Inclusive Practices | RACE

Hahn Tapper |A pedagogy of social justice education: social identity, theory and intersectionality

Before I read very far, I found myself with many questions:

What types of intergroup?’
Who is writing this?
What is the context? 

These questions were stopping me from being able to engage with the resource…so I turned to Google…   

Hahn Tapper is the Mae and Benjamin Swig Professor in Jewish Studies and 2003 founded ‘Abraham’s Vision, a conflict transformation organization that ran educational programs within and between the Muslim, Jewish, Palestinian, and Israeli communities’

Having this insight into the author helped me engage with the paper in a different way, understanding his own positionality as the author of this paper helped me read it from a different perspective, this made me reflect on the issue of authorship which is a recurring theme in the inclusive practices unit and also features in the ‘Retention and Attainment in the Disciplines’ resource.  Something I want to come back to on my own course in the future.

When there are loose and varying definitions of a term such as social justice, that the impact of the term and its meaning can be diminished.

 Tapper suggests that ‘heterogeneity surrounding an idea can add great depth to its meaning’ and if it becomes superficial then it can be difficult to gain traction or adoption as a thought/approach. 

I reflected on the exercise in Session 2 when we defined terms with regards to race and how, across our cohort, there had been surety on some terms and vagueness on others, in particular white supremacy, and white fragility – what can we take from the fact that within a predominately white cohort, it was these terms with which we were less clear?  This also connects back to Shirley Ann-Tate and the importance of exploring whiteness.

‘It is impossible to think of education without thinking of power… the question … is not to get power but to reinvent power’ (Freire)

Not only do environments convey messages of power but so do teachers’ identities and Tapper refers to Freire who argues that ‘a teacher’s social identity plays as much of a role in the classroom environment as anything else.’  The idea that we are there to ‘deposit’ information is not only an ineffective method of knowledge transfer but brings with it a potential failure to understand how the teacher’s identity can influence classroom learning and our role in encouraging critical reflective communication.

He talks of people being a product of their environment echoed so perfectly in a letter published this week from the old headmaster of Eton where he reflects on the role of his old educational establishment

‘Perhaps its (Eton’s) most important mission will be to ensure that its pupils are saved from the sense of privilege, entitlement, and omniscience that can produce alumni such as Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Kwasi Kwarteng, and Ben Elliot and thereby damage a country’s very fabric. Sadly, I failed in that purpose’ John Claughton

Musa Okwonga attended Eton and wrote about his experiences there reflecting on his positionality, racism and how everything about the environment and ambience supports the notion of power…

‘No one here ever tells us out loud that we Etonians are natural leaders: that is what the architecture is for. In one of the rooms, I find the mounted bust of every boy who has gone on to become the leader of the country. My boarding houses look like government buildings’

My main question about this text would be around the realities of the challenges in making this work in the UAL/university teaching context, the pressures of time to know students, and practicalities of the thinking and learning environment – whilst I would not disagree with the paper it does not really explore how these ideas are taken into a less-than-perfect system.

Terry Finnigan | Retention and Attainment in the disciplines: Art and Design

The implicit ‘pedagogy of ambiguity’ was a new term for me, recognising there is ‘neither one correct end result nor one way to get there’ is so important in the Design Management course on which I teach, yet there exists a tension in that this can create ‘vagueness and insecurity’. 

The text refers to first-year students, however, I would suggest this is also true for masters international students who may be older and have more lived experience but who can struggle with their first move away from home, adapting to a new culture and, often, a new educational context.

The text suggests that “feedback is fundamental to providing structure whilst allowing exploration and experimentation”, and this requires trust.  I would like to create more safe spaces and interventions that enable students to explore their own identities in relation to the course, their interests, and in relation to one another – on my course this year we have 22 languages spoken and 14 different nationalities!  In vulnerability, we can find energy and authenticity which builds stronger relationships and allows for more creative thinking.

Learning 1 – pedagogy of ambiguity

Learning 2 – feedback is fundamental to structure with exploration and experimentation

The SoN on Understanding Safe Spaces and Understanding Exclusionary Practices have been helpful to explore, clear simple language to inform my teaching practice.

