Towards Decolonial Praxis in Education: Critical Pedagogy in Jamaican Higher Educational Institution

• In Event: Politics, Education and Citizenship

Proposal

Jamaica's motto "Out of Many One People" aptly describes the melting pot development of the Jamaican society. Jamaica is a plural society, and as such there are several ethnic groups, which includes Africans, Indians, Chinese, Europeans. The composition of the Jamaican society is predominantly made up of people of African descent. Jamaica achieved its independence in 1962, and the terrain on which we construct, on which we build, have been shaped by slavery, colonialism, and the resistance to slavery and colonialism. Colonialism has its roots in European expansionism and imperial conquests, and these are by no means concluded. Colonialism today manifest itself in varied-gated forms (Dei and Lordan, 2016, p. x). We have also found that in this long struggle, the epistemological framework or landscape of colonialism, of white supremacy remains very strong, and therefore the space needs decolonization. Within the educational context, this means confronting and challenging the colonizing practices that have influenced education in the past, and which are still present today.
The coloniality of education in the context of a global capitalist modernity raises critical concerns about the survival of Indigeneity. The role of education therefore is to “unsilence” us and to deconstruct notions of colonialism and as a place to remember the history that "impacted our ancestors and therefore our lives. Thus, inclusion of reggae music, Garveyism and reparation studies as decolonization praxex, helps to impart African ethos into educational processes for Black children, and it is important in the African values adoption and transmission. This will allow educators and learners to center Black and indigenous knowledges, and therefore help to counter the existing narratives, and by extension mitigate the epistemology of ignorance. This would create culturally relevant pedagogy that would provide an opportunity for informed (educative) dissent through dialogue, deliberation and critical analysis of rights violations, options, and alternatives to transform and strengthen relations (Awad (2019). Awad (2019) described culturally relevant pedagogy as “creating alternate spaces for learning and effective decolonization praxis requires a diversification of the curriculum through a variety of teaching methods” (p. 9). These approaches are centred around the idea of dialogue, which will allow the students to learn from each other’s experiences and overcome discourses and prejudices.
It is envisaged that teachers will be effective facilitators of anti-colonial studies. Additionally, they will be able to manifest the confidence in themselves and their abilities, certain of the sense of belonging to and caring for Jamaica, believing in its future and their role in it as proud citizens. I believe that the implementation of this decolonization pedagogy would provide the students with voices, to echo their concerns and to be able to strategize how they can be relevant citizens in their respective spaces. As a lecturer, and the head of the department of Social Sciences at the Mico University College, I am interested in recommending the inclusion of additional decolonization praxis in the curriculum, which will facilitate the expansion of knowledge regarding anti-colonial theory and decolonization praxis and will bring to the fore Black authenticity and cultural identity. The anti-colonial struggle is not only about getting rid of colonialism as a system, but also and more importantly about recognising and resisting the deep implications of the experience of colonialism on the psyche of the people. Decolonizing education promotes a process of inner and intellectual decolonisation as imperative for the postcolonial agenda. Education plays a critical role in socialisation of our people. It is the vehicle through which our values and attitudes are transmitted across the generations. The educational landscape now needs more change towards educating the black masses and motivating them to have a sense of pride as a black race, critical consciousness, and self-worth. Therefore, the framework towards the decolonization praxis with the insertion of Reggae music, Garveyism and reparation curricula in higher education, highlighted in this paper, suggest that engaging in decolonial praxis will provide the tools to re-imagine, analyze, and engage in dialogue, to dismantle systemic oppression. The paper will therefore address the following questions:
1. How can Jamaican higher education curriculum bring learners attention to the lessons of Black, indigenous, racialized resistances?
2. How do we present decolonial praxis as a subversive pedagogy and instruction for the classroom learner and community activist to bring about educational and social change?

Author

• Deserene Burrell-Ingram, The Mico University College