A few thoughts about next steps, ready for the upcoming the formative assessment:
· I’d encourage you to start to bring a bit of your positionality in at this stage. What does the studio book mean to you?
· I would also encourage you to bring in one or two references to a theory or concept which has informed your thinking. Are you drawing on Paolo Freire? Universal Design for Learning? Intersectionality? Critical Race Theory? Something else entirely? Bringing this in will help to situate your idea in the broader context.
· You may be able to capitalise on being so on top of things by getting some student feedback. This can be feedback on a ‘work in progress’ and doesn’t need to be feedback on the final artefact/resource.
Questionnaire issued to the students in the studio to review the ‘value’ of the book, feedback could be returned anonymously
300 words max artefact outline + bibliography via Moodle_230530 – Feedback
Addressing feedback
Already provided some brief feedback on your first draft too – thanks for responding to those questions in your submission.
You have presented your course’s ‘Studio Book’, which you explain is produced by studio students and designed to promote inclusive learning within the cohort. You explain that you want staff, student or colleagues to consider “the diverse origins of the cohort and how they could be underrepresented in Architectural education”. To support your proposal, you include sources which highlight issues of representation in architecture in relation to race, gender and social class.
This is an interesting proposition, which links well to your course’s learning outcomes while also having the potential to encourage both students and colleagues to think more about diversity within your discipline. As you have shared, there is potential to create an external facing resource/open source document, as well as fostering an opportunity for the cohort to learn more about one another’s backgrounds.
You may wish to make your positionality within the development and/or teaching of the ‘Studio Book’ clearer. It would be helpful to understand more about your role in the delivery of the ‘Studio Book’, and how your positionality informs the choices you have made, and will continue to make. It would also be interesting to hear how you might support students themselves to consider their position within their discipline, acknowledging that conversations about race, gender, social class, religion and sexuality can give rise to challenging discussion which need to be handled sensitively.
You’ve begun to think about how you may evaluate and critique the implications, success and impact of the artefact, which is great. It would be helpful to hear more about what the success measures and desired outcomes are for this artefact in the longer term too – I acknowledge that you won’t have this information by the time you submit your reflective piece, but it would nonetheless be helpful to understand how you may evaluate the impact in the longer term.
Some questions/provocations
· How may your own positionality shape or influence the development of the artefact? What might you need to consider in terms of your personal power and biases in developing and delivering this content? (See Ortiz et al, 2018, attached)
How will you evaluate and critique the success and impact of this artefact, immediately and long-term? (See Creative Evaluation Toolkit)
· How might you role model inclusive practices within the teaching and creative of the ‘Studio Book’ itself? What do you need to keep in mind to ensure the ‘Studio Book’, and the teaching that supports it, is inclusive and accessible? (See UAL’s Disability Inclusion Toolkit on Canvas)
Tutorial 230621
Positionality
Your position and identity – What it is you wish to bring forward – What are you bringing to do it
What are your influences – You as an individual are lost in this
Bring partially deaf – made me reflect on what students to disclose as professionals we choose what not to disclose, how can we expect students to do so
Being inclusive may mean not meaning to disclose – Reflection in the studio book
Lack of diversity of from my educational background – God & Ulster – Bringing with on juniors educators and onto an equal contract basis
Inclusion
Deaf – Opensource – Share beyond the students
Assessment
What does success mean? – What seeds are we sowing and how they might grow
What the aspiration – refer back to it, cite, influence future practice
How does it evolve – what next?
They could take it on as a torrent, share and critique beyond the boundaries of CSM
Share the indesign template for others to manipulate and alter
Generating a life of its own
Peer-to-peer presentations 230711
Peer to Peer reviews and discussions, what does success mean?
The Presentations
‘work in progress’ illustrations of what you have done or plan to do, regarding the artefact purpose, opportunities and developments.
These will take place in twos/threes at a convenient time over the next week.
The presentations will take the following format:
● 3 minutes presentation
● 3 minutes of feedback
● Each person will provide at 1 comment or suggestion and 1 question to the person presenting their idea
Feedback & Reflections
Derek Wiafe, Anna Nagele,
changing employment profiles – returning students to act as inspiration for others – intersectionality where I am from workshop – http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html – tell me the story of your given name, share a secret, tell 2 truths and 1 lie – start with a poem and record their reaction – understanding for the audience they are designing for – a feeling from the exercise – former students address gaps in the book for the next years -manifesto response –
Tutorial 230712
1500 word reflective statement on the artefact
Different avenues – I am forgoing this avenue and why, I could have explored this I am focusing on this
Address the learning outcomes
Cross reference yourself from previous blogposts if you have explained this in previous blogs
An introduction and reflection on Radiacal Dharma by Rev. Angel Kyodo Williams, Lama Hod Ownes with Jasmine Syedullah PhD.
