By Tim Gutierrez and Tina Stavropoulos

For our first Community of Practice of 2023- 2024, we want to begin by discussing and defining decolonization as a practice before we move to a discussion of areas where we might recognize our own biases and limitations and how those impact our practices in the classroom.    

We recognize that each of us is a work in progress regardless of the number of years we have been teaching, and in that spirit, we encourage everyone to consider areas where you struggle in the classroom.  What privilege have you left unexamined or unchecked in your practice?  How are you intentionally centering minoritized voices and rethinking pedagogical strategies and even assessment?   

We also encourage everyone to participate in the year-long Voices of the Community series coordinated by Laura Greathouse and Bryan Keene for a richer understanding of how Riverside’s indigenous history can inform us in our lives and teaching. 

Our anchor text: 

Garcia, Santiago Andrés. “Contesting Trauma and Violence through Indigeneity and a Decolonizing Pedagogy at Rio Hondo Community College.”  Journal of Latinos and Education, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 376- 96, 25 Apr. 2019. https://doiorg.rcc.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/15348431.2019.1603749.   

If possible, read the article before our meeting in late September. Don’t worry if you can’t!  We will discuss some key ideas from this piece and others at the beginning of our session.   

Guiding Reflection Question: 

When we begin, we will ask everyone to answer the first questions (anonymously) and use this to shape our group work.  By the end of our session, we hope to have concrete ideas for answering the second and third questions: 

• Question 1: What could you let go of in the structure and design of your course and give to your students in the classroom?  
• Question 2: Knowing that discomfort is necessary and inevitable for a pedagogical shift like this, how can we all come to the space expecting discomfort and ready to work through it? 
• Question 3: How will you honor and amplify students’ voices in a tangible way?  

Join us!

• We look forward to working with you from 12:30- 1:30 p.m. on Friday, September 29 in Quad 101.