Decolonizing Education

The question of for whom current educational institutions are built isn’t difficult to answer. What is difficult to do is admitting the inherent elitism within this system. Once you do, you will find that the reason why so many students’ grievances at Macalester are inadequately addressed is because these problems are systemic, and white, Western academia wishes to perpetuate these systems in order to uphold the exclusivity of knowledge.

Attempts to tangibly decolonize white, Western academia are met with the counterintuitive pressure to intellectualize this work, ultimately leading to its stagnation and stifling. We understand that, as a resource created within and associated with the institution of Macalester College, we are still complicit in perpetuating colonial, white supremacist, academically elitist ideologies. For this reason, one of our greatest emphases in compiling resources in decolonizing education is balancing important theoretical readings with more grounded, practical, and accessible resources.

We also acknowledge that as students with little experience in this work, there are many limitations to the [quality/variety?] of the information we are presenting. “Decolonizing Education” is not meant to be an exhaustive list of resources, nor should it be. White, Western academia places utmost importance on the written word as the only possible mode of knowledge [delivery] and disparages any other alternative means. This section should only be an entry point to the long and arduous, but greatly necessary work.

When the world is still hesitant to dismantle its systems of oppression, decolonization work will appear idealistic, as it is difficult to imagine breaking out of the current institutions, regardless of how unjust we know them to be. With this section, through readings, listenings, and more, we challenge you to be idealistic and imagine an education system from which all can benefit.

You are sure to find that these seemingly radical ideas are truly tangible.