Challenging Curricular Violence through Identifying Whiteness

In keeping with CSAHS goals and commitment to Indigenization Equity Diversity and Inclusion (IEDI) the Teaching and Learning Hub would like to further the conversation on decolonizing curriculum by inviting folks to join Heather Carroll, Senior Instructional Designer at Nipissing University, in an engaging session to demystify “whiteness.”  

In this session, participants will learn to identify and dismantle the Curricular Tools of Whiteness (Picower, 2021) in their own teaching practice, instructional materials, and/or program structure. 
Defining whiteness as “A social construction that has created a racial hierarchy that has shaped all the social, cultural, educational, political, and economic institutions in society. Whiteness is linked to domination and is a form of race privilege invisible to white people who are not conscious of its power” (Henry & Tator, 2006), allows us to understand how whiteness operates. Participants will be offered multiple definitions and given a space to make sense of the concept. We will discuss the invisibilization of whiteness, and how to identify multiple ways that curriculum can uphold whiteness.

About the speaker

Heather Carroll (she/her) is the Senior Instructional Designer at Nipissing University and a designer of anti-racist adult learning programs across Atlantic Canada and Ontario. She is a white settler who strives to educate other white folks on the urgency of anti-racism. Prior to transitioning to post-secondary teaching and learning, Heather taught grades two through eight in St. John's and Halifax. She holds a Master's of International Higher Education from Loyola University Chicago, and a Master's of Learning and Teaching from Harvard University. Heather is a co-creator and co-facilitator of the virtual learning series 'Developing an Anti-Racist Pedagogical Practice' which has reached hundreds of educators and educational leaders on the East Coast.  As a scholar-practitioner, Heather has facilitated over 100 virtual learning sessions since 2020, engaging thousands of educators in developing a teaching practice that cultivates equitable learner success.