Small acts of activism

Where can you see establishing your own practices of activism, however small. 
Why are they necessary?

One way I can see practices of activism in my role is actually in line with the policies of my wider institution, which aspires to be Te Tiriti-led – though the act can feel like activism when it happens with some teaching teams and colleagues, depending on their perspectives: I ask, “where is Te Tiriti in this?” This comes up when looking at teaching and learning practices, and especially so when looking at assessment. It is a very small activism )a micro-activism), but necessary to remind others of our obligations and commitments, to keep everybody from forgetting about them or conveniently ignoring them – I feel like I’m interpellating them into the institution’s ambitions, which need support to come to life. In a way this is also counter-interpellating (Backer, 2019) aghaisn the hegemony of the iunstituion which has long been Pākehā/Western-centric in its approach to education and a long-history of excluding Māori as Māori (Bishop & Berryman, 2007). 

Are there things that you have said/will say "No!" to?

One case where I remember saying “no” came when a member of teaching staff wanted to remove all the te reo Māori from their online learning site and wanted to know how to do it. The headings of each section in the LMS were all bi-lingual, with te reo first Māori and English second (Aromatawai | Assessments, for example).  Some teaching staff resisted this and came up with many reasons why the reo should be removed. After arguing the case for reo in the LMS and being shouted down, I deferred their request and didn’t do as they had asked. It was a small act of resistance. Te reo Māori for all headings in the LMS has since become is part of the institution-wide LMS template, and cannot be removed, so I guess I won a little in the end. 

References

Backer, D. I. (2018). Interpellation, Counter-interpellation, and Education. Critical Education, 9(12), 1-21. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6VD6P449 

Bishop, R., Berryman, M. (2007). Culture Speaks : Cultural Relationships and Classroom Learning  Huia Publishers.