Pedagogies of Discomfort, Oppositional Consciousness, and Bridgework for Equity and Social Justice in Education

• In Event: Critical and Narrative Perspectives on Intercultural Teaching

Abstract

Objectives: In this presentation the author revisits her intercultural research and scholarship to expand on the theme of equity and social justice in education that emerged from her participation in a study abroad program. Drawing from study abroad experiences as a graduate Teaching and Research Assistant and subsequent classroom practice as a teacher educator, she uses pedagogies of discomfort as a framework for examining oppositional consciousness to theorize how knowledge of cultural difference co-constructed in the classroom transforms student and teacher development of intercultural teaching and learning for equity and social justice.
Theoretical Framework: This study was informed by the literature on how pedagogical strategies that use the experience of dissonance to incite critical reflection leading to analyses of power, privilege, inequity, and discrimination in educational and institutional contexts have implications for classroom practice (Trilokekar & Kukar, 2011). Expanding upon the role that discomfort plays in challenging racism, oppression and social injustice, pedagogies of discomfort in the form of teacher preparation coursework is positioned as the starting point for developing teacher educators’ and their students’ intercultural knowledge, skills and dispositions for equity in educational practice (Zembylas, 2010).
Methods and Data Sources: An inclusive vision of ongoing application of pedagogies of discomfort for developing oppositional consciousness was employed to locate emergent critical components. Two vignettes provide evidence of how my encounter with pedagogies of discomfort during study abroad experiences and subsequent classroom interactions continue to resonate and promote intercultural teaching and learning for equity and social justice. The first vignette demonstrates how pedagogies of discomfort during study abroad experiences provide educators a critical tool for developing an oppositional consciousness in relation to power, privilege, and inequity in education. The second vignette evidences how study abroad experiences can be bridged to offer a language for ongoing application of pedagogies of discomfort toward intercultural teaching and learning that empowers and transforms.
Results: The findings of this inquiry show that developing an oppositional consciousness toward all forms of exclusion, bridging differences in the classroom, and implementing inclusive pedagogies that value the culture of all students in the classroom is evidence of intercultural teaching and learning. A critical awareness of how categories such as whiteness, self and other are constructed, the ideologies that support hierarchical and binary constructs is key to opposing marginalization and exclusions in classroom practice.
Scholarly Significance: This investigation is significant, because the author explores how teacher educators and their students who examine their own locations within networks of power and privilege, recognize cultural difference, and work toward constructing culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogies that build upon the knowledge and practices of diverse students. Teacher educators and their students might develop a critical consciousness and bridge differences for equity and social justice by co-constructing a curriculum space for articulating multiplicity and inclusion in an intercultural classroom.

Author

• Suniti Sharma, Saint Joseph's University