Cultivating Inclusivity

Disruptive Strategies for Anti-Oppressive Education

Authors

  • Ahlam Rahal Acadia University
  • Lynn Aylward Acadia University
  • Kesa Munroe Anderson Acadia University
  • Martin Morrison Acadia University
  • Ayman Aljarrah Acadia University

Abstract

This workshop focuses on equity and inclusive educational strategies that foster transformative pedagogies. The workshop will critically explore and problematize some current inclusive educational practices that appear to commit to inclusivity while reproducing power gaps and colonial pedagogies. The workshop is designed to 1) enhance educators’ critical dialogue about performative inclusive education, and 2) adopt anti-oppressive and anti-colonial pedagogies that support students’ sense of belonging, wellbeing, and representation in learning. The workshop content will draw on our scholarly, interdisciplinary, and intersectional work in post-secondary inclusive education and mental health at Acadia University, within Canada and internationally. We will invite participants to actively explore the sociocultural and sociopolitical forces that shape knowledge and impact all learners’ experiences and provide frameworks for the development of authentic educational practices that promote social justice.

Author Biographies

Ahlam Rahal, Acadia University

Ahlam Rahal (She/her) 

Dr. Rahal is an Assistant Professor, Registered Counselling Therapist from Nova Scotia College of Counselling Therapists (NSCCT), a licensed Palestinian school counsellor, and a researcher interested in critical multiculturalism and power dynamics and social justice in mental health and educational settings. In her professional background, Rahal has worked as a counsellor in Canadian and Palestinian public schools and post-secondary academic institutions, providing students from marginalized social groups with mental health and educational services. Reflecting on her professional and personal journey, Rahal believes that mental health practitioners and educators should be transformative leaders and social justice advocates for equity-deserving groups. 

Lynn Aylward, Acadia University

Lynn Aylward(She/her) Professor

Dr. Aylward is an activist researcher, teacher educator, and curriculum designer with expertise in intercultural teacher development, community schooling, and equity and social justice education. Capacity building and reciprocity form the cornerstone of her research and professional practice. Dr. Aylward’s current research and curriculum development projects are focused on accessible learning, open educational resource creation and the study of how motivations and values connected to becoming an educator are associated with generative concern, commitment and action for equity and inclusion. Professionally, she is best described as intensely curious, creatively insubordinate and a relentless collaborative learner. 

Kesa Munroe Anderson, Acadia University

Késa Munroe Anderson (She/her) 

Dr. Munroe-Anderson is a community-oriented, social justice educator and change agent who practices an Africentric, anti-racist, and Black feminist/Womanist approach to research, teaching, and leadership. Her research reflects her wealth of experience engaging African Nova Scotian (ANS) and other marginalized communities, leading in adult education, human rights education and advocacy, and promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in post-secondary, non-profit, community based, and government organizations. Dr. Munroe-Anderson’s research champions decolonizing qualitative methods and recognizes the knowledges, voices, perspectives, and experiences of racialized peoples in a manner that is equitable and respectful of their humanity and dignity. 

Martin Morrison, Acadia University

Martin Morrison (He/him) 

Associate Professor Martin Morrison is a member of the African Nova Scotian communities of Danvers and Southville. Martin’s research focuses on critically examining culturally responsive and Africentric teaching practices in the interest of responding to the current school climate and student performance gaps experienced by racialized and marginalized learners. Martin’s 20 plus years of work experience includes roles as a public educator and administrator, Regional Coordinator of Race Relations, Cross Cultural Understanding, and Human Rights; Regional Coordinator of African Nova Scotian Education; African Nova Scotian Corporate Strategist; and African Nova Scotian Regional Education Officer for the province of Nova Scotia.  

Ayman Aljarrah, Acadia University

Ayman Aljarrah (He/him) 

Dr. Ayman Aljarrah is a Mathematics educator with research interests in collectivity and creativity in mathematics learning environments. Dr. Aljarrah cultivates an interactive dialogical environment in which students can express themselves freely while learning to engage with the discipline of mathematics. His approach is culturally responsive and aims to transform the classroom environment into a space of expanding possibilities. In his research, he always concentrates on the interactions between all the agencies in the learning environment—the program of study, the people in the classroom, and the materials and tools—and how such interactions trigger and sustain inclusive, teachable moments.  

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Published

2024-12-14

Issue

Vol. 27 (2024)

Section

Abstracts

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