Thashika Pillay, Claire S Ahn, Kenneth Gyamerah, Shu-Ying Liu
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a drastic transformation to schooling for students throughout the world. During this period, a number of issues arose in our local, national and global communities, including the death of George Floyd and subsequent protests and rallies organised by #BlackLivesMatter. Living through and witnessing many social issues, coupled with the new and enduring pandemic, furthered our understandings of how young people were engaging with these topics without the structures of schools to support them. This article presents the results of a case study where youth aged 15–17 years shared their experiences and understandings about many social justice issues they were observing. The most significant learning around these issues for youth occurred informally through social media as opposed to in the classroom, reinforcing that schools are not ethical spaces from which to challenge institutional, structural and systemic barriers to justice. As such, this article discusses the potential for formal education to be transformed into an ethical and decolonising space to learn about and challenge injustice.
{"title":"Considering the role of social media: #BlackLivesMatter as a pedagogical intervention to decolonise curriculum","authors":"Thashika Pillay, Claire S Ahn, Kenneth Gyamerah, Shu-Ying Liu","doi":"10.14324/lre.20.1.14","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14324/lre.20.1.14","url":null,"abstract":"The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a drastic transformation to schooling for students throughout the world. During this period, a number of issues arose in our local, national and global communities, including the death of George Floyd and subsequent protests and rallies organised by #BlackLivesMatter. Living through and witnessing many social issues, coupled with the new and enduring pandemic, furthered our understandings of how young people were engaging with these topics without the structures of schools to support them. This article presents the results of a case study where youth aged 15–17 years shared their experiences and understandings about many social justice issues they were observing. The most significant learning around these issues for youth occurred informally through social media as opposed to in the classroom, reinforcing that schools are not ethical spaces from which to challenge institutional, structural and systemic barriers to justice. As such, this article discusses the potential for formal education to be transformed into an ethical and decolonising space to learn about and challenge injustice.","PeriodicalId":45980,"journal":{"name":"London Review of Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43022350","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
While decolonisation is usually discussed in relation to countries that were formally colonised, countries that have not been formally colonised have also faced challenges related to colonialism. In this case, it is worth considering whether decolonial theory has more widespread applicability to respond to global challenges faced in the postcolonial era. This article documents the historical trajectories of colonisation and decolonisation of the school curriculum in Nepal. Although Nepal was never formally colonised, the introduction of modern schooling in Nepal was informed by the British colonisation of India, where local languages were replaced by English in the curriculum, diminishing the value of local languages and knowledges. Against this backdrop, the Nepal government issued a series of policies supporting Nepali supremacy, but the expansion of English was not significantly challenged. Rather, the policies resulted in a double colonisation of ethnic/Indigenous languages: external colonisation by English, and internal colonisation by the Nepali language. However, significant decolonisation efforts have recently made space for minoritised languages in the curriculum. This article illustrates these colonisation and decolonisation waves, shaped by the government, local communities and other actors. Drawing on Nepal’s legislative and educational policies, the article relates language policy decisions and actions as decolonial efforts to support ethnic/Indigenous languages and explores the implications for understanding tensions around decolonisation of curriculum.
{"title":"Decolonisation of curriculum: the case of language education policy in Nepal","authors":"Prem Prasad Poudel, L. Jackson, Tae-Hee Choi","doi":"10.14324/lre.20.1.13","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14324/lre.20.1.13","url":null,"abstract":"While decolonisation is usually discussed in relation to countries that were formally colonised, countries that have not been formally colonised have also faced challenges related to colonialism. In this case, it is worth considering whether decolonial theory has more widespread applicability to respond to global challenges faced in the postcolonial era. This article documents the historical trajectories of colonisation and decolonisation of the school curriculum in Nepal. Although Nepal was never formally colonised, the introduction of modern schooling in Nepal was informed by the British colonisation of India, where local languages were replaced by English in the curriculum, diminishing the value of local languages and knowledges. Against this backdrop, the Nepal government issued a series of policies supporting Nepali supremacy, but the expansion of English was not significantly challenged. Rather, the policies resulted in a double colonisation of ethnic/Indigenous languages: external colonisation by English, and internal colonisation by the Nepali language. However, significant decolonisation efforts have recently made space for minoritised languages in the curriculum. This article illustrates these colonisation and decolonisation waves, shaped by the government, local communities and other actors. Drawing on Nepal’s legislative and educational policies, the article relates language policy decisions and actions as decolonial efforts to support ethnic/Indigenous languages and explores the implications for understanding tensions around decolonisation of curriculum.","PeriodicalId":45980,"journal":{"name":"London Review of Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43077878","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R. Race, P. Ayling, Dorrie Chetty, N. Hassan, S. McKinney, Lauren Boath, Nighet Riaz, S. Salehjee
There is no denying the importance and increased significance of interest in decolonisation in education and the wider social sciences. This article aims to bring a continuing contribution to an evolving and important discussion. The methodology of this work allows a range of academics from different cultural contexts to voice their decolonising proclamations. The authors of the article are a combination of White, Black, Asian and mixed-race academic researchers in higher education who have come together to proclaim their viewpoints. They draw upon their research and apply professional practice in relation to differing aspects of generally decolonising education and specifically decolonising curricula. As a group, we believe that the notion of decolonising applies to all sections of education – not only to primary schools, but also to nurseries, secondary schools, colleges and universities. We hope this article will encourage more research, advocacy and action within education and interdisciplinary contexts into the complexity of decolonising the curriculum.
