Choosing voices: Platforming narratives in redesigning curricula

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Learning from learners: reflections from a student-led course redesign

Proposal

In Teaching to Transgress bell hooks (2014) writes that “the classroom remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy” (p. 12). For an international university such as Oxford, this role of the classroom becomes crucial as it engages with different students from across the world. The institutional responsibility, then, becomes not just about facilitating the learning of a diverse syllabus, but also about creating the space for everyone’s voice to be heard. Yet, elite institutions such as Oxford have - historically - not been very successful in this endeavor.

During my year at the University of Oxford, reading for the MSc in Education, I found the classroom to be a radical space in so far as I, and my peers, made it to be. Institutionally, there was little provided to the extent that I often felt invisible in my own classroom. Thus, when an opportunity arose to work on redesigning this particular course, I stepped up with the intention of ensuring, to the best of my ability, that no other student from the majority world feels invisible and/or invalidated in the classroom. This presentation is my reflection on being a member of the “Panels, Events and External Speakers” team, one of the three prongs used in redesigning “International Comparative Policy on Childhood Education”.

My team comprises three women of colour hailing from (post/)conflict states: Iran, Palestine, and Sri Lanka. As we discussed our experiences with the course that was and the contributions we want to make, I realised that all three of us have similar objectives: to make space for voices and narratives from the majority world. Therefore, my presentation is my reflection but as shaped and influenced by that of my team members.

In determining the shape of events and panels, there are many aspects to consider: Who do we decide to platform? Why are we selecting these specific people? How do we acknowledge and avoid personal biases? I anticipate reflecting on:

-negotiating hybrid identity of self: a brown woman from Sri Lanka associated with the ivory tower of University of Oxford;
-the moral dilemmas of asking for free labour for work that can be termed decolonising, which in reality furthers colonial contours;
-suppressing personal misgivings born from my positionality to approach the redesign process in good faith; and
-accepting limitations of my own ideological stance

using hooks’ idea of teaching communities and teaching to transgress, framed by theories of feminist pedagogy. I will use meeting notes and journal entries as fodder for reflection.

The rage of the oppressed, hooks writes, is never the same as the rage of the privileged. I expect my presentation to be illustrative of this struggle, but one which can provide direction to another on the path of course redesign in a way that allows many students - even those from the majority world - to feel seen and heard in the classroom. I hope my presentation contributes to upcoming classrooms being radical spaces of possibility for many (if not all).

Author

• Minoli Wijetunga, University of Oxford