| Title: Masthead |
| File: Masthead_V4_2025 |
| Title: Editorial: Neoliberal organization of classroom teaching and learning |
| Journal: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Student Success |
| Abstract: NA |
| Keywords: Teaching, Learning, Neoliberal, Open Access. |
| Authors: Dionisio Nyaga & Rose Ann Torres |
| Page: 1-6 |
| File: Editorial |
| Title: Creating spaces of possibilities: Imperatives for teacher education in neoliberal times |
| Journal: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Student Success |
| Abstract: Since its inception, teacher education has been rooted in assumptions of normalcy and technical rationality which persistently homogenize teaching and learning, thereby erasing the qualities that hold transformative potential for education. To resist, it is imperative that teacher educators explicitly, intentionally, and collaboratively create and reimagine new spaces of possibilities with teacher- candidates (TCs). Objectives: Explore the impact on teacher educators’ and TCs’ learning experiences and subsequent approaches to teaching when teacher educators intentionally create accessible, non-normative spaces for TCs that cultivate, rather that suppress, their variability as learners. Method(s): Three teacher educators utilized a collective, situated self-study methodology through an ongoing critical collaborative inquiry into their implementation of practices such as: ungrading (Blum, 2020), accessible accommodations, wellbeing activities, and multiple means of accessing content and expressing learning. Impacts were explored through critical analysis of data, including: meeting recordings, journals, syllabi, lessons, communications, course evaluations, program evaluations, and assignment and interview data from four TCs. Data were transcribed, coded, and recursively reviewed. Results: TCs connected with and co-constructed learning in ways that increased depth, quality, and originality of coursework and active participation in learning communities. Teacher educators needed to be persistently reflexive and responsive to TCs’ feedback and realities. Ableist institutional assumptions limited teacher educators’ capacity to fully implement holistic approaches. Conclusions and Implications: When teacher educators explicitly challenge educational “norms” while facilitating accessible teaching, TCs can simultaneously experience, imagine, and implement possibilities for doing things differently. Creating spaces that challenge and resist oppressive colonial and neoliberal ideologies and assumptions can create opportunities for this work to flourish. |
| Keywords: Teaching, Learning, Neoliberal, Open Access. |
| Authors: Kara E. Dymond, Lincoln Smith, & Kathryn Broad |
| Page: 7-34 |
| File: Dymond_Proof |
| Title: Pedagogical Anxiety in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Implication to social work teaching and learning |
| Journal: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Student Success |
| Abstract: There has been minimal discussion on the effects of artificial intelligence (AI) in social work teaching and learning in Canada (Hodgson etal, 2022). This paper therefore attempts to look at artificial intelligence in social work teaching and learning in ways that center voices from the margin (Holmes & Porayska-Pomsta, 2023; Menifield, 2022), mostly those of African and Black students in the western social work classroom (Moore, etal, 2022; Zuckerman etal, 2022). Equally, there is limited scholarship on experiences of Black students within the social work curriculum and classroom. This coupled with historical injustices meted on Black students and the role of social work in this form of racial erasure pushed me to bring on board prevailing issues of anti-Black racism in social work teaching and learning in Canada. Artificial Intelligence may exacerbate an already historically fragile relationship between the Black students and a white social work curriculum. I look at this discussion as one of the many social work ethical teaching and learning issues that continue to be overlooked in discussions entailing technological anxieties in modern social work classrooms and for which many social work schools continue to pay less attention. It is these forms of everyday forgetting and ignorance within a white centric classroom that I seek to interrogate and bring on board issues of anti-Black racism in a technologically accelerated classroom. This paper is an invitation to actively discuss and foreground historical anti-Black racism that continues to manifest in contemporary technological escalation and expansion and for which to me seems to be relegated into the epistemic margins. The paper calls for a robust discussion of how issues facing Black and African social work students must be considered in ways that are ethical when engaging with technological concerns brought about by Artificial Intelligence. The paper invites communities of social work scholars, governments, and all stakeholders both within and outside the educational sector to include issues of historical anti-Black and anti-African racisms into discussion on Artificial Intelligence and acknowledge the complex and intersectional ways in which Black social work students are expunged and deported within the Canadian social work classroom environment. Such an ethical engagement compels us to find ways of centering and employing intersectional and complex epistemological axes into the current anxieties on technological acceleration of the Canadian social work classroom brought about by Artificial Intelligence. This is an important and fundamental aspect of social work teaching and learning, because a failure to do so may equally mean accelerated harm to Black and African social work students in Western classrooms. |
| Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Black Students, African Students, Teaching, Learning, Open Access. |