{"title":"Decolonising curriculum in education: continuing proclamations and provocations","authors":"R. Race, P. Ayling, Dorrie Chetty, N. Hassan, S. McKinney, Lauren Boath, Nighet Riaz, S. Salehjee","doi":"10.14324/lre.20.1.12","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14324/lre.20.1.12","url":null,"abstract":"There is no denying the importance and increased significance of interest in decolonisation in education and the wider social sciences. This article aims to bring a continuing contribution to an evolving and important discussion. The methodology of this work allows a range of academics from different cultural contexts to voice their decolonising proclamations. The authors of the article are a combination of White, Black, Asian and mixed-race academic researchers in higher education who have come together to proclaim their viewpoints. They draw upon their research and apply professional practice in relation to differing aspects of generally decolonising education and specifically decolonising curricula. As a group, we believe that the notion of decolonising applies to all sections of education – not only to primary schools, but also to nurseries, secondary schools, colleges and universities. We hope this article will encourage more research, advocacy and action within education and interdisciplinary contexts into the complexity of decolonising the curriculum.","PeriodicalId":45980,"journal":{"name":"London Review of Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49058417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A prominent feature of the Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd has been the renewed call for schools to become antiracist. What can be learnt from past unsuccessful attempts to implement antiracist education? Specific critiques of the antiracist movement made by prominent academics such as Paul Gilroy are worth revisiting. Research also suggests that sections of White working-class students were alienated by antiracist strategies that were often clumsy and exclusive in their implementation. In relation to state initiatives, there has been a shift from antiracist or multicultural agendas to the forefronting of the teaching of British values in schools. It is within this context, with the catalyst of popular outrage at racial injustice, that calls for antiracist education are again being vocalised. This article suggests that a renewed form of antiracism might focus on integrating a pedagogy of educating for social justice, setting out to avoid the polarisation of racialised categories. Rather than espousing a limited and essentialising discourse of race, a reexamination of class relations could usefully be positioned within a reformulated and reimagined antiracism that offers a critique of systemic injustice to include a wider constituency than race alone.
{"title":"The rebirth of the call for antiracism in schools: learning from the past","authors":"Y. Asare","doi":"10.14324/lre.20.1.11","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14324/lre.20.1.11","url":null,"abstract":"A prominent feature of the Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd has been the renewed call for schools to become antiracist. What can be learnt from past unsuccessful attempts to implement antiracist education? Specific critiques of the antiracist movement made by prominent academics such as Paul Gilroy are worth revisiting. Research also suggests that sections of White working-class students were alienated by antiracist strategies that were often clumsy and exclusive in their implementation. In relation to state initiatives, there has been a shift from antiracist or multicultural agendas to the forefronting of the teaching of British values in schools. It is within this context, with the catalyst of popular outrage at racial injustice, that calls for antiracist education are again being vocalised. This article suggests that a renewed form of antiracism might focus on integrating a pedagogy of educating for social justice, setting out to avoid the polarisation of racialised categories. Rather than espousing a limited and essentialising discourse of race, a reexamination of class relations could usefully be positioned within a reformulated and reimagined antiracism that offers a critique of systemic injustice to include a wider constituency than race alone.","PeriodicalId":45980,"journal":{"name":"London Review of Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48771490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Languages are not just sets of words. They are powerful tools essential to carry history, traditions, culture and wisdom. In Latin America, Mapudungun, the native language of Mapuche people – the largest ethnic group in Chile – can be threatened. A substantial linguistic shift has characterised the panorama of native languages of the current territory. However, language and education policies have been insufficient for their preservation. This article analyses Mapudungun from a general historical perspective to define Indigenous communities’ experience in the country: insufficient state support for revitalising their languages and decolonising the Chilean national curriculum. An overview of Mapudungun in the last century is provided by explaining relevant linguistic and educational policies. The PEIB (Intercultural Bilingual Education Programme), a linguistic and educational policy in Chile, is considered in depth. It aims to improve the quality and relevance of learning from curricular contextualisation. It also seeks to teach Indigenous children their culture, traditions and languages. However, the lack of support for traditional educators and the decontextualised curriculum have further impoverished their background and increased the gap between native peoples’ languages and Chilean society. The article ends with a call to policymakers to recognise the importance of the construction of Chilean identities.
