Becoming Whole Instead of Shooting Holes: Bridging Gun Violence Prevention With Antiracism, Decolonial, Contemplative Pedagogies

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 3:05 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Holistic and Contemplative Education for Transformational Change (Table 13)

Abstract

Popular discourse regarding “solutions” for ending public mass gun violence (PMGV) in the US often rely on arming more citizens and teachers with weapons, increased policing, hyper-securitization of public spaces, and demands that educators drop controversial topics from curricula to avoid instigating potential shooters. These fragmented approaches fail to mitigate PMGV, nor do they promote peace and healing. They also fail to link PMGV with histories that propagate the phenomenon including the nation’s founding on chattel slavery, racism, and colonialization. Understanding the historic roots of PMGV allows us respond to it more holistically and preventatively. To mitigate the phenomenon and heal its roots, I propose holistic educational practices ranging from anti-racism to contemplative pedagogies.

Author

• Stephanie Glick, University of British Columbia