Decolonizing Education
EDST 221Z
Winter 2021
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01
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Please note: Students should expect some readings and assignments to be due during winter break, prior to beginning Winter Session. Please visit the Winter Session website for the full syllabus -- http://www.wesleyan.edu/wintersession.
Who determines what is true and worth knowing? How has the construction of knowledge and academic traditions from across the globe been impacted by such phenomena as (post)modernity, (neo)colonialism, and (neo)liberalism? Why do any of the questions above matter to your own personal history, beliefs, and identity? This course will provide a space for students to critically examine the history and development of the discourses that have shaped their educational experiences and their understanding of the purpose of education. The first half of the course will focus on texts and assignments that interrogate how some of our modern epistemological discourses were formed and maintained through the lens of postcolonial studies and critical educational studies.
The second half of the course will center on ways people have worked within these dominant modes of thought to resist hegemonic modern discourses that privileges logical positivism, quantification, objectivism, and Western European histories and ideologies above all else. This coursework will involve reflection essays on class lectures and readings due before the class starts on Jan. 4th. The synchronous coursework will include intergroup dialogue and group activities that will encourage students to examine their own connection to the theoretical concepts presented in the lectures and homework assignments. The culminating project/final will be a scholarly personal narrative wherein students will synthesize both what they learned about themselves and the content that was presented during the course. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS EDST |
| Course Format: Discussion | Grading Mode: Credit/Unsatisfactory |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (CIVI-MN)(EDST-MN)(EDST) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 - Winter Session Short |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
1. Class 1: Course Overview/What is Education?
a. Readings
i. Dialogue vs. debate vs. discussion (link)
ii. History of education in society (link)
iii. Philosophies of education (link)
iv. Henry Giroux- On Critical Pedagogy Introduction (link)
v. Laura Rendon- Sentipensante Introduction (link)
2. Class 2: What is modernity, colonialism, and liberalism?
. Readings
. Van Der Veer- The Global History of Modernity (link)
i. Niall Ferguson v. Ziauddin Sardar Debate on Imperialism (link)
ii. Anibal Quijano- Coloniality and Modernity/Rationality (link)
iii. The Institute of Art and Ideas- Is rationality objective (link)
3. Class 3: How does modernity, colonialism, and liberalism impact our understanding of education and knowledge?
. Readings
. Joel Spring- Deculturalization Chapter 1 (link)
i. Vinay Menon- 3 Myths of the Indian Educational System (link)
ii. Laura Rendon- Sentipensante Chapter 1 (link)
iii. Chandra Mohanty- Under Western Eyes
4. Class 4: What is postmodernity, neocolonialism, and neoliberalism?
. Readings
. Seidman- Contested Knowledge Chapter 11 (link)
i. Danahar- Philosophical Imagination Chapter 10 (link)
ii. Danahar- Philosophical Imagination Chapter 11 (link)
5. Class 5: How does postmodernity, neocolonialism, and neoliberalism impact our understanding of education and knowledge?
. Readings
. Linda Tuhiwai Smith- Decolonizing Methodologies Chapter 1 (link)
i. Welch- Globalization, Postmodernity, and the State (link)
6. Class 6: How has (post)modernity, (neo)colonialism, and (neo)liberalism impacted your own worldview and goals?
. Readings
. Vine Deloria Jr. - Our Relationship to the Unseen (link)
i. Dorinda Carter Andrews- The Consciousness Gap in Education (link)
ii. Patricia Hill Collins- Why Race, Class, and Gender Matters (link)
iii. Paolo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Chapter 2: The banking method of education
7. Class 7: What is decolonization and postcolonial theory? How has decolonization and postcolonial theory impacted our understanding of education and knowledge?
. Assignments
. Self-Grading Reflection Essay due on Friday, January 15
a. Readings
. Louai- Retracing the concept of the subaltern (link) or Spivak- Can the Subaltern Speak (link)
i. Nikki Sanchez- Decolonization is for Everyone (link)
ii. Bettina Love- We want to do more than survive, Chapter 2: Educational Survival
iii. Ziauddin Sardar- Rethinking reform in higher education, Chapters 1 and 2
8. Class 8: What is liberation? How has liberation impacted our understanding of education and knowledge?
. Readings
. Paolo Freire- Teachers as Cultural Workers Chapter 1
i. bell hooks- Teaching to transgress, Chapter 5: Theory as Liberatory Praxis
ii. Ngugi wa Thiong- Decolonizing the Mind Chapter 1
iii. Bettina Love- We want to do more than survive- Chapter 5- Abolitionist Teaching
9. Class 9: What do the course concepts that we have learned reveal/obscure about your own educational experience? What do the course concepts that we have learned reveal/obscure about your own identity and sociohistorical positionality?