Shades of Noir: Peekaboo We See You Whiteness

I feel that one of the most unexpected elements of this inclusive practices’ unit has been my shifting understanding of the concepts of white supremacy and white fragility.  Before this unit I would have probably ascribed white fragility/supremacy to many of the stereotypes of more extremist attitudes and behaviour around race.  However, my shift in understanding is that it is far more systemic , widespread and close to the surface.

This article on White Fragility talks of ‘white patterns’ which make it difficult for white people to understand racism as a system. 

I have witnessed examples of the ‘internalised sense of superiority and privilege’ discussed by Robin Diangelo, by relatives and in social groups, often these behaviours are so ‘micro’ those individuals may not even recognise it as racism.

In terms of my teaching practice this connects me personally to the topics above on power and being intentional about understanding the power dynamic that may be in place as a white female teacher with my students.  It has made me question my own white fragility or any internalised sense of superiority, which I hope I don’t have, or may not even recognise …  but now it’s named and seen then I hope I can be ready and alert to it!  I found this a powerful and well-constructed article and I have referred a few people to it outside of UAL already along with the video by Shirley Anne Tate

Shades of Noir

SoN has such a wealth of content for both teachers and students … in the past, I’ve said to students “Have a look at Shades of Noir”, however, this feels like it does not do justice to the richness of information and support that sits within it.  Engaging with the content through this course has helped me understand more about where the value lies.

In terms of content then there are specific articles and case studies that may help students shape research when exploring specific design challenges, for example, I am supervising a student who is looking to design more inclusive recruitment practices in creative agencies. I will also be using it to help students understand the concept of positionality in research which can be a new idea for many of them and is key for their masters studies.

Certainly, we could be using the work that our students do on these topics more explicitly in the classroom; sharing examples of work, using these topics as thought starters for students choosing new design projects.

Additionally, I have a deeper understanding of how SoN might also help students find their own voices when issues may arise, the case studies illustrate and explore ideas of power in the education setting which they may find hard to articulate or recognise but the SoN terms of reference and case studies wonderfully explore real-life examples.

From my own perspective, I am more familiar with content such as ‘Creating Safe Spaces in creative education” and will be using this in my artefact reflection.

Josephine Khwali | Witness Unconscious Bias Video

What strikes me in this video is the conversation around the lack of pace and progress despite the significant amount of work that has been done.  How can racism still be unconscious?  It connects to the ideas raised by Tapper about white patterns and the inability to recognise racism as part of a system and recognising the racist microaggressions that we discussed earlier in this unit.

I reflect on my earlier career (many years ago) and incidents of misogyny and sexism in the workplace which I have only come to recognise as I have got older. As systemic changes have taken place, as the macro context changes, we can reflect differently on our own behaviours and experiences through a different lens.  But as Kwhali reflects, many of the changes have benefitted middle-class white women but not working-class, or black and minority women.

Note: This video did not appear to be the whole TED talk as it was only a couple of minutes long, and I couldn’t find any link to any other TED talk by Josephine Kwhali

In addition to my blogging group, please find my comments on other posts here:

https://tillypgcert.myblog.arts.ac.uk/

References

Shades of Noir

Retention and attainment in the disciplines: Art and Design Terry Finnigan

Hahn Tapper (2013) A pedagogy of social justice education: social identity, theory and intersectionality

Shades of Noir, We See You Whiteness

Josephine Kwhali Unconscious Bias UCU Rising (2016) Available at Unconscious Bias Josephine Khwali

Additional references

Hamish Morrison (2023) Ex-Eton Headmaster savages Boris Johnson, The National, 13^th June 2023. Available at:https://www.thenational.scot/news/23586810.ex-eton-headmaster-savages-boris-johnsons-entitlement/

Musa Okwonga, (2021), Eton showed me how privilege is nurtured and how the UK’s power structures – and systemic racism – were forged, iNews, 12^th April 2021.  Available at https://inews.co.uk/news/long-reads/eton-privilege-nurtured-uk-power-structures-systemic-racism-forged-952620

https://usfca.edu/faculty/aaron-hahn-tapper