Decolonizing the University: the Challenges and Possibilities of Inclusive Education

This article argues for a reframing of the curriculum within the academy in order to make the academy more inclusive and more accessible to a diverse student body. Reframing the curriculum is seen as an aspect of decolonizing the university. Many questions emerge from this argument to include the following: What curriculum informs the education contemporary learners receive and how do they apply this to their academic and work lives? How do educators re-fashion their work as educators and also as learners to create more relevant understandings of what it means to be human and to determine what is human work? What are the limits and possibilities of visions of and counter and anti-visions to contemporary education? How do educators and learners challenge colonizing and imperializing relations within the academy and that influence the academy and its learners? How does curriculum become inclusive through teaching, research and graduate training and how does it make space for Indigeneity and multi-centric ways of knowing? How do we frame an inclusive, anti-racist, and anti-colonial global future and what is the work that is required to collectively arrive at that future? These complex questions, stimulated by my decolonizing curriculum work and experience, are engaged through the body of this article.

Critical Perspectives on Indigenous Research

Critical Perspectives on Indigenous Researc

The Role of Afrocentricity in the Inclusive Curriculum in Canadian Schools

Developing an “inclusive curriculum” that highlights Afrocentric knowledge will be a difficult task in Canadian schools. Nevertheless, the educational stories and experiences of Black/African-Canadian high school students demonstrate the need for a very different approach to both curricular offerings and pedagogic practices. Afrocentric knowledge not only is important for the intellectual and social growth of such students, but plays a part in the multi-centric education of all students. A curriculum which is inclusive in this broad sense will entail transformation of educational structures in Canada. L’élaboration d’une “pédagogie de l’inclusion” qui met en lumière les connaissances afrocentriques s’avérera une tâche difficile pour les écoles canadiennes. Quoi qu’il en soit, les propos et les expériences des élèves noirs canadiens du secondaire démontrent la nécessité d’une approche très différente dans les programmes et les méthodes pédago- giques. Les connaissances afrocentriques sont importantes pour le développement intel- lectuel et social de ces élèves, en plus de jouer un rôle dans l’éducation multicentrique de tous les élèves. Un programme faisant ainsi appel à une pédagogie de l’inclusion nécessitera la transformation des structures de l’éducation au Canada.

African Indigenous Proverbs and the Question of Youth Violence: Making the Case for the Use of the Teachings of Igbo of Nigeria and Kiembu of Kenya Proverbs for Youth Character and Moral Education

The historic and contemporary global concern over youth violence and indiscipline/subordination in schools has educators, school administrators and policy makers working hard to ensure that schools are welcoming and safe spaces for learners. Social harmony can only be achieved by understanding and addressing the causes of youth violence and indiscipline as part of a curriculum of values and character education to ensure effective learning outcomes for all. While the engagement of local cultural resource knowledge has not been prominent in discussions on youth violence and learning, it can be an important tool in educational delivery. This paper identifies the teachings of Indigenous African philosophies, such as proverbs relating to the concept of self and the community, responsibility, respect for self, peers and authority, and mutual interdependence and community building, and their place in school curricular, pedagogical and instructional initiatives to enhance youth learning in Euro-American and African schooling contexts. La préoccupation mondiale, historique et contemporaine, concernant la violence, l’indiscipline et l’insubordination chez les jeunes dans les écoles pousse les enseignants, les administrateurs et les décideurs à s’acharner sur des solutions pour que les écoles soient des lieux accueillants et sécuritaires pour les apprenants. Dans l’intérêt de l’harmonie sociale, il serait important de comprendre et de s’attaquer aux causes de la violence et l’indiscipline chez les jeunes et ce, dans le contexte d’un programme d’études visant les valeurs et le développement du caractère de sorte à assurer un apprentissage efficace pour tous. L’intégration des connaissances culturelles locales n’a pas été au premier plan des discussions sur la violence et l’apprentissage chez les jeunes; pourtant, celles-ci peuvent constituer des outils pédagogiques importants. Cet article identifie les enseignements des philosophies indigènes africaines tels que les proverbes portant sur le concept de soi et la communauté, la responsabilité, le respect de soi-même, des pairs et de l’autorité, et l’interdépendance et le renforcement de la communauté, pour ensuite discuter de leur rôle dans les initiatives pédagogiques visant l’amélioration de l’apprentissage chez les jeunes dans des milieux scolaires euro-américains et africains.

Citizenship Education and Embodied ways of Knowing: What can be learned from the voices of Ghanaian youth in schooling and education?

