Month: July 2023

We all judge but it is what we do with the judgement that is important. (fellow PGCert student, Michelle Palmer, 2023)

This quote came up in our peer presentation by a fellow black student and I was curious to hear this from Michelle. I find colour blindness a strange concept and I always worried that it could lead to not being able to be curious about each others backgrounds. I further cannot reconcile the concept of inclusivity when differences cannot be acknowledged. I am sure that there are people who would like to hide their difference to be treated as equal but my argument is that I believe it is possible to treat people equally while recognizing, acknowledging and perhaps even celebrating the diverse range of people in any setting.

‘A pedagogy of social justice education: social identity, theory and intersectionality’ (Hahn Tapper 2013) has given me the mandate to follow this path and I have eagerly explored Freire’s theory to give my intuition foundation within educational theory.

“Freire explains the role that identity plays in the shaping and implementation of education. One of his most important arguments is that students’ identities need to be taken into account in all educational settings.”

I as an example am white (other), middle-aged, mother of 3 children, live in North London. These are all defining features of my life amongst others but I think I am a lot more diverse than the above eludes to, defined by some of the people who I was lucky enough to have in my life, the places I travelled to and lived in and some personal interests I pursue. I believe equally that every person is more interesting than their race only and it is the difference that interests me and draws me to people.

The way this affects my teaching is that I look for the individuals in my students. I identify what makes them unique and if race questions are part of this then I find it easy to be curious about this. I often tend to do this in a seminar setting and I intend to give each student the enthusiasm for their passion which I hope reflects on the class and makes this more inclusive. In seminars where we share intentions and backgrounds I will only ever encourage students, celebrate their narrative and give positive feedback while I ensure the rest of the class hear how I find the positives for each student which I hope levels the class. This approach is of course not born out of my own generosity but out of data I consume around student attainment and experience. Reading the Diversity Questions on the Shades of Noir webpage I have had an opportunity to reflect and compare what I have come across before and what I have implemented. I have come across the term ‘decolonising the curriculum’ a few years back and I have made some changes to the way I deliver my content and who I include in my content. I am sure this is not perfect yet but I am constantly making changes and I enjoy researching and finding a diverse body of work to introduce the students to. What struck me was that before I was introduced to decolonising the curriculum is that I had not paid attention to how narrow the materials was in England and further that I even felt uncomfortable discussing a person from a different race’s work with reference to their race in my lectures and seminar for fear of being told that I claimed another race’s work. This felt invasive but once I was told that decolonising was important I embraced the opportunity. The lesson I learned was that people, including me struggle to put themselves in other people’s shoes but perform better when they are told what to do so they have a mandate.

I wanted to further reflect on why I was willing without question to implement inclusive teaching methods which perhaps lies in my upbringing. I am German by birth and grew up in post-war Germany which was under the Allied forces occupation at the time. Our school curriculum was designed by American, Bristish and Freanch governments. I learned at length that the oppressive and devastating nature of the previous German government, the Third Reich, resulting in the war and Holocaust cannot repeat. My Germanness and who I was not deemed positive or anything to be proud of. It was a reason to apologise. In Germany, we were educated without a sense of pride of our nationality during this time and encouraged to critically reflect on our identity. This meant that I thought that I was the wrong nationality that has caused so much hurt to so many people for a lot of my life. I hated to be part of the oppressors and agreed that I did not want to be part of a nation or a skin colour or a face that would oppress others. As a result I hope I am sensitive and every time I feel that I could potentially cause harm to a different person or group I back off and make the changes to the was I conduct myself.

I would like to put the above into perspective as I am of course still white and as a result I benefit from white privilege and the above further by no means confirms that there is no racism in Germany to this day and that racial minorities are integrated well into German life. The above response to my identity is my personal response only.

In the Shades of Noir – Peekaboo we see you: whiteness’ zine I was struck by Terry Finnigan’s note who has equal sentiments around her being born into an oppressive regime where her people were the oppressors and she is now using her voice to actively encourage equality between different races at UAL. I further read White Fragility by Robin Diangelo, pp 100-103 and hope to understand white fragility further with a chance to further reflect and acknowledge that I need to further understand to back down and help other white people to acknowledge this too and move forward with better awareness.

Another article I found enriching was Julie Wright: ‘I Don’t Hate White People, I just can’t stand white supremacy’, on page 116-117. Her experience is overwhelming and I fully agree with her sentiments which encourages me to make space and to unlearn my privilege to include others and further advocate more for an even playingfield from within my own race.

References

Hahn Tapper, Aaron J. “A Pedagogy of Social Justice Education: Social Identity Theory, Intersectionality, and Empowerment.” Conflict Resolution Quarterly, vol. 30, no. 4, June 2013, pp. 411–445, https://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21072. Accessed 10 July 2023.

