Race—What are we Talking About? Arguably, race and our preconceived notions of what that term means, and implies for sectors of any given society, are as hotly contested now as ever they were. Certainly, the ignorant and bigoted discuss race as if they were confident of its meaning. Andrew Anglin, editor of a popular, hate-filled, … Continue reading
Author Archives: Paul Godden
For My Daughter
… and Every Other Woman Giving Up Hope Today Curriculum is—Still—Politics Today, my twenty-something daughter stood in our kitchen, furious, crying, hurt and hopeless. This is the grown woman from whom—it seems to me—that only a few short weeks ago, I could wipe away those tears, take her back to bed and tell her another … Continue reading
The Ignorant, Hypocrisy of the Catholic Church on Homosexuality in an Elementary Curriculum
On the 19th October (2016), I wrote about my reaction to the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario (ACBO)-sponsored family life education program, called Fully Alive (http://acbo.on.ca/fully-alive/). The ACBO web site describes Fully Alive as: … intended to pass on a distinctively Catholic view of human life, sexuality, marriage, and family. Its goal is to … Continue reading
ACBO and a Sex Ed’ Curriculum We Should All Be Worried About
On Monday October 17th 2016, my daughter arrived home from her day at an elementary school, which is part of the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario (CDSBEO), Canada. She handed me a letter based on the Fully Alive program of sexual education, espoused by the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario (ACBO; http://acbo.on.ca/fully-alive/). … Continue reading
The Plural of “Anecdote” is not “Evidence”
John Creswell is a well-known educational researcher, much published and easy to read (well, easier than many anyway). He keeps a blog on his web page (http://johnwcreswell.com), but although he may be a much more respected, experienced and published author and researcher than the guy writing this (not much of an achievement really), his blog … Continue reading
Knowledge and Belief
At last I have submitted an article that I’ve been working on for quite a while to a suitable journal. Great, only not so, because I’ve just noticed that the author guidelines stipulate 25 pages or less including references and for some reason I read that as excluding references, and my article is 28 pages … Continue reading
Teachers: A Class with Your Name On It
This isn’t strictly a post about curriculum, or about creative academic writing. But it is about teaching, in a way; and about that curious state of being in loco parentis, so I make no apologies for posting this here. In the early 2000s I re-trained to become a teacher. During my training, one of our … Continue reading
Scholarly Writing… So Where Am I So Far?
So Scholarly Writing in Education has completed. I have submitted all my assignments and attended the lectures. I have enjoyed the course immensely, I’ve been fascinated by the work of my peers, and learned from their feedback. I’m going to attend an Exit Interview with our professor in a few days, so let’s take a … Continue reading
My Book Report—By Paul Godden, Aged 48¼
Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life (1990) provided a little more than 100 pages of essays, forming a montage of her interpretation of writers and writing. Dillard’s style was clearly illustrated, from her opening paragraphs: When you write, you lay out a line of words. The line of words is a miner’s pick, a woodcarver’s gouge, … Continue reading
Creative Nonfiction—Fear
So, it’s been a while since my last post, lots of reading, a few assignments under the bridge, the semester is wheezing its dying breaths through gritted teeth, and muttering, “Just get the bloody assignments written!” So this post was interesting, scary to write in many ways because it revisited a couple of moments for … Continue reading