This article examines Ghanaian youth voices about issues of personal and moral character development through the teachings of local embodied ways of knowing and how such ways of knowing further inform our understanding of discipline and the socialization of Ghanaian youth to become responsible citizens.  We briefly explore the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of researching moral character development, the question of discipline and the relations to youth and citizenship responsibilities through youth voices. We argue youth voices show complex understandings of embodied ways of knowing relating to questions of citizenry, discipline, character, moral, and respect.  The paper hence offers insights toward reforms needed in educational delivery (teaching, learning and instruction), as well as values of education to address the question of youth voice, decolonization, discipline, and embodied ways of knowing, so as to enhance the possibilities of coming to know citizenry, character, moral and community

Reframing anti-colonial theory for the diasporic context

In teaching and dialoguing with students and colleagues we have on a number of occasions had to grapple with questions such as: What is the ‘anti-colonial’? How is this different from a ‘post-colonial’ approach? And how are we to articulate an anti-colonial prism as a way of thinking and making sense of current colonial relations and procedures of colonization? These are tough questions complicated by the apparent mainstream privileging and intellectual affection for the “post-colonial” over “anti-colonial”. This paper is purposively written to provoke a debate as a contestation of ideas of the current ‘post’ context. We are calling for a nuanced reading of what constitutes an intellectual subversive politics in the ongoing project of decolonization for both colonized and dominant bodies. We ask our readers to consider the possibilities of a counter theoretical narrative or conception of the present in ways that make theoretical sense of the everyday world of the colonized, racialized, oppressed and the Indigene. We bring a politicized reading to the present as a moment of practice, to claim and reclaim our understandings of identity in the present with implications for how we theorise a Diasporic identity. We challenge the intellectual seduction to equally flatten notions of identity and relations as simply fluid, in flux or something to be complicated/contested. We believe there is something that must not be lost in reclaiming past powerful notions regarding particularly the marginalized understandings of their identities for the present. Thus we revive anti-colonial discourse, building on early anticolonial thinking and practice. We are bringing a particular reading of the ‘colonial’ that is relevant to the present in which both nations, states and communities, as well as bodies and identities are engaged as still colonized and resisting the colonial encounter.peer-reviewe

Beyond the Rhetoric: Moving from Exclusion, Reaching for Inclusion in Canadian Schools

This article is informed by the findings of a three-year research study in Ontario schools in order to understand the factors and forces that make for students' engagement and disengagement in schools. Although research has sought to understand the processes that contribute to some students feeling a sense of marginality and disconnectedness in their schools, we have also paid attention to exemplary practices of inclusive schooling in educational settings. Specifically, in this article we examine educational practices that engender exclusion or inclusion, particularly of racially marginalized students in Euro-American or Canadian contexts. We develop an analysis that uncovers the connection between "inclusionary and exclusionary" practices of schooling. "Inclusivity" moves beyond mere classroom presence of minorities or superficial attempts at multiculturalism: students may feel disempowered and therefore excluded as far as actual classroom practices are concerned (e.g., teaching, sharing knowledge). Moving from exclusion means identifying students' own narrative accounts of marginality and subordination that result in feeling left out. Reading for inclusion means interrogating strategies initiated by schools, students, educators, parents, and local communities to counteract the marginalization of disadvantaged and racial minority youths. Our aim in this article is to use available research information to encourage the wider application of effective inclusive practices to improve learning outcomes for all youth.Cet article repose sur les résultats d'une étude qui s'est déroulée sur trois ans dans des écoles en Ontario et qui avait comme objectif de comprendre les facteurs et les enjeux qui font en sorte que les étudiants sont impliqués ou pas dans leur école. Alors que les chercheurs ont tenté de saisir les processus qui contribuent au sentiment qu'ont certains étudiants d'être marginalisés et désengagés dans leur école, ils ont également porté leur attention sur les pratiques exemplaires d'écoles intégratrices dans des milieux pédagogiques. Plus précisément, dans cet article, les auteurs se penchent sur les pratiques pédagogiques qui créent l'exclusion ou l'inclusion, notamment d'étudiants marginalisés en cause de leur race dans des contextes euroaméricain ou canadien. Ils poursuivent une analyse qui révèle le lien entre des pratiques d'enseignement "inclusifs" et ceux qui sont "exclusifs". L'inclusivité va au-delà de la simple présence en salle de classe de minorités ou des démarches superficielles tendant vers le multiculturalisme qui peuvent laisser les étudiants avec le sentiment d'être tenus à l'écart du pouvoir et donc exclus quant aux pratiques en salle de classe (par exemple, l'enseignement, le partage de connaissances). Pour mettre fin à l'exclusion, il faut tenir compte des récits descriptifs que font les étudiants de leur marginalité et de leur subordination, ainsi que des sentiments d'être exclus qui en résultent. Pour encourager l'inclusion, il faut analyser les stratégies mises de l'avant par les écoles, les étudiants, les enseignants, les parents et les communautés pour faire contrepoids à la marginalisation des jeunes qui sont défavorisés ou membres d'une minorité ethnique. Le but des auteurs est de profiter des résultats de recherches pour encourager une application plus répandue de démarches efficaces d'inclusion et améliorer l'apprentissage de tous les jeunes

