"What de Good a Education if Him Got No Sense?" Gaining a Sense of Self Through Grandma Epistemologies

• In Event: Bearing Witness: Toward an Ontology and Epistemology of Experiential Curriculum

Abstract

Centering the lived experience of my grandmother, Barbara, a Black Jamaican immigrant to Canada, I offer grandma epistemologies as a way of (un)knowing as a granddaughter. The title of this piece is drawn from a Jamaican parable, “What de good a education if him got no sense?,” which my grandma used to remind me that education must also be combined with good sense. This “sense” challenged me to go beyond what I learned from formal schooling to seek a greater sense of self, as a Black woman. Through the use of Jamaican parables, I share some of the wisdom gained through my grandmother’s lived experience as a Black mother and grandmother. More specifically, I demonstrate how the lessons gained through my grandma’s immigration story provides a counter-narrative to the image of Canada as a harmonious cultural mosaic (Winks, 1979).

Author

• Tianna Dowie-Chin, University of Georgia