Buddhism in relation to liberation and queerness.
“It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.” Assata Shakur, Assata: An Autobiography and refrain of the Black Lives Matter
Higher Power: Religion, Faith, Spirituality & Belief – Religion, faith, spirituality & belief is an embedded part of human psychology that gives insight into individuals thought processes and often experiences. According to a blog post by Dr Greg on patheos.com, the terms are commonly used interchangeably but can differ in meaning depending on the context or even the conversation taking place. However, what isn’t interchangeable are individuals experiences in relation to these practices whether it’s within the practices community or the perceptions from those outside of those communities looking in. https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/journals/higher-power-religion-faith-spirituality-belief/
Notes & Reflections
How does this relate to your understanding of faith/ religion in the context of inclusiveness?
racism and privilege prevent our collective awakening, urge a compassionate response to the systemic, state-sanctioned violence and oppression that has persisted against black people since the slave era
Radical Dharma demonstrates how social transformation and personal, spiritual liberation must be articulated and inextricably linked.
how teachings that transcend color, class, and caste are hindered by discrimination and the dynamics of power, shame, and ignorance
beyond a demand for the equality and inclusion of diverse populations to advancing a new dharma that deconstructs rather than amplifies systems of suffering and prepares us to weigh the shortcomings not only of our own minds but also of our communities
rests on radical honesty, a common ground where we can drop our need for perfection and propriety and speak as souls
society where profit rules, people’s value is determined by the color of their skin, and many voices—including queer voices— are silenced, Radical Dharma recasts the concepts of engaged spirituality, social transformation, inclusiveness, and healing.’
criticisms of Lama Rod’s, with which I agree, is that many sanghas have become severely compromised by capitalism and need to provide a consumer oriented Buddhism. The result is too heavy a focus on selling classes and not offending sangha members which dilutes the authenticity of Buddhist practice. On the other hand, you need money to run a sangha, so where is the balance? Reminding me of the Christian megachurches that require and/or ask for donations but are also a business in itself.
How does this impact your practice?
The tiptoeing around race and other forms of difference as if in fear of waking a sleeping lion is one of the most subtly toxic attributes of whiteness in our culture right now.” – Jasmine Syedullah
“Race is the ultimate delusion in that it both does and does not exist in reality.” Rev. Angel Kyodo Williams sensei identifies the problem and highlights the conflicting viewpoints
Lama Rod, describes radical Dharma, within this context as having the bravery to have dharma talks and meditation practices that will focus on topics that make participants feel uncomfortable and learn how to deal with their suffering.
“Love is the wish for myself and others to be happy. Love transcends our need to control the recipient of love. I love not because I need something in return. I love not because I want to be loved back, but because I see and understand love as being an expression of the spaciousness I experience when I am challenging my egoic fixation by thinking about the welfare of others. I go where I am loved. I go where I am allowed to express love. In loving, I have no expectations.”-Lama Rod Owens
Spirituality / faith / religion can be a way of practicing freedom, and community and it can also mean taking agency over a practice(s). Faith doesn’t come into my practice in my work with students, I facilitate what they want to do, and is not focusing so much on their concepts, but more on their physical process, so it doesn’t come into it at all. Even if they are making deeply religious work, which can sometimes happen, I am usually only commenting on the very visual references and aesthetics.
TASK 3 – Whiteliness and Institutional Racism.
