Towards a critical co-construction of equity communities of practice in education

Lorayne Robertson; Jessica Trinier; Roland Van Oostveen

doi:10.18357/otessaj.2024.4.1.62

Authors

Lorayne Robertson Ontario Tech University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4656-5464
Jessica Trinier Ontario Tech University https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5219-5245
Roland Van Oostveen Ontario Tech University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8767-2894

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18357/otessaj.2024.4.1.62

Keywords:

equity, human rights, EDI, diversity, inclusion, co-creation, community of practice

Abstract

Students in Canada have unequal access to safe environments and learning in schools, which impacts their participation in education and their achievement of educational goals. Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) courses for future educators are one way to help them see that the benefits of schooling are not equally available to all students. The authors describe how post-secondary students, who were members of equity-seeking communities and their allies, worked together with instructor guidance to co-create EDI courses. The students were already familiar with the fully online learning community model (FOLC) where student voice and agency feature prominently. As the students co-designed new EDI courses, the critical co-construction of equity model was developed. The model is anchored in human rights and relies on a shared spirit of equity humility. The model recognizes the need for student safety as well as the necessity of potentially uncomfortable conversations. While, in the past, equity teaching tended to focus on distinct aspects of oppression in society as individual topics, the co-construction of equity model relies, instead, on building bridges of equity concepts that cross oppressions. These cross-equity understandings can help future educators see the importance of dismantling oppression and rebuilding safer and more inclusive learning spaces in education.

References

Arao, B., & Clemens, K. (2013). From safe spaces to brave spaces: A new way to frame dialogue around diversity and social justice. In L. M. Landreman (Ed.), The art of effective facilitation: Reflections from social justice educators (pp. 135–150). Stylus Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003447580 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003447580-11

Blayone, T. J. B., vanOostveen, R., Barber, W., DiGiuseppe, M., & Childs, E. (2017). Democratizing digital learning: Theorizing the fully online learning community model. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 14, Article 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-017-0051-4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-017-0051-4

Bovill, C. (2017, June 8–9). Transforming higher education through student-staff co-creation of learning and teaching [Keynote address]. Transforming patterns through the scholarship of teaching and learning: The second European Scholarship of Teaching and Learning conference, Lund, Sweden.

Brame, C. J. (2013). Flipping the classroom. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/flipping-the-classroom/.

Brookfield, S. D. (2017). Becoming a critically reflective teacher. John Wiley & Sons.

Butler-Jones, David. (2012). The Chief Public Health Officer’s report on the state of public health in Canada, 2012. Influencing health—The importance of sex and gender. Government of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/corporate/publications/chief-public-health-officer-reports-state-public-health-canada/chief-public-health-officer-report-on-state-public-health-canada-2012.html DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/e676012012-001

Carolissen, R., & Kiguwa, P. (2018). Narrative explorations of the micro-politics of students’ citizenship, belonging and alienation at South African universities. South African Journal of Higher Education, 32(3), 1–11. https://www.journals.ac.za/sajhe/article/view/2542

Cook-Sather, A. (2020). Student voice across contexts: Fostering student agency in today’s schools. Theory Into Practice, 59(2), 182–191. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2019.1705091 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2019.1705091

Cox, G., & Masuku, B. (2023). Student co-creation of open textbooks: Reflections on power dynamics and building a sense of belonging in higher education. The Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association Journal, 3(2), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.18357/otessaj.2023.3.2.54 DOI: https://doi.org/10.18357/otessaj.2023.3.2.54

Cranton, P. (2016). Understanding and promoting transformative learning: A guide to theory and practice. Routledge.

Curry-Stevens, A. (2007). New forms of transformative education: Pedagogy for the privileged. Journal of Transformative Education, 5(1), 33–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541344607299394 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1541344607299394

Das Gupta, T. (2023, fall). Unconscious bias training: Performativity or pushing the margins? Academic Matters. https://academicmatters.ca/unconscious-bias-training-performativity-or-pushing-the-margins/

Diem, S., Young, M. D., Welton, A. D., Mansfield, K. C., & Lee, P.-L. (2014). The intellectual landscape of critical policy analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 27(9), 1068–1090. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2014.916007 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2014.916007

Eastwood, K. (Writer & Director). (2021). Labour and persistence (Episode 2) [TV series episode]. In R. Buttignol & M. Battle (Executive Producers), British Columbia: An untold history. Screen Siren Pictures; Knowledge Network. https://www.knowledge.ca/program/british-columbia-untold-history/e2/labour-persistence

Elassy, N. (2013). A model of student involvement in the quality assurance system at institutional level. Quality Assurance in Education, 21(2), 162–198. https://doi.org/10.1108/09684881311310692 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/09684881311310692

Giroux, H. (1997). Rewriting the discourse of racial identity: Towards a pedagogy and politics of whiteness. Harvard Educational Review, 67(2), 285–321. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.67.2.r4523gh4176677u8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.67.2.r4523gh4176677u8

