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At this present time both the nation I am from, Canada, and the nation I am currently living in, the United States, are holding national elections. While the forms of democratic practice are different—one is parliamentary and the other congressional/republican—the goal of having citizens become involved in decision making through their elected representatives is shared. It is an exciting time for social studies teachers in both nations; it provides flesh to the bones of printed textbooks, bringing to life the concepts of democratic principles we so often extol. But during these times and other less adrenalin-inspired ones, how can social studies teachers engage their students with important considerations of citizenship? What kinds of possibilities might exist? Are there some pedagogical practices that can be articulated?
The context from which this paper is drawn is from doctoral research that has attempted to address the question: How can films be used to explore the idea of responsible-active citizenship within a critically informed psychoanalytic practice? This research has consisted of examining literature in the areas of social studies, citizenship, postmodernism/poststructuralism, psychoanalysis, and film theory. The individuals who agreed to take part in the study—high school students (n=66), their teachers (n=2), and post-secondary students (n=6)—provided a welcomed opportunity for a novice researcher to pursue his inquiries. Together we engaged for a short time in a process to explore the possibilities for engaging in dialogue, using filmic texts as a base, which might lead to possibilities for active citizenship.1 This research was intended to expand knowledge and practice for the social studies classroom.2 In this intention I have been deeply taught. I have wrestled with ideas for a pedagogy that has resulted in more questions than answers. Martusewicz (102) explores how to love the questions, even the disconcerting ones, and comments that “we learn that