Shirley Anne Tate | Whiteliness and institutional racism: Hiding behind unconscious bias hirley Anne Tate is a Professor of Race and Education at Leeds Beckett University (first appointment of its kind in the UK) and Honorary Professor at Nelson Mandela University in the Chair for Critical Studies in Higher Education Transformation. The Seminar Series is called “Ukutshintshwa kweendlela/[Re] Directions” and is organized by the Chair for Critical Studies in Higher Education Transformation (CriSHET) at the Nelson Mandela University, South Africa
Notes & Reflections
Whiteness is a location of structural advantage, of race privilege. Second, it is a ‘standpoint,’ a place from which White people look at ourselves, at others, and at society. Third, ‘Whiteness’ refers to a set of cultural practices that are usually unmarked and unnamed. (Frankenburg, 1993, p.1, Diangelo, 2018, pp 101)
Unconscious bias happens by our brains making incredibly quick judgements and assessments of people and situations without us realising. Our biases are influenced by our background, cultural environment and personal experiences. We may not even be aware of these views and opinions, or be aware of their full impact and implications (Equality Challenge Unit, 2017)
This presentation speaks against this point of view by arguing that bias is not unconscious but instead is linked to Charles Mills’ (1997) ‘Racial Contract’ and its ‘epistemologies of ignorance’. These epistemologies of ignorance emerge from what the ECU’s calls ‘our background, cultural environment and personal experience.’ As such asserting that racism stems from ‘unconscious bias’ diminishes white supremacy and maintains white innocence as a will to forget institutional racism. In equality and diversity training ‘unconscious bias’ has become a technology of institutional surveillance; it has become a simulation attempting to move beyond a racialized reality to where ‘we all know better’ because we have been trained to participate in a ‘post-racial’ (Goldberg, 2015) hyper-reality. I therefore argue that it is through decolonizing ‘unconscious bias’, ‘white fragility’ and ‘self-forgiveness’ that we can begin to see hidden institutional whiteliness at the base of such bias.
Fed up of unconscious bias to cover up the erasure of egregious and containing institutional racism in my and other institutions
University funding its own watchdog that looks at its diversity and inclusion policies and gives them advice, one of the pieces of advice has been unconscious bias. If we deal with unconscious bias, everything will be alright. We should send people on unconscious bias training.
Bias is very conscious and linked to Charles Mills racial contract and it’s epistemologies of ignorance….these emerge from our background, our cultural environment and personal experience…we can’t keep saying that unconscious bias stems from just that you know because what it does then it makes us not think about white supremacy at all and maintains white innocence and white fragility.
“white supremacy” I do not mean to allude only to the self-conscious racism of white supremacist hate groups. I refer instead to a political, economic, and cultural system in which whites overwhelmingly control power and material resources, conscious and unconscious ideas of white superiority and entitlement are widespread, and relations of white dominance and non- white subordination are daily reenacted across a broad array of institutions and social settings.’ (Ansley 1997: 592, Gillborn 2005)
White Fragility. ‘White fragility, a concept that came out of my on-going experience leading discussions on race, racism, white privilege and white supremacy with primarily white audiences. It became clear over time that white people have extremely low thresholds for enduring any discomfort associated with challenges to our racial worldviews. We can manage the first round of challenge by ending the discussion through platitudes – usually something that starts with “People just need to…” or “Race doesn’t really have any meaning to me” or “Everybody’s racist”– but scratch any further on that surface and we fall apart.’ (Diangelo, 2018, pp 101)
How does this relate to your understanding of whiteness and white fragility? Department is mandated to do the UAL unconscious bias training module
What steps do you feel you can take to implement change? Western knowledge bias in education
Cooper and Thesen’s chapter IN Cooper, B., & Morrell, R. (Eds.). (2014). Africa-centred knowledges: Crossing fields and worlds. Boydell & Brewer Ltd.
TASK 4 – Critical Race Theory
What Is Critical Race Theory?
CRT uses storytelling and counter-storytelling to give voice to the traditionally marginalised in society whose truth is often interpreted through a white lens.
CRT scholars consider whiteness the normative position against which all other experiences are judged.
‘We appreciate its meaning is from the position of the oppressed because it does not come with the will to distort that which defines meaning from the oppressor’
(Leonardo, 2013:600)
Why Was It Created?
“A new powerful ideology has emerged to defend the contemporary racial order: the ideology of color-blind racism” (Bonilla-Silva, 2014:73)
To question societal structures and policies that reinforce inequities for people of colour whilst privileging opportunities and maintaining the status quo for white people. This can be seen in the form of colour-blind approaches that sees consistent underachievement of some minority students in the compulsory and post compulsory education system a high percentage of black prisoners in the prison system.
A Guardian report (Ramesh, 2010), found black offenders were 44% more likely than white offenders to be sentenced to prison for driving offences, 38% more likely to be imprisoned for public disorder or possession of a weapon and 27% more likely for drugs possession. Overall black prisoners account for the largest number of minority ethnic prisoners (49%).
Flexibility Of CRT.