| Authors: Dionisio Nyaga |
| Page: 35-52. |
| File: Nyaga |
| Title: Linguistic Impressions and Colonial Representations of Africa |
| Journal: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Student Success |
| Abstract: NA |
| Keywords: Linguistic Impressions, Colonial, Africa, Teaching, Learning, Open Access. |
| Authors: Dionisio Nyaga |
| Page: 53-66 |
| File: Nyaga |
| Title: Decolonial Voices: Muslim Immigrants in Canadian Education |
| Journal: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Student Success |
| Abstract: Objectives: Muslim immigrant community faces many obstacles and challenges in their successful integration into Canadian society. This paper presents their lived experiences in the Canadian labour market and educational system, as they are interconnected in terms of integration, in the context of rising anti-Muslim sentiment and the Canadian integration discourse. Methods: This esearch anchors its analysis within the existing literature on Muslim immigrants n the labour market and education system alongside my previous research. Results: Through an emphasis on a decolonial reading of the term “Muslim mmigrant” in relation to the intersectionality of gender, race, religion, and mmigrant status, I argue that future research on Muslim immigrants can benefit rom a decolonial perspective. Conclusion and Implication: This paper shows that uch a decolonial reading reveals the coloniality of power embedded within these categories and the discussion shows that Muslim immigrants experience an absence of their positionality from the Canadian national imaginary. |
| Keywords: Muslim Immigrant, Canadian Education, Islamophobia, Integration, Decolonial, Open Access. |
| Authors: Anila Zainub |
| Page: 67-86 |
| File: Zainub |
| Title: Decolonizing Community Re-entry: Effective Case Studies of Innovative Community-Led Programs and Services to Support Formerly Incarcerated Individuals in Canada |
| Journal: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Student Success |
| Abstract: Decolonizing re-entry programs require rethinking traditional approaches in supporting formerly incarcerated individuals and challenging colonial and deficit frameworks embedded in the criminal legal system, which often has an exclusive focus on punishment. This article names the risk factors and systemic barriers faced by equity-denied individuals during reintegration with a focus on the Canadian context. Two community-led programs in Ontario are highlighted as innovative case studies for effectively supporting reintegration of individuals exiting carceral institutions. Key characteristics of these programs which are offered by the Youth Association for Academics, Athletics, and Character Education (YAAACE) and Walls to Bridges (W2B) are outlined. Implications are discussed for enhancing effective community re-entry with a focus on amplifying the transformative impact of peer-led, trauma-informed programs that capitalize on the lived and living experiences of criminalized individuals. A series of recommendations are outlined regarding the importance of integrating Indigenous and Africentric knowledge systems and offering more programs and services rooted in trauma-informed approaches. These strategies would mitigate the unique challenges faced by Indigenous, Black, and other equity-denied identities who are disproportionately incarcerated. |
| Keywords: Community Re-entry, Reintegration, Culturally Responsive Programs, Culturally Responsive Services, Incarceration, Equity-denied Identities. |
| Authors: Ardavan Eizadirad & Rai Reece |
| Page: 87-92 |
| File: Eizadirad_Reece |
| Title: It Takes a Village to Raise a Child: Sankofa, Ubuntu, and Ujamaa as Counter-Frameworks for Anti-Colonial Education |
| Journal: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Student Success |
| Abstract: This paper advances the African-centred philosophies of Sankofa, Ubuntu, and Ujamaa (USU) as a critical anticolonial praxis for reimagining K–12 education in Canada. It interrogates the racialized and colonial architectures of schooling, manifested through Eurocentric curricula, punitive disciplinary regimes, and inequitable assessment practices that continue to marginalize Black, Indigenous, racialized, disabled, and other systematically minoritized students. Drawing on USU, the paper conceptualizes education as a relational and anticolonial project oriented toward radical belonging, ethical agency, critical consciousness, and collective flourishing. Through a critical anticolonial analysis, it examines how Ubuntu’s ethic of interconnectedness, Sankofa’s call for critical remembrance, and Ujamaa’s emphasis on cooperative responsibility collectively challenge the colonial logics that underpin the Canadian K–12 education system. The paper concludes by outlining key implications for curriculum, assessment, and policy.. |
| Keywords: Ubuntu, Sankofa, Ujamaa, Anti-colonial Education, K-12 Education. |
| Authors: Kenneth Gyamerah |
| Page: 93-110 |
| File: Gyamerah |
| Title: Toward decolonizing methodologies: intersecting points of view of teachers and newly arrived immigrant students regarding inclusion |
| Journal: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Student Success |
