丁香园AV

Originally published on the AVP Learning & Teaching Stories website.

Over the past year, 12 instructors took part in The Centre for Educational Excellence&苍产蝉辫;(颁贰贰)鈥檚&苍产蝉辫;Healing from Racism Journey (HRJ), a four-part program devoted to developing anti-racist teaching practices through self-reflection, changing individual actions and interpersonal interactions, and, as a community, through policy change.鈥�

The program was designed by educational developers Bee Brigidi and Sarah Turner, and co-facilitated alongside Ashley Edwards, Indigenous Initiatives and Instruction Librarian鈥痑t the 丁香园AV Library. 鈥�鈥�

HRJ works to dismantle the 15 characteristics of White Supremacy Culture (WSC), articulated in the , by Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun, ChangeWork, 2001. Of particular interest is characteristic 14: Objectivity. It states 鈥渆motions should never play a role in the decision-making.鈥� HRJ was primarily designed in response to this WSC characteristic as it speaks directly to the dismissal of lived-experiences, particularly鈥痮f IBPOC/BIPOC students as knowledge holders, which, in consequence, removes their sense of belonging at the university.鈥�

鈥淲e saw the need to support faculty with practical tools to decentering whiteness from their teaching and learning practices in design, instruction, curriculum and beyond,鈥� noted Turner. 鈥�

Interests and motivations鈥�

The 2021 cohort was composed of鈥痯articipants from diverse backgrounds and departments鈥攆rom Criminology to Health Sciences. Their interest in the program was equally as varied, and they were eager to share their experiences.鈥�

For Lyana Patrick, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, whose areas of interest include Indigenous community health and well-being, taking this course was an opportunity to view her own story through a different lens. 鈥淔or me, the most powerful thing was this opportunity to learn for myself the different ways in which racism has shaped my own experiences.鈥濃��鈥�

The longitudinal approach was a draw for Nicole Berry, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, which, as a result, created for her a community of practice.鈥�

鈥淲hat's been exceedingly valuable about this program for me has been the fact that I have been able to establish a community of practice, and that that those relationships have been continually built so that I have a resource for when I need [one].鈥濃��

The format鈥�

Throughout the year, participants were assigned a number of readings and audio and visual material to absorb, and were then required to complete activities and participate in discussions.鈥�鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 a progression from individual learning to in-class discussion to application,鈥� described Berry.鈥�

Participants were asked to share and reflect on their own experiences, and the safe, non-judgmental environment that Brigidi, Turner and Edwards created was essential for this.鈥�

鈥淚t was really鈥痠lluminating. I actually came to some realizations that I did not have before.鈥疉nd there was a lot of prompting and reflecting. It was just a really safe space to do that work,鈥� remarked Patrick. 鈥淚 think that they did a really great job of setting of the stage of leading us through different activities and exercises.鈥濃��

Support and flexibility were key.鈥�

鈥淥ur facilitators are incredibly flexible, so they meet our needs instead of telling us like, 'we鈥檙e going to teach you鈥痑bout this today' or, 'we鈥檙e going to have this conversation today,' because they鈥檙e very attuned to trying to support us in our journeys,鈥� noted Berry.鈥�

鈥淚f we couldn't get [assignments] done in [the specified] time frame, [there was] no judgment whatsoever about that,鈥� noted Patrick.鈥�

The takeaways鈥�

For Patrick, HRJ confirmed that she was on the right track in the way that she teaches her courses. 鈥淚t's helped to reinforce a lot of the things I've tried to do or say. For example, I give opportunities because I know that [hard deadlines] can cause a lot of anxiety.鈥濃��

She also noted that it brought to her attention the diversity of the Canadian experience. 鈥�

鈥淭here's not one experience of being a settler or being an immigrant [鈥�] It鈥檚 not this binary [鈥�] this sort of settler鈥搃ndigenous divide. It's much more complex than that, and so it's helped me to鈥痚ngage with the complexity.鈥濃��

Mark Lechner,鈥疷niversity Lecturer in the Faculty of Health Sciences, observed that discussions about racism often get ignored in the sciences, and that HRJ helped encourage him to continue including them鈥痠n his courses.鈥�鈥�

鈥淚t has reaffirmed my desire to more consistently bring up issues of racism鈥痠nto the courses that I teach.鈥� 鈥�

Berry stated that HRJ broke down and shone a light on the pervasiveness of colonialism, which allowed her to recognize it in her everyday life. 鈥淚t's really given us an opportunity to [鈥�] look from up to down, [on] how these institutions are constructed and how we participate in them.鈥濃��

A new iteration

To learn more about the program, please visit the HRJ website.鈥