Decolonial approaches to school curriculum for Black, Indigenous and other students of colour

Abstract

This article analyses findings from a research project examining the Pear Tree Community School in Oakland, California, USA – a small, social justice-focused school primarily serving Black, Indigenous and other students of colour in grades from kindergarten to Grade 5. Through this multi-year case study, which included observations, interviews and focus groups, this article presents data from interviews with teachers and administrators who explain how they decolonise their primary school classroom curriculum, particularly amid national and global issues, such as heightened racial violence and increasingly polarised political discourse, which adversely impact the families and communities to which students belong. Teachers and administrators share concrete examples of decolonial approaches at the school level and within their classroom curricula that centre the lived experiences and histories of communities of colour. This article contributes an empirical study of one school’s decolonial approaches at the early grades level to the emerging scholarship on decolonising education.

Making spaces for collaborative action and learning: Reflections on teacher‐led decolonising initiatives from a professional learning network in England

“…In accounts of successful antiracist curriculum work in the U.S., school teachers are key drivers of change (Bajaj, 2022; Givens, 2021). Although Givens' account is historical and Bajaj is drawing on the experiences of contemporary teachers, both describe a tension between prescriptive, deprofessionalising policy trends and the transformative impact of autonomy on both teacher motivation and the quality of curricula produced.…”

Revival and Resurgence of Science Education in India: Lessons from the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Programme

“…Thus, the process will be two-fold for decolonising science learning, wherein pedagogy and evaluation need to be reworked for both the learner and the decolonized state. First decolonisation "seeks to counteract the dehumanisation that colonization, slavery, settler colonialism, imperialism, and their vestiges have instilled within communities; on the other, it seeks to reconstitute systems and processes in ways that unearth and advance subjugated knowledge through Indigenous and collective forms of learning that are radically humanising for all" (Bajaj, 2022). HSTP as an experiment and interaction in science pedagogy was also a process for decolonising science learning.…”

“…Comprehending the concept of gravity and mechanics was the aftereffect of a procedure of revelation and experimentation. Not just that, Newton was later challenged (as it were) by Einstein (Bolejko, 2015). His depiction of gravity was right, however fragmented, and must be modified by the theory of general relativity.…”

Liberatory Literacy Practices for Black Students Through a Lens of Care

“…Examples of this are found through “Whitestreaming.” A practice that infiltrates curriculum in school with the “practices, principles, morals, and values” of White supremacy (Aronsen & Boveda, 2017). Historically American curriculums are founded on systemic racism, embedded in colonialism, and are in dire need of greater representation of culturally responsive elements (Bajaj, 2022; Muhammad, 2023; Peters, 2015). The racist, colonialist instruction embedded in schools has stripped liberatory literacy practices for Black students, leaving a dearth of culturally responsive, caring, personalized instruction in their wake (See Table 1; Dflexo23, 2017; Muhammad, 2023; Safir & Dugan, 2021).…”