Re-envisioning Decolonizing Pedagogies: Beyond Knowing, Delving into Being as an Access to Possible Decolonial Futures

This article argues that ontological phenomenological methods, addressing being, becoming, and existence, provide novel forms of knowledge production and pathways to decolonizing pedagogy in higher education through critiquing its neoliberalist and anthropocentric settler-colonial foundations. Two metaphors are employed to explore ontological pedagogy: one metaphor highlights the linguistic dynamics of joke-telling and the other compares the acquisition of a new language to ontological learning. A concise overview of decolonizing pedagogy and ontological phenomenological pedagogy is provided through sharing the author\u27s experiences, positionality, and exposures to these frameworks. The inquiry also explores whether ontological pedagogical framework remains mainly discursive or leads to material change, especially in light of autobiographical accounts of the author\u27s encounters with systemic, material, and discursive oppression. The author intentionally refrains from conclusions, inviting readers to engage in a nuanced exploration of a less-traveled realm of ontological inquiry in higher education

Transformation from Within: Practicing Global Education Through Critical Feminist Pedagogy

This paper examines the transformative role of critical feminist pedagogy as it applies to global experiential learning. I argue that a feminist approach to global education challenges racialized, neoliberal, and colonizing dimensions of higher education. Global experiential learning provides the basis for an interactive or relational form of critical feminist pedagogy within cross-cultural and transnational communities. The methodology for this research is grounded in decolonizing and feminist pedagogies that address multiple levels of engagement within the education process and among students, faculty, and communities. This discussion demonstrates how critical feminist pedagogy effectively addresses societal issues concerning power, privilege, and knowledge production that are evident in the context of rising populism and nativism in the U.S. The analysis in this paper includes a case study of a global experiential learning program in which university students worked with community-based organizations in rural Tanzania. Their pre-departure orientation, assignments, fieldbased learning, and overall experiences are examined in light of this pedagogical approach. In sum, this pedagogical analysis demonstrates how transnational and feminist practices provide effective ways to construct decolonizing engagement and community-based learning in global education

Toward a Decolonizing Pedagogy: Module 2

In this video, learners will be introduced to specific ways that colonialism shapes higher education and curriculum at various levels. The module will offer Indigenous perspectives on decolonial change and introduce instructors to a four guiding principles that can help them start to move toward decolonizing their pedagogies by: increasing decolonial consciousness; reflecting on complex positionalities; engaging critical and relational pedagogies; and taking responsibility for ongoing lifelong (un)learning. Please note: This module will take approx. 40 min., plus reading and reflection work

Applying Indigenizing Principles of Decolonizing Methodologies in University Classrooms

This case study examines ongoing work to Indigenize education programs at one Canadian university. The history of the academy in Canada has been dominated by Western epistemologies, which have devalued Indigenous ways of knowing and set the grounds for continued marginalization of Indigenous students, communities, cultures, and histories. We argue that institutions of higher learning need to move away from the myopic lens used to view education and implement Indigenizing strategies in order to counteract the systemic monopolization of knowledge and communication. Faculties of education are taking a leading role in Canadian universities by hiring Indigenous scholars and incorporating Indigenous ways of knowing into teacher education courses. Inspired by the 25 Indigenous principles outlined by Maōri scholar Linda Tuhiwai Smith (2012), four Indigenous faculty members from Western Canada document effective decolonizing practices for classroom experience, interaction, and learning that reflect Indigenous values and orientations within their teaching practices

The long and winding road ...

The long and winding road is a metaphor for a journey, often used to describe life journeys and the challenges encountered. The metaphor was used for the title of my keynote to refer both to the journey towards the current position of virtual exchange in education policy \u2013 but also the long road ahead. This paper aims to explore the emergence of virtual exchange in educational policy and how it has been adopted by non-profit organisations, educational institutions, and policy makers to address geo- and socio-political tensions. Though still a relatively new field, in recent years there have been some important developments in terms of policy statements and public investments in virtual exchange. The paper starts by looking at the current state-of-the-art in terms of virtual exchange in education policy and initiatives in Europe. Then, using an approach based on \u2018episode studies\u2019 from the policy literature, the paper explores the main virtual exchange schemes and initiatives that have drawn the attention of European policy makers. The paper closes by looking at some of the lessons we have learnt from research on the practice of virtual exchange, and how this can inform us as we face the long road ahead of us. The focus of this paper is on the European context not because I assume it to be the most important or influential, but rather because it is the one I know best, since it is the context in which I have been workin

