What is 'contextualising the curriculum'?

What does 'contextualising the curriculum' mean?

Contextualising the curriculum is about explicitly recognising the social and historical background of the science that we teach, and the research that we do. As members of a UK university, this starts with confronting how European imperialism, colonialism, racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression have shaped our modern world, and specifically our science.

Western science is a direct product of the European scientific enlightenment. Crucially, science was both a fundamental contributor to European imperialism and a major beneficiary of its injustices. When viewed in this way, it is clear that science cannot be objective and apolitical – it is produced within society by individuals who are influenced by contemporary culture, society, and politics.

By contextualising the curriculum, we seek to explicitly recognise how present and historical social and political contexts affected and affects the science we teach and practice, and move beyond an exclusive Eurocentric focus by including a range of non-Western perspectives.

Note about intersectionality:

Intersectionality refers to the ways in which different axes of our identity (race, sex, gender, disability, religion, nationality, etc.) interact to shape our experience in the world. While the examples in this guide focus on racism and sexism in ecological, evolutionary, and environmental science, we invite you to consider the multiple ways in which individuals have been, and continue to be oppressed and excluded by science according to their intersectional identities.

What will contextualising the curriculum involve?

We seek to transform the way we approach our teaching and research through an ongoing process of discussion and reflection.

This involves:

• Being aware of the historical roles of European/Western science in promoting racism and the injustices of colonisation, and how modern science perpetuates these injustices.

• Acknowledging that the science we teach takes a Eurocentric and universalising viewpoint, explaining where that comes from and what problems it creates.

• Diversifying the perspectives taught, including representation from women scientists, and valuing the perspectives and world views of individuals from minoritised and marginalised groups.

• Empowering students and staff to understand and reflect on the social and political context that shapes their identity (i.e. positionality), gives them access/privilege, and how these influence their views, actions, and biases in science.