Decolonizing Pedagogy by Appropriating Yoga. The Role of White Women in the Search for Social Justice within Higher Education

Higher education in North America replicates cultural and psychological values that are distinctive of its colonialist roots. Within this system some educators seek to challenge the status quo by introducing new pedagogical practices with the potential to evoke transformation and change. This mixed methods study sought to understand the use of yoga as pedagogy in undergraduate courses across North America. Participants integrating yoga as a teaching tool verbalized hopes of uprooting the hierarchies of privilege that exist within higher education; simultaneously, secularizing yoga necessitated removing the discipline from its historical context, replicating colonialist values of appropriation. The role of white women in seeking social justice, and replicating colonialist values is discussed within the context of higher education