In the fall of 2006, we co-taught a class of preservice teachers in a course somewhat ambiguously described in the university calendar as EDEC 301: Global Education.1 In the lead up to teaching this course, and on the basis of our past reflections on building a democratic classroom, we decided to approach the teaching of the course in an open, team-teaching manner, hoping this would encourage students to contribute to the dialogue of the class as it went along. At the same time, we also decided to take a stated position, what Harding (1998) terms “situating” oneself,2 and actively use the class as a site through which we would introduce students to an alternative, critical, and anticolonial vision of contemporary global systems. This approach to global education is quite different from those advocated by many mainstream global educators (see Werner and Case 1997; Case 1991); yet, as we shall explore below, it is an approach that is supported by a vocal group within the field that feels educators should not hide behind feigned objectivity in teaching issues that have profound implications for social justice (see Kiil 1994; Lyons 1992, 1995; Choldin 1989). In the approach we elaborate below, this situated social justice perspective is paired with anticolonial/anti-imperial education approaches, providing a useful starting point in challenging the current global status quo.
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Langdon, J., Harvey, B. (2009). Building Anticolonial Spaces for Global Education: Challenges and Reflections. In: Kempf, A. (eds) Breaching the Colonial Contract. Explorations of Educational Purpose, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9944-1_12
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