Decolonizing the classroom Using Tik Tok – Jean Fischer, Digital Humanities Grad Student for CUNY Graduate Center

Jean Fischer

Introduction To Digital Humanities DHUM 7000

Professor Allred

Final Project

Decolonizing the Classroom by Using Tik Tok

The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic gave the opportunity to shine light on essential world topics that truly affect the ways humans view, react and challenge our human nature. As most of humanity was quarantined in their living quarters, during this time frame, television news, the internet and social media played a truly significant role in not only updating the world on it’s ever changing status, but also technology played the role of a social connector, an educator, a support system for advocacy, a comic relief, and a sign for hope for the future. The social media platform, Tik Tok, gained an increasing amount of popularity with not only dancing trends and music to pass the time, but also with social justice movements, which included Indigenous influencers who published short videos reclaiming their silenced cultural narratives and history, not-commonly taught in a traditional classroom, while utilizing the application’s popularity, accessibility and guidelines. Incorporating social media platforms that gained incredible traction for their educational insight during this time, such as Tik Tok, into the digital classroom pedagogical curriculum shows an unconventional yet modern approach from the traditional classroom values in the forward way of having education, research, and technology bound together to connect students and teachers to respecting and supporting communities outside of the traditional classroom.

Decolonizing the classroom is essential in order to have a clear view of humanity’s history. This goes for bringing justice to silenced cultures, having cultures reclaim their own narrative that have been silenced for centuries by oppressing factors, union in solidarity between oppressing and repressed factors, empathy and understanding not only to the classroom but also from the classroom into real-life experiences. Within decolonizing the classroom, educators will expand on a clear context of history stemming from original inhabitants history, lessons on major colonial powers and the impact of their actions towards Indigenous history.

Shifting to the Digital Pedagogical aspect of this decolonization of the classroom, the educator should introduce the student to the social media application, Tik Tok, with a historical approach, starting from its source origins. In a 2014 China, Tik Tok was originally a music-based social media application named, Musical.ly, which was unsuccessful. Musical.ly holds the same context was Tik Tok, containing, “…from a huge database of songs, filters and movie clips to lipsync to,” (Tidy, Galer, 2020, Tik Tok: The Story of A Social Media Giant, BBC News.) Another Chinese tech company, ByteDance, bought Musical.ly, in 2018, and created the Internet sensation, Tik Tok. This BBC article discusses Tik Tok’s data policies; it’s influence over the 2020 American presidential election, as well as the youth’s participation in social activism. This lesson of what Tik Tok’s original intent was and how it is utilized now shows how the worldwide audience is using this social media platform to create important influential and informative narratives to educate and connect with a worldwide community.

Tik Tok gained incredible traction during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. This pandemic sent students away from the traditional classroom and into their own bedrooms forwardly facing technology as a primary resource of education. Tik Tok is a social media platform that uses less than 60-second videos to entertain or educate the mass public audience. Tik Tok contains music, dancing, trends, news, politics, hijinks, tutorials, fashion, sports, educational accounts as well as social justice purposes. From Bobby Allyn’s NPR Radio’s segment, he discusses how “Tik Tok Pivots From Dance Moves A Racial Justice Movement,” to the worldwide audience. In his piece, he gathers small profiles and statements from Tik Tok influential users, Raisha Doumbia, Charli D’Amelio, and Kai Harris. In their Tik Toks, Doumbia, D’Amelio and Harris use their social media platform to express their narratives, their experience, and pain over black injustice in America, the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and how Tik Tok is a resourceful tool to help educate and communicate the virtual masses on underrepresented, authentic narratives. As Allyn concludes his piece, he reflects on Kai Harris, stating, “Now that she is 17, she’s ready to change some minds — one 30-second TikTok video at a time. ‘People are telling me that they’re talking to and calling out their relatives and friends on these issues,” Harris said. “And that’s what I want: for people to understand our emotions and why this is a movement, because we want change and we want the harm to stop,’ (Allyn, 2020, Tik Tok Pivots From Dance Moves To A Racial Justice Movement.) This influence Tik Tok has over viewers shows it can be applied to serious contextual matters, which includes education.

