By: Nadine Persaud & Venis Nasr

Curriculum as cultural practice: Postcolonial

imaginationKanu, Yatta. (2003).

Curriculum as cultural practice

Colonial Imagination Postcolonial Re-Imagination

kanu chose the metaphor “Curriculum as cultural practice” to state it’s function in a colonial context and imagine it in a postcolonial context.

Curriculum as cultural practice (colonial imagination)

Many definitions exist to identify the word colonialism and it’s always related to notions with power and superiority.

Kanu is more concerned with the civilization side or the conquest of minds and culture; notions that try to represent, redefine, and reproduce knowledge according to their norms, believes and values as dominant groups. Schools in this theory are responsible to produce this official knowledge in what is called “ideological state apparatus”, “that is, the school as the state’s vehicle for ideological assimilation and homogenization”, (Kanu,2003). In what Althusser calls “repressive state apparatus” (Kanu,2003).

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The official knowledge is transferred not through power, but through compromises that favor the dominant group, which arise at different levels:

- At School level: For instance, British colonialism in Trinidad and Tobago. For instance, teaching strategies that diminish creativity, critical thinking and ones’ cultural heritage. - At state policies level: The main objective of the formal education was according to (Kanu,2003) “to create an institutionalized cultural identity”

Curriculum as Cultural Practice: Postcolonial Imagination

Hybridity is a cross between two separate races or cultures to form what is called “The third space”. “Bhabha describes hybridity as the “third space” where the meaning of cultural and political authority is negotiated without eliding or normalizing the differential structures in conflict”. (Kanu,2003).

For Bhabha its not only the art of finding similarities or commonalities and what each culture can bring to the conversation, (Kanu,2003) it’s more a channel of negotiation between or outside of the boundaries that frame identities and cultures.

 

This channel will eventually overcomes the unevenness between the upper and lower.

Alternative medicine such as acupuncture and chiropractic are examples of the third space.

Additional examples Rai music is another example of hybridity. Rai is an Arabic word

means opinion Ra-yah. It’s a type of music that merges North African and European music (Drissel, 2009). Algeria had been formally under French rule since 1830. In 1962 Algeria gained its independence from France.

Others theorists tackled the same concept associating different terminologies, Such as Stuart Hall “Cultural Identity and diaspora”. Diaspora is the movement of people from their homeland to new region, (Stuart). In his article, Stuart talks about the third identify or the formation of the third space as mentioned by (Kanu, 2003).

Postcolonialism and education: Negotiating a contested terrain. Pedagogy, Culture and Society,

Rizvi, Fazal., Lingard, Bob & Lavia, Jennifer. (2006). “Education has a systematically ambivalent relation to postcolonialism. On the one hand, it is an object of postcolonialcritique regarding its complicity with Eurocentric discourses and practices. On the other hand, it is only through education that it is possible to reveal and resist colonialism’s continuing hold on our imagination. Education is also a site where legacies of colonialism and the contemporary processes of globalization intersect”. (Rizvi et.al P.257)

Inspirations for postcolonial theory Two main scholarly are behind the term postcolonial:

1) Franz Fanon claims that the prefix “post” in postcolonial is problematic because the independence form the colonial rule doesn’t mean liberation, as a colonized bourgeois replace the colonial rule with their own cultural and economic beliefs; using the same vocabulary of power, (Rizvi et.al P.251,252). 2) Ranajit Guha who is more concerned about how histories of nationalism and independence struggles ignore the voice of “Subaltern’ or people who don’t belong to the elite, (Rizvi et.al P.252).

Postcolonialism and its limitations Guha’s concern raises an important limitation. Postcolonial

studies will draw their conclusions based on the organization that “speak for” the subaltern rather than what the subaltern “speak for” themselves in a similar way to what the actual colonial does. (Rizvi et.al P.252).

Postcolonialism and globalization

Two risks are associated with postcolonial theory:• Unwillingness to differentiate between different experiences

of colonialism and the value it gives to postmodernist notion of difference and hybridity.

• How do we locate postcolonial analysis in contemporary material conditions of globalization? (Rizvi et.al P.254).

