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The video “Other[ed.]: What is Decolonizing Education in the Post-Secondary Setting?” was created as a part of the 2014 University of Toronto’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (IDERD) Communications Campaign, observed annually on March 21st. The objective of the video is to explore the diverse perspectives on the meaning of decolonizing education; decolonizing practices (i.e. what it looks like inside and outside of the classroom, in teaching, and in institutional policies, practices and structures); and in its linkages to anti-racism change. Though decolonization references specific present day implication for both North American and transnational indigenous peoples (Tuck and Yang, 2012), we are conscious of the fact that the concept “decolonizing education” can also have a multiplicity of meanings from a number of different perspectives. It is some of these perspectives that we hope to highlight, in collaboration with students, faculty, staff and post-secondary institutions as a whole.
Other[ed.] is meant to be utilized as an educational resource for both members of the internal University community (students, staff and faculty) as well members of the broader external community. Watch it and share it with your networks! The video can be found on the ARCDO website and YouTube!
We encourage your feedback on the video and the following question:
What would decolonized education look like to you?
And how can you contribute to the goal of decolonizing education?
Email antiracism@utoronto.ca or send us a Facebook message with your answers and thoughts on Other[ed.].
Biographies of featured contributors:
Jean-Paul Restoule
Associate Professor, Adult Education and Community Development
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
University of Toronto
Jean-Paul is Associate Professor of Aboriginal Education and a member of the Dokis First Nation (Anishinaabe). He earned his M.A. in Communication Studies at the University of Windsor and completed his Ph.D. in Sociology and Equity Studies in Education at OISE/UT.
Dr. Restoule founded the Ontario chapter of the Supporting Aboriginal Graduate Enhancement (SAGE) program and was Chair of the Indigenous Education Network at OISE for several years. He is currently Program Coordinator of Adult Education and Community Development and co-director of the Transformative Learning Centre.
Dr. Restoule is concerned with bringing Aboriginal worldviews to a wide audience and infusing Aboriginal perspectives into mainstream discourse. His research interests include: Aboriginal worldviews and indigenous knowledge; Aboriginal identity development and media representation; Indigenous research methodologies and ethics; Aboriginal access to formal education; and Aboriginal perspectives in teacher education.
Charmaine Williams
Associate Professor
Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work
University of Toronto
Charmaine C. Williams is the Associate Dean Academic of Social Work and the Factor-Inwentash Chair in Health and Mental Health. Her research bridges practice and access and equity issues that affect access to primary health care for racial minority women, HIV prevention in the Black communities, discrimination against LGBTQ individuals in the international context, psychosocial interventions in the health care system and individual and family experience of living with serious and persistent mental illnesses. The majority of her practice experience has been in the mental health care system where she worked in inpatient and outpatient services, providing interventions for individuals, families and groups. She has also been involved in organizational change initiatives in the health care sector, developing and delivering professional education in the areas of anti-racism, cultural competence, mental health and addictions, and addressing policy, procedural issues and complaints as the Anti-Racism officer for the University of Toronto.
Roland Coloma
Associate Professor, Humanities, Social Sciences and Social Justice Education
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
University of Toronto
Roland is Associate Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Social Justice Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) of the University of Toronto in Canada. He is a member of the OISE Dean’s Task Force on Teacher Education, and was the previous Graduate Coordinator of his department.
He is the co-founder of Kritikal Kolektibo (Critical Filipina/o Studies) and co-convener of the Asian Canadian and Transnational Studies (ACTS) working group at University of Toronto. He is also developing an Asian Canadian History Archive in the university.
Roland brings a historical and cultural studies approach to inquiries on education, especially in relation to race, gender, sexuality, empire, and diaspora.
Yadesha Satheaswaran
Yadesha Satheaswaran is a fourth year student at the University of Toronto, completing her BA in Anthropology, Equity Studies and History. Throughout her undergraduate career, Yadesha has been involved with various campus organizations including the Equity Studies Students’ Union, the Because I am a Girl UofT Chapter and the UofT Powderpuff Football Team. She has also volunteered off-campus with Big Brothers Big Sisters Toronto and Plan Canada. She is passionate about issues of social justice, having worked with the Anti-Racism & Cultural Diversity Office from 2013 to 2014. An aspiring educator, Yadesha hopes to pursue her PhD in Anthropology. You can follow her on Twitter @YadeshaS.
Jonathan Hamilton-Diabo
Jonathan Hamilton-Diabo is from Kahnawake, a Mohawk community located next to Montreal. Jonathan has been working at the University of Toronto since 2000, where he is currently the Director of the Office of Aboriginal Student Services (First Nations House) and the Coordinator of the Council of Aboriginal Initiatives. He has worked in the Aboriginal communities in Toronto, Montreal and Kahnawake and in the financial industry.
In addition to his role at U of T, Jonathan is currently the co-moderator and steering committee member for the Lt. Governor’s First Nations Forum and Idea Exchange; is a member of the Advisory Committee for the Aboriginal Peacekeeping Unit (Toronto Police Services); and is a member of the Editorial Board for Global News. He recently finished his term on the Executive for the Council of Ontario Universities’ Reference Group on Aboriginal Education.
Njoki Wane
Director, Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies (CIARS)
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE)
Special Advisor on Status of Women Issues, Status of Women Office
University of Toronto
Njoki Nathani Wane, Ph.D. (University of Toronto), is a Professor in the Department of Humanities, Social Science, Social Justice Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, the incumbent Director of the Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies (OISE), and Special Adviser on Status of Women at University of Toronto. For the last twenty years she has been researching, writing and teaching in the areas of Black feminisms in Canada & Africa, African indigenous knowledges, and African women and spirituality. Recently, she has co-authored an anti-racist training manual with Larissa Cairncross, 2013, Equity in Practice: Transformational Training Resource.
Kevin Coleman
Assistant Professor, Historical Studies/History
University of Toronto Mississauga
Kevin Coleman is a historian of modern Latin America, specializing in the history of U.S.-Latin American encounters and visual culture. He is currently working on a history of photography and political culture in a banana-company town on the Caribbean Coast of Central America. Based on extensive research in traditional archives and neglected visual archives in Honduras and the United States, this project examines how campesinos (subsistence farmers), workers, and women used photography to expose injustice and to posit more equitable social relations.