‘Intersectionality means the examination of race, sex, class, national origin, and sexual orientation, and how their combination plays out in various settings.’ Delgado et al (2001)
Intersectionality within CRT points to the multidimensional of oppressions and acknowledges that race alone does not always account for disempowerment.
How Can This Be Applied?
“This systemic reality works against building a diverse and inclusive higher education environment because it supports the embedded hierarchical racist paradigms that currently exist in our society. Diversity tends to be more visible within divisions of students affairs, although the power of the institution tends to be centralized within academic affairs where there is less representation of women and people of color”. Patton et al (2007)
Most of our academic resources on philosophies and theories around race are based on North American studies and experiences which can differ quite a bit from British society and won’t address issues relevant to the UK origin of diversity, culture and other minorities and whitenesses. Far-fetched to say is a way of looking to other cultures thought the lenses of a colonial high ground and not focus on the issues on our doorstep? Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race’ really helpful in learning more about racism in the UK. Akala’s book Natives as well. David Gillborn, Heidi Mirza, Nicola Rollock and Shirley Ann Tate are all UK based. Linking to the flexibility of CRT, DisCrit (Disability Critical Race Studies) – like CRT in general it takes an intersectional approach and is well worth a read is this is relevant to your artefacts. libsearch.arts.ac.uk/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=1486680&query_desc=kw%2Cwrdl%3A%20discrit
Universities across the UK are offering seminars discussing ‘people of colour’ being ‘systemically discriminated against’. seminars about how to discuss the effect of “white privilege” on black and minority ethnic groups in their higher education classes.
seminars examine topics such as identifying “whiteness” in society and higher education, while looking at how universities can create a “culturally responsive curriculum and teaching practices”.
In the NUS Black Students Campaign National Students Survey, it was found that, ’42 per cent did not believe their curriculum reflected issues of diversity, equality and discrimination.’ In addition, it found that, ’34 per cent stated they felt unable to bring their perspective as a Black [BME] student to lectures and tutor meetings. A running theme through both the survey and focus group data was a frustration that courses were designed and taught by non-Black teachers, and often did not take into account diverse backgrounds and views’. As a result, the NUS proposed a set of recommendations, including the notion that, ‘institutions must strive to minimise Euro-centric bias in curriculum design, content and delivery and to establish mechanisms to ensure this happens. Universities Scotland has published an excellent example of why and how this can be done in their race equality toolkit, Embedding Race Equality into the Curriculum’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dscx4h2l-Pk
session in October last year at The University of Bristol, with the Black and Minority Ethnic Staff Advisory Group, which was called Walking on the White Side of the Street. “white privilege as a structural phenomenon that impacts upon housing, education, health, and employment such that People of Colour are systemically discriminated against”, according to the event’s description.
Monculturalism is normalised in the curriculum that people don’t even notice it
There are some, black and disabled academics who have all contributed but they’re not in the general discourse because the majority of academia with a few exceptions is based on status and how often somebody is referenced of course historically institutions even forward thinking as UCL perpetuate the ideas of certain people that have been there for the longest must have the strongest claim academic privilege
Ethnocentric curriculum
UK’s leading race equality think tanks, RunnyMede Trust, revealed in 2015 only 85 of 15,905 professors in the country’s academia were black. only 15 black academics in the British university system were working in senior management roles.
2016 UPP report said black students were 1.5 times more likely to drop out of higher education than white and Asian students in the UK. 10.3 per cent of black students dropped out of university.
University and College Union study also claimed high levels of discrimination in colleges and universities following a report in 2016.
A survey of more 631 black union members working in the higher education system revealed 90 per cent of black staff members reported facing barriers to promotion.
In 2014, a campaign titled Why is My Curriculum White started at the University College of London attempted to highlight the lack of diversity in the UK education system.
I dream things that never were and say, why not.—Robert F. Kennedy
In order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race.There is no other way.—Justice Harry Blackmun
The critical race theory (CRT) movement is a collection of activists and scholars interested in studying and transform- ing the relationship among race, racism, and power. The movement considers many of the same issues that conven- tional civil rights and ethnic studies discourses take up, but places them in a broader perspective that includes econom- ics, history, context, group- and self-interest, and even feel- ings and the unconscious. Unlike traditional civil rights, which embraces incrementalism and step-by-step progress, critical race theory questions the very foundations of the lib- eral order, including equality theory, legal reasoning, En- lightenment rationalism, and neutral principles of constitu- tional law. Although CRT began as a movement in the law, it has rapidly spread beyond that discipline. Today, many in the field of education consider themselves critical race theorists who use CRT’s ideas to understand issues of school disci- pline and hierarchy, tracking, controversies over curriculum and history, and IQ and achievement testing.
