| Summary: | While teachers and scholars agree on the benefits of building community in the
classroom, and consequently work to develop communities within schools and
classrooms, many of our students continue to struggle to belong. Indeed, many of them
experience school as a place that is so void of community, that they experience
themselves as trespassers on territory that for both known and unknown reasons is
inaccessible to them. Similarly, their personal territories often fall victim to being
trespassed upon by school communities that are not truly accepting of and inviting to all.
Both experiences can inhibit a students' ability to experience a profound sense of
belonging to their community. In turn, this experience of trespassing can ultimately
inhibit learning.
Inviting children to experience and explore different communities through story is a very
effective means through which to build community in the classroom. Coupled with
discussion and other language strategies, the telling and retelling of stories from
communities near and far provokes the students to imagine alternative ways of existing in
the world; it nurtures empathy and it embraces difference. Through listening to their
stories, my stories and the stories of others, we all come to know and to understand the
characters in our stories, and in doing so, we come to know ourselves. Ultimately, this
heightened understanding of self and others establishes a framework for the children to
experience a sincere sense of belonging within their classroom community.
Using narrative inquiry and fictionalized life-writing, I examine my own experiences
with belonging and trespassing. In my encounters with both familiar and unfamiliar
communities, I explore the rewards and challenges that have awakened in me a poignant,
yet basic, understanding and appreciation for others. It is this appreciation that compels
me to nurture community in my classroom. It is this understanding that encourages me to
immerse my students in the diverse and wonderful world of story. === Education, Faculty of === Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of === Graduate
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