| Abstract: Although children’s voices are now widely recognized and prioritized by many researchers across disciplines (Sudarsan et al., 2022), this approach remains controversial (Espinosa, 2022), especially when working with migrant and displaced children (Due et al., 2014). It remains unclear to what extent such research is truly attuned to children’s lived realities and prioritizes a decolonial methodological logic in its interpretation (Smith, 2021). Objectives: This article aims to explore this question through a research project examining the intersecting points of view of teachers and newly arrived immigrant students (NAIS) in elementary schools in Quebec, regarding pedagogical practices that promote their sociocultural and academic inclusion. Methods: Data collection methods included comprehensive interviews, classroom observations, and semi-structured interviews conducted in three classes across different schools in Quebec of three teachers and seven NAIS. By presenting different practices-each involving the teacher and one or more students-we explore the extent to which the concept of student inclusion is articulated and perceived by both groups. Results: Preliminary results reveal a divergence in points of view between students and their teachers, and show that the priorities identified by students differ from those emphasized by teachers. Conclusion: This illustrates that inclusion cannot be defined only from the teachers’ point of view, but instead, needs to attend to its articulation by teachers and students. The study also highlights the importance of creating ‘safe’ spaces in educational research where students can fully express their perceptions and needs, which speaks to the urgent need to attend to the decolonization of methodologies, in this case implying a form of deep listening and attunement to diverse voices. |
| Keywords: Decolonizing Methodologies, Inclusion, Student Voice. |
| Authors: Rola Koubeissy, Florence Croguennec, Jrène Rahm, Gabrielle Montesano, & Garine Papazia- Zohrabian, |
| Page: 111-135 |
| File: Koubeissy et al. |
| Title: Power of polyphony: Co-teaching as a pedagogical praxis for liberatory education |
| Journal: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Student Success |
| Abstract: Objectives: Despite its potential to enrich learning environments, coteaching remains underutilized in higher education. This reflective inquiry, coauthored by two racialized women social work educators, explores co-teaching as a liberatory pedagogical praxis in virtual classrooms serving diverse learners— including students from rural and Indigenous communities, mature learners, firstgeneration college students, working professionals, and those with caregiving responsibilities. Methods: Through a recorded 180-minute reflexive dialogue, we critically examined our co-teaching experience in a Bachelor of Social Work program. Using dialogic methodology grounded in critical feminist, decolonial, trauma-informed, and anti-oppressive frameworks, we analyzed how our intersecting positionalities shaped our pedagogical choices and relational dynamics. This methodology enabled us to surface insights into the affordances and limitations of co-teaching in virtual learning contexts. Results: We identified three key components of co-teaching that foster collaborative and inclusive learning environments: (1) cultivating genuine, trust-based relationships with and between students; (2) modeling non-hierarchical collaboration and critical use of self to disrupt authoritative knowledge production; and (3) advocating for institutional recognition through equitable compensation, curricular autonomy, and structural support for co-teaching models. Conclusion and Implications: Positioning our analysis within the broader critique of neoliberalism and coloniality in higher education, we argue that co-teaching is not merely a pragmatic tool, but a transformative practice. It holds the potential to democratize classroom power dynamics, center relational pedagogy, and create more equitable, responsive, and care-informed educational spaces—particularly in virtual settings where isolation and over-responsibilization are prevalent. |
| Keywords: Co-teaching, Praxis, Neolibralism, Education, Open Access |
| Authors: Viveka Ichikawa & Christa Sato |
| Page: 136-160 |
| File: Ichikawa_Sato |
| Title: Religious Settler Identity: The Complex Relationship of Reconciliation and Religion |
| Journal: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Student Success |
| Abstract: Objectives. This qualitative research explores the narratives of three Canadian Catholic and Christian post-secondary students and their complex relationship of reconciliation and religion. The central research question being: What are the nuanced ways in which Indigenous history and culture was taught or excluded in the Canadian education system, and how does this affect the relationship towards truth and reconciliation, as well as spiritual relationships for Catholic/Christian post-secondary students? Methods. Both anti-racism and decolonization frameworks created a foundational lens as within the context of the Canadian education system, they inform how colonization and colonial practices have/continue to influence curriculum. A narrative methodology was used, focusing on storytelling, the individual, and uniqueness of experiences, highlighting both the individual experience while sharing common themes. Three semi-structured interviews were conducted. I included an Indigenous faculty consultation group with three Indigenous professors to help guide my research. Results It highlights the stories of three Catholic and Christian post-secondary students, exemplifying their complex relationships with reconciliation throughout their faith journey. Through analysis of interviews, themes of religious settler identity and Indigenizing and decolonizing education are discussed. Conclusion. This research challenges academia and institutionalized conceptions of reconciliation, decolonization, and Indigenization, emphasizing the importance of the effects that curriculum changes and the implementation school practices has on Catholic and Christian students. It explores religious settler identity as a complex ongoing journey of self-discovery, challenge, and education that portrays the unique responsibility of religious settlers’ accountability in reconciliation. |
| Keywords: Reconciliation, Indigenous, Decolonizing Education, Catholic, Christian, Open Access. |
| Authors: Rachel Flores |
| Page: 161-178 |
| File: Flores |