Self as Knowledge Unit

Designed by Jasmin Hoo

Unit Overview
A. Redefining Knowledge
Students will engage in readings and activities that challenge the western standards for knowledge and learning.
Students will learn about how modernism defined knowledge as objective, neutral, scientific and detached from the body and
heart, and the political implications of this definition. To counter this definition of knowledge, students will explore how their
own bodies and experiences are rich sources of knowledge. Students will consider how they can learn both from their own
experiences as well as from the experiences of their classmates.

B. Identity and Intersectionality
Building off of the idea that context and experience shape our learning and thinking, students will explore their own
socio-political identities through an intersectionality framework. Students will read narratives about the intersectionality of
identity and engage in activities to understand their own identities more deeply. Readings and activities will encourage students
to break from the binary and dualistic thinking about identity, and take into account the multi-dimensional and contradictory
aspects of identity. Students will continue to learn about themselves and their classmates and build community.

C. Privilege, Oppression, and Power
Students will explore how their identities and experiences are molded by the systems of oppression and privilege
(including racism, colonization, hetero-centricsm, etc.) They will be pushed to be self-reflective and to acknowledge their own
positionality in relation to power and how this may manifest in the classroom community. Students will connect the ideas of
contextuality, identity, power, privilege, and knowledge together. In learning about the three levels of oppression and privilege,
students will be pushed to consider their own power and agency in challenging institutional and cultural oppression and privilege.

Unit Project: Self Portrait


Unit Purpose

PROBLEM


The purpose of this unit is to challenge western forms of knowledge and redefine it in a liberatory way, to
validate students identities and experiential knowledge, and to have students self reflect on their own
socio political identities in the context of power and privilege, and to begin to recognize and utilize their
own agency to respond to these issues.

The unit starts with the redefining of knowledge beyond the modernist framework. Historically,
knowledge has been colonized and objectified by western thinkers. The focus on quantitative data and the
scientific method assumes that real knowledge is neutral and objective and denies the body-mind
connection and ignores the cultural context of knowledge. Manipulated definitions of knowledge and
intelligence have also been used as a justification for oppression and colonization and have silenced people
who do not have access to western knowledge/education. In this unit students will explore alternative
forms of knowledge including Yossos community cultural wealth theory (2005), which uses Critical Race
Theory to reframe Bourdieus cultural capital theory by naming and valuing people of colors cultural
capital, and Meyers Hawaiian epistemology (2003) which challenges the modernist framework by
exploring other ways of knowing including spiritual knowing and the body-mind connection. Bodily
and experiential knowledge will also be explored through activities and exercises. Students will reflect on
whether or not their experiential knowledge is valued in formal education. The aim is for students to find
value and worth in their own experiential knowledge and that of their classmates.

The unit will continue looking at the self as a source of knowledge by exploring identity through the
framework of intersectionality. Identity is often conflated, essentialized, and understood in a one-
dimensional and polarized way, but intersectionality acknowledges that our identities are made up of
multiple shifting parts that intersect and interact with one another. Students will read narratives on identity
that highlight the intersectionality of identity that break binaries and pose contradictions. Students will
reflect on their own identities and learn about their classmates through these complex frameworks.

Based on the idea that context matters, students will be pushed to think about their own positionality of
identity in the context of power and privilege. Integrating what they have already learned about power,
knowledge, and intersectionality, students will learn about the systems of oppression and how they impact
their individual experiences, their classmates experiences, and our society/culture as a whole. This
section of the unit recognizes the importance of acknowledging the complex power dynamics that are
always present and begin to empower students to challenge and transform them. Furthermore, students
will look at how the three levels of oppression (individual, institutional, cultural) interact to create inequity
and will explore the power individuals have to impact and challenge oppression.

Essential Questions:
1. Is there more than one form of knowledge, learning, and intelligence?
2. Does context matter? Is there such a thing as objectivity?
3. Who has the authority over knowledge?
4. How has knowledge been used to oppress and liberate?
5. What kinds of knowledge do our bodies and experiences hold?
6. What can we learn from our own experiences and from the experiences of our classmates?
7. What is identity? Do we define our own identities or does society define them for us?
8. What are the benefits and limitations of labels and identifiers?
9. What is privilege? How does it work? Can it be altered or eliminated?
10. How does each of our socio political contexts shape the dynamics of this classroom?
11. What can individuals do to affect institutional and cultural systems of oppression?


As of Learning


Activism - This unit will promote activism by connecting the personal to the political.
Art This unit will incorporate multiple art activities and projects as valuable ways of learning.
Academic This unit will challenge students to critically think about how we define knowledge and
identity.
Application This unit will allow students to apply their learning directly to their own lives.
Action This unit will promote action through the self-portrait project and problem solving activities.


MIND:

CONTENT
Learning Goals

1. To understand that knowledge and learning are defined by culture and power.
2. To learn about the modernist definition of knowledge: how it was formed and how it has been used.
3. To learn about counter definitions of knowledge and how they relate to the body and personal
experience.
4. To better understand their own bodies and experiences.
5. To learn about the theory of intersectionality and identity and how it relates to their own identities.
6. To understand the concepts of power, privilege and oppression on the individual, institutional and
cultural levels.
7. To consider the power individuals have in affecting institutional and cultural change.


