Category: Inclusive Teaching & Learning

Artefact: Reflections and Intervention on Cultural Appropriation Workshop

(1596 words)

Introduction

As a South-Asian textiles lecturer and designer who’s creative work draws from Indian visual culture; questions of cultural identity, it’s appropriation and ownership are ongoing queries that are addressed through my academic and professional practice. What is cultural appropriation? As people of colour, do we need to be cultural gatekeepers and custodians? Is there room for hybridity and assimilation? When is cultural exchange acceptable and when does appreciation become fetishisation, how does that enforce cultural stereotypes?  

The importance of recognising one’s positionality when taking ‘inspiration’ from objects in a museum, the lack of understanding of White privilege, the Colonial gaze and Empire as well as limited opportunities in the curriculum to address social justice and diverse perspectives led me to initiate a workshop on Cultural Appropriation with the CSM Museum back in 2019.

Colonialism led to historical theft, documentation and ultimately selective representation of cultural assets taken by a dominant culture through their viewpoint – often changing the original context and significance of these objects. With recent conversations that question the role of museums in acquiring cultural property, it’s important that we also look at the role of education in art and design when talking about cultural ownership and interpretation. Our students need to make informed and fair decisions when researching topics that belong to other cultures, and a deeper understanding and respect of provenance and cultural identities is required.

For the Inclusive Teaching and Learning unit, my artefact re-visits the workshop and proposes a pre-workshop task that encourages students to reflect on their existing knowledge around some of the concepts (Cultural Identity, Decoloniality, White supremacy, etc)  that will be discussed through the workshop, this will be followed up with a post-workshop reading list to encourage them to continue engaging with resources independently. It stems from discussions during the ITLHE that emphasise how decoloniality is an ongoing process and utilises some of the resources and teaching methodologies employed by Shades of Noir during this unit.

Context

I am currently part of the teaching team on the Textiles Design course at Central Saint Martins, where I work primarily with the year 1 team with some input in years 2 and 3. My role was created through the Academic Development Fund and a particular focus from the start has been ‘decolonising the curriculum’ and ‘community building’.

As the only South-Asian undergraduate student in my year during my studies at UAL and now the only South Asian academic in my team, I have lived experience of both cultural appreciation and fetishisation with respect to India, and am aware of the thin line that divides it. The experience of being asked whether India was still a British colony when I was a student at UAL in 2005 was perhaps my first experience of being confronted with the reality that I had entered a space where my peers’ understanding of empire and colonialism differed from mine at best. It made me consider the importance of the role fellow peers play in creating a ‘safe space’ outside the classroom during one’s University experience. ‘Wilful ignorance’ in the age of information is something that needs to be understood, evaluated and combated (Shades of Noir, 2019)

“Teachers need to be aware of these complex relationships within the group and use these concerns and potential sites of conflict as a time to discuss differing viewpoints and the wider impact of art, moving towards some resolution.” (Richards & Finnigan, 2015)

Alongside considering the student cohort and subject matter of the workshop, another point that was raised for me is who can and should run a workshop on Cultural appropriation? Whilst I initiated the workshop in 2019, it was primarily run by my white colleagues at the Museum as I felt I lacked the experience or confidence then to facilitate an object-based learning workshop. The Inclusive teaching and Learning unit has enabled me develop the workshop further through the lens of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and engaged pedagogy. Through the Shades of Noir terms of reference, I am now more adequately armed with the language needed to facilitate discussions around White privilege, Positionality and Decolonising – all important concepts to address when having a conversation about cultural appropriation.

Fletcher (2010) emphasises the need for ‘reflexivity’ where researchers (or teachers in this case) carefully consider their positionality if their research (teaching) is geared towards groups and cultures ‘other’ to their own. He also talks about cultural ‘outsiders’ and ‘insiders’ and questions the attached or perhaps perceived credibility that comes with the latter. Does the workshop discussing appropriation have to be run by a person of colour to be legitimate?

Inclusive Learning Theory

My approach is underpinned by Paulo Freire’s Critical Pedagogy and Bell Hooks’ Engaged Pedagogy.