After learning the history and purpose of Tik Tok, it is time for the class to learn how to create their own social media account on this platform for class. The educator should conduct a collaborative technological resource demonstration for the students to visually see how to operate through this expansive world of Tik Tok. Pamela Bump gives in excellent step-by-step guide through the process of creating a Tik Tok in her blog, “How to Use Tik Tok: A Step-by-Step Guide.” Through her guide, Bump is precise with her methods of creation, instructing users to first download the application on your device, in additional to using your email and creating a password for the social media platform access. From there, users will set up a profile, where one would add a username, and biographical information. After this creation of your own account, the Tik Tok universe is in your hands, with high-functioning video feeds, as well as trends, music, dancing, educational content, social justice, and hijinks. Bump’s guide serves as a great example of the basic steps and requirements is necessary to create this accessible and informative social media account. This guide serves as a great model for the technological demonstration in class for creating a Tik Tok.

In this classroom, the teacher should conduct a technological demonstration on the history, creation and utilization of this social media platform. Sarah-Elizabeth Byosiere, of CUNY Hunter College, agrees in her written educational experience, “Twitter For Academic Purposes: How to Guide Students.” In this article, Byosiere breaks down her methodology on how to successfully incorporate the social media platform, Twitter, into her in class curriculum. It is a step-by-step process, having students create a “professional Twitter page,” and screen shot their academic creative process to send to Byosiere for confirmation. Byosiere puts a major emphasis for the students to be their “professional self” while using the social media platform in the academic classroom, as she writes, “Just make sure it’s appropriate and related to your work professionally or academically,” (Byosiere.) Byosiere goes on to emphasize this factor in her conclusion, stating that offering, “… students a guided approach to establishing a professional presence online… would promote their professional development…” (Byosiere.) With this important boundary being set with this independent utilization of the bountiful social media platform, Byosiere sets the appropriate tone in what is expected in the classroom and in the work that should be produced.

William Terrell Wright taps into the social of Tik Tok, as well as social media platforms in general, in his digital journal of the Radical Teacher. In his article, “Reality check: How Adolescents use Tik Tok as a Digital Back channeling Medium to Speak Back Against Institutional Discourses of School(ing),” Wright sheds light on the problematic relationship that Tik Tok and it’s utilization has created between students and educators, citing W.J. Fassbender, “ It is adolescents who curate, reinforce, and contribute most to these digital spaces and teachers may need to capitulate to the idea that they do not necessarily have the responsibility to teach them about their own worlds, (Fassbender, 2017, p. 266.) With putting this idea in perspective, Fassbender contradicts the entire premise of utilizing Tik Tok in the class, for it is not an educational tool but yet a digital adolescent territory to escape from reality.

Despite this perspective, Wright still holds strong to his case that affect that Tik Tok has had on not only the education of students but also educators, citing Doveling, Harju and Sommer from the “Mediatized Emotion to Digital Affect Cultures: New Technologies and Global Flows of Emotion,” that the, “… Tik Tok influence and infiltrate social practices and cultural life via digital affect cultures- that is, “relational, contextual, globally emergent spaces in the digital environment where affective flows construct atmospheres of emotional and cultural belonging by way of emotional resonance and alignment… these digital affect cultures inevitable influence, reinforce, and produce sentiments that shape teachers’ and students’ lived behaviors in both the digital and physical worlds. Content on Tik Tok writhes and morphs to the tune of these affective flows. Whether hopping on a viral trend, riffing on a meme, celebrating the end of the school year, or referencing blockbuster films, Tik Tok users remain keenly up to date in creating, “culture-specific communities of affective practice,” (Doveling, Harju, Sommer, 2018, pg.1.) This handheld, real-world informative digital community connects through the continuous stream and data created by it’s content curators serves as an ever-serving talking piece for information and new narrations and perspective to a world-wide audience. As Wright concludes this section, he writes, “… so as to better understand and account for the ways educational discourses are being shaped by those whom we often least assume: the students themselves,” (Wright, 2021, pg. 63.) With this conclusion, Wright offers his prospective insight, suggesting there be an open dialogue on Tik Tok, and social media platforms, in an “… afterschool Tik Tok club (where teachers and students collaborate to create school-appropriate content), ” (Wright, 2021, pg. 66.) This conclusion brings the article towards a forward, collaborative process of students and educators working towards an professional, educational goal of incorporating the use of Tik Tok in an educational setting for educational, personal and professional growth.

