Mas' Making and Pedagogy: Imagined Possibilities

In this article I draw on an ethnographic case study that examined mas makers perceptions of the learning/teaching practices at work in the production of costumes for Trinidad and Tobagos annual Carnival celebrations. During the 2005 Carnival season I spent four months in the field, my country of birth, and collected data through participant observation, still photographs, and informal and semi-formal autobiographical interviews. I used Spradleys (1979, 1980) domain and componential analysis and Goodenoughs (1971) propriospect in my description, analysis, and interpretation of the data resources. In this article, I apply the notion of performance art pedagogy to these findings. In so doing, I explore imagined possibilities and implications for the institutionalized educational system that Caribbean scholars claim are in an era of re-conceptualization. I challenge fellow educators to reconsider what counts as learning and what learning counts (Green & Luke, 2006), in our efforts to provide education for all.