Engaging decolonization: lessons toward a theory of change for transforming practice

ABSTRACT

Enlightened by a student teaching presentation in a foundational educational studies course, I became committed to recognizing and unlearning practices of colonialism and oppression in my classrooms and teaching practice. Using critical autoethnography as the mode of inquiry, and drawing relationships between the Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture and the Keele University Principles for Decolonizing the Curriculum, I explored the research question: How can a decolonial frame inform a transformational theory of change in educational practice? I argue this change occurring simultaneously, among and between arenas: conceptual, organizational, curricular, and pedagogical. I find that decolonizing practices can be relevantly enacted by acknowledging the dispossession of power from marginalized groups, addressing those power dynamics, and dismantling the white supremacy that will continue to be perpetuated without explicit resistance. This resource has decolonial implications for university educators in a variety of fields who wish to consider and pursue transformation.

KEYWORDS:

• decolonization
• curriculum
• pedagogy
• transformational theory of change
• student-teacher partnership

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).