Talisha Feliciano makes a strong case for reformation in the classroom in her article, “The Case for Abolitionist Pedagogy.” Falicino presses upon the many social structured crisis’s, such as anti-Black violence and the ICE program, created by the oppressive colonial government that negatively impacts the personal growth and development of a nation. Falicino explains her stance in the educational context, reaffirming, An abolitionist framework asserts that many systems and structures need to be destroyed and invites us to create new networks and communities of freedom,” (Feliciano, The Case for Abolitionist Pedagogy.) This framework stands for the incentive being made for proper and accurate, inclusive educational values that need to be instilled in the classroom.

Feliciano delves into the role and responsibilities educators have in framing these harsh realities and data in the classroom, professing, “Every educational decision we have to make as adjuncts, as professors, as administrators has the potential to cause harm to our students. We must recognize we have the potential to cause harm and to be harmed. This means we must reorient our relationship to education and to learners…”(Feliciano, The Case for Abolitionist Pedagogy.) With this perspective towards abolitionist education reformation in the classroom, Feliciano adds insightful observations from her own experience as an educator:

“In context of these educational realities, it is important to understand how our students have developed relationships to learning and how our classrooms can potentially transform those relationships. Below are some suggestions I have gathered and have implemented in my time as a CUNY educator:

Get to know your students and center their experiences in the classroom in regards to their experiences of racism, sexism, ableism, ageism, immigration and language
Invite learned feedback into the structure of the course, the syllabus, the reading material, the workload, and the grading rubrics. Commit to implementing learner suggestions
Resist punitive measures of assessment, such as taking points off for being late, or having “bad grammar,” judging content based on its “respectability” (i.e. no cursing, censoring of hard/difficult topics)
Resist punitive practices in the classroom, such as threats to call campus security, threats to kick out “problem students.”
Invest in restorative practices- try to create safe(r) learning environments
- Prioritize mental and emotional well-being
- Make effort to learn about your students
Continually imagine what else needs to be abolished, and what could take its place

This work is not easy, nor should it be and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. It requires imagination, practice and sometimes for those of us in power it requires our silence so we can uplift the voices of all of those learners who are silenced,” (Feliciano, The Case for Abolitionist Pedagogy.)

Feliciano’s experience and perspective of abolitionist pedagogy in the classroom shows the depth, courage and importance this educational framework is to educate students on underrepresented issues in the classroom that will serve them great benefit in their educational, professional and personal growth. Feliciano’s approaches as an educator are empathetic, thought-provoking, welcoming, and start the conversation of how the classroom can function as a collaborative place where students can feel that their voices matter, that their experiences matter, and that school and life are a learning process that can be achieved as a community. In the context of incorporating Feliciano’s educator values with the course structure of decolonizing the classroom using Tik Tok, these values of learning and listening to students’ experiences, promoting a safe space in the classroom, as well as respecting and promoting an accurate historical curriculum play significant roles in both settings. Falicino sets the bar for educators in implementing these important roles for educators to follow when in the classroom.

Course Outline Explanation:

In class / Home work readings

Introduction to Colonization; Maps of Pre-Colonization; Major 3 Colonizers; Introduction to Indigenous History

The Decolonizing the Classroom Using Tik Tok course starts off with the basic introduction to these concepts with some readings to begin with a clear view of “what is colonization and what is it’s modern effects?” as well as to bring to light a pre-colonial perspective of Indigenous History. The educator and students will do a close reading of a digital National Geographic article entitled, “Motivations for Colonization,” (https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/motivations-colonization/ ) which illustrates a brief but compact history of the 3 major colonial powers of Spain, France and England, (and the slave trade,) and their impact of overtaking the indigenous population and lands of the Americas. After having a group discussion on this readings, the class will study, reflect, and draw conclusions on the two, informative pre-colonial Indigenous maps of the Americas. From there, the educator and students with in class research and collaborative discussion will create a definition of colonization. After this conclusion, students will watch a animated YouTube video illustrating Indigenous history and colonization, over time. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yipm-Be3uFQ&t=20s )

2) Review of Colonization; Indigenous history

For class two, the educator and students will review the homework readings of the understanding of what colonial education is from Scholar Blogs website, (https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/postcolonialstudies/2014/06/20/colonial-education/ .) This website will gives the students great perspective on how past and modern education has been skewed by a colonial belief system that is not inclusive. Another reading that will be reviewed and discussed is the Scholastic article giving brief native American historical content (https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/history-native-americans/) This reading will give students more context about Indigenous history and culture for the future.

