Minor Players in Common Worlds: Children, Animals, and the Settler Colonial Project

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 4:20 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Settler Colonialism Is Not a Metaphor (Table 1)

Abstract

Relatively little about the role of non-human animals in a settler society has been explored, particularly in education. This paper examines the grammars of settler colonial ideologies—and the decolonizing possibilities of a Common World—inherent within child-animal relations. We focus on the intra-actions between young children and a service dog who acted as the companion to a deaf teacher in a preschool classroom. Analyzing moments within the classroom, we discuss the ways that notions of obedience, hierarchy, and service/work are nuanced through a Common Worlds lens.

Authors

• Andrew Flanagan, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Tran Templeton, Teachers College, Columbia University