Noam Chomsky discusses CRT
‘Critical Race Theory. What Is Critical Race Theory, does anybody know? Critical Race Theory is a slogan invented by the right wing and the person who invented it Christopher Rufo has been very open and frank, he says we just use this as a way to refer to everything we hate. If you want to know what Critical Race Theory actually is, it’s a small academic discipline, which suggests, which investigates systematic elements of racism in American education. They certainly exist, its never reached the schools. The schools wouldn’t even know what it is. This is invented by the right wing exactly as Rufo stated, to everything we hate and want to destroy, like teaching American history, teaching gender issues, we hate that so we’ll call it Critical Race Theory. It’s a small academic discipline that no one every hear of until it was picked up primarily by Rufo and expanded by the Republican echo chamber to be some major attack’.
Actions appear to be conscious – Lecturer should not loose their job but require staff training – Not a safe place for black students. And the student still has to attend class with this tutor. Fear of reprisal from complaining
What advice would you have provided the student?
Care, support by collecting evidence – Let students know they have been heard – Letting them know they can leave the room and can report the event, sooner the better – Advise students to make a formal complaint – Ask for their money back for the module. Public exposure? see instagram.com/ualtruth
What policy may respond to this case study?
Complaints policy, Equality act, UAL Anti-racism action plan
What pledges would we propose to change my pedagogical approach?
For each reading list, include one abstract/text written in a language other than English.
Working with colleagues to develop resources to support International students to know how disability support works, and that it’s available to them.
Check my resources are diverse and equal time spent on diverse resources.
Don’t shy away from difficult conversations about racism, ‘call out’ racism and provide firmer sanctions for using racist language or behaviour.
Be an ally, supportive and gain knowledge for the student and they know and they feel it… but from UAL, considering their bold claim to tackle social justice …. it needs to be recognised officially with policies and real channel so that the students ( and sometimes staff) know it is officially accept not to accept discrimination.
Bias is very conscious and linked to Charles Mills racial contract and it’s epistemologies of ignorance….these emerge from our background, our cultural environment and personal experience…we can’t keep saying that unconscious bias stems from just that you know because what it does then it makes us not think about white supremacy at all and maintains white innocence and white fragility
Dwell on the uneasy feelings and uneasy practice caused by white racism, and challenge comments and practices that might get overlooked or self-forgiven by Unconscious Bias category
There’s a reason these “quieter voices” exist in the group. I have had many conversations with other students and a lot of us feel a disparity between conversations online, and in person. That a lot can be lost online, and this increases the anxiety or fear of talking in online spaces, especially in the context of quite sensitive topics. I wonder if what feels like a push for the “quiet ones” to engage verbally is the best way to engineer a space for discussion, or if it creates more anxiety and tension. – Agree with the sentiment shared here.
TASK 2 – Key Terms.
In your own words please define as many of the following terms in up to 30 minutes. Please do not use a search engine or dictionary to explore these words, we really want you to reflect on what you already know, which words are easy and which words are challenging to define.
Which key terms did you find challenging and why? Topics discussed Intersectionality – Diaspora – Politically BlackDiaspora can be helpful how a person can intersect with a group, a classroom can be a community. Politically Black – 70/80s people in northern Ireland who felt oppressed identified as being Politically Black. History of White People by Nell Painter really helped me to understand whiteness. White Fragility almost feels reductive in that it gives a free pass in a way to white people not to make changes and address racial injustice because you’re too “fragile”. Positionality versus identity.
Walter Mignolo – ideas on complexity journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0263276409349275 Decolonial Thinking – modern ideals, such as progress and development; modern institutions, such as the nation-State; and modern conceptions of knowledge and subjectivity, such as the liberal arts and sciences and the sovereign self, have come into being with colonialism as a background and an implication
Ideas on intersectionality and working definition – analogy of standing at a traffic intersection and having to deal with multiple streams of traffic. ntersectionality like a quantum system. Identity elements (race, gender, class, etc.) are like particles in an atom. They coexist and interact to shape the whole, much like quantum superposition where a system is in multiple states at once. olour mixing as it related to intersectionality – adding colours (identities/experiences) together to get something qualitatively different. Healing, spirituality and intersectionality kvadratinterwoven.com/emma-kunz-art-in-the-spiritual-realm
Positionality refers to the social and political context that creates your identity, such as in terms of race race, class, gender, sexuality and ability status [and language background].It includes how we identify and views our perspective and possible biases of society as well as how others see us. (CohenMiller and Brown, 2022 p.244)
TASK 3 – Case study Race/ Gender
Inclusive Practice: Alchemy – Transformation in Social Justice Teaching.https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/journals/inclusive-practice/ – pp 147-150
What did you take from the case study?
