Cross-disciplinary, collaborative and student-led: developing a change process for diversifying reading lists
<p class="first" id="d2912295e175"> Increasingly across many UK higher education institutions staff and students are questioning and challenging systemic inequalities that affect racially minoritised groups in their learning and sense of...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
UCL Press
2022-01-01
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Series: | London Review of Education |
Online Access: | https://uclpress.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14324/LRE.20.1.01 |
Summary: | <p class="first" id="d2912295e175">
Increasingly across many UK higher education institutions staff and students are questioning
and challenging systemic inequalities that affect racially minoritised groups in their
learning and sense of belonging within the curriculum. Students are calling for inclusion
of diverse sources of knowledge and perspectives, especially from scholars of colour
and from the Global South, to enrich what is currently perceived to be a Eurocentric
canon. One way to promote more culturally aligned pedagogy is through diversifying
reading lists. This article presents findings from two pilot studies that explored
the reading lists in one department in social sciences and one in the humanities at
the University of Kent, UK. Applying critical race theory as a guiding framework, the first part of the article
examines the ways in which a diverse curriculum must include the voices of the marginalised.
It then describes the methods: a desk-based review of the reading lists, interviews
with academics to inform the work, disseminate the findings, instigate further action
and identify future needs, and student focus groups. Crucially, the project resulted
from the collaboration between students and staff, and across departments and disciplines.
We found that reading lists in both departments overwhelmingly comprised items by
White male authors. Students and staff both reflected on the importance of not only
curriculum diversification but also barriers to diversification and decolonisation.
The article discusses the impact of this project, which has led to a Diversity Mark
process, and the Diversity Mark Toolkit, which can be used in any discipline when
putting together reading lists to create a more culturally competent curriculum. It
concludes by considering other systemic changes needed, with particular attention
to changes needed in library services and collections.
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ISSN: | 1474-8460 1474-8479 |