Remembrance as a Digitally Mediated Practice of Pedagogy

Abstract

This chapter considers the dilemmas and challenges of using digital tools for oral history in schools. It uses the example of an oral history and movie-making project that unfolded in one First Nations community, where Grade 8 students documented the return of Elders to the site of a long-abandoned Hudson’s Bay Company where the Elders and their families had participated in trade commerce in the first half of the twentieth century. Upon return to the community, the production of historical documentaries took place in the school. This chapter traces the implementation of the project, which resulted in the creation of the new digital products, which were shared at a screening event for the community. It considers the potential of such practices to facilitate engagements with difficult knowledge, particularly at a site where normative representations persist.