ABSTRACT
How do I deal with learners’ experiences? One might well ask, since as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Waikato in New Zealand I stand in front of classes that vary in size from two or three hundred students to ‘small’ groups of twenty-five. Furthermore, as a Canadian standing in front of both Maori and Pakeha New Zealand students, I cannot relate directly to many of their experiences even in the smaller classes. The Land March, Bastion Point, Rugby League, Christmas on the beach-there is an endless array of experiences which have shaped the perspectives of my students, yet which are miles away from my experiences of peace marches in Vancouver, skating across the lake and Christmas afternoon walks through snowy woods.
