Content area
Background
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic exposed long-standing connections between health inequity and social injustice. With Millennials and Gen Z at the forefront of protests against racial injustices, the disconnect between students and educators is increasing. Students expect educators to trouble the comfort zone of the classroom and clinical settings to address the complex dynamics of anti-Black racism and oppressive practices. Educators are challenged to be critical allies for transformative learning to occur.
Method
The innovative co-creation of a teaching and learning model involving educators and students is introduced.
Results
Centering educators as critical allies, the model demonstrates how, using the three P components of people, place, and program, educators can integrate the principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion for a transformative experience that will bolster the student-educator relationship.
Conclusion
Educators as critical allies are central to dismantling anti-Black racism and other forms of oppression through teaching and learning.
Full text
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic unveiled the long-standing issue concerning health inequity within Canada's health care system. Further fueled by racial injustice, such as the murder of George Floyd, Millennials and Generation Z became active participants in protests displaying their anger and dissatisfaction, and calling for action. Nursing organizations and institutions have been at the forefront of seeking racial reckoning; however, an obvious disconnect remains within the classroom between the student-educator relationship, what Millennials and Generation Z expects, and what the curriculum provides (Canadian Nurses Association, 2021; Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, 2022). With the effects of the pandemic on the mental health and well-being of Millennials and Generation Z, nursing education is called to redress the comfort zones, a space where teaching and learning occur undisturbed under institutionalized racism (Grelle et al., 2023; Liu et al., 2021; Patel, 2022; Vacchiano, 2023; Public Health Agency of Canada, 2022).
Despite their experiences, Millennials and Generation Z have demonstrated resilience resulting in a convergence of solidarity and a desire to address social justice issues in the classroom, making the urgency of racial reckoning by Millennials and Generation Z at the forefront of discursive debates within and outside the classroom. Their passion for addressing social justice issues within nursing education discloses a disconnect between the educator-student relationship (Creasey et al., 2009; Gates et al., 2023; Guppy et al., 2022; Smith & Robertson, 2021). Educators continue to teach through the comfort zone of what Patel (2022) describes as an ideology of whiteness. Students demand a diverse and inclusive approach when teaching nursing education that addresses historical and sociopolitical issues (Kishimoto, 2018). To create harmony within diversity, educators are challenged to revisit their positionality and how they situate themselves within the current paradigm. Therefore, educators are called to trouble the comfort zone by becoming critical allies and creating safe learning environments for critical discourses to occur. Critical allyship commonly is used to dissociate it from the term ally, which many believe has been ineffective and meaningless (Gates et al., 2023, p. 372). This article explains and troubles the comfort zone of Eurocentrism, to demonstrate how Critical allyship can transform the educator and student relationship. This transformative process can be cultivated in the classroom and clinical setting using the authors' 3 P's model strategy with the components of people, program, and place (Figure A; available in the online version of this article).
In their study, Gates et al. (2023) noted that, “Universities throughout the world have failed to seriously engage with the systemic and structural nature of racism” (Ash et al., 2020, as cited in Gates et al., 2023, p. 380). Consequently, course materials and institutional values appear to work to promote and sustain a Eurocentric thought (Pokhrel, 2011). The absence of critical allied educators thwarts a transformative learning process, excluding critical pedagogies that promote diversity and inclusivity. Prendergast et al. (2023) described critical allyship as “an ongoing and active process working toward eradicating racism in solidarity with marginalized and oppressed groups” (pp. 89). Not being a critical ally impedes the transformative process and promotes the current status quo, which Schick (2000) referred to as White possessiveness.
Non-Black educators need to embody critical allyship if they are to actively redistribute their powers and privileges to Black and racialized colleagues and students, acknowledging the persistent inequalities that exist (Gates et al., 2023; Park, 2022; Ponet et al., 2024). For this reason, the commitment involved with being a critical ally should not be restricted to nonconfrontational encounters; rather, embodying critical allyship signifies an ongoing commitment and responsibility to social justice (Gates et al., 2023). As Martin Luther King Jr. described during the Civil Rights Movement while fighting for school integration, failing to address institutional racism is comparable to sending Black and racialized people into a burning house. In essence, the unaddressed racism embedded in educational institutions would pose a greater risk to Black and racialized people.