What appeared as a person attempting to atone and learn from a racial or racist teaching exercise / lesson.
Can you highlight any parallels between the case study and the first session on this unit or in your engagements with students and or peers?
Not with the first session, personally I found that to be a misjudged and patronising exercise. Guessing Akala’s religion, attitudes etc based on an image was at best for me silly. However, others had a different reaction. The students who have experienced racism and then were asked to take part in the racist exercise spoke out and I felt it was my place to give them their space to do so, listen and learn.
How many key terms can you name and identify as being present within this case study?
Institutional Racism – Politically Black – White Fragility – Privilege – Racism
What would you have done in this situation? You choose which role
I hope I would have spoken out, but I cannot know until placed in that position.
TASK 4 – Not All Disabilities Are Visible
Not all disabilities are visible. | The Horizontals | TEDxBrum Being logical is having the ability to understand ourselves so well that we know the things we won’t do, and won’t feel guilty about not doing them. Hear from The Horizontals about what invisible disabilities can teach us all about how we work and live together. Horizontal is an ongoing piece of artistic research lead by artist Suriya Aisha. Horizontal investigates the relationship between invisible disabilities, capitalism and all the awkward bits in between. The project was inspired by Suriya’s own experience of living with rare brain condition Chiari Malformation Type 1. THE HORIZONTALS are a group of women and non-binary people who live with invisible health conditions and seek to raise awareness through open conversations, artistic experiments and most importantly sharing pots of hummus.
Notes & Reflections
What do you take from this video?
The effects of those suffering from invisible disability. preconceptions of laziness among my student body. er tone addressing her non apologetic behaviour stems from being made to feel small/marginalised because of her invisible condition
How has this impacted your understanding of disability and the relationship with the first blog/vlog?
That at times it can be invisible and those suffer discrimination in addition to the effects caused by their physical difficulties.
How has or could this resource be used in your context personally or professionally?
To not pre judge my students and to include / promote elements / design that improve accessibility.
Gender is complicated, respect is simple. Not a preference or choice, ask which pronouns they use. Even within support progressive structures / movements racism or marginalisation can occur. Faith evolving, reflects social change. Religion is overlooked as we try to separate our private life from institutions. Introduction yourself and pronouns. Reduce assessment stress, Assessment Patterns: a review of the possible consequences (moving away from high stakes, end-of-process assessment): blogs.kcl.ac.uk/aflkings/files/2019/08/ESCAPE-AssessmentPatterns-ProgrammeView.pdf
How has this shaped your understanding of the term intersectionality, or not?
I think so, multiple social or personal identities can be marginalise or removed in conventional even progressive systems, introduced me to the concept of wicked problems, which was fascinating in terms of understanding my place in positive change. Horst Rittel’s strategies on addressing ‘wicked problems’ can give some advice on how to feel less overwhelmed or paralysed when faced by a problem that seems too complex to solve individually. Horst Rittel –sympoetic.net/Managing_Complexity/complexity_files/1973%20Rittel%20and%20Webber%20Wicked%20Problems.pdf Commoning is primary to human life: the commons are shared spaces of social coexistence
Intersectionality is the interconnected nature of social categorizations, such as race and class and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, creating overlapping and independent systems of discrimination or disadvantages’ (CohenMiller and Boivin, p.224)
How does this task inform your practises, learning and ways in which you assess or make judgements?
To ensure, as much as possible all identities are listened to and are represented, no singular identity owns a progressive movement.
While white feminists emphasise the problems of patriarchy or capitalism black women stress a triple oppression. All black people are subordinated by racial oppression, women are subordinated by sexual domination, black women are subordinated by both as well as class
Ethnicity: the fourth burden of black women – political action Olivia Foster-CarterView all authors and affiliations
‘Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are disproportionately likely to be excluded from school; they account for almost two-thirds of all exclusions.’ (Good Schools Guide, 2021) https://www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/special-educational-needs/your-rights/school-exclusions
Pedagogies of Social Diversity and Difference in Art & Design.