Shades of Noir. “Peekaboo We See You: Whiteness.” Issuu, 27 Apr. 2018, issuu.com/shadesofnoir/docs/peekaboo_we_see_you_whiteness.

UCU – University and College Union. “Witness: Unconscious Bias.” Www.youtube.com, 1 Feb. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6XDUGPoaFw.

The The Reith Lecture – Mistaken Identities – Creed radio show with Kwame Anthony Appiah was significant for me as it has helped me differentiate between faith and the interpretation of faith. I am now better able to compartmentalise my feelings around faith. I agree with Kwame that it is not the faith that creates conflict between groups but it is the interpretations of leaders of faith that perpetrate issues that I am sometimes struggling with as an athist/ agnsotic person. I struggle with fundamentalism and this does not only include terrorism in the name of religion as I am aware that this is a very small minority of religious fanatics but I see groups of clerics from a range of different religions asserting control over others and especially women or other minority groups such as the LGBTQ+ groups. When religion influences politics and economic decisions my experience has led me to observe this as intrusive and exclusive to other faiths in a country. I personally prefer to live in secular countries and spaces where I am only minimally affected by faith encraoching on politics. It was interesting to note that the faith blog task reading that was offered included an article by Aaron J. Hahn Tapper that was published in the journal Conflict Resolution Quaterly as it implied the potential for conflict to me. I am now defining my position more clearly around this topic and I am starting to differentiate between creating an inclusive learning environment and resolving conflict in class. While I feel perfectly able to create the former I am feeling conflict resolution will challenge me more as I am not literate in issues of faith to a level I can formulate concise aruments.

When I experience deeply religious people subscribing to rules such as dress codes and dietary requirements that put a financial burden on their belivers I question if there is enough equity for them in their relationship with their religion. I have experienced people being so close to their faith that it dominated their lives when I lived in Israel for four years. I believe though that it is possible to have a faith and be part of present cultural development a the. same time which In my mind means that nobody gets left behind in pursuing a life, career and passion as outlined in Religion in Britain: Challenges for Higher Education. To elaborate via a personal example, my grandmother was a devout Christian, and her support via her religion helped her through very difficult times, including the loss of a child. The community aspect as outlined in the article alongside her belief that her child was in a good place saw her through this difficult time. Being faithful was the right decision for her but she engaged with her religion in a way that enabled her to take part in the contemporary life of her time with no restrictions to her daily life.

When I teach students who have a deep faith I often try to keep this separate from the study topic. I compartmentalise and ensure that I see the projects and work at face value to remain impartial. At one point a student made Abayas and Niqabs which I supported without questioning the garments but I may have not asked about the source of the inspiration to the depth that I can apply when I feel more confident with a topic. I may have looked at the product and tried to make it easier for the wearer by using lighter materials if worn in a hot climate but did not address the origin of the garment and the oppressive nature of it. I wonder if the student was disappointed and wanted to elaborate more. They achieved a very good grade nevertheless as the Learning Outcomes were met. The Hahn Tapper text eluded me to further explore the teacher student/ relationship and be more curious. I have often found that I have no mandate to do this and apply a live and let live attitude rather than trying to influence or shape. Perhaps I need to not exclude curiosity and willingness to understand from the live and let live approach as I realise there is no conflict according to Freire who advocates that ‘teachers and facilitators are understood to be guiding, rather than leading’.

I further helped other students design, head coverings in sportswear and traditional dress that included head coverings with a made-to-order element to it. I am wandering a tightrope between questioning the garment and its purpose and what it means for the wearer. I am aware that there are women who are happy to cover their hair or face and that there are women who might be happy to shave their heads in favour of a wig such as is being practised in Orthodox Judaism. From a practical point of view, however, I question if a black head-to-toe garment that covers somebody’s face in hot countries is the best choice and if the woman wear this out of free choice. In this case my values of feminism clash with free choice as I believe some women need protection from being forced to subscribe to oppressive dress codes. At those points I tend to paralise and I find it harder to navigate the conflicting viewpoints. In Aaron J. Hahn Tapper’s article I have been inspired to reflect on this phenomenon and agree that a well managed positive interaction on the conflict can lead to better understanding of two different view points and create shared values. I further see Kwame’s points that there are a lot of women in leadership roles in Muslim countries but I see those women as a welcome minority and sadly not the rule of how life for women is experienced under certain religious rule. I grew up with a moderately religious Muslim Turkish man in our family and I cherish the way he used his faith as a personal decision for him while allowing freedom to all others. I liked the term ethno-religious pluralism as it allows a welcome of all religions including non religions such as atheism or agnosticism to coexist. Religion will only leads to conflict when coexistence is not practised or encouraged. I believe that development into multi-faithism universities and eduction is a worthwhile goal and this would be great to embed in university life. Tariq Modood recommends encouraging religious literacy and while I think this is an ambitious goal I believe that when students have the tools and language to express their faith but not compete they will be able to benefit from a sense of community that mutual understanding encourages. This they will be able to take forward into their grownup life and hence we as university lecturers may have the mandate to depolarise the viewpoints.

