Walking Away From the Coloniality of Being: Teacher’s Epistemic Loosenings as Coyolxauhqui

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This chapter explores Anzaldúa’s Coyolxauhqui imperative as a transformative process of epistemological loosening—an untethering of rigid narratives that opens space for questioning and reframing self and world. Drawing on Anzaldúa’s notion of “being torn apart into basic elements and then reconstructed” (2015, p. 74), the chapter examines how teachers seek exceptional experiences that heighten awareness and expand perception (Blacker, 2024). Through a phenomenological study, it investigates how educators make sense of accumulated narratives and reconfigure meaning-making processes. Findings reveal teachers’ deep connections to school life and their navigation of epistemological resistance against social and cultural expectations embedded in hegemonic structures. These expectations, shaped by systemic racism and Western cultural separation, manifest through rigid frames lived out in praxis—a “movement of intentionality” (Martinez, 2000, p. 10). Such coloniality of being (Maldonado-Torres, 2007) positions educators at the margins while perpetuating oppressive significations within consciousness. Western curricula, grounded in White-Eurocentricity, claim minds and bodies, sustaining aspirations of self and shaping modern experience. This chapter argues for revisiting Nixon’s (1999) question: “Whatever happened to consciousness heightening as a curriculum objective?” It proposes a curriculum of consciousness that embraces teachers’ exceptional experiences as pathways to reimagining pedagogy and praxis. By highlighting educators’ efforts to seek higher states of awareness, the study underscores the need for honest, judgment-free inquiry into what it means to reconstruct curriculum and foster transformative learning.</jats:p>