Ted Aoki’s chapter “Imaginaries of “East” and “West”: Slippery Curricular Signifiers in Education” from the book Curriculum in a New Key – The Collected Works of Ted T. Aoki, asked me today to stop and ponder every day and overlooked in a new way. The chapter delves quickly and deeply into abstractions that ask one to consider the “third space” which is “an ambivalent space of both this and that” (Ted Aoki, p. 319). Aoki uses bridges in the Pacific as a concrete example that are not “mere paths for human transit, nor are they mere routes for commerce and trade. They are dwelling places for people” (Ted Aoki, p. 319). I often travel across small portions of the Pacific Ocean as I live on an island and travel each week to attend appointments, buy groceries, work, and visit family and friends. I have often thought of the ferry as a type of bridge connecting the other islands, as we lack physical bridges. On Fridays, much of the community of Pender Island is on this “bridge” headed to Victoria. What happens is that a community living room blossoms on the ferry. Children meet up and start to play. Friends chat and enjoy each other’s company. Time slows down. People focus on each other. The ferry is a natural dwelling space for our community to gather while crossing from here to there. I think that at a deeper level, Fridays on the ferry are an ambivalent space of “this and that” for the people of this small community, while this may be overlooked by many on the surface. The lack of a physical bridge helps illuminate the ferry as a dwelling place although more commonly viewed as a route for commerce. What is missing helps show what is there. Reading Aoki’s teachings encourage me to see in a new way and to use this seeing as a tool that can influence my approach as a person and teacher.

Curriculum in a New Key | The Collected Works of Ted T. Aoki | Ted T. (n.d.). Retrieved July 4, 2024, from https://www-taylorfrancis-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/pdfviewer/

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