References:

Hahn Tapper, A.J. (2013) ‘A Pedagogy of Social Justice Education: Social Identity Theory, Intersectionality, and Empowerment’, Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 30(4), pp. 411–445. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21072.

Kwame Anthony Appiah, The Reith Lectures, Episode 1 Creed (2016) BBC Radio 4, 18 October. Available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b07z43ds (Accessed 29 May 2023)

Modood, T. (2015) Religion in Britain: challenges for higher education. Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.

Christine Sun Kim film (10mins)

A wonderful portrait of a very able and intelligent young woman. Her uniqueness in expressing what sound means to hear is a true gift. Although she describes the impact of the privilege fully abled people have and how the privilege is imposed on disabled people she claims sound and can live her experience. I would like to hope that more disabled people recognise their difference as an opportunity to innovate and challenge prevailing thoughts and stereotypes.

Personally I have a conflicted realtionship with the sweeping disability term and how we use it. The word itself is problematic for me and the origin of the word has bothered me for some time. When I look the word disability it would be constructed from two sources ‘Dis’ and ‘Ability’

Britannica Dictionary definition of DIS-: opposite or absence of or not  

Britannica Dictionary definition of ABILITY : the power or skill to do something

I live with neurdiverse people and both neurodiverse conditions are classified as a disability.

The above translation is not the only experience I have of disabilities or neurodiversity and I wish there was a better system to define difficulties or restrictions people face. Severe disability needs protection, inclusion and care but less severe disability might need inclusion and accessibility alongside working on strengths. It would be great to understand the severity of the requirements of disabled people in an academic setting to cater for access to education. I have observed that some disabled students are differently abled and have better access to some learning while finding other elements more challenging. In my teaching practice I like to think that it is important to find systems with the student cohort that work for the individuals’ strengths and compensates for difficulties. The order of the world needs a broad range of talent and skills and it is my conviction that it is possible to cater for individuals’ needs in education and work too. Christine Sun Kim is a perfect example of ability vs disability and her abilities and intelligence dominate. This is not to take away from her disability but to recognise the positives.

#disabilitytoowhite, by Vilissa Thompson

This article points towards the fact that there is not enough racial representation around disability. My experience of this is that I live with two children with invisible disabilities and I have through them taken part in parenting groups that included people from a range of different backgrounds and races. Our children’s disabilities gave us a shared experience and we realised quickly that we were all combatting similar challenges on various levels. This has been a leveller and made the group dynamic supportive and inclusive. I think however class has been the biggest devider incare for disabled people and that parents and carers with less access to resources had the biggest disadvantage in managing their children’s needs. Disability does not discriminate and it effects us all and we need to ask the questionnin why we are not recruiting more disabled students into our courses to give them opportunities to contribute to a richer university life and later in work.

Deaf-accessibility for spoonies: lessons from touring Eve and Mary Are Having Coffee while chronically ill

The most striking aspect of this article is the length the author went through to put together her performance to illustrate the difficulties and physical restrictions she lived with. I support this approach as someone who likes to be told directly so I can work with the persons. A good friend of mine has cerebal palsy and his right arm is very weak so he asks for help when he needs it and he hardly ever has objections to his request. I appreciate this approach so much and find this liberating for him and his environment. I am hoping that we can come to disability from a stance of humility and compassion. Disabled people are rightly worried about judgement and I fear that this comes from a place of insecurity for the people judging and not being able to see beyond the limitations. This perception needs to be changed and practical solutions offered.

Hearing about Khairani’s difficulties inspires me to investigate deeper into the difficulties my students may face so I can set them up for success and provide individual access arrangements. I think it is important to get the students to feel safe to come forward confidentially with any challenges they may experience. It strikes me that we do not see a lot of disabled students on our courses and I wonder where in the recruitment process we go wrong as not to attract the applications of those candidates in the first place.

References

Blahovec, S. Confronting the Whitewashing Of Disability: Interview with #DisabilityTooWhite Creator Vilissa Thompson https://www.huffpost.com/entry/confronting-the-whitewash_b_10574994?guccounter=1 (Accessed June 2023)

Khairani Barokka (Okka) (2017) Deaf-accessibility for spoonies:
lessons from touring Eve and Mary Are Having Coffee while chronically ill, Research in
Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 22:3, 387-392, DOI:
10.1080/13569783.2017.1324778

Shades of Noir, 2020 Disabled people: the voice of many https://issuu.com/shadesofnoir/docs/disabled_people (Accessed June 2023)

Sun Kim, C (2011) A Selby Film, https://vimeo.com/31083172 (Accessed April 2023)