3) Tik Tok: origin, step-by-step process, trends, language, and accounts:

The Tik Tok technology demonstration and lesson plan will be a part of class 2 and class 3. For the second half of Class 2, the students will have read the assigned homework readings, and will review and discuss the origins, history, and impact of Tik Tok from the BBC article, NPR article and the NYT article. After discussing the close readings, the educator will give a step-by-step demonstration on how to download, apply and create a Tik Tok account for their upcoming homework assignment. For reference, the student’s can also use Pamela Bump’s blog article (https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-use-tiktok ) for guidance. In Class 3, the educator will give a live technical demonstration, to the students, on how to use the application Tik Tok, explore the site, point out some existing trends, music, dancing, topics of interest, as well as give an important lesson on social responsibility while using social media platforms and how while using Tik Tok in class, the students must use this tool in a professional manner for their education, person and professional growth.

4) Cultural Appropriation

As we watch and learn from the Tik Tok account @notoriouscree, he brings to light the important topic of cultural appropriation. In this course, the students will learn about cultural appropriation, whether blatant or subtle, this ignorance needs to be recognized and stopped. For week 4, while discussing @notorioscree and his Tik Tok account, the class will explore, discuss, and define what cultural appropriation is and names example of this in real-life context. For week 5’s homework, the students will have reading from the article (https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-addressing-cultural-appropriation-in-the-classroom-tools-and-resources/2016/12 ,) further exploring the definition of Cultural Appropriation. Students will also be assigned to watch a 9 minute PBS short video on Cultural Appropriation in relative pop culture, (https://ny.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/what-is-cultural-appropriation-video/origin-of-everything/.) These two sources will provide ample context and reasoning on the boundaries that clearly stand on what’s acceptable and what is not when it comes to appreciating and appropriating other cultures. This lesson will be absolutely invaluable for the students not only for their personal growth but also to create an inclusive classroom with values that will extend beyond the class.

5) Inuit (plural) /Inuk (singular) History

Shina Nova’s focus on her Tik Tok account is to raise education and awareness of her Indigenous culture, which is Inuit. The Inuit culture derives from Canada, where he and her mom are based from and create their Tik Tok videos from. In relation to the review and discussion of her account, there will be close readings assigned to further explore the Inuit culture. The Canadian Geographic website of Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada, offers great historical and contextual information of Indigenous cultures derived from Canada. Students will read the site dedicated to explore the Inuit culture, early history, colonialism, writing systems, education, housing, wildlife, and beyond. (https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/section/inuit/ .)

6) Residential Schools of Canada, Plains Cree history

@tiamiscihx and @peter.notso.white’s Tik Tok accounts focus on the Canadian government, Canadian colonization history, Residential schools, and the genocide of Indigenous people. To assist in explaining for history on these topics, the students will explore the site www.idigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca . This site provides essential history of Indigenous cultures and their histories, which have almost entirely been erased due to these colonial issues. The students will an article the explains the history of residential schools in Canada that lead to mass genocide and cultural eradication of the Indigenous people, (https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_residential_school_system/ )

A website article of Cree History will be assigned reading for discussion as well. The students will explore the webpage and close read site information pertaining to Cree historical information that includes their language, the location of where they lived, what they cooked, what they wore, and their tribes. This reading serves importance for the students will be learning, in-depth, about different cultures and tribes of Indigenous people, (http://www.bigorrin.org/cree_kids.htm .)

8) Forging Common Origin in the Making of the Mexican Nation, Natividad Gutierrez Chong

In relation to reviewing @_clearbear_’s Tik Tok account for Class 8, the reading of an article by Natividad Guiterrez Chong, entitled, “Forging Common Origin in the Making of the Mexican Nation,” will bring insight to this topic as the class will discuss the connection between the two, in class.This article brings perspective of, “… the homogenization of culture and linguistic unification, a standardized schooling system, civic culture, infrastructure and communication, the assimilation of Indigenous peoples and other minorities, and the construction and massive inculcation of national identity,” (Chong,) to the classroom where they can make connections who how the colonial and post colonial world was formed as well as gain empathy for the people, their culture, land and languages that are disrespected and destroyed in this process.

