NHE 117: A Social Studies Curriculum of Place

Instructor: Kathleen Kesson

◤

Checking in

• Share a “story of significance” from the summer break – this can be personal, professional, an Aha! Moment, a discovery, a rethinking, a good book.

◤

Essential Questions

​

• What are the knowledge(s), skills, and ways of being that young people need for the future that is upon us?
• How can the social studies help to cultivate the above?
• How can we “decolonize” the social studies?
• Why ground the social studies in a particular place?
• What is unique about a NH approach to the social studies?

​

◤

The social studies�A multi-disciplinary field of study comprising:�

​

• History
• Geography
• Political science
• Economics
• Civics
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Anthropology

​

◤

British Empire 1750

◤

Modern Imperialism 1900

◤

Total world domination by colonization

◤

Defining Modernity/Coloniality

• Colonization was accomplished by violence, often genocidal (as in the United States), dispossession, dislocation, the introduction of new diseases, the disruption of local economies, and the devastation of local customs, languages, and cultures.

​

• It was often accompanied by missionary religious conversion and the imposition of dogma to control the mentality of the colonized.

​

• Pseudo-science was used to promote ideas of racial and gender inferiority, for example in the study of Craniology, Comparative Anatomy, Phrenology, and Eugenics.

◤

Effects of colonization

​

• Colonialism dehumanizes the targets of colonization, and justifies their brutal treatment.

​

• It also harms the colonizers, resulting in their moral and cultural degradation.

​

• Western education has been one of the most powerful “colonizing forces” in history, spreading the dominant ideologies of Humanism and Western culture across the planet.

​

◤

Postcolonialism

​

​

​

• Between 1945 and 1975, most colonies gained their independence and exerted political self-determination.

​

• Colonialism has taken on new forms, such as economic imperialism, mass incarceration, resource extraction, debt structuring, foreign military bases, social media, pseudo-culture, foreign aid, imposed models of development and austerity, dependency governance.

​

​

​

​

◤

What is decolonization?

Decolonization is the process of revealing and dismantling colonialist power in all its forms. This includes the hidden (or unconscious) aspects that remain in our attitudes, habits, thinking, culture, and institutions that maintain colonial power and oppression over others.

“Decolonization takes us deep inside the serpent’s belly to confront the white supremacy, the savior complex, and the internalized oppression that are entrenched in ourselves, our institutions, and our society.”

~Edgar Villaneuva

​

◤

Some definitions�

◤

White Supremacy

The racist belief that white people are superior to people of other races and therefore should be dominant over them; also can refer to a political or socioeconomic system, in which white people enjoy a structural advantage (privilege) over other racial or ethnic groups, on both collective and individual levels.

​

◤

Internal Colonization

​

Formerly colonized people may have internalized the messages of the colonizers; this is called mental colonization. Education plays an important role in this on-going process.

​

“The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” ~Steve Biko

​

​

◤

Intergenerational Trauma

So much harm has been inflicted by colonizing processes that we are now dealing with “intergenerational trauma.”

​

Decolonization is a process that recognizes the connections between what has occurred in the past and what is experienced and perceived in the present, and works to shape a future that atones for the misdeeds of the past and heals the wounds that persist into the present day.

​

◤

Settlers

Persons who migrate to a new land, often as a result of conquest, occupation, or colonization:

​

“People who have privileges that arise from the historic and ongoing oppression of Indigenous peoples” (Whyte, 2018).

◤

Indigenous

People who originated in a particular place, or are native to a location, prior to groups who settled, occupied, conquered, or colonized the area:

​

“living descendants of pre-invasion inhabitants of lands now dominated by others… culturally distinct groups that find themselves engulfed by other settler societies born of forces of empire and conquest” (James Anaya, former Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples).

​

◤

Indigenization�

Indigenization recognizes the validity of indigenous worldviews, knowledge and perspectives, incorporates indigenous ways of knowing and doing, and requires non-indigenous people to be aware of indigenous worldviews and to respect that those worldviews are equal to other views. Indigenization is about incorporating indigenous worldviews, knowledge and perspectives into the education system, right from primary grades to universities.

​

◤

Traditional Ecological Knowledge�(Native Science, Indigenous Knowledge)

TEK is an accumulating body of knowledge, practice, and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (human and non-human) with one another and with the environment. It encompasses the world view of indigenous people which includes ecology, spirituality, human and animal relationships, and more.

​

◤

Who writes history?

◤

The true size of Africa

◤

The Pyramid of Capitalism

◤

Why study the social studies?�Conventional education:

• To prepare young people for successful adult life in the dominant social order.
• To instill the values of the nation-state.
• To foster patriotism and loyalty.
• To teach the skills of “weak democracy” (representative voting, majority rule, obeying laws, paying taxes, due process, etc.)

​

​

◤

Partner share – 10 minutes

What should be the aim of teaching the social studies in Neohumanist schools?

​

◤

The Principle of Social Equality and Sense of Justice

“...the endeavor to advance towards the ultimate reality by forming a society free from all inequalities, with everyone of the human race moving in unison, is called sama-samája tattva (principle of social equality)...we must totally reject all those hypocritical ideas which are contrary to this sama-samája tattva, and we must welcome all those ideas which help human beings to be established in it.”

~P.R. Sarkar

◤

Neohumanism and Decolonization

• Neohumanism promotes the radical equality of individuals and cultures.

​

• Neohumanism points to a future of universalism and peace, free of exploitation and injustice.

