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Findings:
SAS
has Transformative Effect
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From
the first field-tests of the SAS, it was evident to the CAAS Core
Working Group that our survey had an affective or emotional impact
on the respondents. Quoting
from WIB (South, p.110-112),
Most
of the other "incompletes" are respondents who appeared to give
up before they finished. These are not simply "no answers": these
individuals stopped answering any questions at all. This generally
appeared to happen after they made it clear that they didn't know
very much about the topics covered in the SAS.
During
our field test we noticed this phenomenon. This is pedagogically
interesting and merits both mention and further investigation.
Its significance arises from the feelings expressed by the respondents
in comments in the margins and in responses to open-ended questions
that did not relate to the asked question. Comments such as these
became noticeably more prevalent as the respondents completed
the survey and became intimately acquainted with their lack of
knowledge.
In
this way, the survey seemed to function as a tool for deconstruction
of the inadequate curriculum to which the students had been exposed.
The indicators of this process were apologetic answers, specific
comments expressing frustration, in some cases with illustrative
"doodles."
This
sentiment appears commonly among our sample. A survey that illustrates
this dynamic was completed by a young female student in a University
of Toronto class where the first field test was done. She drew
the frowning equivalent of a "happy face" [ :( ] next to several
questions she couldn't answer, and in other cases she wrote comments
such as "sorry, I don't think I know " or "I cannot describe this
person." While this was the most touching example of the survey's
deconstruction impact, it was not unique.
Another
exemplar of this deconstructive process is found in a survey from
a respondent from our second field test, at another Ontario university.
On page two (Q's 6 - 9), the student drew a total of three question
marks as answers. These marks measure approximately 5 millimeters
in height. By page three (Q's 10 - 16), the question marks - of
which there are seven - have grown to 7 millimeters and the dot
at bottom is emphasized. On subsequent pages, there are question
marks up to 4 centimeters, even 5 centimeters, in height. As well,
the student begins to draw in "x's" and lines across the questions
she or he finds unanswerable. On Q33 (re: the Indian Act), s/he
has written in "Nothing" in letters up to a centimeter high. S/he
circled the answer "strongly disagreed" with heavy pen marks when
responding to the questions asking for an evaluation of his or
her "adequate opportunity to learn" (question 44b) and ability
"to understand current issues" (question 44c).
Some
local and regional activists and educators in the cAAS network have
begun envisioning ways to use the survey, or a modified form thereof,
to articulate and support goals in local communities. As well, your
loyal volunteer Core Working Group member who tried to work on this
site from time to time is trying to figure out how to effectively
reproduce this transformative pedagogy online, using the SAS. Anyone
with skills and suggestions for how to do this is asked to contact
us: caas@edu.yorku.ca.
To
find the survey, follow this link:
Follow
these links for ideas that might help you with this work in your
classroom or region:
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