Homework assignments:

The first homework assignment that would be due the third week of class is to basically explore the application of Tik Tok. It is a bountiful source of entertainment, fast access to breaking news information, politics, and education. The students would exploration the application, taking into account the topic of each video, the trends that occur, how the Tik Tok is filmed and edited, and what they learned or what their experience was from watching the Tik Tok. This exercise is exploratory and has the students freely navigate the application as well become acquainted with the use of the social media platform. After investigating, the students will write three summaries of three different Tik Tok’s and submit them before class. This homework assignment will guide the students right into the following class lesson plan of a resourceful technology demonstration of the social media platform, Tik Tok.

The second homework, due for week four, is to explore Tik Tok, but in the specific field of social justice. With the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic creating time for people to reflect and bring societal issues to light, the #BlackLivesMatter trend gained incredible traction on many social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tik Tok. Students will search for these social justice issues that have become “trends” in the social media world that have gained attention to bring forth the high importance of these societal issues that need to be remedied. Students will choose three separate videos and write 3 separate summaries on each of them.

The third homework assignment is due for week 5. This assignment follows our in class in-depth analysis of the Tik Tok account of @notoriouscree, also known as, James Jones. His focus in his videos is to share his culture’s traditional garments, dances, and to promote pure Indigenous joy and pride. In a few of his videos, he shares the traditional dances of: Crow hop styles, a hoop dance (which is meant for general healing practices,) and a prairie chicken dance. Jones also promote Indigenous respect to the masses, educating them to not wear culturally insensitive and appropriated Halloween costumes, to take into consider that Native American people derive from different cultures, races, skin colors and religions, as well as boycotting companies and their products that continuously harm Native American land, such as Nestle. For this homework assignment, students are to explore @notoriouscree’s Tik Tok page, choose three of his videos, and write three summaries of the context, the videography, the trends used, and new information that was learned. In addition to the Tik Tok assignment, students will also complete the required homework readings which will align with the subject matter that @notoriouscree promotes in his video, such as Cree history, racism, and cultural appropriation.

For the fourth homework assignment, due for week 6, we focus on @shinanova’s Tik Tok account. Shina Nova, and her mom, creates video content of their Inut culture, history, and lifestyle, with incredibly authentic and resourceful information. They are practiced throat singers. Through their Tik Tok videos, together, they explain common misconceptions of the Inuk tribes, such as the term “eskimo kiss” is actually called “kunik.” This false conception of an eskimo kiss differs entirely from the origin, where kunik has a lot of emotion and intimacy that a falsified “eskimo kiss” lacks in authenticity and reality. Nova and her mother also share the tradition of throat singing, which the practice was almost lost to colonization, where it was banned. In another Tik Tok video, Nova and her mother celebrate National Inuit Day, November 7, where they display handmade, traditional Inuit tools, such as: a ulu, which is a women’s knife used to cute meat and animal skin, a qullip, which is an oil lamp that provided light and warmth as well as serves the purpose to cook food, and a kamiik, which are boots made out of seal or caribou skim that are warm and water-proof. Students will watch three of @shinanova’s Tik Tok videos and write three separate summaries of the context, the videography, the trends used, new information that was acquired, as well as the focus and the importance of these videos. In addition to the summaries, to be submitted before the week 6 class, students will complete the readings, which will provide some information on Inuit history, culture, and territory.