​

• Neohumanist Education has the potential to disrupt these old patterns of domination, but only if teachers are self-reflective about their own positionality (in terms of race, social class, etc.) and mindful of their biases and preconceptions.

◤

Where to begin

A pedagogy of decolonization works to “examine, disrupt, and transform how the colonial project has normalized and naturalized western-centered ways of thinking, knowing, valuing, feeling, doing, being, and becoming” and to “recenter indigeneity while also calling for the abolition of white supremacy and world capitalism” ~ G.T. Reyes

​

(See Chapter 1, Neohumanism: A Philosophy for Our Time).

◤

Self-knowledge �(See Chapter 2: The Development of a NH Educator)

• Our own local culture, the culture of our childhood, has framed our values, our aesthetics, our priorities and tastes. This is unavoidable.
• Neohumanist teachers and administrators need to have reflected deeply on their own cultural background and on the ways this has affected their worldviews and hence their aspirations and values.
• Teachers need to study historical processes of colonization and examine their own subjectivities in relation to power, being, and knowledge.

◤

Knowledge of school structures

School structures need to be examined for their ideological frame, and understood as ways that act to reproduce coloniality (or the dominant – white supremacy - culture).

​

◤

School materials (textbooks, bulletin boards, signage, etc.) need to be analyzed for how various people and cultures are represented, and for ways that they transmit messages about power and privilege.

​

◤

Whose story is being told?

• Educators need to be aware of whose knowledge and ways of knowing are prioritized and how/when/by whom social studies subject matter has been created.

​

• The narratives that constitute the curriculum must be inclusive of the many stories people tell about their lives and their relations with other species on the planet.

​

• “Counter-stories” must be unearthed and history (as just one example) must be studied from multiple perspectives, not just the narrative of the conqueror/dominator.

​

◤

Knowledge of students

​

​

​

​

• Colonizing education attempts to homogenize people; decolonizing values individual and cultural diversity and provides personalized approaches to learning.
• Colonizing education attempts to sift and sort students and works from a deficit model; decolonizing education works from a strengths-based model and fosters resilience.
• Decolonized education focuses on the whole person (emotions, embodiment, identity, etc.), not merely the intellect.
• A decolonized education validates the experiences of young people, and calls forth youth voice and activism.

​

​

​

​

​

◤

Ecological ethics

Classrooms must be spaces that are grounded in human values. They must also be grounded in “eco-values” – a recognition of the inherent worth of all species – if we are to survive. (See Chapter 1, Neohumanism: A Philosophy for Our Time).

​

◤

A curriculum of place

​

​

• Decolonized education is rooted in connections to place. Place-based education empowers students and helps restore cultural knowledge.

​

• Multiple ways of knowing, place-based curriculum, traditional ecological knowledge, and community-based learning are all aspects of a decolonized social studies education.

​

◤

Knowledge of the Community

Culture is a web of meaning – the complex integral whole that comprises a shared worldview of a group of people. This complex whole is composed of the values, beliefs, stories of origin, legends, arts, habits of mind, social relationships, social and political structures, and daily practices of a culture.

◤

Neohumanist education, while universal in spirit and global in vision, also requires educators to be sensitive to the preservation of culture in all aspects of their teaching.

​

◤

New relations between schools and communities need to be cultivated – all adults in a community need to be seen as mentors, role models, and teachers of youth.

​

◤

The challenge of our generation

​

At this time in the planet's history, the various cultures of the world are increasingly coming into contact with each other. This happens as a result of changes in transportation, communication, the export of cultural products, and currently, in the dislocations and migrations due to climate change.

How can we educate for universalism and shared spiritual values, while preserving what is magnificent about the many diverse cultural expressions and ways of knowing that constitute the human species?

​

◤

“The challenge is to create a global community that is multicivilisational and grows through a value-oriented ethical science…The key is to link meditation with social change, wherein meditation becomes part of the process of undoing social injustice, of interrogating the colonised mind.”

​

~Sohail Inayatullah

​

◤

Final Project�(Just a heads-up)

Application of theory to practice

Review of curriculum design (from the arts-based curriculum class)

You will choose a topic and grade level(s)

Using backwards planning, you’ll choose a culminating project, and lessons designed to build knowledge, skills and character

◤

Assignment for next week �(September 20^th)

Required Reading: 

• “Decolonizing Education” (Kesson, 2021, in Gurukula Network, Issue 51)

 https://gurukul.edu/newsletter/issue-51/51-decolonizing-education/)

• “Studying the Social World: A Neohumanist Approach” (Kesson, 2022) Read pages 1-7.

​

◤

Assignment�“Locating Yourself”

​

Keeping in mind what you read in the article “Decolonizing Education” and using any format you wish (poster, written narrative, Powerpoint) plan to share with the class (on September 20^th) some generative themes in your personal history.

​

◤

Two parts

​

Self-identification: To whatever extent you are comfortable, write about your origins (birthplace, family of origin, religion, caste/class, lifestyle, (family careers, etc.) schooling, relationship to geographical place. How did your experiences shape your view of the world?  What are some of the most valuable aspects of your own culture?  Were there aspects of your culture that were dogmatic or limiting?

Where you currently reside/work/teach: Describe the geography of the place you live; describe the population of this place; what do you know about the original inhabitants of the place; what do you know of the history of the place; significant conflicts, power struggles; what groups are in power now/what groups are marginalized; how is the class/caste system in place? Any other interesting information related to the study of the social world.

​

◤