Teaching the Media with Mouse Woman: Adventures in Imaginative Education by Kymberley Stewart M.A., Simon Fraser University, 2004 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Curriculum Theory & Implementation Program Faculty of Education Kymberley Stewart 2014 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2014 Approval Name: Kymberley Stewart Degree: Doctor of Philosophy (Education) Title: Teaching the Media with Mouse Woman: Adventures in Imaginative Education Examining Committee: Chair: Allan MacKinnon Associate Professor Mark Fettes Senior Supervisor Associate Professor Kieran Egan Supervisor Professor Michael Ling Supervisor Senior Lecturer Lynn Fels Internal/External Examiner Associate Professor Faculty of Education David Jardine External Examiner Professor Faculty of Education University of Calgary Date Defended: August 20, 2014 ii Partial Copyright Licence iii Ethics Statement iv Abstract Concerns have been expressed for decades over the impact of an increasingly media-saturated environment on young children. Media education, however, occupies a somewhat marginal place in compulsory schooling, and its theorists and practitioners have given relatively little attention to the question of how to teach the media to elementary school children. This question is explored through an auto-ethnography and métissage spanning more than twenty years of media use, media studies, and media education. Three shifts in emphasis are particularly central to the thesis. The first is a shift from a protectionist to a more open, albeit critical stance with respect to children‘s media use. The second is a shift from conceiving of media education in terms of a pre-packaged curriculum towards the co-construction of learning experiences with the students, guided by Egan‘s theory of imaginative education. The third involves learning to slow down and take time to dwell with the questions and activities inspired by an imaginative focus on media. By tracing the personal and professional growth and struggles of one passionate media educator, the thesis seeks to illustrate the educational issues that the field of media education needs to engage with, if it is to develop into a more dynamic and influential field of theory and practice. It also offers a situated, experiential perspective on the practice of imaginative education that highlights its close ties with other voices and traditions in educational philosophy, and connects it with the ethos of métissage as a research praxis. • Keywords: media education; imagination; pedagogy; reflective practice; métissage; auto-ethnography v Dedication To all the Mouse Wo(men) and Mischief Makers who have inspired me to revel in the art of being lost vi Acknowledgements The words I find in this acknowledgment will never match the gratitude and love I feel for those who have been a part of this journey to write this thesis. It has become a transformational process that and I will never forget. Dr. Mark Fettes: Our paths crossed a decade ago while I was looking for a new academic home. You‘ve provided not only a home in a new field, but a foundation for my future career of teaching and researching. Without your support I never would have found the courage to find my voice and I would have probably fallen into the path of writing a thesis for others, instead of for myself. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making my vision a reality. You were truly my guiding spirit during this process. Dr. Kieran Egan: Our paths crossed even longer ago when I was first inspired by your work to look more closely at imagination. Over the last decade you allowed me to be intertwined into the world of the Imaginative Education Research Group. Dr. Michael Ling: I am so very thankful for all the impromptu, hallway discussions that poked and prodded my understandings and perceptions. I love that our media lives merged with anthropology and now education; you keep my inner Seinfeld alive and well in my academic world. Dr. Lynn Fels and Dr. David Jardine: I cannot thank you both enough for making the culminating conversation about my thesis so meaningful and memorable. Your words and commitment to the conversation will help me move this starting piece forward/sideways/inward. Dr. Vicki Kelly: My behind-the-scenes committee member—the one person who always seemed to find me at my most vulnerable and always knew exactly what to say to keep me going. I hope our lives and work find a way to weave into one another. vii My new home provided by Mark and Kieran in the IERG office provided me with life-long friends and colleagues who fostered my inquiry into educational practice and drive to understand IE to new depths; while always keep me smiling—much gratitude to Annabella Cant, Veronica Hotton , Stacey Makortoff, Melanie Young and Tannis Calder—you are my Mischief-Makers in the most loving way. I will miss being able to spin my chair around in IERG and see your smiling, loving, thoughtful faces. My gratitude to teachers and researchers working with IE extends far beyond the walls of the IERG office; I will forever be indebted to the passionate, thoughtful, inspirational teachers/researchers in LUCID—thank you for allowing me to be part of your journeys. Your tenacity, strength and love has helped me more than you‘ll ever know. To Brian Gohkle and Elaine MacKee who have been gifts to understanding Waldorf education and Steiner: I am forever grateful for the hours of conversations, practices, and queries. To my extended Waldorf family: Thank you Jen Dodds for daily updates on how to juggle life and work that kept me going/laughing; to the parents who so thoughtfully helped with pick-up and playdates for Tayme while I worked and to Stephanie for keeping me healthy and focused. Thanks to Kathy Sherrell for the years of study-dates at various campus around the Lower Mainland. And of course, thanks to my Mom and Dad who helped me become the student I am today, who reminded me that no matter what the journey entailed, I could follow my dream of becoming an educator; and to my Babas who remain with me daily and always remind me to find love and ingenuity in all that I do. Dana, my love: Thank you for nurturing me in all the ways that have made it possible to complete a dream of finishing my PhD. You‘ve made raising a daughter, finishing a PhD and starting a career all possible with your patience and love. And finally, thank you to my darling daughter Tayme, who has been my muse for learning to stand still, finding wonder and mystery again in life and learning to find balance… just like Mouse Woman. viii Table of Contents APPROVAL ................................................................................................................................................. II PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENCE ............................................................................................................... III ETHICS STATEMENT ............................................................................................................................... IV ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. V DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................................ VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................... VII TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................. IX CHAPTER 1. WALK THIS WAY ........................................................................................... 1 KARMA CHAMELEON ................................................................................................................................ 1 TAINTED LOVE .......................................................................................................................................... 5 TAKE ON ME, TAKE ME ON .................................................................................................................... 12 HERE COMES THE RAIN AGAIN/ FALLING ON MY HEAD LIKE A MEMORY/ FALLING ON MY HEAD LIKE A NEW EMOTION ........................................................................................................................... 19 EXPRESS YOURSELF ............................................................................................................................... 22 COURAGE… ............................................................................................................................................ 26 …COULDN’T COME AT A WORSE TIME .................................................................................................. 26 IF YOU DON’T KNOW ME BY NOW ......................................................................................................... 30 HOLD ME NOW, STAY WITH ME ............................................................................................................ 35 CHAPTER 2. WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE ............................................................ 38 LET THE WILD RUMPUS START ............................................................................................................. 38 THE FOREST GREW AND GREW ............................................................................................................ 41