For the fifth homework, due week seven, we explore the Tik Tok page of Tia Wood. Tia Wood’s content for her Tik Tok account shares information on their heritage of a Plains Cree and Salish, as well as bringing the spotlight on the colonial issue of residential schools in Canada and British Columbia. One of her Tik Tok videos she had published, focused on teaching about the affects the United States and Canadian governments negatively had on the Indigenous people, such as created The Indian Act of 1906 and Christina Missions, which both devalued and forcefully changed the Native American people to conform to colonialism as well as place indigenous people in Residential Schools where they were to , ”… assimilate into the dominant culture of the “civilized world, “ (Woods.) These Residential schools would separate children from their families to isolate themselves from their culture. These Residential schools were established in the 1870’s until 1996, and were set up by Canadian governments as well as churches. In another Tik Tok video, Wood shares that whistling attracts bad spirits, such as Wendigo and Skinwalkers.The students will explore Tia Wood’s Tik Tok account, choose three videos and write three separate summaries on the context, videography, trends, new information acquired, and the importance of these videos. In addition to the summaries, the students will complete readings at home that include Plains Cree and, culture, and territory as well as Residential Schools.

Homework six is due week ten and contains two separate Tik Tok accounts to take into consideration. One account is that of @peter.notso.white, who focuses on the Indian Act and genocide of the Indigenous race. Peter, @peter.notso.white, educates the masses on the total injustice of the Indigenous people from the start of colonization and on. One of the TikTok videos presses on the 215 child bodies found in a mass grave in British Columbia. He then provides the historical time, where the Indian Act was created the same year the Canada became a country (1867.) This demonstrates that “…the Indigenous people were not even considered human beings.” Throughout his videos, Peter goes on to teach about genocide, residential schools, “legality in on one’s land,” and settlers on stolen land.

The other Tik Tok account is @modernwarrior, who coins the phrase and hashtag, “#HeyColonizer!” Lance Tsosie’s, also known as @modernwarrior, intent is to correct the cultural insensitivity that harms his heritage, to spread this knowledge through his social media platform, and to politely educate the viewers on these subjects in regards to Indigenous respect and courtesy. In one video, Tsosie discusses the problem of the “Indian” Mascot in American Sporting Culture. Tsosie uses scientific studies research to promote his claims that using the “Indian” Mascot is very harmful and unnecessary. This use of this mascot has incited racial violence and cultural abuse towards indigenous people. Tsosie ends his video with the statement, “We are not your mascot.” The students are to watch two videos for each account and write two summaries of the two videos for each account.

The final homework reading would be for week ten. This reading would focus on the topic of the Tik Tok account of @_clearbear_. @_clearbear_ creates the phrase and hash tag, “#Decolonialfacts,” which focuses on the homogenization of Indigenous cultures into a white colonial construct of “Mexican.” This Tik Tok account is an informative resource to reevaluate colonial conceptions and practice recognition of true identity of Indigenous and settler history. @_clearbear_, shares videos of differentiating colonial terms that take away the identity of Indigenous people. For example, one of his Tik Toks presses upon Mexican being a colonial identity, as it is detribalized, homogenized a group of people as well as making the different indigenous cultures ambiguous. “Mexican” is an appropriation of the indigenous word “Masheeka,” deriving from the Aztec language referencing their own culture. This term Mexican was a tool of white supremacy and was used to control people and their land. @_clearbear_ also creates a Tik Tok, #DecolonialFacts acknowledge indigenous history, where, he shares that the Spanish language is a new language to Mexico, through the colonization of Spanish conquistadors. Through this information, it is concluded that our history has bee suppressed and it is now time to reconnect and decolonize world history and colonial values.

Small Project: Mid Term

The Small- Low Stakes Skill-Building Mid-Term Activity will start Week 7 of class and will end at Week 8 of class. This project is a collaborative group project that will take place during class time, over the course of the week and the presentation will be due, in class, on Week 8 of the class. The premise of this assignment is for the groups to watch 3 different Indigenous Tik Tok accounts, whether the previous 3 Tik Tok accounts from the syllabus or new Tik Tok accounts found through exploration. With these 3 Indigenous Tik Tok accounts, the groups will watch and write about each account and the context of their videos. The summaries should include historical facts in the explanation of the Indigenous history, Colonization, decolonizing education, social justice, support and the importance of sharing these topic as well as how the accounts used videography, chorography, cinematography, music, and trends to create their brief videos.

