Co-Decolonizing Practices in Education: An Approach to Affirm and Sustain Cultures Other Than Our Own

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Intersectional Educational Justice (Table 23)

Abstract

This paper explores co-decolonizing as an approach and pathway for educators to confront racism and other oppressions while co-constructing educational futures. Informed by decolonizing methodologies, culturally sustaining pedagogies, and Indigenist and Two-Eyed Seeing epistemologies, this study addresses the question: How do educators affirm and sustain cultures other than their own? Two contextualized examples of co-decolonization are offered: (1) a migrant Mexican Indigenous community in California and (2) racially minoritized families of children with disabilities in Indiana. Co-decolonizing practices challenge colonial practices, center researcher positioning, disrupt white hegemony, and advocate for marginalized communities. The paper discusses essential understandings and intersectional representations of co-decolonizing through the featured projects. Data from audio/video recordings, interviews, artifacts, and surveys support evidence of co-decolonizing practices.

Authors

• Lorri J. Santamaría, California Lutheran University

• Cristina C. Santamaria Graff, Indiana University - Indianapolis