Liberatory Education

Catalog description

How do we become free, and what does learning have to do with it? What kind of education best supports our agency, critical thinking and action, and liberation? How do I know, track and integrate how I learn in a world that wants me to generally learn in only one way? How do I advocate for myself in learning? What role does the body, experience, spirituality, ancestors, family, life experience, the outdoors, play in my learning? This course is a deep exploration into these questions and so much more about learning, and an education that is liberatory. Throughout the course we'll engage with cutting edge learning methodologies like critical pedagogy, integral learning, collaborative learning and transformative learning. We will investigate multiple ways of learning and knowing (cultural, environmental, somatic, intuitive, socially constructed, positionality-based, and more); analyze how we learn and explore what we need to unlearn; explore how to decolonize one's own learning process; and deconstruct the role of power, oppression, trauma, healing and agency in learning. We'll also explore how to unlearn the impact of negative learning environments to access more of our knpwledge and create more agency. Throughout the semester we will engage in vibrant classroom discussions, and experiential experiences. Students will be asked to critically engage with the texts through writing online discussion posts and papers. Students will work together to produce a group project, and other work as assigned. RESTRICTED TO UNDERGRADUATES