School Reforms in Ontario: The "Marketization of Education" and the Resulting Silence on Equity

Market dynamics have begun to entrench themselves in educational systems around the world. Although this phenomenon has been addressed in several recent writings (Ball, 1993; Dehli, 1996; Gerwitz, Ball, & Bowe, 1995; Kenway, 1993; Robertson, 1995), few have incorporated a critical antiracist framework. As noted by Dehli (1996) the encroachment of market forms, relations, and concepts into educational sites usually results in the marginalization and muting of other dimensions of schooling. Using an integrative antiracist perspective that is informed by the findings of an ongoing study of inclusive schooling in Ontario (Dei et al, 1996), this article critically examines these ongoing reforms in a Canadian context, specifically in relation to the recent reforms in Ontario's educational system. We draw on knowledge about race and difference to argue for serious questioning of these reforms and their impact on socially disadvantaged groups. In doing so, the article asserts that current trends are leading toward the " Marketisation of education" (Ball, 1993; Gerwitz et al., 1995; Kenway, 1993) in Ontario, and that the harmful consequences of this shift will be felt most severely in relation to issues of equity and access in education. Through the rhetoric of cost-effectiveness and bureaucratic efficiency, the "official" agenda for educational change shifts focus away from equity considerations in schooling to those of capital, market forces, and big business. The article interrogates the rhetoric of reform and calls for equity to be placed at the centre of educational change. In conclusion we suggest new ways of examining and addressing genuine educational options in Canadian contexts.La dynamique de marché a commencé à s'inscrire dans les systèmes d'éducation de par le monde. Alors qu'on a beaucoup écrit sur ce phénomène récemment (Bail, 1993; Dehli, 1996; Gerwitz, Bail, & Bowe, 1995; Kenway, 1993; Robertson, 1995), peu d'auteurs ont incorporé un cadre de travail antiraciste dans leur analyse. Comme Dehli (1996) l'a noté, l'empiétement des formes, des relations et des concepts du marché sur les sites éducationnels entraîne habituellement la marginalisation et la mise à l'écart d'autres dimensions de la scolarité. Adoptant une perspective antiraciste integrative reposant sur les résultats d'une étude continue de l'école inclusive en Ontario (Dei et al, 1996), cet article étudie d'un oeil critique les réformes en cours dans un contexte canadien, plus particulièrement par rapport aux réformes récentes dans le système d'éducation en Ontario. Nous puisons dans des connaissances sur la race et les différences pour appuyer nos arguments qui proposent une sérieuse remise en question de ces réformes et leur impact sur les groupes socialement défavorisés. Nous affirmons ainsi que les tendances actuelles mènent à la "Commercialisation de l'éducation" (Bail, 1993; Gerwitz et al, 1995; Kenway, 1993) en Ontario, et que les conséquences néfastes de ce changement se feront surtout sentir dans les questions d'équité et d'accès en matière d'éducation. Par le biais du discours sur la rentabilisation et l'efficacité administrative, les projets "officiels"/l'agenda officiel visant aux cliangements pédagogiques se distancienl des considérations d'équité pour se rapprocher de celles gouvernées par le capital, les forces du marché et les grandes entreprises. Cet article remet en question le discours des réformes et propose que l'équité constitue la base sur laquelle les changements pédagogiques seront formulés. La conclusion présente de nouvelles façons d'aborder et d'étudier les options réelles en matière d'éducation dans divers contextes canadiens

Examination of Traditional Medicine and Herbal Pharmacology and the Implications for Teaching and Education: A Ghanaian Case Study

This article presents the preliminary findings of a pilot study of the practice, uses, and effectiveness of traditional medicine in Ghana. Based on in-depth interviews with local key practitioners and users of traditional medicine, the article points to some of the educational significance of local cultural knowledge on the environment and the relevance of such knowledge for science education in Ghana. In the discussion the authors briefly highlight general themes relating to local understandings of traditional medicine, the distinctions between traditional and plant medicine, contestations between traditional medicine and orthodox medicine, local conceptions of health and a healthy individual, the economics of health, and the lessons of science and public education. Although the findings of the study are preliminary, the article argues that much is to be gained for educational purposes through the critical study of traditional medicine, particularly in terms of the promotion of science and community education in Ghana