Jennifer Poole
Jennifer or Jen Poole (she/her) is a first-generation white settler to T’karonto. In her professional life, she is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work where her work has long been focused on madness, sanism(s), heartbreak and grief. While supporting and companioning learners is her priority, she has served in various leadership roles in her School and beyond. Current collaborative re-search projects focus on sanism(s) in the helping professions, the effects of white supremacy on grief and loss as well as interrupting colonialism and carcerality in education. She is also a co-parent, a community peer supporter, a TEDX talker and a very silly auntie. She is happiest outside.
When grief comes to class: Gathering story, knowledge and experience on learning and teaching with grief
There is much scholarship on learning and teaching about grief. There is little on learning and teaching while grieving. This is partly because of what Anderson (2020) calls ‘grief managerialism’ or the pressure to manage grief out of educational spaces. However, during this pandemic and long before, grief has ‘come to class’ anyway. Consequently, this inquiry seeks to gather story, knowledge and experience to better understand:
- How is grief ‘coming to class’ for learners and educators?
- What knowledge(s) do learners and educators already have about how to meet and learn with and from grief?
- What do learners and educators want to know and have access to when it comes to grief learning and resources?
Informed by critical theoretical, community and activist work, the project will be grounded in a critical qualitative approach and guided by a group of learners and educators. Together, data and process decisions will be made, stories and knowledge(s) gathered and findings shared in ways that reach and teach multiple folx on and off campus.