‘Conscious' learning development: towards a pedagogy of race-consciousness

Abstract

This article advocates a pedagogy of race-consciousnesses (PRC) to enhance the critical thinking abilities of all undergraduate students in higher education institutes (HEIs). It is envisioned that the cultivation of race-consciousness will be a means to not only value students’ home culture but also to draw from this culture to develop their innate critical thinking abilities. Such an approach encourages students to critically engage with ‘perspectives that are different from their own, whether those perspectives are expressed by a teacher or by a peer’ (Arday and Mirza, 2018; Wallace and Rothschild-Ewald, 2000, p.19). PRC is situated in the ‘middle space between students’ own experiences and the expectations of the discourse communities in which they will have to achieve voice’ (Wallace and Rothschild-Ewald, 2000, p.3). It is proposed that PRC will be first developed in the field of learning development (LD) because of the unique position and mandate of learning developers (Hartley, Hisldon and Keenan, 2010). This article hopes to spark conversations about race that have been largely absent from LD theory and practice.