Imagining the nation in the classroom - News

In defense of our common heritage

6/5/2017

“My people, mijn volk, mi pueblo, myn minsken, I have been elected into office to protect our heritage and defend you from them”. Surely this sounds familiar. You have heard it in one or more of the four official political languages of our Kingdom of the Netherlands—English, Dutch, Papiamento, and Frisian.

Like it or not, these days heritage is explicitly being wedded to formal politics. As is the case in the four corners of the globe, political elites throughout the Kingdom of the Netherlands are claiming to be the guardians of heritage. By defending our heritage elected officials and aspirant ministers and members of parliament bellow in every public presentation that they are supposedly protecting our imperiled way of life, our honor, identity and collective survival. The protection “from whom” (the them) question needs to be preceded by the query of what exactly is our heritage?

Hiking as a method

15/3/2017

As a way to come to a different understanding of the way belonging is practiced by different sections of the population of SXM, Dr. Francio Guadeloupe and PhD researcher Jordi Halfman joined the students of USM on their first hike through the moutains of the island.

The idea being that these hikes will take place more regularly with a diverse group of Sint maarteners, these hikes will allow meetings to take place between all of them and a situation to emerge in which dreams for the future may be shared. Moreover, walking together will allow for other ways of being together and learning from each other while the envisioned planting of fruittrees will beautify the island.

As Halfman explained in the article on the St Martin New Network: 'Walking with these students, seeing the island through their eyes, hearing their memories of specific areas of the island, was very enlightening. It helped her realize how important it is to feel a sense of pride, both for the land you live on and your accomplishments while living there.'

Discussions on Racialism, Racism and Belonging within the Dutch Kingdom

7/12/2016

During the first two days of December 2016 intellectuals (traditional, organic and vernacular and all what lays between) from all parts of the Dutch Kingdom and other areas within the Caribbean region, came together at the University of Saint Martin (USM) to discuss the important matter of racism at the conference: Raising the Curtain on Race; Globalizing A Critical Analysis of Race and Racism. This ties into our NWO project 'Imaging the Nation in the Classroom' as ideas of racialism and racism are also part of constructions of national identity within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
After an introduction by Dr. Teresa Leslie of the Eastern Caribbean Public Health Foundation (ECPHF), one of the organizers along with Dr. Francio Guadeloupe (USM) and Lianne Leonara of the National Anthropological and Archaeological Memory Management (NAAM), Jorgen Unom JG of Poetry Circle Nowhere opened the conference. His opening was directly followed by the insightful keynote of the social activist and vernacular intellectual Mr. Quincy Gario, who discussed his experiences with Black Peter and racism in the Netherlands. After informing all those present of his struggle for justice, he entered into a lively debate with the USM students most of whom had never encountered this Dutch caricature/festivity.

Waterfeest: invention of tradition as a method

21/11/2016

The team of imagining the nation has collaborated with Amsterdam United of the University of Amsterdam to create an alternative to the Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet tradition that would be anti-racist and inclusive. The products of this initiative will be part of the research of the postdoctoral fellow.

Below you find the founding myth of this invented tradition that strats as follows:

‘Mama. Mama! Mamaaaaah….’
‘Papa help!’

Eli huilde hard en schreeuwde terwijl hij langzaam viel. Langzaam, dieper en diepere totdat hij zich bevond op de bodem van de zee. Eli was met zijn ouders en vele andere mensen uit Damascus op zoek naar een land zonder oorlog en honger. Ze hadden hoop terwijl ze door de donkere nacht voeren. Maar de hoop redde Eli niet. De harde wind deed het kleine bootje wankelen en huilend viel hij, langzaam, naar de bodem van de zee.

