The Art of Navigating Exclusion: A Case Study Highlighting Relational Pedagogies

• In Event: Educational Relationships in Secondary and Higher Education Contexts: Race, Culture, and the Role of Care

Abstract

Overview and Significance
For the greater part of their existence, historically White colleges and universities have actively
upheld exclusion rather than inclusion. This reality can make the shift to diversity, equity, and
inclusion in the academy a challenging prospect, as institutional structures, hierarchies, and
norms present barriers to institutional change. Thus, despite institutional commitments to DEI,
including merit-based financial assistance for graduate students from historically
underrepresented groups, structural barriers can impede such students’ ability to pursue their
research interests, particularly when faculty construe that research as exceeding the confines of
the discipline. This phenomenon tends to occur across disciplines historically unaccustomed to
engaging with students of diverse backgrounds and with ethnic studies. How, then, can Black,
Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) first-generation graduate students (FGGS), as well as
faculty and administrators in solidarity with them, navigate exclusion?
Theoretical Framework and Methodology
This paper engages with the literature on relational pedagogies to present a case study on the art
of navigating exclusion in the academy. It illuminates how a BIPOC FGGS and supportive
faculty were able to circumvent institutional barriers to enable the student to proceed with
meaningful research. While relational pedagogies in the context of K-12 schooling have received
much attention over the past decade, the literature on relational pedagogies in higher education
continues to emerge. Recent research explores the importance of faculty connecting with
postsecondary students to promote their flourishing in universities often critiqued as neoliberal
spaces. Nonetheless, only a small number of studies have used these frameworks to analyze the
ways in which faculty engage with BIPOC FGGS. This paper employs a scholarly personal
narrative methodology for increasing understanding of the role relational pedagogies played in
making a difference in the experience of a BIPOC FGGS in a historically White institution.

Author

• Annette Beauchamp, University of Minnesota