From the Eurasian perspective: foregrounding racial visibility and belonging for a pedagogical shift

This presentation responds to the role we have as creative practice educators to ensure the social value of culture, care and community within the classroom. It speaks to the biography of a pedagogy, and the embodied experience of the Australian transcultural landscape to broaden racial visibility and belonging within visual arts education.

From an autoethnographic position as a female Eurasian Australian artist and educator, I propose an approach that is inclusive and reflexive. This approach is one that is informed by intersectional pedagogies and the complexity of identity, migration and hybridity. Drawing on my own experiences in the classroom as well as in dialogue with staff and students, I propose utilising a Eurasian lens – one that is mixed, in-between and transdisciplinary – as an approach to engage with a multiplicity of shared knowledge, understanding and perspectives.

Specifically, this approach foregrounds an inclusion of culturally diverse staff that reflects our Australian transcultural communities and inherently aligns the values of understanding difference, identity and belonging within the classroom. The complex lived experiences and nuanced identities are incorporated and validated through professional practice and curriculum, where historical and contemporary arts theory and practice can be explored and challenged.

The strong presence of different cultural backgrounds in both educators and curriculum content reflects the growing international and transcultural student body, but also enables understanding and cultural sensitivity within the well-being of the university community. It encourages a democratic space, which further develops expertise and interest in developing curriculum and pedagogy grounded in cultural production.