Learn, Relearn, Unlearn: Advocating for Transformative Education Through Community
Welcome!
Born and raised in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, I am a daughter of immigrants from Kolkata, India. I lived in Mississauga until my mid-20s, dreaming of a life filled with travel and education. This dream took shape after my B.Ed when two friends and I packed our bags and moved to London, UK. We had no money, no real jobs lined up—just the name of an agency—and we basically lied to our parents about our future prospects for the next 10 months. Thankfully, we found jobs very quickly and stayed longer than our initial plan.
Starting your career abroad has its perks. It gives you access to travel opportunities that are difficult to come by in Mississauga, or at least it was back in the day. However, the downside is that you get used to being in a different country or city during all your long weekends, school holidays, and sometimes even just for the weekend. I set myself up for big dreams that are not attainable when you have a contract with a school board. This longing for adventure led me to a more stable job at a bilingual school in Milan, just so I could continue to travel and live for two years. Working in the IB program allowed me to steep myself in pedagogy in a way I have not been able to in Ottawa.
My upbringing was a blend of cultures. My life was the ultimate code-switching: from traditional Bengali weekends to a Canadian school community on weekdays. My parents strived to engage me in the Bengali community. As a child, I learned how to sing in my first language, read, write, take part in plays, and most of all, be a part of our family project, Auhwan Bengali Radio program—a weekly show for our community to hear news, the latest music, and what is happening in our community. This was my parents’ passion project, which has become the name of my yoga business to honor my family heritage. Check it out here.
Enjoying Mille Feuille in Paris France.
How is my upbringing linked to education? As my experience grew in the classroom in Ontario, my eyes opened up to the system and how it works. As someone who loves to dig deep and understand what is happening, I went on a mission to understand the impact of representations, culturally responsive pedagogy, racism in schools, the importance of student voice, and so forth. Do I understand everything? Absolutely not. Are my thoughts all truths? Nope. They are my truths of the moment—but as time goes on, I will grow and learn and modify my ideas and pedagogy. This blog will help me on this journey of learning. Learning to write, learning to understand what I don’t, learning to listen to others and build a community.
This blog is a story. The story of my journey in education but I want it to be the voices of many who can support education and learning in our ever changing world. My hope is that I have guest bloggers once a month to speak to you about something that is relevant in our world today and can guide you in your classroom practices around the world and give you insight into education beyond the classroom and allow you to reflect on your own practice. I want this to be a safe space to ask questions and discuss what is on your mind. I want to support and guide educators, make things a bit easier than it feels. Let me know what you think and how I can modify my writing. This is a learning project for me—an adventure to go on and see where it leads. Not all roads lead to the airport. Or so I hear. Let’s see where this journey takes me.
Anuka Dey
Visiting Pompei in Italy
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Education is a journey best travelled together. Subscribe to my newsletter, share your story, and know that I’ll personally respond. Let’s keep the conversation going—together.