Papa en mama konden Eli niet horen, en ook zijn zusjes en broertje waren ver weg. Eli was bang en voelde zich alleen. Maar Eli was niet alleen. Een zeeschildpad, honderden jaren oud, hoorde de stem van de kleine jongen. Langzaam zwom hij naar het geluid van Eli. En ook een dolfijn werd geraakt door de schreeuw van verdriet. Snel dartelde hij naar Eli. Op de bodem van de zee vonden de dolfijn en de schildpad Eli. Ze spraken weinig mensentaal, maar zagen dat Eli hun hulp nodig had. En ze wisten meteen hoe ze hem konden helpen.

Say it Loud! Racism in the Dutch Kingdom is unacceptable.

11/6/2016

Yesterday we read that a young man of 21 years was gunned down in the city of Schiedam in the Netherlands. The fact that he was dark complexioned, and ethno-racial profiling among Dutch police officers in the Netherlands is condoned as an unfortunate security measure and have caused many activists throughout the Kingdom of the Netherlands to argue that this is one of the outcomes of a situation where it has become politically suspect to say that Dutch racism is unacceptable!

In this contribution, the staff of the University of St. Martin (USM) seek to say the new politically suspect as loud as possible: Dutch racism is unacceptable!
“Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words can never hurt us.” Whoever wholeheartedly believes that this saying holds all the time, and in every occasion, is either lying to themselves or not part of the human species. The fact of the matter is that words like stones can lead to suffering. It is true that the hurt produced by words is of a different kind—psychological rather than physical—but a hurt it is nevertheless. And we remain silent when listening to these words, forgetting that these words can lead to actions.

Les over slavernij vanuit Caribisch oogpunt

20/5/2016

Ook vanuit Willemstad, Curaçao is er aandacht voor de op St Maarten ontworpen lessen over Slavernij en mensenrechten. Via onderstaand link kunt u het interview beluisteren en het artikel van Anneke Polak van het Caribisch Netwerk lezen.

Also in Willemstad, Curaçao, people are interested in the lesson plan developed on St. Maarten. The interview, in Dutch can be listened to by clicking on the link below.

Read and listen

Researcher Jordi Halfman thanks St. Maarteners

11/5/2016

“Is that your ninth notebook already Teacher? Teacher Jodi, you write too much!” That is the comment of one of the 6th graders when I pull out my notebook. Over the past nine months he has kept trace of my work and has explained to others who I am and what I do. “She is learning from us about living on St. Maarten, how we learn and how we teach. And she writes down all the crazy things we say. This is her ninth book!”

'Teacher Jodi' wrote a letter to the people of St Maarten who helped her do the research to thank them for helping her during the past year.

Presentation of lesson plan on St Maarten

11/5/2016

PHILIPSBURG--Dutch researcher and University of St. Martin (US) lecturer Jordi Halfman will be presenting the educational lesson plan she developed during her research in local schools to St. Maarten officials during a ceremony that will be organised by USM later this month. The plan will be presented to amongst other persons Education Minister Silveria Jacobs, Members of Parliament (MPs) who are part of Parliament's Educational Committee, the Dutch representation on the island and school board representatives. The lesson plan will also be shared with Ministers and Commissioners of Education from the other Dutch Caribbean islands.

Persons interested in the earlier presentation of the implementation of the pilot studies, can watch the short video below. Anyone interested in being part of the future of this project is welcome to contact us and join the presentation of the plan later this month.

New Lesson plan on Slavery and Human Rights introduced to school officials

2/2/2016

On Wednesday the 27th of January, a new lesson plan on Slavery and Human Rights was introduced at the Asha Stevens Christian Hillside School at Cay Hill. This lesson plan is part of an ongoing project in the Kingdom of The Netherlands that addresses the ways in which pupils imagine different ways of belonging. For this project, PhD candidate Jordi Halfman has been conducting research in different primary schools on Sint Maarten since August 2015.

New Lesson Plan on Slavery and Human Rights

6/1/2016

From January 2016 onwards, students of Sint Maarten will be able to engage with a new addition to their Foundation Based Education (FBE) curriculum as students from the Netherlands return to teach a lesson plan on Slavery and Human rights.

For more information about the lesson plan, see the documents below.