TASK 1. Positionality
Positionality is the social and political context that creates your identity in terms of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability status. Positionality also describes how your identity influences, and potentially biases, your understanding of and outlook on the world.
Getting Personal: Reflexivity, Positionality, and Feminist Research https://atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10214/1811/18-England.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Getting Personal: Reflexivity, Positionality, and Feminist Research – Kim V. L. England 1994. The Professional Geographer 46 (1), 80-9.1Appropriating the Voices of “Others”; Or When Reflexivity Is Not Enough – dialogism means that the researcher is a visible and integral part of the research setting. Indeed, research is never complete “until it includes an understanding of the active role of the analyst‟s self which is exercised throughout the research process” (S. J. Smith, 1988, 18; also see Evans, 1988; Pile, 1991)
Produced a 300 word positionality statement about myself, it included both personal and professional contexts. The statement was shared only with the course team.
Notes & Reflections
A useful framing for identity is how do I see myself, how do others see me, how would I like to be seen? Hard to put myself into lots of boxes, difficult not to be honest but it was hard to be professional as it become very emotional. The difference between identity and positionality is an eye-opening. I’m aware of where society marginalises me – and where some of my privileges are – I often find it hard to discuss this with people who have never considered their priviledges – its like we are speaking different languages. Thinking about our positionality can help us to address: How can I do my work better? There’s often a mismatch between my internal identity and my external presentation – misassumptions but also privileges. Interesting in relation to context – your position changes according to the group you’re in…this became clear when writing my statement. I found the process a continuation of a normality of perception I’ve experienced from my background. You can be an outsider within your own identity. There are decisions about “outing” oneself. It can help to think of identity in [social/educational/cultural/political] context. Identity which I thought negative can be a strong positive element in positionality. Identities are dynamic, unstable inflected. Positional Dysmorphia – feel there’s no need for my voice in the world as a cis/white/hetero/middle class/etc male. Terms (migrant, immigrant, expatriate ) are racialised.
The educator must engage in critical thinking with the students in the quest for mutual humanization. They must be partners with the students in their relations with them. (Freire 1970)
Banking Concept Of Education. – Previous colonial education model, a didactic approach, unequal relationship, unviable relationship, less opportunity from interaction from students, a more horizontal approach is required
• the teacher teaches and the students are taught;
• the teacher knows everything and the students know nothing;
• the teacher thinks and the students are thought about;
• the teacher talks and the students listen — meekly;
• the teacher disciplines and the students are disciplined;
• the teacher chooses and enforces his/her/their choice, and the students comply;
• the teacher acts and the students have the illusion of acting through the action of the teacher;(Freire 1970)
Banking Concept Of Education.
• the teacher chooses the program content, and the students (who were not consulted) adapt to it;
• the teacher confuses the authority of knowledge with his/her/their own professional authority, which he/she/they sets in opposition to the freedom of the students;
• the teacher is the Subject of the learning process, while the pupils are mere objects. (Freire 1970)
Our Need for Change.
The theoretical framework of critical pedagogy (Friere 1970) is grounded in the concept of social justice. Students and educators engage in dialogue and discuss their views in order to generate systemic change where culture and cultural capital can positively be present within everything we do.
The Pedagogy Of Ambiguity In Art And Design.
We need to support students transition from the safety of the concrete and the expected to the ambiguous and contingent in a way that feels safe…
There is a need to re-conceptualise induction into a series of participatory encounters through the whole journey of education…There is a need to develop meta-cultural sensitivity amongst both students and tutors….(Drew 2008)
Cultural Capital.
• Certain kinds of art can only be decoded, and appreciated by those who have been taught how to decode them.
• The cultural capital of the working classes, and certain ethnic groups, is devalued and de-legitimated
• Dominant groups make inequalities seem just, and natural, through notions of meritocracy – the idea that economic and educational ‘rewards’ are the natural result of ability and hard work, resulting in the misrecognition of the effects of class as the causes of class (Bourdieu 1984). Extracts from Burke & McManus (2009)
Social Justice.
