Content area
Abstract
Questions abound in the literature and in practice about how best to advance social justice among groups who are content to ignore the chorus of marginalized voices pressing for social change. This thesis advances our knowledge about how to assist in the transformation of privileged learners (on issues of race, class and gender) when we have them in our training rooms. Specifically, pedagogy for the privileged is an opportunity to enhance the effectiveness of adult educators who work with privileged learners on a daily basis in anti-racism and diversity training, human rights development, leadership training, sensitivity training and organizational development workshops.
This is an emerging field of practice (and theory) within adult education, yet it is practice that draws from a considerable body of literature on critical pedagogy, whiteness studies, anti-racism education, popular education, post-colonial scholarship, transformative learning and feminism. This thesis reviews the contributions of these literatures, synthesizing and considering the pedagogical applications of them to pedagogy for the privileged.
The thesis then embarks on a qualitative research study of twenty practitioners in the field (labour and community-based practices), which is the first of its kind. The contributions of the research are considerable, as the practice details and curriculum ideas of these deeply experienced educators are reproduced. The transformation process is assessed to be ideological, psychological, behavioural, cognitive, spiritual and emotional. The research also takes the emergent field of pedagogy for the privileged a considerable step forward, as a new model for understanding the transformation process of privileged learners in educational settings is articulated.
The research serves two goals: the first to meet the pragmatic needs within the field where there are multiple and often conflicting sensibilities about how to interpret the needs of these adult learners. The second goal is to enhance our toolbox for social change. By adding another lever for change, we become better able to make strategic choices about how to implicate privilege and domination. This thesis marks a comprehensive achievement in advancing our skills and capacities to deliver such practice.
