sperber (1996, p. 39) by stating that as educators working with a diverse student body we must go ‘beyond mere translation’, we must ‘speculate, synthesise, reconceptualise’, in order to understand what we hear. In a similar way, Hymes (1974) stipulates that it is important to look at all components of interaction to further decipher meaning beyond translation.
This would include analysing speech acts (sequential organisation, content and form, emotional pitch and channel of communication), situational contexts (place, participants, intended and unintended goals) and cultural norms used (e.g. genre of communication of which this practice is an instance). Finally, Bach (1994, p. 270) claims that ‘there is no line to be drawn between what is said and what is implicated. Instead, there is considerable middle ground between them’. We believe that this middle ground is pregnant with possibilities that are located within power relations and in culturally determined contexts.
Power relations in the practicum classroom are enacted and negotiated through language. First, associate teachers act as brokers of the Canadian culture and values, pointing out to teacher candidates what they do not know and what they should do in ways that are acceptable in the Canadian space. One teacher candidate narrated her conflict-laden relationship with a Canadian-born associate teacher this way: ‘At the end of each teaching day my associate teacher would sit with me to tell me what and how to plan for the next day and to evaluate my teaching from that day. I would follow and write her instructions to the dot, but each day she would be dissatisfied. One day she asked me if I were dumb or what; I told her I was trying my best and that I welcome her feedback. I did not say that I was following her instructions from the previous day. Then one day she walked into class and came to me very angrily and shouted, “Why didn’t you tell me that you taught before you taught for seven years before coming here”. I said, “Well, because I came here to learn from you”. From that day on, she never criticized me; it was like a 180 degrees turn around, everything I did became fine with her’.
This narration demonstrates the way which, to borrow from Foucault, ‘power and knowledge directly imply one another; These “power-knowledge” relations are to be analyzed, therefore, [on the basis of] the subject who knows, the objects to be known, and the modalities of knowledge must be regarded as so many effects of these fundamental implications of power-knowledge and their historical transformations’ (1977, p. 6). The associate teacher in this instance derives power from her knowledge of the Canadian culture and associated practices; to navigate this power play, the IETC uses language to demonstrate her ignorance of this culture through words such as ‘I welcome [your] feedback’ and expressing a desire ‘to learn’ from, thus disguising her true feelings from the associate teacher. Language here is a powerful tool that allows the associate teacher to demonstrate her knowledge, thus power over (IETC); in turn, the teacher candidate uses language to navigate a humiliating teaching practice experience.
In the end, we ask if it is possible to live in-between cultures while keeping or holding on to the core cultural identity and while remaining functional in both languages, as Lambert (1967) has suggested. We ask, is it possible for learners to operate across linguistic and cultural boundaries and resolve the challenges of cultural coexistence In an attempt to provide an alternative view, Kostogriz (2002) recommends that cultures should be seen as new formations characterised by heterogeneity and semiotic border-crossing dynamics. ‘For Kostogriz, as migrants learn new languages and assume new identities they have to find their way through the often incommensurate discourses that they inhabit’. With years of experience in making delicate Cheap Louis Vuitton Handbags, we are waiting to provide the crowning touch to your style. Just feel free to shop Louis Vuitton bags M56706 handbag /shoulderbag here.
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