Postcolonial Teaching of Archaeology: Lessons Learned.

One of the goals of postcolonial perspectives in archaeology is to challenge and deconstruct the colonial legacies in the practice of archaeology. Practice begins at the pedagogical process, when students are taught how and why archaeology can free them from the shackles of colonial thought. Yet, if students are bound by conventional modes of pedagogy in field research, then they will not exercise their own creative powers and fail to meet postcolonial goals. Field schools are well known for their regimentation and hierarchical structures. Power is centralized and there is often little room to question the “expert” leaders (professors, TAs) about alternative methods and views on research questions. Such approaches to archaeological pedagogy reinforce colonial ways of question asking and question solving, keeping students in subservient positions as workers rather than participants. A postcolonial critique of this modis operandi suggests that to free students from their roles of dominated workers requires a different approach, one in which students are given decision-making power on matters pertaining to research questions, methods, and field strategies. Programs implemented at the University of Dar es Salaam and University of Asmara show that student initiatives in research design have led to more self-confident researchers, empowered with the knowledge that their abilities and ideas have merit, and that the role of exploited worker—so often the hallmark of Western field schools—does not fit with their being independent thinkers.