Freire’s Critical Pedagogy calls for teachers to encourage students to examine and critique existing structures of power and oppression.  He advocates a non-hierarchical approach or the opposite of ‘banking system of education’ (where the tutor imparts knowledge to the students) and encourages learning from each other.

“Seeing the classroom always as a communal place enhances the likelihood of collective effort in creating and sustaining a learning community.” (hooks, b Pg8)

Hooks’ Engaged Pedagogy values student expression (hooks, b Pg 20) To implement my artefact, I designed two activities to scaffold the collective learning in the workshop – one that would give students’ the agency to bring their experiences, knowledge and cultural reference points to inform their engagement and another that would give them additional range of resources to explore and reflect upon independently.

Artefact and Process

Ethics: Preserving Voices Vulnerable to Erasure (Shades of Noir, 2018) poses a range of important questions –

‘How does the representation of non-western heritage materials in western institutions impact the life of cultural traditions?’

‘How does the structure of the museum and gallery perpetuate a capitalist value system of heritage? How does this bias collective memory and public thought?’

The artefact aims to address power dynamics within art and design education, redistributing the responsibility of learning and engagement by elevating and recognising the collective knowledge held and creates a safe space to understand the nuances of cultural representation. Although the questions above have been posed in a museum context, they can easily be applied to a teaching context.

“What does it take to decolonise an art museum when it has a history of pandering to the popular, lowest common denominator stereotypes of geishas, yoga and maharajas?” asked Dr. Levine, the Berkley professor (NYT, 2020)

For the first part of the artefact, I have introduced a pre-workshop task of defining key terms, that I adopted from the teaching methods employed by the Shades of Noir team. The pre-task encourages students to think about their own positionality before attending the workshop in an attempt to bring in their prior knowledge. The google spreadsheet will be a ‘live’ document online that students can anonymously contribute to, so they are able to read other participants’ definitions of the same words. Alongside bringing in their prior knowledge, this serves several purposes –

  • creates a safe space where students can confidently and anonymously contribute without feeling threatened
  • exposes them to alternate understandings of some of the terms through their peers
  • fosters a sense of community as the task is private in a collaborative space

The second part of the artefact is the post-workshop reading list that brings together a range of diverse resources in different formats for students to engage with independently. Some of these will also be referred to during the course of the workshop with CSM Museum as requested by students in an artefact feedback email.

From Priya Khanchandani and Sam Jacob’s 2019 exhibition ‘Pattern as Politics’ that critiques Owen Jones’ historic Grammar of Ornament as opening western design to other traditions while simultaneously flattening those very same histories and cultures (Jacobs, 2019) to Kwame Anthony Appiah’s stance that no one can claim exclusive ownership of culture and often it’s a question of respect. (Mistaken Identities: Culture, 2016); the reading list brings together a balanced range of viewpoints that contribute to the debate around cultural appropriation. Whilst there’s no doubt that ‘cultural appropriation’ is bad especially in a capitalist context, the resources also draw out nuanced and critical discussions about cultural exchange and hybridity.

I received feedback on the artefact from students who attended the original workshop in 2019, colleagues at CSM Museum and academic colleagues on the course.

“The post workshop reading list also seems like a good idea, especially that it’s a mix of texts and other formats. I think many students are more engaged with reading material when it’s in other formats such as podcasts rather than an academic text.” – Clemency Dyer, Textiles student

“I think this is a really interesting proposal and agree that the workshop would work better with some thinking beforehand and some reflective readings after the fact. I think what you’re proposing will make it a much richer session and will require students to dig deeper into their own experiences and knowledge.” – Judy Willcocks, CSM Museum

Feedback from the Anne Marr, the Programme Director suggested that following on from the ‘key terms’ task, students could continue to co-create their own glossary for their studies and beyond.

Conclusion

The ITLHE unit has been instrumental in helping me understand key concepts like Decoloniality, Inclusivity and Cultural identities in the context of Higher Education and the impact it has on our students. The teaching methodologies and resources shared have shown me how an inclusive approach promotes accessibility and social justice, when addressed through an intersectional lens that reflects on our and our students’ positionality.