• Equal justice in all aspects of society
• People having equal rights and opportunities
• ‘Education must be a force for opportunity and social justice, not for the entrenchment of privilege’ (David 2011)
Notes & Reflections
Similar to education in the 70s and 80s in uk, ‘sage on the stage’ teaching method where a professor imparts knowledge by lecturing to their class. tone in speaking to students has changed, growing to have less ego with students, gives me the confidence to say “I don’t really know” if I don’t know something. it’s very freeing to be able to say to students “I don’t know…what do you think?” Research Free Democratic Schools and he Montessori /Stainer” minus the religious element education models. Teacher-centred versus student centred. We do still offer didactic approaches such as mass lectures. “The aim of education – in fact the aim of life- is to work joyfully and to find happiness.” Summerhill (1960)
Equality Act 2010.
Anti discrimination legislation. The Equality Act 2010 requires us to think of certain identities as ‘protected characteristics’. To comply with the Act, we must demonstrate how we have eliminated discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and fostered good relations between those who share protected characteristics and those who do not. This is called ‘due regard’ and essentially means to: Remove/ minimise disadvantage – Identify & meet specific needs – Encourage Participation – Tackle prejudice & promote understanding
Protected Characteristics:
Age | Disability | Race | Gender Reassignment | Sex | Maternity and Pregnancy (Caring Responsibilities) | Marriage and Civil Partnership | Religion or Belief | Sexual Orientation
Missing – Limitations, doesn’t talk about best practice, Language (The Irish language (Irish: Gaeilge) is, since 2022, an official language in Northern Ireland), Class, Political Views, Immigration status, non religious status, Single or Widower, Parental status, adoption, Mental Health
TASK 3. Intersectionality.
Intersectionality is a noun
1. The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage i.e. “through an awareness of intersectionality, we can better acknowledge and ground the differences among us”
2. Intersectionality is also a theoretical framework for understanding how aspects of a person’s social and political identities combine to create unique modes of discrimination and privilege. Intersectionality identifies advantages and disadvantages that are felt by people due to a combination of factors.
Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color. Author(s): Kimberle Crenshaw Source: Stanford Law Review, Vol. 43, No. 6 (Jul., 1991), pp. 1241-1299 Published by: Stanford Law Review Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1229039 . https://is.muni.cz/el/fss/jaro2016/SPR470/um/62039368/Crenshaw_1991.pdf
TASK 4. B. A Case Study: It Started with the Teacher. Page 158-160 https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/journals/inclusive-practice/
• What do you take from the case study assigned?
• How would you have dealt with it?
• Do you know if there is an institutional policy to refer to for this scenario?
Notes & Reflections
I thought it was shocking how long it took to be ‘resolved’. Case Study B – failure of management, to address issues in a sensitive, pertinent and immediate manner, allowing for escalation. Exacerbates the original incident and effects caused from it. This raised the question for me about training for educators, as with many others, I have not received any formal training in education, in particular managerial and or personnel processes within a diverse cohort. This does not excuse the failures presented in this case study. It points to some real structural issues, students not even knowing where to go to for help …At the MA it is very sad as it can happen often and it does require a lot of (of correct) extra work to make sure it does not happen to student to be ignored, even if not racially abused. If at the BA diversity is higher between students, at the MA level is quite clear the social economic and racial structure is more heavy… so even if some student are not racially abused they still suffer by lack of interaction. In my Ma often there was just one student. Lack of interaction (dialogue) can lead to awarding gaps. We need to ask why some students are not pushed, critiqued, engaged with. Incident was so overtly racist but none of the students felt able to say something directly at the time. Shows how powerful the teacher is over the students, how socially difficult it is to call this out. What is/is not permissible needs to be negotiated with others.
● Review UAL’s Staff data via the Data Dashboard. – https://dashboards.arts.ac.uk/dashboard/ActiveDashboards/DashboardPage.aspx?dashboardid=4b74c409-e287-42ed-b75e-c9ba5e38c6d5&dashcontextid=637831282984491780&resetFilt=true
● Make notes of 3 – 5 observations that you feel are significant and consider how these impact your professional practice.
● You may wish to also refer to relevant data within your blogging tasks for the future.
Notes & Reflections
pay gaps in race, gender, disability, religion teaching staff not totally representative of student body BAME 16.5% (33% of students identify as BAME) LGBQ+ 9.2% (21% students), attainment gaps (Awarding gaps are also persistent (there is a danger they are normalised and accepted)), staff health questionnaires around health and disability. The question of proportional representation doesn’t necessarily address power within the structure. Is being in the room enough to change the balance of power? Certain groups will still be a minority.
General
Introduction to the Unit: The Inclusive Teaching and Learning Unit. – Shades of Noir: Journals ref: https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/journals/inclusive-practice/
