Race and Sustainability Issues in HE and the Community

Addressing extractive, political, epistemic and relational violences in education  

We are mindful of the neoliberal capitalist context that nurseries, schools and universities find themselves operating within. Alexander Means’ work honours the countless numbers of teachers and practitioners “who show up and struggle every day for dignity, connection, and community within schools, despite the historical determinations that are often quite intolerable” (2024, p. 484). Means reminds us that despite this political context the institutional settings themselves are important ‘sites of struggle’ over the re/production of life for people and their communities. Within those institutions, we recognise the importance of finding and valuing unruly spaces ‘where the work gets done’ (Harney and Moten, 2013, p. 26, cited in Means, 2024) so we can all continue to wrestle with the antagonisms, realities and potentialities that play out in what Means describes as the many acts of care, resistance and the labour of activism, as we strive to transform all young children’s lives.

This Children and Childhood seminar series is dedicated to racial justice and aims to address multiple injustices related to racialisation and disability in education, especially within HE, as well as in primary/secondary schools’ SEND system, while tackling inequitable educational experiences based on class, sexuality, ethnicity, and poverty. Following Michalinos Zembylas, the series aims to examine the value and purpose of unruly research and pedagogical spaces “to inspire anti-complicity praxes– that is, actions that actively resist social harm in everyday life” (2020, p. 317). 

Sharon Stein (2024) proposes that modernity rests on a basic foundation of systemic colonial violence and unsustainability, including for example: 

• the extractive violence of global capital  
• the political violence of the nation-state 
• the epistemic violence of supposedly universal (Eurocentric) reason 
• the relational violence of naturalising and normalising hierarchies and separations between species, human cultures, and knowledge systems  

Stein urges us to think about how, in education, silences connected with these violences are reproduced and naturalised, yet paradoxically, we also find ourselves in a moment of an increasing cacophony of competing, polarised perspectives, “In one sense, ‘difficult knowledges’ continue to be ignored; in another sense, we are inhabiting an era of significant noise”, wondering “how we might not only make this silencing visible but also expand our collective response-ability – that is, our ability to respond to what is being silenced – in more accountable ways” (2024, p. 1).  

This series of seminars draws on research that challenges explicitly, the silencing of ‘difficult knowledge’ in education (Britzman, 1998) to open up lines of flight, provocations, fugitivity as we develop our research and pedagogical work in ways that resist complicity and appropriation and continue to be considered importantly ‘improper’ by the dominant gaze.   

References 

Harney, S., and F. Moten. 2013. The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning and Black Study. New York: Minor Compositions.

Means, A.J. (2024) ‘Beyond epistemic exodus in educational studies: a response to Jordi Collet-Sabé and Stephen J. Ball’, Journal of Education Policy, 39:3, 480-489, DOI: 10.1080/02680939.2024.2328616 

Stein, S. (2024). ‘The Paradox of Educational Silences and Cacophonies in Liquid Modernity – Editorial’, Policy & Practice A Development Education Review, 39: 1 – 11. 

Zembylas, M. (2020) Re-conceptualizing complicity in the social justice classroom: affect, politics and anti-complicity pedagogy, Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 28(2): 317-331. 

Seminar 1: Race and Sustainability Issues in HE and the Community

6 December 3-5pm, Brooks 3.89

Presentation 1: Matters of Race, Space and Place 

Kaydian Payne and Josephine Gabi

This presentation draws from a qualitative study that explored how Black, Asian and minoritised trainee teachers narrate their experiences of ITE with a particular focus on curriculum, pedagogies and placement practices. The overall aim was to develop a narrative inquiry to produce insights into how ITE provision could better incorporate the histories and living knowledges of marginalised trainee teachers as important pluriversal forms of preparation for all students’ future work with children.

Kaydian’s Bio:  I currently work to widen participation to higher education for disadvantages groups across South Yorkshire and NE Derbyshire. I have a background studying Politics and International Relations, analysing broad power structures. I am interested in understanding the experiences of racialised identities within the education system and analysing how race, as a power structure, impacts these experiences. I am currently co-authoring a research paper investigating Black, Asian and minoritised trainee student teachers’ experiences surrounding race and racism within their initial teacher education. By examining the intersection of race and power dynamics within Initial Teacher Education, I aim to contribute to a deeper understanding of systemic barriers and to find ways to create effective change.  

Presentation 2: Racial Identity within the Early Years: Experiences of Children of Black and Biracial Ethnicity

Racheal Smith

This talk aims to illuminate the current issues surrounding racial identity in early childhood, with a particular focus on children of Black and biracial ethnicity. It seeks to challenge existing practices, educate practitioners and advocate for children and families. By examining the impact of racial identity on young children, this research aspires to empower educators to foster environments where all children can develop a positive sense of self and pride in their identity. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework is based on the principle that every child deserves equal access to high-quality learning opportunities. Despite progress in recent decades, disparities in the experiences of children from different racial backgrounds persist. This presentation will explore these inequalities and propose strategies for creating more inclusive early years settings.

Rachel’s Bio: My name is Racheal, I have a fourteen-year professional background in Early Years and currently studying BA Hons in Childhood Studies. As a parent, I have personally encountered the disappointment, worry, and sense of exclusion that can arise when a child does not feel a sense of belonging within an educational setting. My experiences have driven my passion for this research, through which I aim to equip practitioners with the knowledge and tools to empower children. By promoting respect and self-value, we can ensure that every child develops a positive sense of identity and feels proud of who they are. The Early Years sector is committed to providing equal, high-quality learning opportunities for all children. While significant strides have been made, my study highlights the ongoing inequalities related to race that affect children’s experiences in the early years.

Presentation 3: Best Practices in Personal Tutoring and Academic Advising for International Students

Eleanor St Hilaire

Often, universities fail to adequately explain the complexities of the UK educational system and how it differs from other systems, placing the onus on international students to have an implicit understanding of the established practices in the UK. This difficulty often manifests during assignment submissions, where international students are disproportionately flagged for plagiarism (presenting someone else’s work as their own). In many cultures, copying a lecturer’s words is seen as a sign of respect, reflecting the student’s high regard for the lecturer’s knowledge and authority. This talk will share the experiences of international students and offer some recommendations.

Eleanor’s Bio: Eleanor is a coach and mentor for the Personal Learning Advice Service since July 2022. Her background and experience are in Psychology. Over the past 10 years, she has studied and worked within mental health and related roles.  Eleanor is immensely passionate about supporting and advocating for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. As a PLA she supports students who experience barriers to their educational experience and academic success.

Presentation 4: Embedding Sustainability and Decolonising HE (working title)

Monica Edwards

Abstract to follow.