Bibliography:

Bhakta, C (2019), Mother Jones, The Whitewashing of ‘#WhitePeopledoingYoga’, https://www.motherjones.com/media/2019/10/white-people-yoga-sf-asian-art-museum/ (Accessed: 20/07/2021)

Burke, P. J. and McManus, J. (2009) ‘Art for a few: Exclusions and misrecognitions in higher education admissions practices’, ​Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education​

Colour of Britain (1995) Directed by Pratibha Parmar. [Documentary]. London, Channel 4

Fletcher, T. (2010) ‘Being inside and outside the field: An exploration of identity, positionality and reflexivity in inter-racial research’, Leisure Identities and Authenticity. LSA Publication.  Available at academia.edu

Giles, N (2019) The Politics of Pattern, Monocle on Design [Podcast] 22 October Available at https://monocle.com/radio/shows/monocle-on-design/419/ (Accessed: 24/7/21)

hooks, b. (1994) ​Teaching to transgress: education as the practice of freedom​. London: Routledge.

Jalili, K (2016), 5 ways to minimise cultural appropriation, Shades of Noir. Available at: https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/5-ways-to-minimise-cultral-appropriation/ (Accessed: 20/07/2021)

Jones, J (2021) ‘Cultural appropriation is a two-way thing: Yinka Shonibare on Picasso, masks and the fashion for black artists’, The Guardian, 14 June. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/jun/14/masks-monsters-masterpieces-yinka-shonibare-picasso-africa (Accessed: 24/07/21)

Kwame Anthony Appiah: Mistaken Identities: Culture (2016) BBC Radio 4. 12 November 22:15. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b081lkkj (Accessed: 20/07/2021)

Marinashutup (2014) What Is Cultural Appropriation? | Feminist Fridays. 6 December. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT1sTYpOJ04 (Accessed: 29/07/2021)

Pattern as Politics (2019) Available at: https://www.samjacob.com/portfolio/pattern_as_politics/ (Accessed: 29/07/2021)

Pogash, C. (2020) ‘Asian Art Museum to Remove Bust of Patron. That’s Just a Start’, The New York Times, 15 June. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/arts/design/avery-brundage-bust-asian-art-museum.html (Accessed: 27/07/2021)

Richards, A. and Finnigan, T. (2015) ​Embedding equality and diversity in the curriculum: An art and design practitioner’s guide​. York: Higher Education Academy.

Sabri, D (2017) Students’ Experience of Identity and Attainment at UAL, Final year 4 report of a longitudinal study for the University of the Arts London. Project Report. University of the Arts London, London.

Sanghera, S. (2021) Empireland: How Imperialism has shaped Modern Britain. London: Penguin Random House UK.

Shades of Noir Publication. Ethics: Preserving Voices Vulnerable to Erasure. Available at https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/ethics-preserving-voices-vulnerable-to-erasure/ (Accessed: 24/07/2021)

Shades of Noir Publication. Peek a boo we see you: Whiteness. Available at http://shadesofnoir.org.uk/peekaboo-we-see-you-whiteness/ (Accessed: 24/07/21)

Shades of Noir. Wilful Ignorance: An Apologists’ History. Available at: https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/wilful-ignorance-an-apologists-history/ (Accessed: 24/07/21)

Shaleigha D’Clark, R (2019), How to Facilitate Open Discussions about Racism, Implicit Bias and Stereotypes in the Workshop Setting by Dr. Gurnam Singh, CBE, Shades of Noir Available at: https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/how-to-facilitate-open-discussions-about-racism-implicit-bias-and-stereotypes-in-the-workshop-setting-by-dr-gurnam-singh-cbe/ (Accessed: 24/07/2021)

Artefact

In 2019, I initiated a workshop on ‘Cultural Appropriation’ to create a space for Year 1 Textiles and Jewellery students to discuss the concept through an object-based learning workshop facilitated by colleagues at the CSM Museum.

My artefact re-visits the workshop and proposes a pre-workshop task that encourages students to reflect on their existing knowledge around some of the concepts (Cultural Identity, Decoloniality, White supremacy, etc)  that will be discussed through the workshop, this will be followed up with a post-workshop reading list to encourage them to continue engaging with resources independently.

