Step 7: Nurturing Voices that Challenge the Dominant Narrative

In addition to the hierarchy that tends to discount the value in wrong answers, there’s often an epistemological hierarchy in disciplines, placing dominant narratives at the top and counternarratives at the bottom. Counternarratives center the experiences of historically targeted and marginalized groups, and while they have become more widely embraced in recent decades, they still are too often seen as sidebars to the dominant Eurocentric narrative. By working to lift up these counternarratives, instructors can create an inclusive and equitable environment where students from historically excluded groups see that their experiences and knowledge are valuable. As Christina Villarreal explains, “I think it’s important [...] to recognize that the ways in which some peoples’ backgrounds and personal experiences are sanctioned and privileged systemically, ideologically, institutionally, interpersonally, more than others, historically and in contemporary context.”

Profiled: Christina “V” Villarreal, Lecturer on Education, teaches "Ethnic Studies and Education" to 23 students at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.