James, C. E. (2021). Racial inequity, COVID-19 and the education of Black and other marginalized students. Impacts of COVID-19 in racialized communities. Royal Society of Canada. https://rsc-src.ca/en/covid-19/impact-covid-19-in-racialized-communities/racial-inequity-covid-19-and-education-black-and

Khan, H., Smith, E. E. A.., Reusch, R. T., (2022). Shifting medical student involvement in curriculum design: From liaisons to cocreators. Academic Medicine, 97(5), 623–624. https://www.doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000004622 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000004622

Kincheloe, J. L. (Ed.). (2008). Knowledge and critical pedagogy: An introduction. Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8224-5

Klemenčič, M. (2018). The student voice in quality assessment and improvement. In E. Hazelkorn, H. Coates, & A. C. McCormick (Eds.), Research handbook on quality, performance and accountability in higher education (pp. 332–334). Edward Elgar Publishing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781785369759.00035

McIntosh, P. (1988). White privilege and male privilege: A personal account of coming to see

correspondences through work in Women’s Studies. National SEED Project on Inclusive Curriculum and Wellesley College. https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/eijc/files/white_privilege_and_male_privilege_personal_account-peggy_mcintosh.pdf?m=1525282190

McRae, M. (2017, February 23). The story of Africville: A Black community displaced by racism. Canadian Museum for Human Rights. https://humanrights.ca/story/story-africville

Mezirow, J. (1993). A transformation theory of adult learning. In P. Kleiber & L. Tisdell (Eds.), 31st annual Adult Education Research Conference proceedings (pp. 141–146). AERC. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED357160.pdf#page=153

OECD. (2023). PISA 2022 results (Vol. I): The state of learning and equity in education. OECD. Programme for International Student Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1787/53f23881-en DOI: https://doi.org/10.1787/53f23881-en

Office of the Prime Minister of Canada. (2020, June 2). Transcript—Address in the House of Commons on anti-Black racism in Canada. https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/videos/2020/06/02/address-house-commons-anti-black-racism-canada

Peter, T., Campbell, C. P., & Taylor, C. (2021). Still in every class in every school: Final report on the second climate survey on homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in Canadian schools. Egale Canada Human Rights Trust.

Robertson, L., McConnell, S., Landry, S., Wolterbeek, A., Cardoza, S., Bradley, K., & Bell, K. (2022). The voices of online students in a quality assurance process. In U. Singh, C. Nair, C. Blewett, & T. Shea (Eds.), Academic Voices: A conversation on new approaches to teaching and learning in a post-COVID world (pp. 417–428). Chandos Publishing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-91185-6.00033-1

Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (2006). Knowledge building: Theory, pedagogy, and technology. In K. Sawyer (Ed.), Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences (pp. 97–118). Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511816833.008

Taylor, A. B., Chan, A., Hall, S. L., Saewyc, E. M., & the Canadian Trans & Non-Binary Youth Health Survey Research Group. (2020). Being safe, being me 2019: Results of the Canadian Trans and Non-binary Youth Health Survey. Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre, University of British Columbia. https://www.saravyc.ubc.ca/2020/03/18/being-safe-being-me-2019/

Tervalon, M., & Murray-Garcia, J. (1998). Cultural humility versus cultural competence: A critical distinction in defining physician training outcomes in multicultural education. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 9(2), 117–125. https://doi.org//10.1353/hpu.2010.0233 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2010.0233

vanOostveen, R., Childs, E., Flynn, K., & Clarkson, J. (2014). Integration of PBL methodologies into online learning courses and programs. In M. B. Nunes & M. McPherson (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference e-Learning 2014. Multi conference on computer science and information systems (pp. 357–362). IADIS. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED557189.pdf

vanOostveen, R., Desjardins, F., & Bullock, S. (2018). Professional Development Learning Environments (PDLEs) embedded in a Collaborative Online Learning Environment (COLE): Moving towards a new conception of online professional learning. Education and Information Technologies, 24(2), 1863–1900. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-018-9686-6 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-018-9686-6

vanOostveen, R., DiGiuseppe, M., Barber, W., Blayone, T., & Childs, E. (2016). New conceptions for digital technology sandboxes: Developing a Fully Online Learning Communities (FOLC) model. In G. Veletsianos (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia: World Conference on Educational Media and Technology 2016 (pp. 665–673). AACE. https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/173015/

van Zyl, H. M., Burger, Y., Carstens, L., & Geyser, M. (2020). Curriculum design as an enabler of student involvement and success in higher education. South African Journal of Higher Education, 34(5), 177–191. https://doi.org/10.20853/34-5-4267 DOI: https://doi.org/10.20853/34-5-4267

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.

Wenger, E. (2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization, 7(2), 225–246. https://doi.org/10.1177/135050840072002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/135050840072002

Whelehan, D. F. (2020). Students as partners: A model to promote student engagement in post-COVID-19 teaching and learning. All Ireland Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 12(3), 1–10. https://ojs.aishe.org/index.php/aishe-j/article/view/479/841