The Foreign Self
Truth Telling as Educational Inquiry
edited by François
V. Tochon
Foreign-ness is always relational. On some level we
are all foreigners because we are strange and different in relation to
some defined other. When we travel, whether it be across the country
or around the world, we accept some notion of ourselves as foreigners.
— from the Foreword by Gloria Ladson-Billings
"Telling the truth" as a form of
educational inquiry situates the researcher intimately within the
context of what is being investigated. There can be no objectivity —
nor is it desired. What is sought is a sort of shock to ones identity,
used as the catalyst for seeking the truth. Moving out of ones own
context or even culture serves as the impetus — or shock — to
promote an inquiry.
This collection of essays uses the idea of
truth-telling as a form of inquiry. The contributors all placed
themselves outside of comfortable contexts and use the
"shock" to begin searching for a truth. The editor,
François Tochon writes: "It’s a process that corresponds to
what we may take to be most valuable in the term ‘education’: The
idea is to learn yourself as part of the very process of change." |