{"title":"An overview of Indigenous peoples in Chile and their struggle to revitalise their native languages: the case of Mapudungun","authors":"Paulina Moya-Santiagos, Javiera Quiroga-Curín","doi":"10.14324/lre.20.1.10","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14324/lre.20.1.10","url":null,"abstract":"Languages are not just sets of words. They are powerful tools essential to carry history, traditions, culture and wisdom. In Latin America, Mapudungun, the native language of Mapuche people – the largest ethnic group in Chile – can be threatened. A substantial linguistic shift has characterised the panorama of native languages of the current territory. However, language and education policies have been insufficient for their preservation. This article analyses Mapudungun from a general historical perspective to define Indigenous communities’ experience in the country: insufficient state support for revitalising their languages and decolonising the Chilean national curriculum. An overview of Mapudungun in the last century is provided by explaining relevant linguistic and educational policies. The PEIB (Intercultural Bilingual Education Programme), a linguistic and educational policy in Chile, is considered in depth. It aims to improve the quality and relevance of learning from curricular contextualisation. It also seeks to teach Indigenous children their culture, traditions and languages. However, the lack of support for traditional educators and the decontextualised curriculum have further impoverished their background and increased the gap between native peoples’ languages and Chilean society. The article ends with a call to policymakers to recognise the importance of the construction of Chilean identities.","PeriodicalId":45980,"journal":{"name":"London Review of Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41793641","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book review: Retreat or Resolution? Tackling the crisis of mass higher education, by Peter Scott","authors":"P. Temple","doi":"10.14324/lre.20.1.09","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14324/lre.20.1.09","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45980,"journal":{"name":"London Review of Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47233992","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book review: Educating for Peace and Human Rights: An introduction, by Maria Hantzopoulos and Monisha Bajaj","authors":"Hugh Starkey","doi":"10.14324/lre.20.1.08","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14324/lre.20.1.08","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45980,"journal":{"name":"London Review of Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47259575","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In many ways the school music curriculum has become increasingly diverse since the 1970s. For example, ‘pop’ and ‘world’ musics have been listed in UK curricula and syllabuses with an aim of becoming more inclusive. However, this article argues that such approaches to curriculum as content have confounded social justice in school music, and in particular when perpetuating a prejudicial discourse. To understand this discourse, three ‘distortions’ of the material nature of musical knowledge are explored as potential sources of ongoing student alienation from school music: reification, hegemonic appropriation and the loss of meaning. These distortions are also exemplified through a case study critique of social realism and the UK government’s Model Music Curriculum. By way of conclusion, and as a possible resolution to the distortions, some characteristics of a curriculum as process are proposed that have implications for decolonisation and wider issues of social justice, such as class and gender.
