My name is Jessica Sass. You could say I am in a cycle of learning and unlearning, of attempting to build and (re)build community with others. I have so much gratitude for my educational journey. It has been my everything. I am the person I am today because of my education. And when I talk about education, I don’t mean just narrowly in the classroom, but the in-between moments -- with my parents at the dinner table, with friends walking across campus, with professors during office hours, with my sister on Facetime. I realize that we are all collectively in a constant state of becoming and finding ourselves. Education is part of that becoming, it provides stories that help open our worlds, where understanding and compassion can be central and dreaming has no bounds.

That being said, the educational system as a whole today is unjust. History has a way of burying difficult truths. When secrets are unburied, they have to be reconciled and rewritten for the history books. How long-buried truths are handled and retold by survivors, governments, educators, and institutions matters for the pursuit of justice. Unfortunately, the curriculum isn’t nationalized to speak to dark chapters in the history of North America. It is up to teachers to incorporate stories that elevate voices who are left out. This scenario is playing out in real-time in Canada, where more than 1,300 Indigenous children’s remains were recently discovered on the grounds of shuttered residential schools in Kamloops, Cranbrook, and Marieval. The quest for justice for this loss of innocent lives involves reconciliation, reparations, and sovereignty for Indigenous people. Teaching communities and educators is key to developing the narrative that will be taught in the future about these atrocities.

How do non-Indigenous teachers incorporate these truths into the classroom?

How do we become caretakers of history in a way that is disseminated justly to our students?

Enjoy taking the time to browse the website and become inspired by the storytellers, and to utilize any of the resources for your own teaching endeavors.

- Jessica Sass (email:jesass@students.pitzer.edu)

Acknowledgments

My thesis project, “Collective History: Knowledge, Reconciliation, and Justice” is a labor of love. There are so many people that I’d like to thank that have had instrumental roles in this project and my life. First, more broadly, thank you to all the educators who inspired my deep love of learning. Thank you for helping me confront the hard truths of history, and teaching me to seek good and resilience. 

This project was inspired by an independent study I took with Professor David Menefee Libey in Spring 2021. The independent study was developed after spending hours in office hours over the years talking about centering humanity in education. So, thank you DML for nurturing my interests and encouraging me to go into the field of education.

The completion of this thesis project would not have been possible without the unwavering support from my readers Professors Ruti Talmor and Barbara Junisbai. And, my academic advisor Gina Lamb who has been a constant support throughout my time at Pitzer. You all taught me to think expansively and to go beyond the traditional “academic” thesis to create an accessible multi-media platform. I am so incredibly lucky to be in your orbits. 

Professor Talmor, thank you for your mentorship and thoughtful advice from pre to post production. Thank you for helping me process all of the little moments and showing me how to take in the beauty of fieldwork. I have grown so much from taking classes with you and am in awe of classroom communities you cultivate. 

Barbara, thank you for dreaming with me.  You have been an integral part of this project and my college experience. Thank you for showing me what liberatory education spaces look like in praxis and the joy that it brings.  Our conversations around teaching and learning and your brilliant pedagogical approach to education helped inspire the analysis of this project. 

Thank you to Facing History and Ourselves, and particularly Jasmine Wong and Leora Schaefer for letting me into your circle and for being so reflective during the interview process. Facing History Canada’s practices are the foundation of this project. Thank you for introducing me to my thought partner Andrew McConnell who has guided me and helped co-create my thesis questions. Thank you Andrew for your time and thoughtfulness. Thank you Elder Shirley John and Kim Wheatley for your wisdom and vulnerability. 

To my peer group - Sean Brin, Gulniyal Tuerhong, and Yasmin Elqutami, thank you for your support and positive presences. Thank you Helen Paulini for your computer science expertise in helping me create this website (and for being my friend). Thank you to all my friends for inspiring me and embracing me as I geek out over education justice. 

Last but not least, to my family. Dada and Amanda, thank you for being my cheerleaders and showing me infinite love (a googol). Momma, thank you for all the late nights being my soundboard throughout this entire process. You have been my confidant and #1 supporter and I can not adequately express how grateful I am. 

thank you, thank you, thank you