Further Considerations for Decolonizing Action & Expression
It’s important to remember that learner variability includes the ways that students define success for themselves. In our linear, semestered, and credentialed postsecondary system, “success” in a program is often defined narrowly as graduating on time, getting an entry-level job in the field, or pursuing further formal education. This is not the definition of success for everyone. There is much more work that needs to be done at a systems level to welcome other definitions of success. At the course and program levels, however, we can use the framework of Universal Design for Learning to provide multiple pathways and entry points into the curriculum to allow students to achieve what they want to from their learning experience.
Tony Keith Jr., PhD researches the use of hip-hop pedagogy in postsecondary classrooms.
Another example of culturally relevant pedagogy can be found in the video Kendrick Lamar Visits Mr. Mooney's Class (Runtime: 7:02 min).
Another way to decolonize our forms of action and expression is decentring the written word as the only form of valued knowledge-expression. As Fovet (2020) writes, "decolonizing the curriculum…necessarily involves reconsidering the over-focus on the written word.” According to the Indigenous Knowledge Mobilization Packsack model (Negahneewin Research Centre, 2020), all learning happens within relationships, which become the central focus for action and expression. From the relationships built into the learning environment through all three UDL principles, learners are supported to express a variety of critical thinking skills through four modes: experiential learning (relationship-based learning), interdependent thinking (relationship-based verification), storytelling (relationship-based communication), and practicing humility (relationship-based reflection). These modes, which overlap and support each other, can be further explored in the link provided above and in partnership with your institution’s Indigenous learning centre.
Let’s listen to Andratesha Fritzgerald explain how valuing the written word above other forms of expression is rooted in a culture of white supremacy. She offers strategies and support to decentre this mode of action and expression.
The Written Word - Keynote Speaker Andratesha Fritzgerald GBC 2021 UDL Conference
>> In some of the research that's done about white supremacy culture, there is a worship of the written word, so there's only one way to show it, you know, and that's writing a paper. At the college level, I would encourage you to pair the writing with some other activities that allow each learner to bring their passions on to the content. It will enliven the way that you look at the content. It will enrich the learning community. So maybe it's a letter to the editor, a blog, a video, a song, a poem to go along with the writing that is required. And so there's flexibility in how each learner can approach or build. And then we give a menu of supports, maybe using speech to text to construct the writing. Maybe it's some tools for organizing your thoughts, communication with stakeholders. Are we sending out the syllabus in one way? Or are we creating a video to go along with what's in print and maybe an audio version just to help learners to interact with the very basics of what it is that is that they need to accomplish to be successful in the course when we could design to include them from the beginning so that each one of them feels welcome, validated, seen and heard.
Andratesha Fritzgerald: Decentering the Written Word - Runtime 1:25 min
https://youtu.be/iJVyx3jHHwI
Feel free to write, draw, or audio record your thoughts on this prompt. Think about your own educational experience. What modes of action and expression were prioritized? Why do you think this was the case?