Working towards de/colonising educational relationships

1 January 2020 - 1 December 2021

About the research

What is the project?

In this project we will run a seminar series within the auspices of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee of the Graduate School of Education. A series of ten seminars, one per month from October 2020 – July 2021, will focus on the whiteness/coloniality of education and teacher identities and how to decentre these in educational relationships. We see this as a crucial starting point in working towards de/colonial ways of relating in educational settings and a necessary precursor to decolonising the curriculum. We believe that de/colonising educational relations, decentring the ways of being and knowing of coloniality, will address the root cause of inequities in academic success. - Who is it targeted towards? The seminars are open to academic and professional services staff across the university, as well as doctoral students.

What do you hope to achieve?

The seminar series is a trial programme developed specifically for the University of Exeter and the UK context. It is our hope that participants in the programme will: · have greater critical awareness and understanding of their relation to whiteness/coloniality and how this influences their educational relations · have greater understanding of the centrality of identities to educational relationships · are able to articulate what de/colonising educational relationships means to them and what changes they anticipate making to their teaching and assessment as a result

What is the primary research method you are using?

A participatory action research model (Kemmis, McTaggart & Nixon, 2014) will engage all involved in an iterative process of understanding the learning that emerges for individuals and their communities, with a view to identifying how outcomes that show potential to address inequalities might be scaled-up to help achieve university-wide change.