Inclusive Pedagogy as a Way of Life

Diversity and inclusivity constitute a burning issue in higher education. Several research studies have shown the many benefits that diversity brings in many different situations. It has also been shown that embracing diversity, beneficial as it is, may not always be a natural thing to do as there is always a ‘hidden brain’ that functions on our individual implicit biases to inform decision-making processes of our unconscious persons, potentially, against the tenets of inclusivity. Discourse on ways of overcoming these implicit biases to make way for more inclusive pedagogical environments has abounded. In the thick of this discourse, a number of questions come to the fore: How long has it been known that inclusivity is beneficial? Whose duty is it to champion inclusivity? Is it good enough if one temporarily suspends their biases for the sake of creating a more inclusive pedagogical environment and then return to their original self afterwards? What can be done to ensure that inclusive pedagogy is more sustainable?

It would appear that knowledge on the benefits of diversity and inclusivity has been around for a long time. However, to this very day, embracing diversity remains a challenge not only in higher education institutions, but also in many others. Others have argued that very little is being done to create inclusive pedagogical environments as the spectrum of diversity continues to grow and its bands remain only partially understood. In spite of the many years that it has been known that inclusivity is beneficial, why is it still unnatural for others to embrace diversity? Perhaps in order to gain insight into this question, we need to figure out whose duty it is to champion inclusive pedagogy.

This far, it has largely been suggested that the teacher plays a primal role in ensuring that an inclusive pedagogical environment prevails. This approach seems to ignore the multidimensionality of the issue at hand. As has already been pointed out by others, most of the implicit biases that plague one’s unconscious decision-making processes develop outside of the classroom. If the sources of these biases are not adequately addressed, attempts at creating an inclusive pedagogical environment will only succeed in so far as what results portrays an isolated momentary experience that is not only detached from reality, but that is also superficial and vulnerable to catastrophic failure at any time. The classroom and the world that exists beyond it must be understood as a totality so that the responsibility of creating inclusive pedagogical environments is shared by teachers, learners, parents and the general public.

In an effort to create inclusive pedagogical environments, there are certain things that one may need to do. This approach, essentially, enables one to temporarily suspend their biases just so that they can be seen to be accommodative of diversity and then, once the need is over, they revert back to their original self. Is this good enough an approach? Probably not as it comes through as just being a convenient show off. Unfortunately, it would be very hard to tell if one is genuinely committed to diversity or they are just trying to side with the convenient truth at any given moment.

When all is said and done, we must all aspire for inclusive pedagogical environments that are sustainable. There are many things that might be done in order for this to happen one of which might be the exploration of the idea that the classroom and the world beyond it are a totality and that the duty of ensuring the prevalence of sustainable pedagogical environments belongs to not only the teachers, but us all. Inclusive pedagogy must become a way of life.

The Spirit of Mzuzu City

Several weeks ago, the Mzuzu city council decided to cut down the age-old Jacaranda trees that lined up the central reserve of the dual carriage way in the city. This was presumably done to make it easier for the improvement works that were being undertaken on the carriage way. There have since been conflicting viewpoints from the general public on the merits of this decision by the city council. In this opinion piece, my thought process departs from an architectural phenomenology standpoint and a positivist understanding of the urban built form to bemoan the decision that was made to cut the trees.

Have we ever wondered what it is that makes us feel at home when we are in one place and not in another? It is those little things such as colour, smells, light, textures, objects and the people that either build up familiarity or create aloofness. These little things interact in a way that they take us out of the realm of the ordinary, which ends at the precincts of the outside world, and into that other, the homely realm, where we get to interface with the home’s unique character in a way that we almost touch it as if it were a thing. To be sure, the homely realm can only be accessed by our persons and those others’ that very closely identify with us. In the event that others sought to embark on the same transcension endeavour as us out of the ordinary realm, however hard they tried and however hard you tried to help them, they would never be able to fully make it and interact with that character, the one that you and your kindred get to interact with in the homely realm. It is the spirit of place that is responsible for the distinctive homely experience. Every place has its own spirit of place, the genius loci.

In urban design, the genius loci draws from the natural and symbolic values of a locality. It vests in visualizations of the physical surroundings, the emotions and the experiences, the history and aspirations of the inhabitants and the symbolism drawn from cultural awareness. The genius loci may be experienced as a phenomenon in three states namely the image, the space, and the character which ultimately becomes the spirit of the place.

Visualizations of the physical surroundings create the image that defines the genius loci. These could be visualizations of, amongst others, the topography – the rolling hills and valleys, vegetation, light and the sky and their temporal variations and existing buildings and their hierarchical order.

Beyond the image and within the locality’s space, is where one experiences the emotions through interactions with the people. These could be emotions of warmth or indifference. They could be functions of adequacy or insufficiency. Within the space is also where are to be found historical and cultural artifacts that describe the origins of the locality and set forth the people’s aspirations.

The synthesis of the image and the space creates the character and sets forth the spirit of the place.

There can be no denying of the fact that the ill-fated jacaranda trees constituted an integral aspect of the image of the city of Mzuzu. At the very core of the city’s history, they permeated into one of the most important spaces in the city with such grandeur, colour and symbolism. They demonstrated Mzuzu’s commitment to its unwritten characterization as the green city, particularly so, at a time when discourse on sustainable development has become conventional. The trees did not only provide the much-needed shade over a busy highway and thereby minimizing the urban heat island effect, but also provided an acoustic buffer that helped control the propagation of sound energy emanating from traffic and thereby minimizing noise pollution within the city soundscape. As it is now, the spirit of the city has suffered a transformation that may never be reversible regardless of whether a decision is made to plant new trees or not. Perhaps decisions such as these, with the potential for both longitudinal and wide-reaching impacts, must be the subject of concerted public deliberation and not left at the whim of a few individuals.