ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author turns to what referents are possible beyond and instead of ownership and property. One of the challenges of decolonial work is contending with the ways that coloniality functions in both the aggregate and specific. The coordinates and shapes of how coloniality is occurring are also pivotal in engaging in decolonial praxis. The author suggests that it is possible to shift coordinates from property acquisition to being answerable for learning, knowledge, and context. As he was about to graduate with his doctorate in education, he experienced consistent ambivalence about the academy. When the author was offered a policy position working in the state education department of Hawaii, he grabbed at the chance to interact with education as a policymaker, in some ways, to further my inquiry into schooling as a system, but from the vantage of a policymaker. In his role, he was in charge of literacy professional development for all teachers in the state.
