Stories matter. For me, as an avid reader and a scholar and teacher of (Indigenous) literatures, this has always been clear. As a teacher, it is my goal, duty, and honour to guide students to an understanding and appreciation of the power of stories as they permeate and shape our lives. In her collection of poetry Blue Marrow, Cree poet Louise Bernice Halfe refers to stories as “wîhkês,” or “med-sins” in English: stories can wound, and stories can heal. Similarly, the stories we tell as teachers can harm or heal. For me, teaching thus comes with a great responsibility to care, to be respectful and humble, and to be intentional in what, how, and why I teach.
I teach because education has the potential to change a person and to catalyze social change through the alternative stories we tell. And I teach because sharing and creating knowledge with my students energizes me and makes my students and I grow as human beings. Inspired by my reading and researching Indigenous literatures and by the various linguistic, cultural, and professional settings I have taught in, my teaching philosophy and practice are thus deeply rooted in the values of growth and diversity. I aim to help my students grow by making stories come alive, by creating a safe, welcoming community of learning, by cultivating academic and soft skills and metacognitive reflections among my students through student mentoring, and by transferring knowledge in an accessible, embodied, decentered, and reciprocal way. This involves a deep commitment to decolonizing the curriculum.
Learn more about my teaching philosophy here and about the courses I’ve taught here.
MALOU BROUWER 