Session 3 - Strand 1 (Online)

Abstract:

Following a student’s observation that many core learning theorists studied in higher education are “dead white men,” our Learning Design team recognised a gap between our advocacy for inclusive curriculum design and the practices shaping our own pedagogical understanding. This moment became the catalyst for our Pitch a Theorist initiative. This ongoing project aims to diversify the theoretical foundations that inform our work and model the inclusive practice we hope to inspire in educators. Over the next year, team members are taking turns researching and presenting a theorist from the Global South or from historically marginalised groups, sharing how their ideas challenge, enrich, or reframe dominant pedagogical narratives. Our collective exploration includes the work of Paulo Freire, bell hooks, Gloria Ladson-Billings, Jo-Ann Archibald, and others whose scholarship foregrounds social justice, decoloniality, and culturally sustaining pedagogies. This presentation will share the journey and impact of Pitch a Theorist as a model for innovation in learning design practice. We will reflect on how broadening our epistemological perspectives can influence the ways we support course teams, design learning activities, and embed more representative, empowering approaches into our practice. Participants will leave with practical ideas for adopting similar reflective and collaborative approaches within their own teams or disciplines. By nurturing a richer, more inclusive theoretical toolkit, we can teach well for success, through widening the canon students encounter, and transforming the foundations of our own practice.