Superdiversity as a superpower: honouring IBPOC stories in provincial literacy assessment practices
Subject
Abstract
The act of deepened learning is one of the many threads in the fabric of humankind. This fabric is soft and supple as it was woven under the gentle guidance, cooperation and care of a learning community. The material comprising this fabric is culture – stunning in its majesty and as delicate as it is resilient. As culture and the act of deepened learning inevitably intersect, the possibilities of learning are truly boundless. Unfortunately, many neoliberal public educational systems in the world today are focused on unravelling this fabric thread by thread through their obsession with maintaining the modernity perpetuated within the monoculture of high stakes standardized assessments. Throughout my experiences as a life-long learner and educator, I have witnessed the dehumanizing approaches brought forward through high stakes assessment models by educational institutions with the intent of gathering student achievement data. From my perspective, high stakes models of assessment do not honour and often misrepresent the lived experiences of IBPOC learners and this study aims to amplify their superdiverse voices. To practice reciprocity and respect towards the stories shared by the participants, I have included autoethnographical reflections in the form of vignettes within the study. This research is being conducted to hold governmental educational institutions accountable to honour the experiences and stories of all learners in high stakes standardized data-collection methods through the lens of decolonization, anti-racist and holistic mediums and I have provided recommendations for the practice of equitable alternative assessment practices at the conclusion of the study.