Critical allyship is active and works for change by challenging and dismantling all forms of racism and oppression (Nixon, 2019). When educators become critical allies, they identify structural inequalities found within the comfort zone of institutions and use their privileges to create collaborative, transformative learning experiences for students and educators through the three P's strategy: people, place, and program (Figure A).
People Component
Educators are instrumental in constructing transformative learning experiences through educator-student engagement in the classroom. According to Eschenbacher and Fleming (2020), educators can mitigate anxiety and depression through transformative learning by making sense of and giving meaning to a world with new norms. However, the authors also recognized that educators experience a level of disorientation when students critically question issues surrounding social justice and their worldviews. Tsimane and Downing (2020) support the use of transformative learning as a learner-centered process where learners can be actively engaged through critical reflection and discourses that question their assumptions and expectations. Therefore, critical allyship can engage educators and students to explore thought-provoking questions and guide educators to identify their personal biases while reflecting on their locations of power and values (Ekpe & Toutant, 2022; Holland, 2015).
When educators become critical allies, they gain insight into the invisible nature of anti-Black racism, racism, and oppression that occurs within the student-educator relationship (Gates et al., 2023; Government of Ontario, 2021). The process of transformative learning can improve self-confidence and competence among educators and students, enabling them to effectively dismantle all forms of racism within the social and professional context of nursing (Coleman, 2020; Cooper Brathwaite et al., 2022; Tsimane & Downing, 2020). Therefore, Tsimane and Downing (2019) encourage a democratic education principle, which aligns with Ladson-Billings' (1995) culturally responsive teaching that transitions educators from an individualistic approach to one of collective responsibility. In doing so, it promotes a diversity of theorists within nursing that has existed for so long on a monolithic level.
Place Component
The place component refers to the classroom and clinical settings where learning occurs, and alludes to a safe space where individuals can preserve their identity and flourish within the culture and standards of practice in nursing (Dale-Tam, 2024). However, according to Prendergast et al. (2023), these settings remain places where systemic anti-Black racism is normalized and invisible, and where students find themselves losing their identity. Coleman (2020) stated that structural racism is intrinsic within the classroom where one's identity is left outside of the classroom as “an exchange for [my] nursing education” (p. 642). Likewise, a common experience that occurs within clinical settings is what Boakye et al. (2024) identify as medical gaslighting, referring to stereotyping of Black people, where their testimonials are discounted and Black patients experience mis-treatment. As a result, the health care setting becomes an unsafe and untrustworthy space where structural racism and violence continue undisturbed (Prendergast et al., 2024).
Critical allies are in a position where they can change the status quo of the classroom by using a decolonizing approach, such as a simulation pedagogy. One example of this is the work done by Maton and Carrick-Hagenbarth (2022), where simulation was used to engage undergraduate students with an understanding of the experience of refugees who were displaced. The outcome of the study successfully showed the approach triggered transformative learning among students when teaching critical social justice issues. Likewise, critical allies can use simulations in the classroom and clinical settings to decolonize the nursing space that has operated for so long through a Eurocentric lens. Simulation is one method educators can use to bring all identities into the classroom and clinical settings when dismantling all forms of stereotypes and mistreatment. Although it is common to feel discomfort and to grapple with making changes within the traditional spaces educators once controlled, educators can disrupt the comfort zone and create opportunities to learn about their own biases and the experiences of others.
Therefore, critical allyship allows educators to push beyond such discomforts to recognize their moral and professional responsibility to promote equity, diversity, and inclusivity so that all students feel a sense of belonging. This sense of belonging is further supported by the way they teach and advocate through program and curriculum development.
