The agents of autonomy in decolonising pedagogy: an analysis of autonomy-facilitating approaches to anti-deficit, critical, and culturally responsive education for marginalised women in Ontario, Canada

Abstract

ABSTRACT This qualitative case study presents an investigation on how three adult literacy educators in community-based teaching contexts are using anti-deficit, culturally relevant and critical practices to engage racialised women in learning processes that counter colonial epistemology. These educators work in Ontario, Canada where policy around adult literacy education prioritises learning for employment in ways that reinforce colonial epistemology by reducing the value of human and environment to serve economic growth. Despite the political-economic contexts that structure adult literacy programming, these educators’ practices engage racialised women in resources and practices that challenge colonial world views and its reproduction as the normative social practice. An analysis of these educators’ practice raises insights into how decolonising pedagogy can be further theorised to speak to the significance of agency in the education process of racialised women and the educator’s role as an agent of autonomy.