. Readings
. Watkins and Schulman- Towards Psychologies of Liberation
1. Introduction
2. Chapter 9: Non-Subjects and Nomadic Consciousness
i. Oliver and Gershman- Education, Modernity, and Fractured Meaning Chapter 1- Prologue (link)
ii. Oliver and Gershman- Education, Modernity, and Fractured Meaning- Introduction (link)
iii. deBoer- The Cult of Smart Chapter 3- Equality of Opportunity, Liberalism¿s Great Lie (link)
iv. Coulby- Postmodernity, Education, and European Identities: (link)
10. Class 10: What do the course concepts that we have learned reveal/obscure about your own educational experience? What do the course concepts that we have learned reveal/obscure about your own identity and sociohistorical positional
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Examinations and Assignments:
Attendance and class participation (35%)
Homework assignments (35%)
There will be response/reflection papers due at the beginning of the course in addition to in-class and out of class activities that will further students¿ content mastery. You should complete the assignments in the following progression:
¿ Class 1, 2, and 3 lectures and reflection responses
¿ Share an artifact reflection essay
¿ Class 3 and 4 lectures and reflection responses
¿ Dialogue partner reflection essay
¿ Class 5 and 6 lectures and reflection responses
¿ Old assignment reflection essay
¿ Class 7 and 8 lectures reflection responses
¿ Self grading reflection essay
All readings and assignments will be shared through a class google team drive that will be shared with everyone enrolled.
All reflection essays should be submitted by email to the professor before Jan. 4
General Rubric:
5- The student showcases a clear understanding of the main arguments in the texts and intentionally places their own personal experiences (i.e. thoughts, feelings, behaviours, misconceptions, etc.) in conversation with the perspectives of the authors. There is a clear intention to go beyond shallow connections and truly discover/uncover/reveal something to and for themselves. The student takes the time and effort to challenge their own arguments and perceptions and reflect on why they are interpreting the authors¿ texts in a particular way and the potential implications of their beliefs. The student incorporates information from the supplemental readings and sources not provided by the professor (such as readings from previous classes, current events and news articles, family stories, personal history, memes and social media, wikipedia) to deepen their understanding of the context and implications of the authors¿ text and their own experiences/beliefs. The student connects their own interpretations and arguments to the course objectives and how the course is impacting their own development.
4- The student showcases an understanding of the main arguments in the texts this week and intentionally places their own personal experiences (i.e. thoughts, feelings, behaviours, misconceptions, etc.) in conversation with the perspectives of the authors. The student takes the time and effort to make sure that their thoughts are clearly ordered and communicated. The assignment was turned in on time or at least one week after the original due date.
3- The student showcases that they have read some of the readings and have an opinion about what they have read. They turned the assignment in and met all basic requirements about the length and content of the assignment
Needs improvement- the response to the texts were incoherent and/or very little to no personal connections to the arguments made were present
Incomplete- student did not turn in the assignment
Final project (30%)
The final project will be a scholarly personal narrative that will enable participants to synthesize the course content with their own lived experiences
Scholarly Personal Narrative due on Friday, January 22nd at 12noon
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Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Dialogue will be an essential component to the learning objectives of the course.
We will meet for 13 classes (from Jan. 4-Jan.20th, 5:10pm-8:00pm, 15 minute break at 6:30pm)
Each class will consist of dialogue based on the readings and assignments and group activities
Students must complete watch the lecture and do the readings before each corresponding class
Requirements:
Students must notify the professor no later than 24 hours before a class if they are unable to attend class due to a personal emergency and/or sickness. If an emergency presents itself on the day of class, the student has until the end of that day to contact their professor detailing the emergency if they would like to have that absence excused.
Students are only allowed two excused absences during the course of a semester. If the student requires more than two excused absences, accommodations must be arranged through the student¿s class dean to verify the issue and identify workarounds.
Extension Policy:
If you need an extension on an assignment, you must email the professor at least 24 hours before the assignment due date explaining what is preventing you from completing the assignment on time and when you can turn it in within the next two weeks.
Assignments will not be accepted after two weeks from its original due date
Assignments will not be accepted if the student did not contact the professor at least 24 hours prior to the assignment due date
Assignments turned in after a week past the original due date can only get a 3 / 5 on the grading rubric
Only three assignments can be turned in late throughout the whole semester
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| Instructor(s): Colvin,Demetrius James Times: .MTWRF. 05:10PM-08:00PM; Location: ONLINE; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 20 | | SR major: 0 | JR major: 0 | | |
| Seats Available: 4 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 5 | JR non-major: 5 | SO: 5 | FR: 5 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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