Program Component
Educators who are critical allies are lifelong learners and constantly advocate for the integration of social justice issues when designing course programs in line with curriculum development. In the art of nursing, care and compassion need to be pivotal within the teaching philosophy of all educators, and for this reason, they should intentionally implement resources within their course syllabi and programs that reflect the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). These include the scholarly readings they select, the critical pedagogies they practice, and the theoretical frameworks they endorse. Critical pedagogies foster safe and inclusive spaces through which teaching and learning strategies can aid the transformative experience (Figure A). Mentorship acts as a catalyst within the educator-student relationship to further contribute to the academic and social development of students when navigating complex societal issues. Relational-cultural theory supports an emphasis on collaborative efforts to create better educational environments, as the theory highlights “power with” instead of “power over” within the context of relationships (Lewis & Olshansky, 2016).
Educators who are critical allies are meticulous in choosing scholarly articles to enhance their students' understanding of historical and sociopolitical issues (Kishimoto, 2018). Their awareness of suitable articles comes from the effort and commitment they place into conducting their research and homework. Selecting critical pedagogies, such as culturally responsive learning, relocates the course content from the ideology of whiteness where learning continues to hegemonize nursing education (Bell, 2021; Patel, 2022). Culturally responsive learning is sensitive to the diverse cultures within the classroom and allows other voices and experiences to be heard; therefore, co-creating innovative forms of learning that are relevant to the needs of the class can lead to a transformative experience (Chang, 2021; Maton & Carrick-Hagenbarth, 2022). Nursing can introduce the works of other leading theorists that are commonly used within other disciplines who provide a deeper understanding of addressing DEI issues in teaching (Kishimoto, 2018; Ladson-Billings, 1995). Black scholars, such as Carbado, Crenshaw, Mays, Tomlinson, Ladson-Billings, and others, enrich the student-educator learning experience.
Educators play a significant role when advocating for a curriculum that builds institutional capacity. Because the curriculum is a living moving document, educators intentionally work toward making it relevant for students and their worldviews (Gates et al., 2023). This is achieved by critically analyzing current inequities within standardized testing, resource allocation, and accessibility to educational materials (Rezai-Rashti & Lingard, 2021). When educators are critical allies, they are devoted to listening and understanding the needs of their students, and this is reflected in how they deliver the content that students require. This approach is grounded in the concept of pedagogical content knowledge, which integrates content and pedagogy to effectively understand subject matters, catering to the diverse interests and abilities of learners (Crider, 2022). As nursing education works toward nursing competency and excellence, critical ally educators become instrumental in students achieving their learning goals (Dale-Tam, 2024).
Centering Critical Allyship in Teaching and Learning
Centering critical allyship within the components of people, place, and program (Figure A) allows educators to iteratively practice mindfulness (Mackenzie et al., 2020). The figure demonstrates the critical allyship as the core for the components to function, resulting in the peripheral circle demonstrating the ongoing outcome that occurs. As teaching and learning is an ongoing process, the outcome is a transformative learning experience for all. Nevertheless, for this to occur, educators' relationship and engagement with students (people), their responsibility to create safe learning spaces (place), and their effort in delivering the course content (program) are reliant on educators' being critical allies who embody diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles (Iniesto & Bossu, 2023).
Conclusion
The expectations for educators to be relevant in classroom and clinical settings are growing. Millennial, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha students had a transformative experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in students who are critical and discerning of social injustice issues in health. This shift calls for educators to revisit the cohort of nursing students they now teach, reevaluate the spaces where they teach, and question the content they teach. Educators are capable of using their privilege and power to trouble the comfort zone on which nursing is built and to co-create a growing, thriving comfort zone built on DEI.
As critical allies, educators can be agents of change within the three components of teaching and learning—people, place, and program. Within the people component, they can foster stronger educator-student relationships; within the place component, they can expose and dismantle anti-Black racism, racism, and other forms of oppression; and within the program component, they can advocate for curriculum change. Therefore, educators are accountable to be critical allies in the promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion. It is on the premise of critical allyship that students and educators may feel a sense of belonging and participate in an ongoing transformative learning experience within nursing education.
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From Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Disclosure: The authors have disclosed no potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise.
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