BODY:

SKILLS
Learning Goals

1. To be able to reflect on and critique different definitions of knowledge.
2. To be able to connect with their bodies, minds, and spirits.
3. To be able to listen actively.
4. To be able to reflect on their own identities critically within the context of power, privilege, and
oppression.
5. To be able to connect theories and concepts learned to the reality of their classroom community.
6. To be able to recognize their own power and agency in transforming society.


SOUL:

RELEVANCE
Learning Goals


1. To be able to see the value and worth in their own bodily and experiential knowledge, as well as of
their classmates.
2. To be able to reflect on how power and culture has shaped their own definitions of knowledge and
intelligence.
3. To be able to redefine knowledge in an empowering rather than oppressive way.
4. To be able to reflect on and express their own identities and experiences.
5. To become more conscious of their power and privilege, oppression.
6. To feel connected to the other students in the class.


LEADERSHIP:

CRITICAL
LEADERSHIP
Learning Goals

1. To see themselves as authorities of knowledge.
2. To practice self-reflection and expression.
3. To practice active listening.
4. To teach each other and to learn from one another.
5. To practice applying their learning to action and problem solving.

UNIT
PROJECT:
Title: Self Portrait

Students will create a self-portrait, which will reflect their social political identities and the concepts of
intersectionality, privilege, power, and oppression. The portrait is a creative project that can include any
mix of media the student wishes to use: painting, photography, spoken word, rap, dance, collage,
sculpture, etc. The self-portrait also consists of a 5-page reflection/analysis paper of their identity and how
their self-portrait reflects these ideas.



UNIT CONCEPTS



Definition, Description, and/or History of the Concept



Activity/Project
that Highlights
the Concept


MODERNISM


Movement during the European Enlightenment period that valued logic, rationality,
observable science, metanarratives, form over content, and binary thinking. (Hemphill
& Blakely, in press). Modernism continues to be a dominant paradigm in the West
that shapes educational practices and policies.
Readings and
lecture
DECOLONIZATION

Decolonization is the process of humanizing the dehumanized, (Halagao, 2010, p.
5). Theories of decolonization acknowledge the oppressive power dynamic between
the colonizer and the colonized and addresses the significant impact of colonization
has had on whole countries, on ethnic groups, and on individuals. For a person whose
people have been colonized, decolonization is a process of naming and deconstructing
this toxic history and finding worth and value and power in their own culture and
people.

Readings,
lecture,

CRITICAL RACE
THEORY


Critical Race Theory (CRT) emerged out of Critical Studies as a way of
deconstructing race and racism. Solrzanos (1997) synopsis of CRTs tenants:
1) centrality and intersectionality of race and racism
2) a challenge to dominant ideology
3) a commitment to social justice
4) the centrality of experiential knowledge
5) the utility of interdisciplinary perspectives to understand Students of Color
Readings,
lecture,

COMMUNITY
CULTURAL WEALTH
THEORY


In response to Bourdieus cultural capital theory, Yosso (2005) argues that people of
color also have cultural capital, which she calls Community Cultural Wealth. Types
of cultural capital include:
Aspirational
Linguistical
Familial
Social
Navigational
Resistant
Readings,
lecture, and
Bodies of
Knowledge
activity


INTERSECTIONALITY
THEORY

The theory that our identities are the intersection of our social identities (such as race,
class, gender, religion), and that our race cannot be isolated from our gender (for
example), but that these parts influence each other and the whole identity experience.
Readings,
lecture, and
identity activities
BIG 8 IDENTIFIERS

The major socio-political identifiers that shape our experiences in the world:
Race, ethnicity, gender, socio economic status, religion, sexual orientation, age,
physical and mental ability.
Readings,
lecture, and
identity activities
PRIVILEGE A system that operates on the individual, cultural, and institutional levels, which gives
power and advantage to members of the dominant groups (males, white people,
Readings,
lecture, Mirrors
heterosexuals, able-bodied people, etc.) at the expense of members of the target
groups (females, people of color, LGBTQ people, differently able-bodied people,
etc.). Privilege is often invisible or taken for granted by the dominant groups who are
taught that they have earned these privileges based on merit.
of Privilege film
discussion, and
Privilege walk
activity
OPPRESSION The other side of the system of privilege, in which the target groups are disadvantaged
and disempowered through systemic and cultural force. Oppression can happen on
the individual level (an individuals personal prejudice), cultural level (societal norms
and beliefs), and institutional or systemic level (hierarchy, policies,
procedures). There are several systems of oppression including racism, sexism,
homophobia, classism, etc. which all work together to maintain societal inequity.
Readings,
lecture,
Cracking the
Codes film
discussion, and
Privilege walk
activity
POWER Power can be a positive or negative force. It can be abused to dominate and exploit
others, or it can be used to liberate and empower others.
Take A Stand
Activity

References
Halagao, P. (2010). Liberating Filipino Americans through Decolonizing Curriculum. Race, Ethnicity, and Education,
13, pp. 496-512.
Hemphill, D. & Blakely E. Language, Nation, & Identity in the Classroom: Legacies of Modernity and Colonialism in
Schooling. (In press).
Meyer, M.A. (2003). Our Own Liberation: Reflections on Hawaiian Epistemology, no. 2, p. 139. UCLA.
Solrzano, D. (1997). Images and Words that Wound: Critical Race Theory, Racial Stereotyping, and Teacher
Education. Teacher Education Quarterly, 24, pp. 5-20.
Yosso, Tara J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural
wealth. Race, Ethnicity, and Education, 8/1, pp. 69-91. Taylor & Francis Group Ltd.