In this inquiry process I have been examining what exactly decolonization is. What does it mean to decolonize something in practice? What are the actions, steps, processes that need to take place? What does that mean for education at a systems level? What does it mean for teachers and learners? These are questions that are big and hard for me to answer. It seems that decolonization

I find that my question is becoming less specific and more general. I cannot answer the “how” because I don’t understand the “what”. I understand the why. I believe I understand the “why” we need decolonization, but what exactly is it?

When I am trying to explore anything complex I usually turn to art. I feel like a deep down emotional response to a subject helps me understand it it cognitively. So I went in search of my favourite medium, spoken word. There are tons of videos out there that explore the idea of decolonization.

This video was particularly powerful.

“So now when I re-tell the tales of my Ancestors, in the colonizer’s English, I am unsure if my act is one of resistance or oppression” This line expresses my frustration with the conundrum of decolonizing through/in Western education. If Western education was/is a tool of colonialism can it ever be a decolonized space/system? My truthful answer is I hope so.

For me that is what this spoken word piece explores: hope. It’s powerful and angry but for me it is hope. So from now on I’m going to look at the messy hopeful side of this question.

Giles, W. & Travis, T. [Button Poetry]. (2015, Dec 23) Oral Traditions. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3pslYJjpDo