Shades of Noir 

Shades of Noir is a broad-reaching and multifaceted program that supports curriculum design, pedagogies of social justice through representation, cultural currency and accessible knowledge – contributing to the universities’ work around race equality, creating physical safe spaces that offer opportunities to have critical and interdisciplinary discussions that confront some of the items that we see and do that can sometimes be challenging. Bringing out student voices in ‘Tell Us About It’ through interviews with former UAL students and student artefacts, but also with the Shades of Noir ‘Journal’ that showcases insights and attitudes of students, staff, and practitioners, evolving key terms, reading lists, introduction to theories, additional organisations are both fantastic platforms by which the students I teach can be informed and also included should they wish. 

A Pedagogy of Social Justice Education: Social Identity Theory, Intersectionality, and Empowerment

Two things learnt: One of the most interesting premises in the text is that a heterogeneity surrounding an idea can add great depth to its meaning, but on the other hand by not having a definition its meaning can become inconsistent or superficial. Although this can be viewed as a general approach to an idea, in the text it was referring to a lack of a solid definition for the term “social justice education”. Another interesting instance is Paulo Freire’s pedagogic insight that education is about not just getting power, but rather reinventing it. He advocates creating educational experiences where all social identities are taken into consideration – both the teachers’ as well as the students’ where the delivery is not just ‘feeding information’ but including student realities and their view of the world, especially in terms of social status, and students teaching each other about social identities and intergroup dynamics using critical thought.

Question/provocation: “Enjoy poverty”, from the Dutch artist Renzo Martens, is an art film project taking place is Africa on ‘empowering’ communities to learn how to ‘profit’ their poverty, by for example teaching them to take photos of their own misery instead of international organisations and could be interpreted as somewhat of a ‘reinvention of power’, an idea mentioned in the text. Exposing Western power organisations such as UN, UNESCO, and ruthless external policies of different counties, it becomes clear to the Western audience how grim their rulers are, but the African participants in the film still haven’t learnt much except for rejection. What went wrong? 

Retention and attainment in the disciplines: Art and Design

Two things: In the chapter ‘Art and Design pedagogies’ we have a confirmation of a widely experienced problem which is 1-1 tutorial time showing to be an increasingly challenging method of guiding students as the student groups are becoming bigger and bigger; there is still an expectation particularly from first year students to be lead as they are expected to take risks but don’t feel there is a safety net to fall back on for reassurance. 
The second well-put thought is the one focusing on race – the need for identification – having teachers they feel they represent and inspired by. ‘It is only the oppressed who, by freeing themselves, can free their oppressor. The latter, as an oppressive class, can free neither others nor themselves’ (Freire 1968, p. 30). In response to this, there The Group for the Equality of Minority Staff (GEMS) was developed by a number of staff of colour including in the late 1990s to create a space for staff of colour to connect and to provide a mechanism for support of an under-represented group within the University of the Arts London.
Question/provocation: Are the oppressors, in the case that Freire exposes, not able to free themselves because the system of oppression suits them, is it inertia and unquestioning that disables them or has it all become pathological?

Witness: unconscious bias

As part of the UCU black members’ standing committee oral history project Josephine Kwhali discusses ‘unconscious bias’. She, almost in disbelief, reflects on the fact that after many policies and initiatives that have been created so far, there is still plenty of unconscious bias amongst highly educated people and that she is pleasantly surprised when encountering someone who is aware.

Shades of Noir on Race / Interviews: Gitan Djeli, Ellen Jones

Gitan is cis brown woman raised middle class. She gives a couple of suggestions of combating racial micro-aggressions and inequality unawareness by speaking up – making oneself heard by naming the problem, but also a good classroom activity called ‘What is privilege’ where ten questions based on privileges they carry (race, gender, socio-economic status, sexuality, ability, etc.) are given to students so that they could re-evaluate their level of privilege – this is an activity I would love to somehow embed and shape for my teaching practice. On the other hand, we have Ellen Jones, president of the National Union of Students Wales, recognising that in combating racism, although she had a firm stand-point and arguments it is somewhat hard to speak on behalf of people of colour when one is white woman (born in ‘white privilege). She finds that, in a way, the best the ‘white allies’ can do is make space for all other voice to be heard. Reflecting on my own teaching practice, it would be good investigating what and how do the students ‘make room for someone else’ in their practice or lives.