Paper short abstract:

Drawing on experiences and interactions from teaching anthropological courses on colonialism, 'race' and racism, decolonizing knowledge and identity we will give an introduction to the challenges and transformative moments for decolonizing the European classroom in the UK and German context.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper we reflect on our experiences of trying to be engaged, decolonial educators and how this relates to our own positionality, emotions and pedagogies in the classroom. By teaching courses that include readings on race, identity, borders, diaspora experiences, decolonial ways of thinking and gender, we reflect on the hierarchies and power relations in the classroom that both enable and dismantle a decolonizing project based on our own positionalities and experiences as "European others". In this regard we rethink and interrogate the process of 'decolonizing the classroom' through reflecting on the interactions and ways of being we and our students create and produce in this space. Addressing topics such as whiteness, race, identity and experiences of racism within a diverse classroom reveals the transformative potential that lies in addressing our positionalities as part of a transgressive process of reshaping the discipline and opens up questions of whose reality counts? With examples from the UK and the German context we intend to open this panel for critical discussions on the everyday, psychological and ephemeral moments of classroom interactions.