As a child in the 80’s, I was raised in a working middle class neighbourhood where only one color of skin was the norm.  I didn’t think that was unusual, because I had no other experience. Years later, that neighbourhood started to be one of the immigration hubs of my city. Immigration rates now are 32.8% and that translates into multiple nationalities, citizens from Morocco, Senegal, Gambia, China…and more than 120 different languages.

When I was 10 years old,  primary school was where Moroccan students joined for the first time in their new life in Spain. It was 1988 and I remember Mustafa, he was seated beside me and we shared a few hours a day. I remember my first interactions as if it was yesterday I asked him if he could teach me his alphabet. I was quite naive, thinking I would be able to speak and write arabic by learning the alphabet. These were early days and , as kids, we were not conscious of racism. Or at least, I wasn’t. This is something which I connect with the Ted Talk video “Witness Unconscious bias” and makes me agree with Josephine Kwhali, about the importance of consciousness. I can reflect how at that time my teachers approached this new paradigm and I believe they did it brilliantly. They just normalised the situation and even embraced the mix of cultures and races. I hope I can be as good with my students as they were with us. There was no oppression as at that stage we were not aware of power and identity, it was a positive unconsciousness. 

It’s painful to read Shades of Noir testimonials, which reflect the discrimination present in the academic world, where supposedly there is a high degree of knowledge and culture. I believe Shades of Noir can help me to increase consciousness in my classes and to break the silence around these topics.  As Brazilian pedagogue Paul Freire says “education is the key to enacting social justice” (Freire 2006)

I really empathise with the thoughts compiled in the text: “A pedagogy of Social Justice Education Social Identity Theory, Intersectionality, and Empowerment” (Hahn Tapper 2013): “A teacher needs to create experiences with, and not for, students, integrating their experiences and voices into the educational experience itself (Freire 2006). Teachers’ and students’ identities are thus tied to one another in an interlocked relationship” (Rozas 2007). I believe my primary school teachers were embracing our realities, our “situation in the world” as Freire highlights (Freire 2006, 96). This also makes me reflect on the “Room of Silence” testimonials, in a few cases it looked like the teaching body was not part of the class reality. I wonder how I can create these dynamics and a safe space where there is room for all the voices and space for interlocked relationships.  

In this same text I’ve also learned about Social Identity Theory (SIT) and the concepts of intergroup and intragroup encounters and I would like to further explore the following thoughts in my artefact: “creating opportunities for intergroup cooperation and teamwork—activities that have the potential to lead participants toward the perspective that because they all have a shared humanity, they can focus on this common bond instead of their differences, thus marginalizing the seemingly superficial conflict between them—participants are able to have personal interactions with one another that shatter their group conflicts” (Allport 1954). 

“The participant interactions within intergroup settings are often a reflection of interpersonal dynamics or social group interactions or a combination of the two. Those who are facilitating intergroup encounters, both inter- group and intragroup (Dovidio, Saguy, and Shnabel 2009), need to take these dynamics into account. Students learn to embrace the notion that each of us has several social identities—identities based on ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, and so on. In addition, each of us has an individual identity—a unique personality shaped in relation to our manifold social identities.” I have to consider how I can highlight the concept of one individual having several social identities without falling into intersectionality. 

Reading ‘Retention and attainment in the disciplines: Art and Design’ Finnigan and Richards  2016, I’ve learned about the importance of being aware of the lower attainment and retention rate in particular backgrounds and how important it is to act according to that with activities and intervention to reduce this difference.

The text mentions “So, students in their first year of study are constantly looking for certainty and reassurance, while staff are encouraging ambiguity and risk taking and expecting a tacit knowledge of how the subject is delivered. They rely on their tutors for guidance and for evaluation of the quality of their work”. Which makes me realise the importance of the tutors during the 1st year journey.  As an associate lecturer I am not aware of this service for undergraduates and I believe it is something I should explore, considering the latest data from the “Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report 2021/22”. In addition, the text highlights the importance of building trust with the student group to ensure that the students will find their voice. I wonder how it could be done from an HPL perspective where in most cases there is no consistency in terms of interaction hours. From my HPL position I also wonder if I could support a more inclusive curriculum and be more mindful about the “group crit” assessment and its impact on 1st year students. I believe it is something I will raise in the new course.

I’ve read the article from Shades of Noir:  White Fragility by Robin Deangelo. This text really impacted me. It was a reality check, especially the white fragility patterns and the social stress situations. As I mentioned above, I believe SoN is a very powerful resource which I will directly share with my students. it would be helpful to discuss a few of the articles in a context that makes sense with the content. This will hopefully support a more inclusive curriculum and will encourage open  respectful conversations, less silence.

See my comments on other posts on this topic:

https://sebastianmay.myblog.arts.ac.uk

Bibliography:

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report 2021/22

Finnigan and Richards (2016) ‘Retention and attainment in the disciplines: Art and Design’

Hahn Tapper (2013) “A pedagogy of Social Justice Education Social Identity Theory, Intersectionality, and Empowerment” 

Robin J. Deangelo “White Fragility”,  Shades of Noir. pp. 100-105