It stems from discussions during the ITLHE that emphasise how decoloniality is an ongoing process and utilises some of the resources and teaching methodologies employed by Shades of Noir during this unit.

Pre-task for Cultural Appropriation Workshop with CSM Museum

Key Terms:

Please define as many of the following terms on the Google spreadsheet in your own words. We want you to reflect on what you already know, so avoid using the dictionary and aim to describe them, even if you are not familiar with the words.

Colonial gazeDiversityPositionality
Cultural Capital Ethnicity Privilege
Cultural IdentityEmpireRace
Cultural AppropriationHybridity Whiteness
DecoloniseMarginalisedWhite Fragility
DiasporaOrientalismWhite Supremacy

Post-workshop reading list to reflect on the session

Race

Born and brought up in India, I was always the majority growing up so my awareness of ‘race’ only properly came into being when I moved to the UK to study back in 2005. Still, it took many more years before I started to recognize racism, explicitly or in the form of micro-aggressions, or by being excluded from certain conversations or social groups of people. I should acknowledge, I came with my own set of prejudices and privilege.

The past couple of years have been transformative – I became part of a community of practitioners who address and interrogate South Asian diasporic culture to provoke debate and challenge the status quo, I read ‘Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race’ that made me confront my understanding of race and intersectionality, it also made me realise that racism isn’t something that happens to other people (a rather naïve and ignorant stance I subconsciously held for many years), I started the PG Cert and the Inclusive Teaching and Learning Unit in particular helped me understand my positionality and the impact that has on a day to day basis in my teaching and professional context.

Kwame Anthony Appiah’s Reith lecture on Colour/Race discouraged fixation on racial stereotypes and cultural custodianship, and encouraged cultural exchange with a deeper respect and understanding on each other’s historical, social and economical backgrounds so our views don’t become so polarised.

Shades of Noir

The SoN website has been a real revelation to me. I knew of it’s existence of course, but the reading recommended and discussions throughout this unit has made me further aware of the resources that I can refer to and share with students and colleagues. The terms of reference on Race, Gender, Religion and Disability have particularly been helpful for me to understand the language, theories and discussions we have held over the past couple of months; but also empowered and equipped me with a new vocabulary to articulate, implement and (hopefully) facilitate conversation around inclusive practice.

I read Claire Hiscock’s ‘Expanding the conversation: The power of language or the language of power?’ in the Journal ‘Discourse: The power of language and communication’. This term I have been involved in teaching on the Professional practice unit on the 2nd year Textiles course. I’ve read many CVs and Cover letters where my main message has been that the language (English, in this case) needs to be tightened for a stronger impact. This article has really challenged me to think of how to approach this as despite ensuring that grammar is not the top priority here, I know that when seen in a professional context, the CVs and cover letters will be read by people in the industry who will make judgements based on this very point. How then do I encourage my students without making the English language a big focus of the feedback?

Hahn Tapper (2013) ‘ A Pedagogy of Social Justice Education: social identity, theory and intersectionality

It was really interesting to read about the 3 different approaches that within social justice education that were discussed by Hahn Tapper.  In particular, Freire’s approach reminded me of the introduction to Critical Pedagogy earlier in the unit and also how important it is to acknowledge our student’s and our own positionality to design the curriculum with that knowledge as a considered priority.

“It is impossible to think of education without thinking of power . . . the question . . . is not to get power, but to reinvent power” (cited in Evans, Evans, and Kennedy 1987, 226).

This quote by Freire really stood out to me as it challenges the traditional ‘banking system of teaching’.

I’m also reminded of what the university in doing with the introduction of Contextual Admissions, which is a step in making the student recruitment process more fair and inclusive.

Perhaps Freire and Gadamer would have been friends, as they believe it important that both performer and audience (or teacher and student) need to be involved for meaningful learning to take place.

