How can I share or address religion, belief and faith in my practice?
During the lecture ‘Decolonising Higher Education’, Dr Tran, Dr Idowu, B. and Kibirige, N explained that decolonising means creating a culture of talking about uncomfortable subjects and the value of embracing that discomfort. They further shared about the value of different knowledge by considering/ hearing lived experiences.
Firstly, I believe it is important to acknowledge that students come from different backgrounds in a mutual learning environment. I visited the UAL website – it is a resource for both staff and students, sharing resources/ information/ examples exploring religion, belief and faith identities.
One of the resources that were shared on the website was One of My Kind (OOMK) – during the third year of my BA course, I remember my class visiting their studio for a couple of sessions. They had a mini publication (sadly I can’t remember the name of it) on display which shared a different narrative than the Eurocentric narrative that I was constantly exposed to. That zine made me think about many other possibilities – storytelling, identity and culture. These were the themes that I was very afraid to explore in my BA course (during my first and second years)- as I was made to feel that my narratives/ work were invalid. During my teaching placement, I have been sharing resources that are non- Eurocentric – decentering whiteness. OOMK is one of the resources that I have been sharing with the learners. It is important to decolonise the references as mentioned above that learners come from different backgrounds. It is a mutual learning space where perspectives should be challenged, consider one’s positionality, develop self-reflection and encourage/ empower learners to recognise the importance of their voice. During my studies, I wasn’t aware of many resources that I could relate to, that could help develop the conversation I wanted to explore. The various student body needs to be able to resonate/ relate, engage and feel valued – there is no ‘one fits all’ learning.
The website also had case studies which were interesting and useful to read. Pen Portraits by Angela Drisdale Gordon is an ice breaker activity where open dialogue is encouraged. Students can share their personal interest and their cultural background during this activity as the questions ranges from “what’s in your fridge?” to “do you have faith”. The mixture of light-hearted and deep questions allows students to feel comfortable and in control of how much they want to or not want to share. Hearing one another, the learners and the staff will get to know/ be aware of one another – which is very important as it builds a classroom community by fostering belonging.
During the micro teach in the first unit of the PGCert, I had designed an activity where I would share my own work (narrative) with my peers – this allowed personal connections to form with one another as my peers started to listen and share their own as well. I want to incorporate similar activities where open dialogue is encouraged. The learning environment should be inclusive – welcoming.
For example; I can also participate in Pen Portraits ice breaker activity which can encourage learners to do so too. The teacher sharing about themselves to the learners enables them to break the teacher-student hierarchy, after all, I believe teaching and learning is a two-way exchange process (Freire, 1970). I believe that I will be unfamiliar with many subjects or cultural contexts, but that shouldn’t restrict my students’ learning/ development. I need to familiarise myself, and not be afraid to learn more. This is something I had been implementing in my teaching placement where if I wasn’t aware of the cultural topics they were discussing, I took my time to research, listen to the student and get back to them. This allowed relevant feedback and support to be exchanged.
Further resources:
Shades of Noir Creative Database
OOMK is such a great platform, isn’t it? My students introduced me and I’ve used it ever since. It was great to hear how this made such a positive impact on you as an undergraduate and I hope this was the case for at least some of my students too. The power of showing an alternative narrative is so powerful and I also think it’s beneficial for students who have always been centred to be made conscious of that through this approach.
I agree with your points about tutors being able to share something about themselves. Throughout my time as a lecturer, I’ve had to work quite hard to let go of the idea that in order to be professional you need to assume a very particular, remote work persona. While there are certain things I wouldn’t want to share with students, I do think that some things can help for them to understand me as a human being which is central to a shift towards the lecturer as a facilitator rather than source of all knowledge and ultimate authority. It might also be a way for us to model how our positionality and lived experience shapes our work, to show that everyone can benefit from this.
Hi Fenella, thank you so much for your comment. I agree that a difference in narrative is so powerful – and I believe it is important in our ways of teaching (and also learning). OOMK was one of the resource that actually showed me how we can integrate our narratives (our voices) in our work when I was just constantly exposed to male, Eurocentric references. Students want to see themselves represented, see that there are artists that look like us and are THRIVING in their career. I believe that bringing difference of narrative challenges perspective enabling them to “reflect on their identity and their place in society” – https://www.sparqs.ac.uk/upfiles/Liberating%20the%20curriculum.pdf