Let's Watch the Roots Grow
A Zine by Cecilia Liu
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Teacher Candidate/ Artist Statement
Today is September 20th, 2021. There’s a subtle irony to my sitting here and editing a past reflection for one of my OISE courses, Fundamentals of Teaching and Learning, to submit as an artist statement for this journal. I created this zine 6 months prior for the main purpose of submitting it for a grade—with all other intents and purposes as subsidiaries. I vividly remember sitting on the floor of my last apartment around midnight, cutting and pasting small pieces of magazines that I had biked to a friend’s to retrieve earlier that day. The project was due the next morning.
Today, I submit the same (shortened) reflection that I wrote for class as an ode to who I was back then, and how the past six months have seen me grow through bright new stories, community, and relationships—and simultaneously through some of my darkest days. I’ve begun to question everything I thought I knew about education as it were, and the concept of assessment in itself. I am not the same person I was when I created this zine. This publication is its extension—the roots are still growing.
March 2021: My experience in this course, my practicum, and the Master of Teaching program as a whole is chronologically documented through a zine titled “let’s watch the roots grow.” The cover represents my feelings about starting this program during a global pandemic, while having to begin a new journey through loneliness, isolation, and constant change. “let’s watch the roots grow” refers to myself peering through a window of my journey in the third-person, which is visually represented by an illustration of myself, present on each page. It speaks to my journey as I begin to decolonize my current understandings of music education. This is work that will take deep reflection and time, but I am committed to bettering myself for my future music classrooms. “the best thing about the worst thing ever,” was my second practicum, where I was placed in a virtual grade 6 classroom. The practicum was the highlight of my school year, encouraged me to reflect on my teaching practices, and gave me more confidence as a teacher. The very last page of the zine looks forward at what comes next—more teaching, confidence, and hopefully vaccines.
The arts—drama, dance, music, and visual arts—have always seemed like a natural progression into community activism and social justice, especially within the field of education. Historically, zines have been independent and nonconformist creative outlets, and have been associated with many social movements. As a form of creativity in education, they can give teachers the opportunity to incorporate critical media literacy into the classroom while encouraging students to explore their own identities through individual autonomy/choice, activism, and critical thinking.
Cecilia Liu (she/her) is currently a Master of Teaching (MT) candidate, specializing in music teaching at the University of Toronto. Based out of Tkaronto, she currently organizes with grassroots groups Friends of Chinatown Toronto and the Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter, passionate about building racial solidarities and fostering community. She hopes to use her combined experiences in furthering racial justice and knowledge from the MT program as a future teacher, centering equity in the classroom. Cecilia grounds herself in her relationships with others and her community. Apart from her work and education, Cecilia enjoys lying in the sun and downhill bike rides.