Decolonial pedagogical practices: Engaging with Rancière

Abstract

The 2015/6 student protests in South Africa questioned the 1994 postcolonial settlement by drawing attention to the demands of decoloniality. The processes of decoloniality are characterised by an openness to pedagogies, epistemologies and forms of governance that promote a plurality of becomings. In order to investigate how educational practices could contribute towards decoloniality, this article draws on Rancière's notion of "equal intelligence". It is argued that this notion of radical equality could assist educators to redefine themselves and their role in emancipatory and decolonial education. This role avoids the extremes of the authoritarian educator on the one hand, and the egalitarian educator, on the other. "Equal intelligence" makes possible a pedagogical space which demands of the student to use his/her intelligence to generate knowledge that does not reproduce a hegemonic tradition. Equality is not the result of an educational intervention, but a presumption that shapes the pedagogical relation as such. This applies also to decolonisation: The presumption of equal intelligence is a powerful way to decolonise the mind. In this process the educator has an important role to play to create a context where the will and the freedom to participate in the construction of powerful knowledge is kept alive.

Transforming the curriculum for the unique challenges faced by South Africa

“…The pedagogical relation I advocate is akin to what Postma (2019) calls "radical equality" and "equal intelligence" that draws on concepts originally coined by Ranciere, the French philosopher. I concur with Postma (2019) that such a conceptualisation removes the dichotomy between the all-knowing educator and the "egalitarian educator". Such an understanding of the pedagogical relation between student and educator creates the space for dialogic engagements and the generation of knowledge that is mutually constructed.…”

“…New frameworks of thinking are required as the old ones have become moribund and a new grammar to describe the world we live in. And it is here where I once more would like to invoke the thoughts of Postma (2019) in his search for new pedagogical theories where he provocatively implores us to change the premise/ presumption of inequality embedded in some of these theories and instead embrace equality as a premise. This is in line with his concept of "equal intelligence" borrowed from Ranciere.…”

“…This is not a task that is dependent on the educator but must come of the free will of the student. Embracing Ranciere's concepts of "radical equality" and "equal intelligence" as proposed by Postma (2019) in conjunction with the (critical) insights of critical pedagogy could lead to students who are agents of hope who act with a social justice agenda. Despite the critiques against critical pedagogy, I concur with the counter-critiques of scholars such as Shudak (2014) and Ayers et al (2004) who argue for less grandiose notions of critical pedagogy and that it should not be viewed as a meta-narrative but as "embers of hope".…”

Towards transforming teaching and learning in higher education: interrogating poverty through a decolonial perspective

“…In 2015, students from the RhodesMustFall movement made a number of demands that permeated from their tiredness with coloniality and how it manifested itself in spaces of higher education. Among these demands were “the decolonisation of the curriculum, and socially just pedagogies and equity of access” (Postma, 2019 , p. 7). These demands became one of the main goals of the protests.…”

Decolonizing the law curricula at Universities of Technology: The student’s perspective on content

“…Fomunyam and Teferra (2017, 201) identifies this type of resistance as "disciplinary responsiveness". According to the authors', researchers and academics in South Africa who are largely responsible for developing new knowledge are often highly systematised, and thus tend to keep the body of knowledge within globalised systems that are removed from the everyday lived experiences of African students thus enabling higher education learning in South Africa to become highly "Westernised" or "Eurocentric" (Postma 2019). According to Mbembe (2016), this type of learning attributes truth only to the "Western way of knowledge production", and completely disregards other epistemic traditions.…”