Through Professor Fatima Pirbhai-Illich’s teachings she brought revelation of what it means to truly be inviting and hospitable. More importantly through her I realized that invitation and hospitality are critical in education and educational environments. Teachers and students are equally important and both are host and guests. This relationship is pivotal in creating the most suitable environment and education for everyone. Going from the colonial education approach of an I-It, object based to the decolonial education approach of an I-Thou relationship; this approach is one of the first steps that ensure education is built on relationships where all are seen and treated equal–decolonizing education.
This assignment made me look at how I am inviting and hospitable at home and how those same dynamics are crucial in the classroom/school so that it can be a place where the teacher-student relationship is one that is intercultural, interactive, and mutually reciprocated. In other words I would not expect my guests to sit single file, raise their hands if they would like to talk or use my washroom, nor would the conversation be only about what I thought. If that were the case, I would probably run out of friends. The same can be said about what I expect when I am the guest, I can assure you that I would never go back to that home. The connection I made was that this is the colonized hegemonic approach often seen in relationships and experiences at school in the past and present. As a future educator I will work towards decolonizing education so that the relationships and experiences at school will reflect the warm, inviting, and hospitable ones that I would expect if I were a host or a guest anywhere else.