Decolonising the higher education curriculum: An analysis of African intellectual readiness to break the chains of a colonial caged mentality

Nyoni, Jabulani

doi:10.4102/the.v4i0.69

Cited by 22 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…A critical look at these focus areas raises questions as to whether or not some of what the researchers positioned for decolonisation can be decolonised as stand-alone areas. When superficial efforts at curriculum change are made, authentic decolonial efforts fail (Nyoni 2019). To seek for answers to the question, it is necessary to visit the decolonisation literature.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The university must therefore play a double-barrelled role of transforming itself and informing society at large on how to do so. This will take what Nyoni (2019) refers to as the de-caging of the colonised mind through a process of shifting away from Western perspectives as the centre for development. To illustrate, in seeking to transform itself the South African university must move from mere rhetoric regarding the upgrading of indigenous languages towards developing them as complimentary media of instruction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Re-visiting the decolonising of South African higher education question: A systematic literature review

Chikoko

2021

SAJHE

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During and soon after the #feesmustfall and decolonisation student protests in South Africa, the decolonisation topic invaded the academic world in the country. There seems to exist a heterogeneity of viewpoints regarding what decolonising higher education entails. A search for systematic reviews on this topic did not yield any results. Such reviews can reveal what we currently know, what we do not know, and guide the knowledge production process going forward. This article analyses published research articles on decolonising higher education in South Africa through the lenses of soft reform, radical reform and "beyond-reform". Findings show that some papers dwell on decolonising isolated aspects of the university such as a programme or qualification, some on decolonising the entire university curriculum, and others on transforming the entire university. The article concludes that seeking to decolonise isolated aspects of the university constitute sub-soft reform strategies which leave the colonial pillars intact and therefore not contributing significantly to the decolonial project. Works that seek to decolonise the entire university curriculum are moving in the right direction towards radical reform, however, the article argues that to dismantle the colonial character of the present university requires the struggle to stretch beyond that. The South African university has a double-barrelled role to decolonise itself and to inform the societal decolonial project.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-visiting the decolonising of South African higher education question: A systematic literature review

Chikoko

2021

SAJHE

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“…The reasons for English dominance in the sciences and in fact most academic curricula, have their roots in British colonisation of the New World during the 17 th and 18 th centuries (Oliver and Oliver, 2017). The effects of this colonisation have been far-reaching and remain deeply ensconced in university curricula in South Africa (Nyoni, 2019), and in most parts of the world. In addition, the hegemonic status of a language like English has inevitably had an impact on culture and identity (De Kadt, 2005), resulting in the marginalisation of indigenous languages and local culture, such as the oral traditions (Canagarajah, 2003).…”

Section: Nakhooda and Paxton 40mentioning

confidence: 99%

A translanguage pedagogy to promote Biotechnology concept engagement and academic literacy in a linguistically-diverse university context

Nakhooda

Paxton

2021

CriSTaL

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Following the call for transformation, higher education institutions in South Africa were required to promote and implement indigenous languages in teaching and learning. This has led to various strategies and resources being explored and implemented, multilingual glossaries among them. In science, where English remains the global means of communication, our experience has been that such interventions are often underutilized. A more inclusive, holistic pedagogy is required to adequately prepare students, especially non-English speakers, for international scientific engagement. One such pedagogy is presently proposed and tested. Its purpose is to harness the dominant language - that which is most active in the learners’ minds - to first promote epistemological access to difficult scientific concepts, and after concept acquisition, develop the required English, scientific, and academic literacy. Biotechnology undergraduate students at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) - many of whom are international - reported enhancing their learning experience and recognised the significance of their dominant language in deep learning as a result of this translanguage pedagogy. Such a pedagogy demonstrates that multilingualism, far from being viewed as an impediment to teaching and learning, should be seen as a rich resource that needs to be harnessed to facilitate epistemic access, cognitive development, transformation, social cohesion, and respect for all languages.

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“…Decolonisation and decolonising became key to, or even equal to, transformation in higher education during and after the #mustfall protests in 2015-2016. Decolonisation and decolonising are explicit or implicit in titles, abstracts and keywords related to notions such as epistemic violence and Eurocentric hegemony (Heleta 2016), Africanisation (Horsthemke 2017), colonial and decolonial identity and subjectivity (Bazana & Mogatsi 2017;Becker 2017;Mabille 2019), black consciousness and black studies (Bazana & Mogatsi 2017;Lamola 2018), indigenisation and indigenous knowledge (Eybers 2019;Horsthemke 2017), decolonial curriculum (Nyoni 2019), postcolonialism (Gearon 2019;Nell 2020) and decolonial philosophy (Matolino 2020). This reflection is done through a decolonial lens.…”

Section: Papastephanou (Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both Heleta (2016) and Nyoni (2019), after unmasking the coloniality of power and knowledge still intact in higher education, discuss approaches to transformation and decolonising in higher education. Heleta (2016) poses two approaches.…”

Section: Epistemology and Curriculamentioning

confidence: 99%

A reflective analysis of articles published in the journal of Transformation in Higher Education (2016–2020): Beyond transformation?

Becker

2020

Transformation in Higher Education

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Setting: Transformation and decolonising in global and South African higher education. Method:A reflective analysis is done through a decolonial lens. The contributions of authors are reflected upon through three themes: place (local and global), epistemology and alienation.Results: Although I find the engagement with decolonising substantive, I argue that there is still a lack of publications on specifically decoloniality and decolonial analysis. Conclusion:I argue that the journal of Transformation in Higher Education provides a platform for difficult and robust discussions on decoloniality, transformation, epistemology, issues of sexuality, gender and race, internationalisation and possible pluriversalisation in higher education for South African and international scholars.

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Decolonising the higher education curriculum: An analysis of African intellectual readiness to break the chains of a colonial caged mentality

Abstract: Decolonising the higher education curriculum: An analysis of African intellectual readiness to break the chains of a colonial caged mentality', Transformation in Higher Education 4(0), a69.

Cited by 22 publications

References 17 publications

Re-visiting the decolonising of South African higher education question: A systematic literature review

Re-visiting the decolonising of South African higher education question: A systematic literature review

A translanguage pedagogy to promote Biotechnology concept engagement and academic literacy in a linguistically-diverse university context

A reflective analysis of articles published in the journal of Transformation in Higher Education (2016–2020): Beyond transformation?

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