Globalization represents a complicated flow of networks of power. These networks represent a hybrid identity that dictates a new form of sovereignty.

The new identities require historical understanding similar to the one postcolonial can provide.

Postcolonial analysis critiques the Neo-liberal western cultural hegemony that underlines globalization.

Willinsky (2006)

High School post colonial: As students ran away with theory

“The defining historical theme of postcolonialism is self-determination, which it shares with feminism and other human rights movements”. Willinsky, 2006, p. 110)

This chapter is an account of a University professor’s project with a grade 12 class in Vancouver. In order to further engage the students in the concept of post colonialism theory, the class set out to create a supplementary text to accompany the out dated textbook the school was using. Each student chose a poem in its original language, provided a translation and interpretations.

“If the imperial legacy lives on in the curriculum today, then the ways in which it lives on- at the core of the educational experience – needs to be part of what the students and teachers explore and learn about, rather than ignore and pretend it was never there”. (Willinsky, 2006)

 

As students ran away with theory…

Students chose poems that dealt with their personal heritage, faith, war, political refugees, drug references and other topics that would not have been addressed in the original textbooks.

“The defining historical theme of post-colonialism is self-determination, which it shares with feminism and other human rights movements”. (Willinsky, 2006)

“The students in the Grade 12 class, in selecting this set of poems for their own anthology, were engaged in nothing more than providing an additional sense of Canadian identity and landscape to the scope of the curriculum.” (Willinsky, 2006)

At the end of the chapter Willinsky debriefs on a few areas he believes may cause concerns such as parents concerned with subject matter and acknowledges that topics may bring up conversations (such as martyrdom and underground culture). Willinsky also states that after a year or two of using these methods, the teacher may find the right balance for managing issues that may arise. He also sees the benefits to the students learning.

“The students in the Grade 12 class, in selecting this set of poems for their own anthology, were engaged in nothing more than providing an additional sense of Canadian identity and landscape”

Museum, memorial and mall: Post-colonialism, pedagogies, racism and reconciliation (Crowley, V. & Matthews, J., 2006).

“Reconciliation is or had variously been state sanctioned policy, project and agenda which, in part, is a process and practice of recognizing and addressing histories of racism and its effects.” (p 263)

This article looks at the reconciliation process in South Africa and Australia.

Both countries had a similar colonial history; for instance, both countries had Immigration Restriction Act which classifies people according to their race, “Both nations separated their people on the basis of race, restricting the movement of people, access to work, access even to basic needs such as water, sanitation and food.”, (Crowley & Matthews, 2006).

However reconciliation process looks differently between the two countries. Australia adopted a “practical reconciliation” “In Australia reconciliation has not been accompanied by the building of major memorials and the occupation of public spaces.” (Crowley & Matthews, 2006 p.268)

The two countries looks at the process of reconciliation very differently. “In Australia there is no major government project to build memorials to witness the path to democracy or the histories of race struggles”. (Crowley & Matthews, 2006 P.269)

Crowely and Matthews argue that pedagogical practices seeking engagement with reconciliation practices require not only the clarity of the immediate idea to the project but the history of those ideas taking in consideration one’s subjectivity, vulnerability and responsibility and to what extent the reconciliation project is a project of “Enlightenment”, (p.269).

In South Africa the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was formed to provide the bridge between the past and a future by documenting the human violation between the Sharpeville massacre (1 March 1960) till Nelson Mandela’s inauguration as President, to (10 May 1994). However, the authors adopt Leebaw’s point of view, that the TRC was controversial, because it dealt with the extremes of apartheid (an Afrikaan word means “separateness” which was a system of racial segregation enforced by the governing party) such as torture and murders, and not with the routines as the forced removals, enforced poverty and ill-health, (P.269).

 

On the other hand in Australia, Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR) was responsible to scatter through education the knowledge and understanding of the history of colonial settlement, to change attitudes and form a relation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, (P.270).

Drwaing from South Africa and Austrilia experiences, Crowely and matthews clarify:

reconciliation as a site of pedagogical intervention, a resource for anti-racism which requires the understanding of racism in order to shape anti-racism practices. In this case postcolonialism draw the attention to the way we speak and analyse the questions and the concepts to formulate a theory. (p.272) Balibar (2005) explains that we commonly reduce racism to:

• Difference- non biological grounding.• Otherness- relationship between race and nation.• Exclusion- political debates (citizenship, residence

equality and liberties).

