Ma

“Ma, edited by Pauline Sameshima, Boyd White, and Anita Sinner, is an intellectual de-light to read and leads to a concerned thoughtfulness centered upon materiality and material cul-ture and its absence in teacher preparation. The chapters written by scholars in various fields within curriculum theory, poetry, art, and Japanese theory are profound in their exploration of the concept of Ma and teacher identity. I am always fascinated when scholars discuss the spaces in-between. This book discusses the spaces between in significant and insightful ways and is a ma-jor contribution to current scholarship for this reason alone. Scholars in education need to read this book.” William Reynolds, Associate Professor of Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading, Georgia Southern University
“Reading Ma gave me a jolt, a shock of recognition that phenomenologists point to as reminders of our bodily and material experiences of life. When so much of our lives can seem ephemeral and detached from lived experiences, and when changes in the physical and natural world can seem overwhelming, the concept of ‘ma’ invites us to explore the productive tensions often obscured by cultural abstractions and binary distinctions. The return to materiality, to arti-fact-making, weaving and the physical resonances that are gifts of poetry, narrative, and other forms of art, suggest rich forms of inquiry into teachers’ and teachers-to-be lives and identities. This book registers a profound hope: that we can create meaning in relation to the material world but not apart from it.” Hans Smits, Associate Professor Emeritus, Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary