Hayashi Studio film is a powerful film that looks at the past of Japanese Canadians in Cumberland. As someone who grew up on Vancouver Island and had no knowledge of this studio, I found this very interesting, and it reinforced the idea that they stated in the film of “we are a community and nothing is there now” because “it is not the dominant narrative”. When reading through the Thom’s article and reflecting on the Hayashi Studio video, the importance of photos and documenting while also sharing and hearing from knowledge keepers and elders. Within my practice as a teacher, this has also been true in terms of reporting and teaching diversity (such as First Peoples Knowledge).

Something that stood out in Thom’s reading is the reference to a compass that is spinning continuously in terms of the question “Where am I?”. When first reflecting on this question you can have a specific answer but really there is lots to uncover as Aoki referred to in our previous reading.  I really value the image of a circle and compass as it connects my previous knowledges together, whether that is the Bronfenbrenner theory, the medicine wheel, dance, Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge (TPACK) Model and even certain aspects of BC curriculum. I value these models as it demonstrates that elements are working together and that it is a continuous process. This emphasizes that there is the ability to return “home” as pointed out by Thom who shared Aoki’s articles. Thus, in terms of this course I believe a circular model is important as we are able to return to various learnings and experiences and connect to present learnings in order to create future ideas and build on others. As such we are able to come “from a completely different perspective” (Thom, 2024, p.6).

All in all, in a world where we lack present engagement. It is my belief that we have a huge advantage in terms of being able to understand our past through pictures as there is easily accessible ways to photograph and share information online. This online global expansion, in my opinion, helps us become more aware of worldwide problems as knowledge is at our fingertips if we carefully research it and are curious about the diverse perspectives. Getting to read, different perspectives and hear of various experiences through various blogs, documents, research is thus empowering to our future and how we can be on a quest and understand our personal growth and journeys.

Thom, J. S. (2024). Understanding Curriculum Amidst Doing Curriculum Research. In P. P. Trifonas & S. Jagger (Eds.), Handbook of Curriculum Theory and Research (pp. 1–25). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82976-6_46-2