Challenging Perceptions of Africa in Schools: Critical Approaches to Global Justice Education

Description

This book challenges educational discourse in relation to teaching about Africa at all levels of the education system in the Global North, with a specific case study focusing on the Republic of Ireland. The book provides an interrogation of the proliferation of negative imagery of and messages about African people and African countries and the impact of this on the attitudes and perceptions of children and young people. It explores how predominantly negative stereotyping can be challenged in classrooms through an educational approach grounded in principles of solidarity, interdependence, and social justice. The book focuses on the premise that existing educational narratives about the African continent and African people are rooted in a preponderance of racialised perceptions: an ‘impoverished’ continent dependent on the ‘benevolence’ of the North. The cycle of negativity engendered as a result of such portrayals cannot be broken until educators engage with these matters and bring critical and inquiry-based pedagogies into classrooms. Insights into three key pedagogical areas are provided – active unlearning, translating critical thinking into meaningful action, and developing a race consciousness. This book will appeal to academics, researchers, and post-graduate students in the fields of education and teacher education. It will be of interest to those involved in youth work, as well as intercultural and global citizenship youth trainers. Cover Endorsement page Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Foreword Preface References Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Part 1 Setting the context 1 Approaching critical pedagogies in education Introduction Setting the scene Who we are Perceptions of Africa Troubling ‘development education’ Global justice education Unlearning from a White perspective Challenging ‘The West as the World’ Colonial matrix of power: how the ‘West’ became the ‘World’ Mapping the chapters References 2 Learning about Africa and global justice: The contribution of trade justice education in schools and universities Introduction Emerging from colonialism Power dynamics The role of aid Economic colonialism The debt trap Production, trade, and livelihoods Trade justice Alternative trade organisations FairTrade Moving up the value chain Value addition in Africa Control of brand value Educational implications Teaching trade justice in the university Conclusion List of Acronyms Note References Part 2 Pedagogical perspectives 3 ‘Unlearning’ in global justice education Introduction Part 1: why ‘unlearning’? Privileging the West: the historical connection What research is telling us: evidence from classrooms The ‘pedagogic authority’ of textbooks Active unlearning: ‘learning to learn’ Part 2: pedagogical implications Teacher education Risks and opportunities in learning anew Conclusion Note References 4 Africa as pedagogical playground: Problematising sending programmes for teachers Introduction Teaching in an increasingly unequal and globalised world Author positionality Parameters of chapter Contextualising sending programmes Definition of sending programmes Theoretical and conceptual underpinnings Development education The case for sending programmes Continuum of skills Enactment of global citizenship Mapping the disconnect between theory and practice Pre-departure and orientation Debriefing and the action gap Power Sending programmes: a neocolonial mission? Othering From prior knowledge to fixed knowledge Privilege Whiteness and education ‘White saviour’ and ‘hero’ narratives Pedagogical playgrounds Teacher as un-learner In pursuit of praxis? Concluding thoughts Notes References 5 Teachers’ experiences of global justice education through the lens of trade Introduction The research study Just Trade 1.0 Gathering data in classrooms Perceptions of African countries: using stories as a methodology for change Imaging the world differently? Teaching about trade – a methodology to challenge perceptions? Images of Africa Moving on from Just Trade “Too little too late” Just Connections, Just Trade Images and perceptions Trade Concluding comments Notes References Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 Appendix 4 6 Representations of Africa: Irish NGOs, media, and educational resources Introduction The social and political construct of being Black Portrayal of the African continent in primary school materials Portrayal of the African continent in primary school textbooks The continent of Africa presented as a single homogenous entity Egypt depicted as unrelated to Africa Portrayal of African countries as lacking technology, backward, and poor Irish people portrayed as ‘Helpers’ either through aid or volunteering Lack of criticality of colonialism and transatlantic slave trade Inaccurate mapping of Africa Portrayal of Black characters in primary school textbooks Consequences of negative imagery Implications for critical global citizenship education Conclusion References Appendix SESE Textbooks Gaeilge Textbooks 7 Translating critical thinking into meaningful action Introduction A geographical view From powerful knowledge to transformative learning: Curriculum and pedagogy in global justice education Why inquiry? Inquiry as a stance for approaching critical pedagogies in classrooms The inquiry cycle From critical thinking to informed action Recognising young children’s capabilities Think global, act local? Conclusion References Part 3 Intersectionalities: Knowledge justice, race, and education 8 Knowledge justice as global justice: Epistemicide, decolonising the university, and the struggle for planetary survival Introduction Eurocentrism and the “Invention of Africa”: An idea becomes a science Inventing Africa Epistemic racism, knowledge dependency, and the persisting coloniality of South African universities #RhodesMustFall – Troubling knowledges at the intersections of knowledge, power, and resistance Epistemic freedom and the struggle for planetary survival Note References 9 Making sense of race in global justice education: Insights from a racial stratification project in Ireland Introduction Roots and definitions of race Race in Ireland Understanding the racial order The nature of racial stratification Why class is a problem for raced people How racial stratification guarantees racial inequality Setting the stage for a non-Eurocentric/decolonial engagement with racial difference Storytelling as a tool for talking about and centring race Race consciousness in teacher education The changing meaning of race Hierarchical stratification and domination Management of racial difference Create inclusive spaces through acceptance Why race should be centred in intercultural and global justice education Concluding comments References 10 Transformative learning: The future of critical education Introduction Global justice education Intersectionalities Racial stratification in Ireland Understanding White identity in Ireland Troubling ‘Intercultural’ education Directions, challenges, and recommendations Intercultural education in a White Irish teaching workforce The Migrant Teacher Project Critical race theory Yellow Flag programme Decolonial learning spaces Understanding the ‘decolonial’ in decolonial learning spaces Continuous professional development International decade of people of African descent Note References Index