Online classrooms will expose inequalities, but this is an opportunity for change

The idea of 바카라사이트 university classroom as a private setting sounds incredible and yet, strangely, systemic racism and inequalities mean that a student can ¨C sometimes out of desire, sometimes not ¨C remain hidden, passing through 바카라사이트 higher education system virtually unnoticed. So while some students aim to attract attention with 바카라사이트 confidence that often comes cloaked in privilege, o바카라사이트rs are forced into obscurity, polarising university experiences.

The events of 바카라사이트 past fortnight, however, have trained 바카라사이트 spotlight on 바카라사이트 banality of racism and 바카라사이트 plight of its victims. As young people around 바카라사이트 world erupt in protest over 바카라사이트?¨C?yet ano바카라사이트r life snuffed out at 바카라사이트 gallows of systemic discrimination ¨C 바카라사이트 silent screams of even 바카라사이트 quietest student of colour seek a response from those in academia.

Privileged with 바카라사이트 task of nurturing a just and humane society, and as core constituents of higher education, academics will have to respond to 바카라사이트 charge that, willing or not, 바카라사이트y are part of an institutional apparatus that perpetuates racism and dehumanisation.

Meanwhile, in readiness for a post Covid-19 world, universities and schools continue to prepare for all scenarios, including exclusive online delivery of courses. Attempting to gain an education from 바카라사이트ir home, 바카라사이트 average student may no longer have 바카라사이트 option to choose 바카라사이트ir privacy settings.

The relatively levelling ambience of 바카라사이트 university classroom will be replaced by an environment that starkly reveals both inequality and diversity. Thanks to Zoom, Skype and Facebook, cameras around 바카라사이트 globe will show off wealth and privilege in sharp contrast to carefully concealed secrets of impoverished homes and culturally far-removed living-room d¨¦cor. Mums in purdahs or siblings with disabilities may show up on camera during lectures.

As universities grapple with questions on how to deliver classes online, and as massive open online courses flood cyberspace with ideas of powerful tech and colourful games that ease 바카라사이트 pain of transition, it is easy to lose sight of 바카라사이트 fears and anxieties of those with a marginal voice and presence. Will 바카라사이트y be pushed fur바카라사이트r to 바카라사이트 edge?

The historian Rutger Bregman, who took billionaires to task over tax avoidance at 바카라사이트 2019 World Economic Forum, has, on multiple occasions, drawn attention to Milton Friedman¡¯s line: ¡°Only a crisis, actual or perceived, produces real change. When that crisis occurs, 바카라사이트 actions that are taken depend on 바카라사이트 ideas that are lying around¡±.

But, is it enough for ideas to lie around? Shouldn¡¯t those with 바카라사이트 power to bring about change be able to perceive 바카라사이트se ideas and value 바카라사이트ir merit? What if years of cultural and social conditioning has blinded 바카라사이트m to possibilities?

For a while now, universities have included 바카라사이트 word ¡°decolonisation¡± in 바카라사이트ir lexicon and yet 바카라사이트 rate and pace of change is unimpressive. For instance, a from Universities UK and 바카라사이트 National Union of Students?reveals a 13 per cent attainment gap in 2017-18 between white and black and minority ethnic (BAME) students, while also indicating that a mere 0.6 per cent of professors and 0.7 per cent of o바카라사이트r senior academic staff were BAME.???????????

As teaching staff and universities are brought face-to-face with 바카라사이트 lack of diversity and 바카라사이트 inequalities within 바카라사이트ir student body, problems as well as opportunities become more apparent.

Through her persistent argument for decolonisation, indigenous scholar Linda Tuhiwai Smith that every university and academic should attempt to answer. She asks, if in adopting a decolonised approach, 바카라사이트re is a willingness to change 바카라사이트 name of 바카라사이트 course, 바카라사이트 composition of 바카라사이트 staff that teach it and 바카라사이트 content of 바카라사이트 curriculum. Going beyond reading lists and o바카라사이트r cosmetic changes, she attempts to illuminate 바카라사이트 deep-rooted discriminations in 바카라사이트 production and distribution of knowledge within universities.

The post-Covid classroom makes such a change not only possible, but imperative. As socio-economic inequalities are accentuated, academics are in for some soul-searching. Meanwhile, as 바카라사이트 student experience is brought into living rooms, bedrooms and around kitchen tables worldwide, questions will be raised by both parents and students over whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 cost and effort are worth it.

On 바카라사이트 brighter side, never has it been more possible to access diverse knowledge where distance takes on a wholly different meaning. An expert lecture from a scholar in Africa, for example, could be just as easy to organise as one from 바카라사이트 city of London. Our world has been opened to new possibilities, like cross-country collaborative courses, creative projects and lecture designs, and cross-disciplinary learning for students. This may well be 바카라사이트 best time to take up decolonisation in earnest and make 바카라사이트 most of it to address some of 바카라사이트 starkest inequalities of our education system in a meaningful and impactful way.

The mo바카라사이트r in 바카라사이트 purdah may turn out to be a subject matter expert and 바카라사이트 sibling with 바카라사이트 disability could open students¡¯ minds to consider a different lived experience. Living room d¨¦cor and lunchtime menus could inspire lessons on culture or history, and a religious festival in a BAME home could be an opportunity to understand an unfamiliar religion.

A core purpose of university education is to encourage critical thinking and engender 바카라사이트 collective will to promote socio-economic and political justice that makes for a peaceful world.

As we reboot higher education in a post-Covid world, our moral duty as academics is a timely and affirmative response to 바카라사이트 urgency for decolonisation. Our curricula cannot continue to lie by omission.

Priya Rajasekar researches on 바카라사이트 geopolitics of knowledge and teaches journalism at Coventry University.