illustration by Cynthia Kittler
A reflection on Hahn Tapper’s “A pedagogy of social justice education: social identity, theory and intersectionality”
Hahn Tapper’s work on a pedagogy of social justice education offers a fascinating insight for developing and fostering inclusive learning environments. In this publication I learnt the importance of social identity, theory, and intersectionality, Tapper highlights the need to recognize and address the complicity of social identity, intersectionality and empowerment in education. Tapper’s approach to encourage critical thinking, empathy, and self-reflection, enabling students to understand the interconnections between various social issues and identities is fascinating. I am inspired by the publication to create an artefact to promote an intersectionality approach with inclusive learning on my course. Tapper’s emphasis on intersectionality reminds us of the importance of recognizing and valuing the unique experiences and perspectives of marginalized communities. Ultimately, his pedagogy serves as a powerful tool for promoting equity, justice, and social change within educational settings and beyond.
CTS part 2 – migration, identity and inclusion
It would be interesting to include Hahn Tapper’s publication as part of the pre-session reading material in the Contextual Theoretical Studies (CTS) resource. This links in with the assessment criteria under “(Knowledge) Develop, reflect on and review ideas in resolving problem using a variety of theoretical and practical skills to identify and investigate appropriate primary and secondary sources relevant to your chosen field of study.” As within the Unit Assignment “the theory critical report will evidence a substantial body of references that have inspired and are relevant to the work during the personal progression unit.”
I am in the process of creating a workshop during induction that aims to explore and foster a deeper understanding of how diverse identities intersect and influence artistic practice, defined as follows:
Cultural Exchange: The workshop will provide a platform for students to engage in cultural exchanges by sharing personal experiences, artistic influences, and cultural traditions. This will help them to gain a richer understanding of diverse perspectives, fostering empathy and cross-cultural collaboration.
Intersectionality: Through discussions and activities, students will explore the concept of intersectionality and understand how different aspects of identity, such as race, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic background, intersect to shape individual experiences and creative expressions. The workshop echoes the statement from Shades of Noir (2017) ‘Intersectional Film”:
“Intersectionality is an analytic sensibility, a way of thinking about identity and its relationship to power. Originally articulated on behalf of black women, the term brought to light the invisibility of many constituents within groups that claim them as members, but often fail to represent them. Intersectional erasures are not exclusive to black women. People of color within LGBTQ movements; girls of colour in the fight against the school-to-prison pipeline; women within immigration movements; trans women within feminist movements; and people with disabilities fighting police abuse — all face vulnerabilities that reflect the intersections of racism, sexism, class oppression, transphobia, able-ism and more. Intersectionality has given many advocates a way to frame their circumstances and to fight for their visibility and inclusion.”—Kimberlé Crenshaw
Positionality: By examining how one’s social, cultural, and historical context informs their artistic practice, students will gain insight into positionality and biases as artists and designers.
Creating Inclusive Artistic Environments: The workshop will create inclusive artistic environments that embrace diversity and intersectionality.
I found the UAL Ethnic Representation Index a useful resource to unpick this topic and to froster the sense of belonging within the course cohort. “We have sought to build an index that can give a comprehensive perspective on the different facets of becoming anti-racist institutions,we have identified metrics that cover student experience, academic inclusion, and institutional governance as well. While bringing Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic students into our universities is essential, it is not enough: students of all backgrounds must feel an equal sense of belonging, must thrive equally in their academic work, and must be equally protected from abuse and discrimination.”
What I found within the report is the lack of diversity among staff and students. This would be interesting to investigate further. The key findings from the report include:
- Average B.A.M.E student representation (32%) does not match B.A.M.E representation among academics (17%) or professors (10%).
- For Black students (9.5% of students) the problem is worse, with Black academics (2.7%) and professors (0.7%) falling short of the student average.
- Black students, in particular, face significant entry barriers, with 78% of universities, analysed as part of this report, less likely to make Black students an offer to study when they have the same entry profile as other applicants.
Reference
Lucy Bourton. (2018). A catch-up with the always brilliant Cynthia Kittler. [Online]. It’s Nice That. Last Updated: 31 August. Available at: https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/cynthia-kittler-illustration-310818 (Accessed 19 July 2023).
Hahn Tapper, Aaron J. “A Pedagogy of Social Justice Education: Social Identity Theory, Intersectionality, and Empowerment.” Conflict Resolution Quarterly, vol. 30, no. 4, June 2013, pp. 411–445, https://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21072. (Accessed 16 June 2023).
Shades of Noir (2017) ‘Intersectional Film’. Available at: https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/journals/intersectional-film/ (Accessed: 11 June 2023).
UAL Ethnic Representation Index (2022) Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0030/375735/ERI_Ethnic-Representation-Index.pdf (Accessed: 18 July 2023).
UAL: London College of Communication. (2023). CertHE: Preparation for Design, Media and Screen. [Online]. Unit Assignment. Available at: https://ual-moodle-sitedata.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/35/2d/352d194598871a2f2b6828c49867a2fdf2f7436 [Accessed 19 July 2023].
Hi Michele,
I really enjoyed reading your blog post, I’m amazed at how much you managed to pack into such a small word count! The workshop you are developing sounds great!
Hello Michelle,
I too read Hahn Tapper, A Pedagogy of Social Justice Education, and found that I was inspired to think about changing my Artefact to a more discussion based workshop in an attempt to improve understanding. If you are able to include some of the works you refer to in your blogs into the the reading lists for your students, I think that would be amazing. I vaguely remember Lindsay talking to us in a workshop about challenging the Canon, but it was only after attending workshop about ‘Citational Justice’ that it came back to me and it all began to make sense. Brining these and other similar works to students attention, and reading lists, will be the beginnings of Citational Justice and Challenging the Canon, as the more these works are referenced the more visibility they will get, and that will surely be to the benefit of all who read them, and the wheels of social justice will be turning.
The “aim is to transform, not perpetuate the status quo” Hahn Tapper, (2013). Your inclusion of these works is a start!
Hahn Tapper, A.J, (2013), A pedagogy of social Justice Education: Social Identity Theory, Intersectionality, and empowerment. In Conflict Resolution Quarterly, Vol 30, no.4. Available at: A Pedagogy of Social Justice Education: Social Identity Theory, Intersectionality, and Empowerment – Hahn Tapper – 2013 – Conflict Resolution Quarterly – Wiley Online Library. Accessed 6/6/2023
I also read the Hahn Tapper (2013) piece and found it really resonated with my experiences in class. Like Lorraine, it helped me to reshape my artefact and to make it more student-led. We never know which groups students will identify with and it is a good idea to enable them to find out. I really like your workshop plans. I would like to do something similar. This year, we asked Year 1 students to participate in a cross-course group project and we were surprised that they found the interpersonal bit so difficult. I think we need to do more ice-breaking workshops that unpack culture in a more meaningful way to encourage students to connect with one another.