Dismantling the master’s house: new ways of knowing for equity and social justice in health professions education

Morag Paton*, Thirusha Naidu, Tasha R. Wyatt, Oluwasemipe Oni, Gianni R. Lorello, Umberin Najeeb, Zac Feilchenfeld, Stephanie J. Waterman, Cynthia R. Whitehead, Ayelet Kuper

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

82 Scopus citations

Abstract

Health professions education (HPE) is built on a structural foundation of modernity based on Eurocentric epistemologies. This foundation privileges certain forms of evidence and ways of knowing and is implicated in how dominant models of HPE curricula and healthcare practice position concepts of knowledge, equity, and social justice. This invited perspectives paper frames this contemporary HPE as the “Master’s House”, utilizing a term referenced from the writings of Audre Lorde. It examines the theoretical underpinnings of the “Master’s House” through the frame of Quijano’s concept of the Colonial Matrix of Power (employing examples of coloniality, race, and sex/gender). It concludes by exploring possibilities for how these Eurocentric structures may be dismantled, with reflection and discussion on the implications and opportunities of this work in praxis.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1107-1126
Number of pages20
JournalAdvances in Health Sciences Education
Volume25
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2020
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Coloniality
  • Critical theory
  • Curricula
  • Decolonization
  • Equity
  • Health professions education
  • Medical education
  • Social justice

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