Leveraging OER and Open Pedagogy to Promote EDI in the Classroom

In the context of promoting equity for students, the open educational resources (OER) movement has shifted from just cost savings to addressing the larger issue of decolonizing education and promoting social justice for marginalized students. Studies suggest a lack of inclusiveness and diverse perspectives in educational materials despite the diverse demographic of students in post-secondary institutions. Open education advocates have argued that students need “windows and mirrors” to fully engage in their learning – course content they can relate to and content that offers different perspectives from their own. This research paper is the author’s capstone project for the 2022-2023 SPARC Open Education Leadership Program that she participated in. The paper explores how OER and open pedagogy can help promote equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) for students in the classroom. These questions are addressed: 1. Who can benefit from OER? 2. Why should educators consider adapting or creating OER through an EDI lens? 3. How can OER and open pedagogy improve EDI for equity-deserving students and support learning for all students? 4. When does open not serve students or a community? 5. What is decolonizing and Indigenizing education in the context of open? To help generate ideas and foster discussions on promoting EDI through OER and open pedagogy, the paper provides considerations and additional resources for faculty and academic leaders

Breaking Open: Defining a Student-Centered Pedagogy

Intersections of Open Educational Resources and Information Literacy—which went through an open peer review process—informs and inspires on OER, info lit, and their many iterative convergences. It is available as an open access edition at https://bit.ly/ACRLOERInfoLit.Librarians at the Graduate Center at CUNY (City University of New York) used state OER funding to create an Open Pedagogy Fellowship for graduate students who were teaching as adjuncts in undergraduate classes. Following a competitive application process, the fellows accepted into the program were introduced to open resources and strategies for innovative pedagogy at an intensive four-day OER boot camp and an end-of-year symposium. The fellows were challenged to implement “open” in their field of study, supported by librarians and educational technologists on the creation of course sites, and charged to migrate their syllabi to OER. Toronto-based scholar Clelia Rodríguez served as inspiration and symposium keynote speaker for the program, which was a response to decolonial and critical pedagogies, race/diversity in the New York City educational system, and inclusivity as it pertains to scholarship

Teaching Haitian Studies and Caribbean Digital Humanities: A Rasanblaj of Critical Pedagogical Approaches and Black Feminist Theory in the Classroom

Digital humanities provide an opportunity for collaborators to connect with various people, disciplines, and resources to produce and share knowledge. It also allows creators and users to navigate research and scholarship through partnerships and online engagement. This article features an undergraduate digital humanities course taught in spring 2018 titled “Haitian Studies and Culture” at the University of Florida. In this course, students considered ways of speaking, writing, researching, and representing Haiti, while engaging in critical discussions related to issues and questions of access, authorship, interpretation, and representation. This essay serves as a reflection statement by highlighting how the author explored critical and social justice pedagogies and Black feminist theory to teach digital scholarship on Haitian Studies. This article argues that these approaches enrich teaching practices and student learning and offer a lens to address decolonization, deepen our social consciousness, and contribute to public scholarship

Decolonizing Approaches to Human Rights and Peace Education Higher Education Curriculum

While the project of decolonization within higher education has become important in recent years (Kester et al., 2019), human rights and peace education specifically have undergone critique (Coysh, 2014; Al-Daraweesh and Snauwaert, 2013; Barreto, 2013; Zembylas, 2018; Williams, 2017; Cruz and Fontan, 2014). This critique has focused on the delegitimization of non-Western epistemologies around peace and human rights and the reliance on Eurocentric structures of thought and power within curricular and pedagogical practices (Kester et al., 2019). The decolonization of academic human rights curricula is the primary focus of this research; through interviews and content analysis with U.S. human rights professors, professors’ curricular approaches were analyzed to understand how and to what extent they aligned with, incorporated, or utilized decolonial theory. The findings demonstrate that a decolonial curricular approach is only just emerging; these findings, which have significant implications for both human rights and peace education programs, indicate the need for further research into decolonial approaches to higher education curriculum