I was not aware of the term ‘Contact hypothesis’ but this is something we actively do anyway. In order to encourage interactions within a large cohort amongst a diverse group of people, we often set group tasks and have mostly seen a positive outcome. On rare occasions, it doesn’t work and students end up feeling isolated or frustrated; however the overall impact has always been mostly positive. I think the key is to set out the goals in advance and emphasize the importance of teamwork, skills that will be beneficial to students long after they’ve left their studies.

Social Identity Theory (SIT) poses a new question – in our current climate of ‘culture wars’, it seems as though political and cultural identities trump social identities. Social identities can be seen as positive, but I’m concerned that the imposed identities that can lead to stereotyping.

Still from Brimful of Asia (1999), Pratibha Parmar

‘Colour of Britain‘ and ‘Brimful of Asia‘, Pratibha Parmar’s films about British Asians creatives in the 1990s touches upon these multiple intersectional identities and the refusal of the mainstream to accept these identities, despite the shared experiences and culture.

Witness: unconscious bias: Josephine Kwhali

Josephine Kwahli’s comments about ‘unconscious bias’ helped clarify a thought that’s been niggling at me. Unconscious bias does/may exist on an individual basis (I often think this with family members who are older/live in the country side). However, institutions and the people who work within them need to be held to a different standard, they have been engaged in these debates for years and are supposedly the leaders in their respective fields. We should expect them to acknowledge racism, marginalisation, bias. Josephine touched about how they have consciously made headway when it comes to gender; so why not race? It’s important for them to recognise ‘Intersectionality’ and address all marginalised identities consciously.

Artefact summary

In 2019, I initiated and helped facilitate an object-based-learning workshop with a focus on ‘cultural appropriation’ with the CSM Museum. It was aimed at year 1 textile and jewellery students and was optional, about 9 students attended (out of 15 spaces available) Over the last year and a half, conversations around social justice and cultural identity have gained more momentum, entered our collective consciousness and I find that students are interested and wanting to engage more with them.

Since starting the PG Cert, I am more invested in having a better understanding myself and feel the additional language gained and resources referred to would enrich the workshop content and discussion further. Although this was merely a small starting point back in 2019, it was thought provoking and insightful and for my artefact, I would like to propose further tweaks to how we ran the workshop, put together a pre- or post- task reading list and ultimately think about how it could become part of the Textile Design curriculum, rather than an optional workshop. I will aim to get feedback from my colleagues and the CSM Museum as we would run it as a joint team.

Resources like Kwame Anthony Appiah’s Reith lecture on Culture where he discusses ‘Cultural appropriation’ v ‘Cultural exchange’; Critical Pedagogy, Critical Race Theory, the understanding of Whiteness, White privilege and the Colonial gaze as well as the SoR resources around facilitating inclusive workshops will all contribute to creating my Artefact.

Faith

As illustrated in Kwame Anthony Appiah’s lecture on Creed, the idea of religion or belief is fluid, as it changes with the way it is interpreted. One’s positionality or upbringing often determines the importance or lack thereof in one’s life. It’s interpretation however, is both personal and can be influenced by several external factors – representation in the media, stereotypes etc.

Religion or Faith has been explored in the visual arts for centuries, it’s meaning may have changed over the years but it’s still a part of our identity that is often explored through the arts.

Religion, Belief and Faith identities UAL Website

The case studies and resources are really helpful to build knowledge around how to drive conversations around religion in an art and design context. We all have our beliefs and non-beliefs but is it important to be aware of stepping back from our positionality in this instance? Or more rightly, prioritising the students’ positionality and being open and respectful, in respect to their work and otherwise.

I think ‘Pen Portraits‘ by Angela Drisdale Gordon is a great example of how we can can establish respect and openness for each other’s point of views from the start, both students and tutors. We often have a project in Year 1 that addresses identity but it’s very much a personal project and in large cohorts there are limited opportunities to share with their peers.

