1. Dawn Darlaston-Jones, PhD & Ashleigh Owen University of Notre Dame
A collaborative learning and critical reflexivity model of anti-racism education
Dawn Darlaston-Jones, PhD
& Ashleigh Owen
University of Notre Dame
The traditional model of education in the tertiary sector positions the lecturer, tutor, and student in a hierarchical relationship to each other which results in a ‘top down’ flow of information and learning. The assumption underpinning this model is that the lecturer is the only person equipped to provide knowledge which is imparted to the students via the facilitation of the tutor. It ignores the possibility of collaborative learning based on the multiple knowledges of all persons in the equation, and therefore misses a unique opportunity for mutual learning to occur. By applying critical reflection as the theoretical framework for practice, synergistic learning opportunities can arise that sees the traditional learning structure inverted or morphed into an iterative process involving all the players. The authors were coordinator and tutor respectively for the second year undergraduate unit Culture & Society. In this session, we discuss the structures and processes which were designed to create an environment of mutual support and learning. Using mechanisms such as student focused discussion, reflective journals and mentoring, we found ourselves learning from each other and from the students on how to engage with difficult and controversial content.

2. Coordinator Perspective
2nd yr compulsory unit PS225 Culture & Society
Control
Context and structure of the unit required careful sensitive management
Weekly journals as learning and feedback to coordinator
Weekly tutor meeting
Support & guidance for tutor
Feedback and clarity for me
As described earlier this unit is a complex anti racism unit and due to the controversial nature of the content. I have always taught the unit myself without employing a tutor. However circumstances dictated that this was necessary in 2010 and I invited Ashleigh to consider the role. She was a graduate of the programme and had said that this unit was a transformational one for her and therefore I felt that she would have the skills and understanding necessary to provide the appropriate support and guidance for the students.
However, my anxiety lay in the fact that the structure of the unit meant that I would not be reading and marking the weekly reflective journals that the students submitted and therefore would not have first hand knowledge of how they were receiving the material or if they understood the concepts.
Weekly tutor meetings are a regular part of the mechanisms employed by teaching staff in Behavioural Science and so I realised that the tutor meetings that I would have each week with Ashleigh would provide the ideal context for me to provide support and guidance to a novice educator and help her to develop her repertoire of skills but that it also provides the means for me to ‘see’ inside the experience of the students because Ashleigh would be able to tell me what was emerging through the journals and this in turn would give me a lens into how they were receiving the materials etc.

3. Tutor Perspective Student educator Learner experience
Credibility
Experience
Age
Learner experience
Nexus with Honours Thesis
reflective practice
tutor meetings

4. Reflections Honest open feedback from all Depowering self
Trust & Mutual respect
Great word but MUST be lived and acted on
‘new eyes’
Depowering self
Relinquishing the hierarchical ego
Linking the educator/student roles
Connections
Boundaries
Liking/respect?
The success of this model lies in creating a context of trust and mutual respect between students tutor and coordinator. These are values that underpin Behavioural Science but it is critical that they be manifest and not just words on a website.
The reflective journals are the conduit through which students were able to convey their anxieties, confusion, insight and breakthroughs relating to the unit and this has been a crucial learning tool for me which I didn't want to lose – by establishing the tutor meeting which rapidly because a mutual exchange of learning and understanding I was able to maintain connection with the students and continue to provide the support and clarity they needed while gaining the benefits of the ‘new eyes’ of students and novice educators. It is also important to relinquish the ego associated with being the ‘expert’ educator. Depowering self in order to be open to new learning opportunities is essential
ASHLEIGH – linking roles of educator & student – seeing the needs of the students in terms of grades but from the position of an educator wanting them to develop deeper learning – also the links with educations practice which then translated into deeper understanding of the honours project. Transition from liking to respect