DAR: Embedding in practice
Tips for practice
Efforts to decolonise the curriculum and introduce anti-racist practices are ongoing and complex and require moving beyond minor tweaks and changes. However, this should not be a barrier to attempting the work in the first place.
These tips, summarised from a THE article by Rowena Arshad, Professor of Multicultural and Anti-Racist Education at the University, may be helpful for anyone getting started:
- Begin by developing your own understanding of why this work is important. Rowena suggests reading Walter D Mignolo’s 2017 paper “Coloniality is far from over, and so must be decoloniality” as a starter.
- Examine your own subject discipline to see if there are areas of knowledge that have been left out as a result of colonialism. You might find it helpful to take a look at the RACE.ED teaching page to see what connections are already being made within disciplines.
- Make sure a range of voices and perspectives are represented and consider ways you might think about the curriculum differently to reflect and incorporate wider global and historical perspectives.
- Think about the diversity of our student groups and try to move beyond western frameworks. This could include incorporating the worldviews of indigenous communities, many of whom conceptualise their relationship with the natural world very differently.
Introductory resources
Executive Summary- Towards an Understanding of the BAME Undergraduate Degree Awarding Gap at the University of Edinburgh: This executive summary highlights that many Black and Minority Ethnic students do not feel like they belong. The summary concludes with recommendations for future actions.
Decolonising the curriculum: a global conversation (3 mins): This short video explores how SOAS are approaching the work of decolonising their curriculum.
Decolonising the curriculum (11 mins): Melz Owusu, Education Officer from the University of Leeds, talks about decolonising the curriculum.
Recognising and Counteracting Racial Microaggressions (8 pages): An infographic resource to help you understand, recognise and counteract microaggressions.
From inclusion to transformation to decolonisation: A Teaching Matters blog post by Professor Rowena Arshad who explains how the process of decolonising the curriculum begins with developing reflexive, inclusive and transformative pedagogical practices.
Comments are closed
Comments to this thread have been closed by the post author or by an administrator.