Background
In “Geographical Education II: Anti-racist, decolonial futures,” Steve Puttick critiques recent advances in geographical education, emphasizing anti-racism and decolony. The author examines past progress reports on these essential problems and finds oversights with the belief that geographical education may be taking a “decolonial turn” nowadays. For instance, the article investigates the inequities, controversial dynamics, and structural barriers to recruiting and retaining diverse geographers. With an increasing emphasis on anti-racism and decolonial perspectives, Puttick’s work highlights the problems and opportunities of creating a more inclusive and representative geographical education landscape.
Research Question
The paper’s central question explores the complex relationship between spatial education, anti-racism, and decoloniality. It examines how geography education has addressed racism, empire, and colonialism (Puttick, 2023. A critical examination of whether the recent emphasis on anti-racist and decolonial viewpoints has transformed geographical education is conducted. Further, the multidimensional investigation examines whether the increased attention is genuine or a trend. Similarly, the article also addresses the difficulties researchers and educators face in reconciling geography’s potential as an emancipatory field with its historical role in colonial narratives.
Data/Method
The paper uses a critical review of recent anti-racism and decoloniality-focused geography education initiatives, interventions, and provocations. Most importantly, the author uses literature, progress reports, and field developments to trace geography education’s historical blindness and silences on race and coloniality (Puttick, 2023. Puttick also analyzes the presence of “decolo” and “racis” in publications like Environmental Education Research and International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education to assess publication patterns and decolonial turn visibility.
Findings
Notably, the paper highlights a historical lapse in geography education, revealing blind spots that have hidden race, racism, and coloniality. Such essential issues have been silenced, skewing progress reports to focus on the discipline’s survival and promotion rather than its darker sides (Puttick, 2023. Despite this historical neglect, a decolonial turn in geographical education is growing. The rise of grassroots collectives, publications, and projects reflects this movement in anti-racism and decoloniality understanding. The “decolonial turn,” its unequal distribution, and its contentious nature across multiple contexts show its promise and problems.
In addition, the article also examines the complex issues and conflicts of the decolonial approach. It finds contradictions in geography’s dual position as an emancipatory and colonial narrative keeper (Puttick, 2023. Consequently, the marketability of decolonization as a research specialization raises issues about appropriation and dilution, highlighting the delicate balance needed to handle these complex relationships. Moreover, representativeness is key to meaningful change, and the article promotes diversity across all levels and responsibilities in geographical education.
Furthermore, the article also addresses geography’s “disciplinary fragility” and calls for a critical reevaluation of its origins, purpose, and goals. It finds that a solution is to approach geography with more intellectual humility, balancing brand promotion and reflective analysis. The author challenges the normative aspects of decoloniality theorization by advocating for a nuanced and provincialized approach (Puttick, 2023). Afterward, the paper recommends a comprehensive and reflective change in geography education that transcends traditional limits and embraces a more inclusive and expanding future for the discipline to navigate these difficult complexities.
Conclusion
The article concludes with three recommendations for anti-racist, decolonial geography education. First, representation is essential for a non-hierarchical, interconnected worldview. Second, addressing disciplinary fragility requires lightening geography, promoting intellectual humility, and balancing marketing with critical thought. Finally, the article proposes a nuanced and singular decoloniality theory, various local contexts, and a more expansive, less fragile, and anti-racist spatial education. The findings indicate a complex terrain of problems and potential as geographical education struggles with its colonial past and seek a more inclusive and socially just future.
References
Puttick, S. (2023). Geographical education II: Anti-racist, decolonial futures. Progress in Human Geography, 03091325231202248. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/03091325231202248
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