School as Communion of Peoples, Place, and Power

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Three
  In Roundtable Session: Schools, Communities, and Families in Collaboration (Table 3)

Abstract

This study asks; “How are decolonizing, place/land-based, and community-grown schools created and sustained as alternatives to dominant settler-colonial systems?”. Methodologies included narrative storywork, Indigenous and culturally responsive methodologies, and critical autoethnography. Data collected from 2 schools included stories, conversations, reflections, observations, and intuited moments gathered through a process of sustained relationship with co-storyers from each school. Four major themes emerged: (1) a necessary process, (2) school as communion, (3) a radical existence, and (4) belonging. This study implicates that there is value in seeking and growing autonomous schools outside of the dominant system and that communities who seek to grow such place and person-specific schools can experience great benefit for both human and more-than-human members of their communities.

Author

• Joey Yung-Jun Liu, Chapman University
  Presenting Author