CFP: The John Dewey Society and the Journal of School & Society announce: A Call for Public Scholarship

The John Dewey Society and
the Journal of School & Society announce:
A Call for Public Scholarship

Issue #7.1:
What does decolonization look like in education and beyond?

On the mainland of America, the Wampanoags of Massasoit and King Philip

had vanished, along with the Chesapeakes, the Chickahominys, and the

Potomacs of the great Powhatan confederacy. (Only Pocahontas was

remembered.) Scattered or reduced to remnants were the Pequots, Montauks,

Nanticokes. Machapungas, Catawbas, Cheraws, Miamis, Hurons, Eries,

Mohawks, Senecas, and Mohegans. (Only Uncas was remembered.) Their

musical names remained forever fixed on the American land, but their bones

were forgotten in a thousand burned villages or lost in forests fast disappearing

before the axes of twenty million invaders. Already the once sweet-watered

streams, most of which bore Indian names, were clouded with silt and the

wastes of man; the very earth was being ravaged and squandered. To the

Indians it seemed that these Europeans hated everything in nature—the living

forests and their birds and beasts, the grassy glades, the water, the soil, and the

air itself.

Dee Brown, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

Despite the fact that the destruction of indigenous cultures and polities now extends across several centuries and continents, decolonial scholarship is only relatively recently proliferating in Western academia.1 Theories of, and discussions about, decolonizing education are also being highlighted as scholars call attention to the long-lasting effects of colonial practices that are transmitted through education. We have in mind not only the intergenerational trauma that indigenous people experience because of the history of forced residential schooling, past and present threats to their languages, and the forcible taking of their lands—but also loss of agency, and the difficulties of overcoming the psycho-cultural alienations in order to imagine resurgence and decolonization.2

Having in mind the specificity of the decolonial struggles of the continent on which we North Americans are living, this invitation for participation calls for envisioning concrete examples of decolonization and decoloniality in education. How can we go beyond formalities, like acknowledgements of being on indigenous

1 See, for example, the work of Aníbal Quijano, Enrique Dussel, Linda Martín Alcoff, Nelson Maldonado-Torres, Walter Mignolo, and Charles Mills.
2 See Edward Education and Development in Zimbabwe

Springer Science & Business Media, 2012); Marie Battiste, "Enabling the Autumn Seed: Toward

a Decolonized Approach to Aboriginal Knowledge, Language, and Education,"

Native Education

Canadian Journal of

Shizha & Michael T. Kariwo,

22, no. 1 (1998): 16.

(Rotterdam:

territories, and towards commitments that would contribute to restitution and resurgence for indigenous peoples? Thinkers, activists, educators, decolonial allies, and accomplices are invited to submit stories of such decolonial commitments to this edition—from places as diverse as classrooms to spiritual resistance encampments.

In essence, we invite interested authors to explore the coloniality of today’s education, as well as the colonial compositions of local ideals about education. The work of uprooting these structures can be tedious and cumbersome. This is especially so since such structures are partly what makes us who we are. Yet, such reflections can nonetheless be fundamentally decolonial, and can act as more fitting examples of what decolonial literacies entail. In fact, these efforts may echo Frantz Fanon’s sense that decolonial acts might have as their essence an introspective stance on the colonial meanings which we carry with ourselves in the world.

We therefore ask: what does decolonization look like in education and beyond? The question ideally helps us see what concepts decolonial educators examine as they engage with the world, and how crucial such examinations can be in creating actual decolonial literacies. Subsequent questions can be—but are not limited to—the following:

• What does it mean when an educator wants to embrace decoloniality in their philosophy of education?

• How do indigenous educators think differently from non- indigenous educators?

• What are some causes, concepts, or concerns that shape decolonial philosophies of education as well as decolonial lessons and lesson plans?

• How is the thinking of a decolonial educator different from the thinking of those in other struggles for justice?

• How can decolonization be hindered by the current structures of the world?

• How does decolonial philosophy of education play out in different geographies?

• Is indigenizing education possible?
  Papers written by indigenous authors will be given unique attention.

  How to Contribute to the Issue

  Unlike many academic journals, this publication actively seeks out both its contributors and its readership. Working in the spirit of John Dewey, we seek to create the dialogic spaces and public engagement that we believe is sometimes missing from educational debate.

  We view our work as broadly educative, in that we want to help connect practitioners in public dialogue. To do so, we work closely with educators and community activists to bring out their voices and stories. We also work closely with academics who wish to contribute their expertise and insight to the conversation.

  Invited Pieces

  Work from educators (both inside and outside of schools) and other community members are welcome. This work may take either standard article form or may be submitted in alternative formats, such as a video interview or presentation. A grounding in scholarship is not necessary, although the author will want to situate their work clearly within the scope of the theme of the issue. Ordinarily, articles in this category will range from 2,000 - 5,000 words, although both longer and shorter submissions may be

appropriate. Authors should expect to work closely with the editorial team to produce their submissions.

Peer-Reviewed Scholarly Articles

Submissions for the peer-reviewed section of the journal are expected to conform to scholarly standards in their use of theory and empirical research to ground discussion of educational issues. Expected article length is ordinarily 5,000 - 8,000 words, but both longer and shorter pieces can be considered. In addition to the Editors, articles in this category will be read by a minimum of two peer reviewers.

Submission Guidelines

Please see our journal website for specifics. Submissions and inquiries should be emailed to Kyle Greenwalt, Editor of the Journal of School & Society and Nassim Noroozi, special co-editor for this volume. Kyle’s email is [email protected] and Nassim’s is [email protected]. Submissions should be received by April 15, 2020.