Teaching like a Subaltern: Postcoloniality, Positionality, and Pedagogy in International Development and Education

International development and education are often described as embodying colonized, capitalist, and modernist knowledge and practices. I take the position that as educators, our identities and positionalities, while not determinant, do affect our pedagogy of knowledge (re)production in these fields. Using critical autoethnography as methodology, and drawing on postcolonial theory, I explore how my experiences and positionality as an educator of color from the Global South influence my content and pedagogical practices in an international development and education program in a North American university. I discuss and analyze the diversity of content I select, my pedagogical approaches, and how I use my personal experiences from the Global South as teaching tool. I argue that as educators, our experiences do matter in ways that move beyond essentialism to enrich the learning experiences.