Anti-Racist and Decolonial Curriculum

"Anti-Racism is strategies, theories, actions, and practices that challenge and counter racism, inequalities, prejudices, and discrimination based on race." (UBC, n.d.)

In the context of higher education, embodying anti-racism starts with acknowledging that racism is a systemic challenge and recognizing that we all play a role in eradicating it. (University of Toronto (n.d.).

Anti-racist pedagogy is not about simply incorporating racial content into courses, curriculum, and discipline. It is also about how one teaches, even in courses where race is not the subject matter. It begins with the faculty’s awareness and self-reflection of their social position and leads to the application of this analysis not just in their teaching, but also in their discipline, research, and departmental, university, and community work. In other words, anti-racist pedagogy is an organizing effort for institutional and social change that is much broader than teaching in the classroom. (Kishimoto, 2018).

University of British Columbia (n.d.) Anti-Oppression: Anti-Racism. Decolonization & Anti-Racism LibGuide, https://simmons.libguides.com/anti-oppression/anti-racism 

University of Toronto (n.d.) Anti-Racist-Pedagogy. https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/ctl/anti-racist-pedagogy#anti-racist

Kishimoto, K. (2018). Anti-racist pedagogy: From faculty’s self-reflection to organizing within and beyond the classroom. Race Ethnicity and Education, 21(4), 540–554.

Decolonization is foundational to reciprocity and relationships among Indigenous and settler communities. It is a process often described in stages and requires engagement and action (personal and public) to create a shift in colonial relationships. The first realm may begin with fear and denial - and its consequences, then shift to learning and exploration, and then grow to more understanding, self-awareness, and action. 

In the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) 94 calls to action, numbers 6 through 12 specifically address education. (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015).  Recognizing the persistence of colonial structures in educational institutions is a beginning. Integrating Indigenous methodologies that engage holistic, land-based, and experiential education in curricula and research are fundamental components of decolonization in post-secondary education. It is an, "interconnected processes of deconstructing colonial ideologies and their manifestations, and reconstructing colonial discourse through Indigenous counter narratives" (Fellner, 2018). 

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015) Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume one: Summary. Lorimer. 

Fellner K. D. (2018). Embodying Decoloniality: Indigenizing Curriculum and Pedagogy. American journal of community psychology, 62(3-4), 283–293. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12286

"Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion positions anti-racist, anti-ableist, de-colonization and Indigenization, and 2SLGBTQIA+ projects and supports at the forefront.

*2SLGBTQIA+ = “Two Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer (or Questioning), Intersex, Asexual (or sometimes Ally). The placement of Two Spirit (2S) first is to recognize that Indigenous people are the first peoples of this land and their understanding of gender and sexuality precedes colonization. The ‘+’ is for all the new and growing ways we become aware of sexual orientations and gender diversity.” (UBC Equity and Inclusion Office, n.d.)

UBC Equity and Inclusion Office, (n.d.) Equity and Inclusion Glossary of Terms. https://equity.ubc.ca/resources/equity-inclusion-glossary-of-terms/