Stories From Filipinx Staff: Making Meaning of Decolonizing in U.S. Higher Education

• In Event: Sense of Belonging Across Higher Education

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to lift up the stories of Filipinx staff and their meaning-making, meanings, and enactments of decolonization. Through journaling, an online group meeting, and individual interviews with five staff in U.S. higher education, I aimed to answer: How do Filipinx higher education staff make meaning of “decolonizing”? Overall, meaning-making of decolonization for Filipinx staff were shaped within encounters of conflicting orientations reflecting particular personal, institutional, and historical contexts. This study adds to the conversation on decolonizing higher education by going “underneath” meanings and delving into meaning making of decolonization through the lens of positionality. Specifically, stories showed how the personal informs the professional and how positionality matters through the lens of Filipinx higher education staff.

Author

• Annabelle Estera, Endicott College