Mullins, Peter
Towards a Critical Pedagogy of Globality: A Rhizo-Narrative Journey into the Global Self of the Teacher
In this thesis, I use "Trump's Wall" between Mexico and the US to resist Eurocentrism and the challenges Eurocentric pedagogy poses to the research-practitioner. In my method, I reimagine C. Alejandra Elenes' borderlands theory as a zone of empowerment within a multicultural Canadian classroom, and braid it in a hybrid assemblage with the rhizome.
The "rhizo-borderlands" assemblage uses selected field notes gleaned from my teaching practice to develop themes of a critical pedagogy of globality in personal, local and international dimensions. These are further braided with a "day-in-the-life" narrative of a fictionalized student (Ellie) who navigates her way towards a world literature classroom where the focus is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
This assemblage affirms my belief that teaching and learning provides a context where students become "border crossers" and navigate points of intersection between their local and global selves, in order to develop intercultural competencies.
Author Keywords: Action Narrative, Critical Pedagogy, Rhizomes