About
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The Sussex ‘Co-producing the Curriculum’ pilot began in 2019, with modules in English and Global studies being reviewed by students, lecturers, associate tutors and members of the Students’ Union. However, the pilot was something that groups at Sussex have been working towards for a very long time.
The pilot project was created to be a disruptive, through experimental intervention into our pedagogical practices. We created spaces for students and staff to have meaningful interactions around curriculum and pedagogy throughout the University, and through this, we gave academics the platform to revise their modules collaboratively using non-traditional methods. All discussions were led by anti-racist, feminist and a decolonial agenda. In order to secure the impressive work that was done during the pilot and ensure that the group moves forwards with the same approach, we have co-created a manifesto. Keep reading!
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We believe in the importance of listening and sharing educational experiences from both students and staff members to co-produce feasible changes within academia
We are working towards:
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Uniting allies from Universities and communities, towards the greater goals the group wishes to achieve, such as tackling race inequality, decolonising our society and structures and more.
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Creating stronger links between the Co-producing movement and non-academic communities.
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Inspiring University-wide review of pedagogical practice.
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Disseminating information regarding co-producing throughout our University and into the wider world
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Dismantling outdated student-teacher relationship structures.
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Revolutionising the classroom environment, to better work for all members of it, especially those who have been, and are marginalised in our current system.
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Tackling overt and unconscious bias and discrimination within teaching structures.
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Creating a stronger relationship between students and teachers, and forming bonds of solidarity.
Our Values and Principles
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We believe in dismantling power structures based on gender, race, class, and all other colonial matrices of power.
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We believe in epistemic freedom that draws on a pluriverse of knowledge systems that value different ways of knowing and Being (e.g. soma, intuition).
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We believe in the power to convene, creating intercultural spaces of resistance that allow us to express our different identities.
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We believe in dismantling knowledge hierarchies in Higher Education and challenging the politics of (‘canonical’) selection.
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Recognising that language can be a tool to exclude and dominate, We believe in co-producing a pedagogy that accounts for a diverse student body and considers the audibility of those diverse voices.
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We believe in valuing different skill sets; and call for diverse and creative modes of assessment, including video, art, and storytelling.
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We believe in the freedom of students to be active participants in their curriculum and their power to shape it by connecting teaching material to life experiences
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We believe in uncovering and confronting unequal power dynamics between teachers and students (inter- and intra-), by co-creating our vision of the world
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We believe in a Student-Teacher alliance that can mobilise resources to force the powers of Higher Education to listen and act on our demands
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We believe in confronting the social inequities that manifest in the classroom by proactively disrupting patterns of domination
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We believe in reflexivity that challenges our assumptions and practices, as well as our positionality within differing power structures
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We believe in ‘globalising the Resistance’, and forging empowered networks of solidarity and resistance within Brighton and beyond