Emilie van Heydoorn
2016

This research addresses the issues of the primary education system, which is proved to be insufficient and inadequate in preparing the majority of students for a successful completion of their education, (Clemencia 1999, 11). Education plays an essential role in the social and economic development of the Island of Curacao. 

n this case it is crucial that the primary education system prepares and stimulates students to be conscious citizens who critically engage with their environment, community and themselves.

The aim of this research project is to explore the ways in which coloniality is reproduced or interrupted in learning and teaching practices in primary education on Curacao. Two different primary schools with two student groups between the ages of eight and ten will be analyzed by looking at how colonial legacies play a role in classrooms. This project focuses on the behavior of teachers, their interaction with students, the behavior of students and the curricular materials used in teaching. By implementing the frameworks of decoloniality and intersectionality this research aims at contributing empirical data and theoretical insights to a larger discussion regarding the role of education in discourses of identity formations.

Emilie van Heydoorn was raised on the Island of Curacao and at a young age moved to the Netherlands where she completed her studies. At the University of Utrecht she obtained a MA degree in Media and Culture Studies and is currently completing a RMA in Gender & Ethnicity. This research will be conducted as part of her RMA thesis and will function as preliminary research in preparation for doctoral research. She has taught in the Department of Media and Culture Studies, in the Gender Studies Minor at UU. As a research assistant she was involved in the Diversity Commission at the University of Amsterdam. Her research interests focus education, (de-)coloniality and decolonial feminism.