Final Project

For the High-Stakes Final Project, the students will have 3 weeks to prepare this task before submitting the final product on Week 13. This project starts after Week 10, and entails each student to create their own Tik Tok using inspiration from Tik Toks that have been mentioned in the syllabus, in class readings, personal, academic research, and using the Tik Tok video techniques and trends discussed in class. There is an optional choice, if a student does not have access to Tik Tok or does not feel comfortable using the application, the student can alternatively create a YouTube video or PowerPoint presentation using a Tik Tok style video approach with the historical information used in class. Aside from the creation of the one Tik Tok video, students will compose a 3 to 5 page essay, describing their experience creating this Tik Tok, what academic research they used, what topics of research they used, [whether inclusivity in the classroom, decolonizing the classroom, reclamation of silenced voices due to colonization, etc,} and how decolonizing the classroom and Tik Tok can beneficial aid the world. Both the Tik Tok account/link and essay should be emailed to the educator or posted to Blackboard.

Decolonizing the classroom is essential in creating an inclusive classroom, creating a safe learning environment for students as well as creating a supportive community structure with support and empathy. Adding Indigenous Tik Tok to this factor creates a innovative aspect to this filed of study yet exposes the students to authentic Indigenous narratives that can not be typical found within a traditional school coursework. In this hypothetical Curriculum for this Decolonizing the Classroom Using indigenous Tik Tok, students learn from authentic Indigenous voices, learn an accurate depiction of colonization, learn how to navigate social media platforms in a professional context, and how to depict cultural appropriation. These factors will help students become aware of their surroundings in and outside of the classroom which will help them develop academic, professional and personal skills for the future.

Course Syllabus

Week 1 9/1	Readings for week 2: https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/postcolonialstudies/2014/06/20/colonial-education/ https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/motivations-colonization/ https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/history-native-americans/	Introduction: *Colonization:* Close reading https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/motivations-colonization/ in class discussiondefine colonization, impact on modern society *Indigenous History:* Close Reading of Indigenous Maps compare modern map to indigenous mapsdiscuss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yipm-Be3uFQ&t=20s
Week 2 9/8	Readings: for week 3 “ https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53640724 https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-use-tiktok https://www.npr.org/2020/06/07/871065917/tiktok-pivots-from-dance-moves-to-a-racial-justice-movement HW due for week 3: Explore tik tok sites, write about 3 videos, their styles, the trends used, descriptions of videos	*Colonization:* Discuss Colonial Education Article Discuss National Geographic Article *Indigenous History:* Discuss Scholastic Article Brief Introduction: Tik Tok (origin, exploring the site, trends, accounts) Step #1: Instructions on how to create an account for the homework
Week 3 9/15	HW due for week 4: Explore any social justice tik toks (#hashtags, trends), write about 3 separate accounts and: a) what they promote b) how they use their platform with trends, music, editing style c) what new information was learned	Tik Tok: technical demonstration on application and creationlesson on social responsibility of site (not just as an entertainment tool)
Week 4 9/22	Readings: for week 5 https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-addressing-cultural-appropriation-in-the-classroom-tools-and-resources/2016/12 https://waskaganish.ca/introduction-to-our-history/ https://ny.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/what-is-cultural-appropriation-video/origin-of-everything/ HW for week 5: write a brief summary of 3 of @notoriouscree ‘s Tik Toks, explaining: a) what they promote b) how they use their platform with trends, music, editing style c) what new information was learned	@notoriouscree: James Jones *Discussion:* Traditional dances Cultural Appropriation/ Racism Boycotting Companies that destroy Native American territories for cooperate profit
Week 5 9/29	Readings for week 6: https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/section/inuit/ HW due for week 6: write a brief summary of 3 of @shinenova ‘s Tik Toks, explaining: a) what they promote b) how they use their platform with trends, music, editing style c) what new information was learned	@shinanova: Shina Nova *Discussion:* Inuuvunga, from Inuk ancestry, history, traditions
Week 6 10/5	Readings for week 7: http://www.bigorrin.org/cree_kids.htm https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_residential_school_system/ HW for week 7: write a brief summary of 3 of @tiamiscihx ‘s Tik Toks, explaining: a) what they promote b) how they use their platform with trends, music, editing style c) what new information was learned	@tiamiscihx: Tia Wood *Discussion on:* Indian Mass Grave in British Columbia—Residential Schools Plains Cree
Week 7 10/12		Lesson Plan for Skill-Building Activity: (low stakes project) Watch 3 Tik Tok accounts and their videos and write a summary on each the accounts and what they each focus onSmall Group project/discussionGroup presentation: Topic should be based on: Indigenous History and their importance on Tik Tok and in the America’s History, decolonizing education, support, promotion, using Tik Tok as a educational, digital archiveSmall group in-class presentation: on 3 Tik Tok and their summary/discuss on each
Week 8 10/25	: Readings for week 9: https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_indian_act/	CONTINUATION OF SMALL PROJECTS INCLASS
Week 9 11/03	HW for week 10: write a brief summary of 2 of @ peter.notso.white: ‘s Tik Toks, explaining: a) what they promote b) how they use their platform with trends, music, editing style c) what new information was learned + write a brief summary of 2 of @modern_warrior‘s Tik Toks, explaining: a) what they promote b) how they use their platform with trends, music, editing style c) what new information was learned	@peter.notso.white: Peter *In class Discussion:* The Indian Act in British Columbia Genocide Residential Schools @modern_warrior_: Lance Tsosie “Hey Colonizer!” trend
Week 10 11/10	Readings for week 10: file:///Users/jjcjfish/Downloads/genealogy-04-00077.pdf HW for week 11: Prepare a proposal for final paper	@_clearbear_ reevaluates colonial aspects practices recognition of true identity of Indigenous and settler history “Decolonial Facts” trend [Articles on] the “Mexican” identity equating to a colonial concept to regionalize a group of Indigenous people
*Week 11* 11/17		[1 on 1 Meeting for Final Proposal]
*Week 12* 11/30		[Reflection on Final Paper]
Week 13 12/7		[Final Paper] Lesson Plan for [High- Stakes Project] Create their own Tik Tok promoting Indigenous History based on Research (academic articles provided)Utilize the Tik Tok applicationUse the popular Tik Tok trends, [music, dancing, movement, visuals, lip-synching] to promote historical information Write an essay based on the creation of the Tik Tok and researchDiscuss: Inclusivity, promotion, support, decolonizing traditional education, using Tik Tok as a digital archive and as self-publishing tool for a wide audience, “reclaiming silenced voices” due to colonization Either email TikTok link and Essay, together. Or attach both and publish in online collective student blog [CUNY COMMONS, BlackBoard, WordPress]