However, during the pandemic, as we moved to online classrooms, my colleagues and I introduced an activity called ‘Thing of the week’ at the start of every weekly meeting. Every week one student would share something that was relevant to them – a book they were reading, an app they found useful, etc. Our first ‘thing of the week’ was during the Swiss referendum in March, a Swiss student explained the country’s semi-direct democracy system and the fact that they have referendums on issues about 4 times a year, they are sent literature through the post both for and against the issue and citizens are directly involved in laws that are passed. This week one of the issues they were voting on was the banning head coverings in the country. A muslim student in the class questioned the reasoning and the student shared the arguments that were presented from both sides, also indicated that she was against the banning. A space was created to discuss this matter that wouldn’t have happened otherwise and the muslim student felt supported by her classmates. When it was her turn to present ‘thing of the week’, it was during Ramadan and she gave a wonderful in-depth presentation on the history and significance of the festival, and how she celebrated it.

Race, Religion and Free Speech, the SoN event held in 2016 brings a lot of issues to the forefront that are relevant when discussing Religion in an educational context. Religious Literacy is paramount. Pre conceived ideas and associations made because of stereotyped views in the media can be very harmful.

A question that was raised for me – In an instance where someone is exploring satire in relation to religion, how to we balance being respectful to the religious beliefs of our peers and students and freedom of speech/humour? How do we approach contradictory views in the classroom without compromising our duty of care towards all students?

Reith lecture by Kwame Anthony Appiah

Reith Lectures, Mistaken Identities. Image: BBC

I found the Reith lecture by Kwame Anthony Appiah very logical and rational, however Faith is extremely personal, and logic and rationality often come second to belief. One’s beliefs exist within a larger context of practice often in solidarity within a community, which is not to say that it shouldn’t be questioned.

After listening to Creed, I went on to listen the rest of the lectures on Country, Colour and Culture as I felt all of these elements of our identity are so closely interlinked with Creed.

“Dialogue is not determinism.”

I think this is the most important takeaway from the lecture and how we should perhaps approach everything, especially religion within art and design. As Kawme Anthony Appiah pointed out, “None of us craft the world we inhabit from scratch” so within the pre-existing framework, we must contextualise our beliefs, we have a choice.

Religion in Britain: Challenges for Higher education

Tariq Madood’s writing on Multiculturalism was fascinating. It echoed some of the sentiment from the first blogging task, which reiterated ‘respect for difference, rather than toleration of difference‘.

‘Multiculturalism as a mode of post-immigration integration involves not just the reversal of marginalisation but also a remaking of national citizenship so that all can have a sense of belonging to it.’

I feel like this principle needs to be applied to universities as well where there needs to be less ‘othering’, starting with the abolition of the term BAME.

It surprised me to learn that some pro-diversity advocates are reluctant to extend multiculturalism to include religious groups as it is understood by them to be a ‘voluntary identity‘. That is absolutely ludicrous as for some culture and religion are one and the same thing. How can they use faith as an excuse to exclude them. Equal rights for all, but less for some?

Craig Calhoun’s ‘Religion and Dissent in Universities’ addresses the question I posed earlier about free speech. Causing offence is obviously not encouraged and mutual respect needs to trump any actions. He also recognised that academics don’t always have the knowledge to drive discussions where religion is part of the conversation, but like in several other instances – for example, being actively anti-racist, there is the need for academics to further their religious literacy to understand their religious students better.

–

Bibliography

Religion, Belief and Faith identities UAL Website

Reith Lectures: Kwame Anthony Appiah: Mistaken Identities

Religion in Britain: Challenges for Higher education

Disability

The resources shared for this blogging task really broadened my limited understanding around disability and were very thought provoking. The Shades of Noir TOR in particular helped in grasping the language used around Disability – both what is acceptable and what is not acceptable, and added new terminology that makes me look at it through different lenses. It made me realise that the language we use – casually, sometimes unknowingly plays into the stereotyped narratives, biases or prejudices we have around disability. I also read the Evolution of Disability Models from SoN to understand the various approaches that have been taken over the years. I found that the ‘Social’, ‘Identity’ and ‘New Radical’ model might be the most empowering, as they recognise societal and political barriers and ‘claim disability as a positive identity’ (Brewer et al. 2012.5).

