A good number of universities in South Africa came to a standstill in 2016 when student protests in quest for a decolonised curriculum intensified. Today, decolonisation has become a buzzword in the country's higher education institutions as academics are challenged to meditate around the term and integrate it into the curriculum. The purpose of this study is to investigate ways in which lecturers decolonise the curriculum. The study was done using a qualitative case study at a university of technology in South Africa. Rawls' theory of justice was used as a theoretical framework. Sixteen lecturers were selected to complete open-ended questionnaires. Data was analysed using content analysis. It was found that lecturers decolonise their curricula by integrating indigenous African knowledge and at the same time retaining Western knowledge in order to prepare students to be able to live and work in an international, intercultural and global environment.
During an unprecedented period of disruption unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic, lecturers were forced to embrace change and integrate digital tools into their teaching. When the pandemic broke out, some higher education institutions in South Africa were already facilitating most of their lectures online while others were not. Whilst there is abundant research from the Global North on the impact of the pandemic on teaching and learning and how lecturers facilitated online learning, more research on this topic from the Global South is needed in order to fully understand the teaching challenges and successes experienced with the transition to online teaching. The case study explored online pedagogies employed by lecturers at an Historically-Disadvantaged Institution (HDI) during the pandemic. The SAMR model of technology integration was used to interpret the findings. Content Analysis was employed to analyse the interview data collected from two purposively-selected lecturers in two faculties. The study revealed lecturers' student-centred and transformative practices as they went through the various levels of the SAMR model and used educational tools to mediate knowledge construction. The findings suggest that despite the many challenges associated with emergency remote and online teaching at the time, the pandemic provided a blue-print for the transformation of teaching and learning, ushered in blended learning and fast-tracked change in a resource-challenged university context. The findings have implications for staff and student development.
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