{"title":"What does it mean to decolonise the school music curriculum?","authors":"Chris Philpott","doi":"10.14324/lre.20.1.07","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14324/lre.20.1.07","url":null,"abstract":"In many ways the school music curriculum has become increasingly diverse since the 1970s. For example, ‘pop’ and ‘world’ musics have been listed in UK curricula and syllabuses with an aim of becoming more inclusive. However, this article argues that such approaches to curriculum as content have confounded social justice in school music, and in particular when perpetuating a prejudicial discourse. To understand this discourse, three ‘distortions’ of the material nature of musical knowledge are explored as potential sources of ongoing student alienation from school music: reification, hegemonic appropriation and the loss of meaning. These distortions are also exemplified through a case study critique of social realism and the UK government’s Model Music Curriculum. By way of conclusion, and as a possible resolution to the distortions, some characteristics of a curriculum as process are proposed that have implications for decolonisation and wider issues of social justice, such as class and gender.","PeriodicalId":45980,"journal":{"name":"London Review of Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-03-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47220760","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
C. Manathunga, Shelley Davidow, P. Williams, A. Willis, M. Raciti, Kathryn Gilbey, S. Stanton, Hope O'Chin, Alison Chan
While attempts to decolonise the school curriculum have been ongoing since the 1970s, the recent Black Lives Matter protests around the world have drawn urgent attention to the vast inequities faced by Black and First Nations peoples and people of colour. Decolonising education and other public institutions has become a front-line public concern around the world. In this article, we argue that poetry offers generative possibilities for the decolonisation of Australian high school (and university) curricula. Inspired by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander approaches to knowledge creation as intergenerational, iterative and intercultural, and by postcolonial and decolonial theories, we explore ways in which poetry events can begin decolonising and diversifying the school curriculum. We suggest that poetry creates spaces for deep listening with the heart (dadirri) that can promote truth-telling about colonial histories and the strengths, achievements and contributions of First Nations Australians. These decolonising efforts underpin the Wandiny (Gathering Together) – Listen With the Heart: Uniting Nations Through Poetry research that we discuss in this article. In these ways, we argue that decolonised curricula create the conditions for cognitive justice in schooling that is an important precursor to other forms of social justice, such as equality, diversity and inclusion.
{"title":"Decolonising the school experience through poetry to foreground truth-telling and cognitive justice","authors":"C. Manathunga, Shelley Davidow, P. Williams, A. Willis, M. Raciti, Kathryn Gilbey, S. Stanton, Hope O'Chin, Alison Chan","doi":"10.14324/lre.20.1.06","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14324/lre.20.1.06","url":null,"abstract":"While attempts to decolonise the school curriculum have been ongoing since the 1970s, the recent Black Lives Matter protests around the world have drawn urgent attention to the vast inequities faced by Black and First Nations peoples and people of colour. Decolonising education and other public institutions has become a front-line public concern around the world. In this article, we argue that poetry offers generative possibilities for the decolonisation of Australian high school (and university) curricula. Inspired by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander approaches to knowledge creation as intergenerational, iterative and intercultural, and by postcolonial and decolonial theories, we explore ways in which poetry events can begin decolonising and diversifying the school curriculum. We suggest that poetry creates spaces for deep listening with the heart (dadirri) that can promote truth-telling about colonial histories and the strengths, achievements and contributions of First Nations Australians. These decolonising efforts underpin the Wandiny (Gathering Together) – Listen With the Heart: Uniting Nations Through Poetry research that we discuss in this article. In these ways, we argue that decolonised curricula create the conditions for cognitive justice in schooling that is an important precursor to other forms of social justice, such as equality, diversity and inclusion.","PeriodicalId":45980,"journal":{"name":"London Review of Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43207170","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article analyses findings from a research project examining the Pear Tree Community School in Oakland, California, USA – a small, social justice-focused school primarily serving Black, Indigenous and other students of colour in grades from kindergarten to Grade 5. Through this multi-year case study, which included observations, interviews and focus groups, this article presents data from interviews with teachers and administrators who explain how they decolonise their primary school classroom curriculum, particularly amid national and global issues, such as heightened racial violence and increasingly polarised political discourse, which adversely impact the families and communities to which students belong. Teachers and administrators share concrete examples of decolonial approaches at the school level and within their classroom curricula that centre the lived experiences and histories of communities of colour. This article contributes an empirical study of one school’s decolonial approaches at the early grades level to the emerging scholarship on decolonising education.
{"title":"Decolonial approaches to school curriculum for Black, Indigenous and other students of colour","authors":"Monisha Bajaj","doi":"10.14324/lre.20.1.05","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14324/lre.20.1.05","url":null,"abstract":"This article analyses findings from a research project examining the Pear Tree Community School in Oakland, California, USA – a small, social justice-focused school primarily serving Black, Indigenous and other students of colour in grades from kindergarten to Grade 5. Through this multi-year case study, which included observations, interviews and focus groups, this article presents data from interviews with teachers and administrators who explain how they decolonise their primary school classroom curriculum, particularly amid national and global issues, such as heightened racial violence and increasingly polarised political discourse, which adversely impact the families and communities to which students belong. Teachers and administrators share concrete examples of decolonial approaches at the school level and within their classroom curricula that centre the lived experiences and histories of communities of colour. This article contributes an empirical study of one school’s decolonial approaches at the early grades level to the emerging scholarship on decolonising education.","PeriodicalId":45980,"journal":{"name":"London Review of Education","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45151288","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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