It is widely acknowledged that teachers need to interrogate and transform how Eurocentrism underpins educational practice. This paper argues that teachers can actively engage with decolonial frameworks and concepts to productively expose how Eurocentric categories of thought shape teaching practice and curriculum. We describe how six teachers "walked with" the decolonial concept of the pluriverse (a sense of multiple coexisting differences) during collaborative reflections about our diversity teaching of culturally safe healthcare. Our research processes drew on the principles of collaborative, reflective practice. We co-participated in conversations, which aimed to collectively explore how the pluriverse concept intersected with our teaching and undertook qualitative coanalysis of themes emerging across these dialogues. The paper outlines how employing the pluriverse concept as a companion to our reflective process enabled us to ask critical questions about Eurocentrism in our teaching practice and content. Our questioning, in turn, generated principles for embedding the pluriverse in the curriculum, pedagogical approaches, and teacher dispositions. The paper discusses what enables and hinders the pluriverse being embedded in curriculum materials and classroom activities and the limitations of our activities in relation to the broader project of decolonising pedagogy.
Social distancing due to COVID‐19 forced changes to contact with birth relatives for children in out‐of‐home care. This required a shift to using technologies, which was previously underutilized and viewed as risky. In an action research study, 33 caseworkers in New South Wales, Australia, reflected upon adapting their practices. Three key themes characterized the changes in caseworker practices and how these impacted upon social interactions between children and their birth and carer families: communication, not location; shared not separate spaces and spontaneous not restricted interaction. First, caseworkers described how contact via technologies involved fewer logistical arrangements, shifting the focus on interactions among children and their two families and encouraging these to be flexible and child‐centred. Second, caseworkers discussed how spending time together virtually could build trust, as carers and birth relatives could forge relationships around shared commitment to the child's wellbeing. Third, caseworkers noted that technology‐facilitated communication enabled greater choice and control for children while requiring renegotiating boundaries. The findings reflect a shift in caseworker perceptions of technology‐facilitated contact from a risk to opportunity framework as a result of COVID‐19 conditions, consistent with social shaping of technology theory. Beyond the pandemic, contact with birth relatives can be enhanced through technology.
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