Teaching and becoming an activist in times of crisis: reflections on authenticity
New article in the journal Patterns of Practice by Dr. Susannah Pickering-Saqqa.
In the autumn of the 2023–24 academic year, Dr. Susannah Pickering-Saqqa, Associate Professor in Voluntary Sector Management at the University of East London, found herself navigating the overlapping roles of teacher, researcher, activist, and family member. These roles converged while she launched and taught a new module titled “Becoming an Activist” against the backdrop of what the International Court of Justice later referred to as a “plausible genocide” in Gaza (2024).
At the same time, she was also deeply engaged outside the classroom – blogging about the impact of the conflict on her family in Gaza, joining marches and campaigns, and pursuing research into reflective practice within small charities.
The classroom as a site of activism
Her new module drew upon Charles Tilly’s broad and inclusive definition of activism as “a series of contentious performances by which ordinary people strive to change social issues through collective action.” This framing helped students recognise themselves as activists, regardless of their identities or previous experiences.
To explore what it means to teach authentically, Pickering-Saqqa drew inspiration from educator and activist Frida Berrigan. Berrigan often uses immersive, provocative classroom experiments – such as imagining a nuclear strike on her own town – to highlight authenticity across four dimensions: being oneself, forming pedagogical relationships, encouraging contestation, and connecting with ultimate meaning.
Sentipensar and reflective practice
Pickering-Saqqa also drew on the concept of “sentipensar”, coined by sociologist Orlando Fals Borda to merge sentir (feeling) and pensar (thinking). This approach helped her reflect on the way her emotional commitments as a person, teacher, and activist shaped her classroom practice.
Her article embraces the overlaps between her professional and personal identities but recognises the challenges of doing this in the classroom in the actual moment of distress. She hopes to use the article in the next iteration of the course to provide students with a living example of how activism, scholarship, and personal integrity can intertwine while navigating the HE policy environment.
Wrestling with (in)authenticity
Teaching the module during such turbulent times raised difficult questions. Could she be “authentic” when her activism and family experiences were so visibly part of her public and professional life? She concluded that authenticity is not a fixed state, but a continuous practice – an effort to align values and actions, even when circumstances make that alignment challenging.
Why this matters
- For educators, her experience offers a model for integrating activism with teaching, showing that personal conviction can enrich academic practice.
- For students, it demonstrates that activism is not limited to certain identities but is a stance of engaged learning and participation.
- For wider audiences, it highlights how authenticity must be negotiated rather than assumed, especially in times of crisis
Susannah’s new article Teaching and becoming an activist in a ‘plausible genocide’: a reflection on (in)authenticity in Patterns of Practice journal illustrates the profound interplay between teaching, activism, and authenticity and why embracing that interplay matters now more than ever. As fellow educator Ruksana Beigi observed: “It’s a powerful reminder that teaching is never neutral. Our education spaces are entangled with the world outside, and authenticity means allowing that entanglement to show – even when it is painful, messy, and/or risky.”