Cynthia Chambers
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Degrees
PhD (Curriculum Studies) & MA (Reading/Language Arts), Department of Communications and Social Foundations, Faculty of Education, University of Victoria; BEd (Elementary Education), College of Education, University of SaskatchewanExpertise
Indigenous knowledge and literacies (Canadian north and southern Alberta), interpretive inquiry (hermeneutics, narrative and auto-ethnography), lifewriting (autobiography, personal essay and memoir), cultural, social and political differences and its effectsResearch Areas
Learning from place, Indigenous literacies, Indigenous perspectives on curriculum, lifewritingBiography
I was born in Vancouver BC but spent my early childhood in Edmonton and moved to the Yukon and then the NWT where I spent most of my childhood and early adult life. I attended 21 schools from kindergarten to grade 12 in three provinces, two territories and the state of Washington. After I graduated from high school in Yellowknife NWT, I was married and had two sons, Kristen and Che Erasmus. I worked for the Company of Young Canadians and the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre until 1974 when I left Yellowknife to complete my B.Ed. at the University of Saskatchewan. My daughter, Theresa was born in Saskatoon. After teaching for the Sturgeon Lake First Nation, I returned to Yellowknife and worked with Dene Language Programs in the Department of Education. With my three children I returned to Fort Good Hope, where I had lived as a child, to work for the Dene Community Council on a community-based history research project. In 1983, I moved my family to Victoria BC where I completed my M.A. (Language Arts) and Ph.D. (Curriculum Studies). In 1989, I joined the Faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge where I teach undergraduate courses in literacy and language education, curriculum and indigenous peoples education, as well as graduate courses in curriculum and research.Selected Publications
Pihuaqtiuyugut: We are the long distance walkers. Temporary Exhibit opening at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Museum, Yellowknife, NWT, 21 September 2008. Exhibit team includes: Cynthia Chambers, University of Lethbridge; Helen Balanoff and Jill Vaydik, NWT Literacy Council; Emily Kudlak and Alice Kaodloak, Ulukhaktok, NWT; and PWNHC staff (Joanne Bird and Dot Vanvliet.Blood, N. & Chambers, C. (Producers/Writers/Directors). (2006). "Kaaáhsinnooniksi: If the land could speak…" [Digital-video documentary]. (Produced in cooperation with Alberta Community Development Branch and the University of Lethbridge.
Chambers, C. and E. Hasebe-Ludt with C. Leggo, A. Oberg, D. Donald & W. Hurren. 2008). Metissage. Chapter 11. In J. G. Knowles & A. Cole (Eds.), Handbook of the arts in qualitative research: Perspectives, methodologies, examples and issues (pp. 141-154). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Chambers, C. (2006). "The land is the best teacher I ever had;" Places as Pedagogy for Precarious Times. JCT: Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, 22(3), 27 - 37.
Chambers, C. (2006). Where do I belong? Canadian curriculum as passport home. Journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies, 2. Available at
Balanoff, H. & C. Chambers (2005). Do my literacies count as literacy? An inquiry into Innuinaqutun literacies in the Canadian North. Literacies, Issue 8.
Chambers, C. (2004, Spring). Research matters: Finding a path with heart. Journal of Canadian Association of Curriculum Studies, 1(3), 1-17.
Chambers, C. (2003). As Canadian as possible under the circumstances: A view of contemporary curriculum discourses in Canada. In W. Pinar (Ed.), Handbook of international curriculum research (pp. 221-252). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Chambers, C. (2003). On being a disciple of memoir: In E. Hasebe-Ludt & W. Hurren (Eds.) Curriculum intertext: Place/language/pedagogy (pp. 101-107). New York: Peter Lang.
Chambers, C. (2003, Fall). Things I carried with me…: A pilgrimage to Manitow Sakahikan (text plus 2 minutes streamed video). Educational Insights.
Chambers, C., Hasebe-Ludt, E., & Donald, D. (December, 2002). Creating a curriculum of métissage (text, audio, still images). Educational Insights
Chambers, C. (1999). A topography for Canadian curriculum theory. Canadian Journal of Education, 24(4), 137-150.
Chambers, C. (1997). On taking my (own) medicine: Memory work in writing and pedagogy. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, 14(4), 14-21.
Yamagishi, R., Houtekamer, T., Good Striker, E., & Chambers, C. (1995). Mitakuye oyasin: Stories of sacred relations. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, 11(4), 75-99.
Chambers, C. (1994). Looking for a home: A work in progress. Frontiers: A Journal of Woman Studies, 15(2), 23-50.
Research Interests
My research interests include: indigenous literarcies and languages; narrative, autobiography, personal essay and memoir as forms of inquiry for educators; interpretive inquiry--particularly hermeneutics. I am particularly interested in difference--cultural and social and political (rather than psychological)--and its effect. I also write about teaching and the teaching life.Current Research and Creative Activity
| Title | Location | Grant Information | Principal Investigator | Co Researchers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Learning from Place (not listed on the grant as a researcher; however I participate in project activities, as well as continue to research this topic on my own) | Southern Alberta |
Aboriginal Knowledge Learning Centre/ Canadian Council on Learning.
|
Narcisse Blood, Red Crow College | Ryan Heavy Head, Red Crow College |
| Pitquihiraluavut Puiglimitavut (We will not forget our ways): Bringing home photographs of the Inuinnait Collection at the British Museum |
Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada Aboriginal Research Grant, $250,000.00, 2007-10.
|
H. Balanoff, NWT Literacy Council | C. Chambers, University of Lethbridge; E. Kudlak, Angulalik & D. Keith, Kitikmeot Heritage Society Nunavut | |
| Re-writing literacy in Canadian cosmopolitan schools | E. Hasebe-Ludt, University of Lethbridge | C. Chambers, University of Lethbridge; C. Leggo, University of British Columbia | ||
| Systematic review of research: Aboriginal children | B. Burnaby, University of Newfoundland | C. Chambers, University of Lethbridge | ||
| Ulukhaktok Literacies Project |
Northern Research Development Grant, Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, $40,000.00, 2004-09.
|
C. Chambers, University of Lethbridge | Helen Balanoff, NWT Literacy Council |
Previous Research
| Title | Grant Agency | Completion Date |
|---|---|---|
| Internationalization Cultural Difference, and Migration: Developing a Curriculum for Teacher Education | Canada-European Community Program for Co-operation in Higher Education and Training, Human Resource Development Canada | 2006 |
| New Literacies and Their Significance for Education and Society | Research Support Fund, Faculty of Education, University of Lethbridge | 2001 |
| New Literacies: Teacher Education and Society | Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council | 2001 |
| Literacy, Teacher Education & Society | Research Excellence Envelope | 2000 |
| Damaged and Needing Help: Family Violence Amongst Aboriginal People in Yellowknife / Lútsel K'é, NT | Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples | 1993 |
| Student Teacher's Experiences Beginning Teaching | Faculty of Education Research Fund, University of Lethbridge | 1991 |