The world as we currently experience it, is beset with waves of crisis (Guilherme and Dietz, 2015: 1) all related to capitalist economics that have paved the way for stringent austerity and a growing sense of ‘not knowing where the world is or could be going’.
After recently writing a blog on hegemonic whiteness in the higher education classroom, my CERES colleagues invited me to reflect further on ‘white backlash’, or ‘pushback’ particularly from those who would deem themselves pro-social justice.
Racism pervades every aspect of life in Scotland. In 1989, on our own doorstep in Cowgate, racist youths attacked Somalian student Axmed Abuukar Sheekh and his Somalian friend.
If we want to create a more equal society, where everyone is valued, then we need to take action. Surely this is especially the case for teachers?
Every so often, we all have a reflective moment where we think about where we are and what are we doing. For me, it has been reflecting on my work in Education, in particular race equality, across almost four decades.
In 2020, not only did the United States government fail in supporting the country’s most vulnerable and historically marginalized families, many of our schools did as well.
Great educational leadership might previously have acknowledged that racism exists. A bigger challenge within educational leadership, and our collective professional learning, is to take the step towards understanding that ‘racism exists in me.’
There has been much discussion and debate about the concept of ‘decolonising the curriculum’ within higher education and some might argue that this is now a buzz theme. However, I have remained curious as to why this phrase does not appear to have reached the vocabulary of many who contribute to teacher education in Scotland.
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