The authors emphasize on the importance of tackling and understanding the historical circumstances as an anti-racism strategy versus only reducing racism so reconciliation can become an effective resource for anti-racism.

“On-going questions must be asked of the past and the present as they bring into play the stability and instability of the relationship between race and racism, racial formations and trajectories. The question must also become one of how these categories and the events lived actually shape what is understood by reconciliation and by whom”. (p 274)

Additional resources:

https://www.reconciliation.org.au/ Australia's reconciliation webpage

http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/ South Africa’s reconciliation webpage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UQG7VpOMuo Nelson Mandela speaking about Australia's reconciliation

The Practice of Postcoloniality: a

pedagogy of hope(Lavia, J.,

2006).

“Freire argues that one of the legacies of colonial education is a curriculum of passivity, conformity and regurgitation, not only for students but also for the teacher. The student who has been imperially schooled is expected to became the teacher who replicates the process. Consequently, one of the legacies of colonialism is a criticality, a condition of a “culture of silence”. (p 290)

Lavia presents the article through three themes: 1) Disaporic considerations; the problematic of defining the Caribbean. The geographical definition; the Caribbean basin or the US definition; the ethno‐historic zone; and a transnational community’, in relation to identity, where issues of translation and Creoleness are discussed.

2) Educational practice and the Caribbean problematic; Colonial education was not meant to liberate the colonized, it was the mean to transfer the values of the colonizers.

3) Under such Educational practice, weaken teachers’ practices was expected, however, the new form of expression to expresses their discontent provided the foundation for the creation of alternative image of teacher (teacher activism).

4) A practice of critical professionalism and juxtaposes that practice with the disposition of the subaltern professionals. The author takes some time to situate themselves, explain

their lens and situate themselves in their writing (Trinidadian, Caribbean teacher, disposition of hopefulness) and also defines post colonialism as, “makes connections between the past, present and futures a necessary philosophical and methodological endeavour of educational practice” (p. 281)

The author sheds light on categorizations (for example: Caribbean- which is an easy geographical organization but encompasses people of British, French, Spanish, Dutch, Creole descent).

“Caribbean education therefore requires a new type of teacher; a teacher whose practice exudes courage, historical acuity, love of the Creole self and community, belief in the spirit of the peoples of the Caribbean to survive, resist and create, and hopefulness in the face of globalized agendas that pay scant courtesy to indigenous knowledge and practice”. (p 291)

Infinite rehearsal of culture in St Catherine Jamaica: heritage as tourist product, implications for Caribbean pedagogy

(Cross, B. 2006).

This article discusses how the number one industry in Jamaica, tourism, is closely linked with education. The Ministry of Education and Culture introduced “Peace and Love in Schools PALS” to the curriculum to help change the country’s reputation for violence.

PALS seeks to introduce non violent conflict resolution skills into the classroom.

Students prepare performances for Heroes week. They practice versions of “traditional” Jamaican culture which are sanitized versions that contribute to Jamaica’s pool of tourist attractiveness. (p. 321)

The Ministry of Education and Culture and the tourist board is seeking to reproduce and further develop a workforce for Jamaica’s primary industry by necessity must reproduce a set of imagined relationships, one in which pleasure for self and pleasure fro others shifts ambiguously” (p. 326)

The Practice of Post coloniality: a pedagogy of hope

(Cross, B., 2006).

“Cultural policy directives must facilitate the nuture of individual creativity and the use of culture as an agent of social transformaion, which seems to advance a liberation-oriented construct of education.” (p 318)

Tourism kept coming up as a recurring theme when looking at children’s strategies for navigating between school based and community based language learning .

The ministry of education in conjunction with the tourist board created a program (PALS)- Peace and love in schools to introduce non violent crisis resolution skills. This was deemed necessary to move away from violence that would be viewed negatively by tourists.

For the National Heroes week, a brownie troop practiced a version of “traditional” Jamaica culture which was school sanctioned and a sanitized version that could be seen as contributing to Jamaica’s pool of tourist attractiveness.

