Our Team
Created in 2022, Decolonial Classroom is…
a project about teaching, learning, and research in a decolonial, critical, and intersectional environment. It speaks to two main themes: prisons and conflicts and share students’ creative work with the world.
Dr. Malaka Shwaikh
I am a Palestinian academic from the Gaza Strip, currently based in Scotland where I teach and research prisons as spaces of power, resistance, and peacebuilding. Much of my research has been on the dynamics of prison hunger strikes. In addition to my research commitments, I am a trustee of BRISMES, Firefly, and STEPS. In 2021, I co-founded Freelancers in Gaza with Candace Amani to connect youths in Gaza with clients around the world and provide them with mentorship. In my spare time, I love to spend time hiking in our beautiful Scotland or swimming in the North Sea whenever it is warm enough. And I have recently become interested in yoga and meditation. I find purpose in giving back to my community, whether it is through teaching, mentorship, volunteering in organisations that fit my life purposes, or simply taking good care of the people I love and myself to stay able to give back.
Dr. Aisling Crean
I grew up in Dublin, Ireland, and am currently based in Scotland, where I work as a Digital Education Developer at the University of St Andrews. I work closely with academics and students to support and develop creative and authentic activities and assessments in the digital classroom that foster creativity, empathy, trust, and cultural understanding, while embedding the development of design and digital skills along the way. Once below a time, I worked as an academic philosopher and hold a PhD in Philosophy from the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University. I hold a PgDip in Digital Education with distinction from the University of Edinburgh and am now studying for a MSc. Recently, I have been developing open educational resources that foster understanding of algorithmic injustice and its effects on marginalized groups. I have also published on digital inequality in Education and am a member of the European Commission’s Digital Education Hub. In my spare time, I like cycling and going for walks with friends on West Sands or in the Scottish Highlands, and in giving back in various ways to the many different communities that I am part of. As I write, I am looking forward to spring.