I think it’s key to address the language we use. The seemingly small shift from ‘unable’ and ‘en-able’ for example, or even ‘creatively able’, the term Larree Carnes came up with in 2004 can help us confront and shift our understanding or our approach to people with disabilities, break down stereotypes and help us become better allies to give our disabled students confidence and agency. It is so beautifully addressed in Christine Sun Kim’s film. After feeling like ‘she was boxed in by her language restraints’, Sun Kim ‘reclaims sound as her property’ to explore it through the ‘physicality of sound’. She reminds us to listen with all our senses and address ideas of ownership.

Christine Sun Lim

The ‘Economic model’ was very accurately depicted in Ken Loach’s 2016 film I, Daniel Blake. Watching the film was perhaps the first time I started to understand the experience of someone with a ‘non-visible’ disability and how there does not seem to be the compassion, understanding or safety net that so many of us enjoy and expect from society or the state. Shortly after the release Ken appeared on a Question Time programme where he had to defend the accuracy of his film, which depicted real life lived experiences of people who were stuck in a loop of unemployment and lack of access to support allowance as a Conservative MP on the panel argued that his film was a drama and didn’t reflect lived experiences. Society and government’s inability to identify these nuances are scary and potentially life-threatening, and only a greater understanding of disability from everyone in society will address this. In the context on teaching, a misunderstanding of a students’ disability can have similar consequences where the ‘intention’ of helping is there but they don’t end up receiving any help as they are sent from one team to another, none of whom fully understand their position and further distresses the student.

It may not be the best example but I guess what I’m trying to say is that as educators, it is imperative that we understand the experiences of people with disabilities and what help is available through the University and whether those systems are working. I was aware of the University Disability Services but instead of just signposting students to them, I will in the future be following up and checking if the students’ needs were met and if not, stepping in to further help.

Being a non-disabled person, I have not had to deal with the many obstacles or barriers that society has created to navigate everyday life, where even the seemingly most basic tasks are made inaccessible. Khairani Borokka’s ‘Deaf Accessibility for Spoonies: Lessons from Touring Eve and Mary are Having Coffee while chronically ill’ really brought this home for me. Reading her experience touring around India made me very uncomfortable but reminded me of the deep rooted attitude towards disability in my home country, where it is seen in some parts through the Religious model of disability and in some parts through discrimination and considered taboo to discuss. This made me think of not just how we as the University address disability, but how fellow students may treat their peers. How can we ensure that students who’s experiences with disability are different (or non-existent) understand these terms and the impact they may have on another students’ experience? Do we embed sessions in the curriculum that discuss inclusivity and where staff and students participate, or are we ‘othering’ these issues by creating a separate space for discussion?

I am conflicted between the use of people-first language as opposed to identity-first, and I understand that some people with disabilities prefer the latter as it works with the social model better. I feel that Borokka’s experience in Delhi where she was introduced to a government official purely through the lens of her disability is de-humanising and as she said was a real ‘pyschological blow to her dignity.’ Of course in this case, it was inexcusable, but by using identity-first, do we inevitably start with making a point about ‘difference’ and create a barrier? Should we have a discussion with our students about their preferences, like is now the case with pronouns?

I will continue to read more of the SoN resources to learn more and hopefully find answers to some of the questions I’ve raised for myself above.

Bibliography

Film by Christine Sun Kim

UAL Disability Service Webpages

‘Deaf Accessibility for Spoonies: Lessons from Touring Eve and Mary are Having Coffee’ by Khairani Barokka

Shades of Noir Disability Terms of Reference

Hello!

Hello, my name is Kangan Arora.

I’m a Lecturer on the BA Textile and Jewellery Design courses at Central Saint Martins. I mostly work with the Year 1 teams and alongside teaching, focus on community building and decolonising the curriculum.

Developing pedagogy around inclusive teaching and community building, especially in a virtual space is what is currently driving my academic practice.

My own professional practice centres around colour and print design. Born in India and now based in London, my work explores bold colour, geometry, abstraction and playful pattern application; with a specific interest in traditional and contemporary colour languages and processes.

I have collaborated on projects with the likes of IKEA, The Office Group, Heal’s and Floor_Story across a range of products including soft furnishings, rugs, acoustic panels and more.

More on my website.