Following the Golden Thread: Poetry as Guide, Poetry as Witness

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dc.contributor.authorBorhani, Maya Tracy
dc.contributor.supervisorPrendergast, Monica
dc.date.accessioned2023-09-08T21:58:34Z
dc.date.available2023-09-08T21:58:34Z
dc.date.copyright2023en_US
dc.date.issued2023-09-08
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Curriculum and Instructionen_US
dc.degree.levelDoctor of Philosophy Ph.D.en_US
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation will consider the role poetry has played as guide and witness in one older woman’s journey with “living poetically” (Leggo, 2005a) as both artistic and scholarly praxis, both in and out of the academy. Through autobio-ethnographic life writing (Hasebe-Ludt, Chambers & Leggo, 2009) interspersed with topical, theoretical, and autobiographical poetic inquiry (Prendergast, 2009), the author unfolds glimpses into this lifelong journey, the appearance of significant mentors, and the role of poetry as pedagogy, as social justice tool, and as personal metiér. Leaning on William Blake’s metaphor of a “golden thread” (1804/1988) that draws us forward and guides us in life (and in our poetic endeavours), the stories in this memoir-like journey also catalogue a reverence for a constantly emergent lived curriculum (Aoki, 2004) and for place- and land-centred pedagogies, emphasizing a more conscious relationship with the living world and our human interdependence within all of creation. I trace the connection between a golden thread that guides, leads and supports us in life (and therefore, in education) and this idea of living poetically, inquiring into open-ended, generative questions that inspire further questions in the asking, opening space for creative rumination and rhizomatic lines of thought- and artistic-flight (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987). The research is presented as a compilation of articles and book chapters published while I have been engaged in this PhD. This study strives to offer something good to say in bleak times, as well an awareness of the importance of the heart’s voice in pedagogy (and likewise, in life), and the value of simple things like poetry in our individual and collective learning; to show that poetry can, indeed, (help) heal the world. Advocating for poetry as curricular and pedagogical asset, this study champions teachers as public intellectuals (Giroux, 1985), as cultural and climate activists and educators, and as social poets (Prendergast, 2012; Rukeyser, 1938/2018) making time for poetry as essential pedagogy.en_US
dc.description.scholarlevelGraduateen_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationBorhani, M. T. (2014). Preferring revolution. English Practice: The Journal of the British Columbia Teachers of English Language Arts (BCTELA), 56(1), 6. https://bctela.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Multiple-Pathways-Diverse-Texts1.pdfen_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationBorhani, M. (2017). Living with words: This “vale of soul-making”. In P. Sameshima, A. Fidyk, K. James, & C. Leggo (Eds.), Poetic inquiry: Enchantment of place (pp. 99-110). Vernon Press.en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationBorhani, M. T. (2019). Poetry through song: Sounds of resistance. In S. Faulkner & A. Cloud (Eds.), Poetic inquiry as social justice and political response (pp. 165-175). Vernon Press.en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationBorhani, M. T. (2020). Walking, talking, performing in place: Learning from/with/on the land. LEARNing Landscapes, Spring 2020, (13), 67-76. https://doi.org/10.36510/learnland.v13i1.1003en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationBorhani, M. (2021a). New vox in poetic inquiry: Rhizomatic runners in a fruiting field. Art/Research International: A Transdisciplinary Journal, 6(2), 316-346. https:///doi.org/10.18432/ari29511en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationBorhani, M. (2021b). “Gratitude to old teachers”: Leaning into learning legacies. inEducation, 27(1), 99-107. https://doi.org/10.37119/ojs2021.v27i1.497en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationBorhani, M. (2022a). Tracing paths of love through poetic inquiry. Art/Research International: A Transdisciplinary Journal (Special Issue: Poetic Inquiry for Synchrony and Love: A New Order of Gravity), 7(2), 497-518. https://doi.org/10.18432/ari29678en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationBorhani, M. T. E. (2022b). Dreaming my ancestors: A poetic inquiry into longing and legacy. Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal, 7(1), 96-112. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/atj/vol7/iss1/11/en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationBorhani, M. T. (2023). Weye ebis: Keep speaking. In N. Honein & M. McKeon (Eds.), Reclaiming Lands, Languages, and Belongings: A Poetic Celebration (pp. 15-21). Vernon Press.en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationBorhani, M. T. & Downey, A. (2022). What good is a poem when the world is on fire? In A. J. Farrell, C. Skyhar, & M. Lam (Eds.), Teaching in the Anthropocene: Education in the face of environmental crisis (pp. 96-107). Canadian Scholars Press.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/15362
dc.languageEnglisheng
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.subjectPoetic Inquiryen_US
dc.subjectAutobiographyen_US
dc.subjectAutoethnographyen_US
dc.subjectLife Writingen_US
dc.subjectWriting as Inquiryen_US
dc.subjectPoetic Pedagogyen_US
dc.subjectLand-based Pedagogiesen_US
dc.subjectPerformative Pedagogiesen_US
dc.subjectPoetry and Oral Traditionen_US
dc.titleFollowing the Golden Thread: Poetry as Guide, Poetry as Witnessen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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