The researcher felt that the ministry of Education and culture and the tourist board in seeking to reproduce and further develop a workforce for Jamaica’s primary industry by necessity must reproduce a set of imagined relationships, one in which pleasure for self and pleasure for others shift ambiguously.

Tension between differing kinds of evidence between historical facts and interpretative assertions of identity.

Some children articulated an awareness of the power imbalance implicit within tourism .

Na wahine mana: a postcolonial reading of classroom discourse on the imperial rescue of oppressed Hawaiian women

(Kaomea, J., 2006)“White men are saving brown women from brown men” (Kaomea, 2006)

The author is looking at conversations in a 4th grade class in Hawaii. She notices that the students share oppressive conditions faced by Hawaiian woman before colonialization. Women were held in low regard and with many restrictions,

She found similar messages in textbooks and story books in the classroom.

The teacher asked students to compare life of women pre colonialization to now. It was implied that men and women can “eat anything they wish and have unfettered access to any occupation”. (p. 333)

The author looks at the idea that conditions were improved post contact and that Christianity was a liberating force for Hawaiian women. She argues that domestic autonomy was severely challenged and gradually eroded with Christianity. (p333)

“The author asks teachers and curriculum writers for more curricular consideration for the construction and employment of gender in the practices of imperialism and colonialism.” (p 345)

In the teaching and writing of indigenous history and curricula across the globe, we need more counter genealogists to seek out and uncover indigenous voices and perspectives and call into question the dominant colonial narratives that are so prevalent in school history textbooks. (p 345-346)

An example of Post Colonialism, Hawaii and Popular culture. https://criticalcartoons.wordpress.com/2015/04/16/lilo-and- stitch- and-post-colonialism/

Decolonizing research and methodologies : indigenous peoples and cross cultural contexts

(Sikes, P., 2006)

The author raised:• Questions and issues around language, interpretation,

translation, expression and re presentation are raised.• Re- presenting what people said can be challenging.• “Othering”• Tensions and dilemmas • Insider/outsider positioning of researcher.

The idea of guilt- white colonization marginalized, othered, objectified, oppressed, exoticized, pillaged, plundered, sequestered , brutalized and even annihilated indigenous people. (p 350)

The symposium tried to answer several questions, such as:

Who agenda is decolonizing research? Who has power to name and how does naming reify

existing power relations?

ReferencesKanu, Yatta. (2003). Curriculum as cultural practice: Postcolonial imagination. Journal Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies, 1(1), 67-81.

Hall, Stuart. “Cultural Identity and Diaspora”. In Contemporary Postcolonial Theory: A Reader. Padmini Mongia. (Ed.). London: Arnold, 1996: 110-121.

Drissel, D. (2009). Hip-Hop Hybridity for a Globalized World: African and Muslim Diasporic Discourses in French Rap Music. The Global Studies Journal, 2, 122-143.

Crowley, V. & Matthews, J. (2006). Museum, memorial and mall: Post-colonialism, pedagogies, racism and reconciliation. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 14(3) Special Issue on Post Colonialism and Education, 263-277.

ReferencesLavia, J. (2006). The Practice of Postcoloniality: A pedagogy of hope. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 14(3) Special Issue on Post Colonialism and Education, 279-293.

Lingard & Pierre(2006). Strengthening nation capital: a postcolonial analysis of lifelong learning policy in St Lucia Caribbean. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 14(3) Special Issue on Post Colonialism and Education, 295-314.

Cross, B.,(2006). Infinite rehersal of culture in St Catherine Jamaica: heritage as tourist product, implications for Caribbean pedagogy. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 14(3) Special Issue on Post Colonialism and Education, 315-327.

ReferencesKaomea, J. (2006). Na wahine mana: a postcolonial reading of classroom discourse on the imperial rescue of oppressed Hawaiian women. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 14(3) Special Issue on Post Colonialism and Education, 329- 348.

Sikes, P., (2006).Decolonizing research and methodologies: indigenous peoples and cross cultural context. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 14(3) Special Issue on Post Colonialism and Education, 349-358.