Work Cited

Bump, Pamela. “How to Use Tik Tok.” Blog.Hubspot.com, https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-use-tiktok

Byosiere, Sarah-Elizabeth. “Twitter For Academic Purposes: How to Guide Students,” The Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy, CUNY Commons, November 2020.

https://via.hypothes.is/https://jitp.commons.gc.cuny.edu/twitter-for-academic-purposes-how-to-guide-students/

Chong Gutierrez, Natividad. “Forging Common Origin in the Making of the Mexican Nation,” MDPI.com, Department of Agrarian Studies, Institute of Social Research National Autonmous University of Mexico, July 2020. https://www.mdpi.com/2313-5778/4/3/77

Feliciano, Talisa. “The Case for Abolitionist Pedagogy,” Visible Pedagogy, CUNY Commons, May 2021.

The Case for Abolitionist Pedagogy

Hanson, Eric, Gamez, Daniel P. , Manuel, Alexa. “The Residential School System,” Indigenous Foundations, 2009-2020.

The Residential School System

Mattier, Niles. “What is Cultural Appropriation? The Origin of Everything,” PBS Learning Media.

https://ny.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/what-is-cultural-appropriation-video/origin-of-everything/

Tidy, Joe, Galer, Sophia Smith. “Tik Tok: The Story of a Social Media Giant,” BBC News, August 2020.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53640724

Wright, William Terrell. “Reality Check: How Adolescents Use Tik Tok as a Digital Backchanneling medium to Speak Back Against Institutional Discourses of School(ing),” The Radical Teacher: A Socialist, Feminist, and Anti-Racist Journal on the Theory and Practice of Teaching, Issue No.119, Spring 2021.

https://radicalteacher.library.pitt.edu/ojs/radicalteacher/article/view/777/718

“Addressing Cultural Appropriation in the Classroom: Tools and Resources”

https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-addressing-cultural-appropriation-in-the-classroom-tools-and-resources/2016/12

“Canadian Geographic: Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada”