Conversations about race: A reflection on shifts in thinking, teaching and creative practice

Abstract

Over the course of a year, I was involved in biweekly discussions in which a group of lecturers, members of management and administrative staff at a higher education institution in Stellenbosch, South Africa discussed personal experiences regarding race in and outside of our institution. The purpose of these discussions was to become more aware of how different people experience race, and in turn power, within the same space and place. With the Academy being a predominantly ‘white space’, these conversations affirmed the need for a collective consciousness of different experiences relating to race and power, as it directly impacts teaching and learning practices. As a white educator and Eurocentrically taught creative practitioner, the engagement in these conversations not only brought attention to different experiences and viewpoints, but also made me question my innate visual resources and bias regarding the construction of knowledge as relating to race, power, and place. In this paper I reflect upon the influence of these conversations on my personal thinking, teaching approaches and creative practice. I trace the process of gradual self-awareness, that has led to intentional adaptations in my teaching approach and alternative approaches in my practice as an illustrator. In so doing, the value of multimodal learning practices, particularly relating to race, is justified.