VIRTUAL EVENT: Towards ‘decolonising’ curriculum and pedagogy (DCP): a critical synthesis

Drawing on the global interdisciplinary literature on decolonising curriculum and pedagogy (DCP) in higher education, the speakers will critically examine the idea of decolonising in the context of disciplines and universities around the world.

Based on a critical analysis of 207 articles/book chapters published in English and centering a geopolitics of knowledge frame (Mignolo, 2003, 2011), they will present three themes:

• decolonising meaning/s
• actualising decolonisation
• challenges.

They will observe three major meanings of decolonisation and four ways to actualise DCP that were driven by geographical, disciplinary, institutional and/or stakeholder contexts.

They argue that, while there are similarities within the literature, ultimately the meanings, actualisations and challenges of DCP are contextual, which has political and epistemological consequences. They end by offering directions for educational research on DCP, revealing the possibility for a field or discipline of decolonial studies.

Speakers

• Chair: David Mills, University of Oxford
• Riyad Shahjahan, Michigan State University
• Kirsten T. Edwards, University of Oklahoma
• Annabelle Estera, Independent scholar.

Racism and Coloniality in Global Higher Education series

This Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE) webinar series explores what global racial equity would mean for the future of higher education and addresses the challenges of decolonising research systems and pedagogic cultures. 

Aim

The aim is to promote knowledge of, and commitment to, anti-racism within universities, and amongst researchers and policymakers. Contributors will reflect on colonial institutional legacies, racialised institutional cultures, and the power of ‘whiteness’, drawing on empirical research in a range of higher education contexts. 

Questions to address

• Why are the legacies of colonialism often overlooked, or erased, in favour of a ‘colour blind’ analysis of global higher education’s hierarchies and inequalities?
• Is the institutional racism of today’s universities a historical legacy or a resurgent cultural dynamic, intersected by the geopolitics of internationalisation?
• What can we learn about the structural inequalities of the global knowledge system from critical geographers and scholars in science and technology studies?
• What forms of profound and transformational change would be needed to create racial equity in global higher education and research?
• How are universities, faculties and students, addressing these colonial legacies?
• Can owning ‘whiteness’ and acknowledging white privilege – along with the JEDI agenda (justice, equality, diversity and inclusion) – help move these debates forward?

More events in this series

Tuesday 7 September, 2 to 3pm (UK)

• Racism and coloniality in global higher education

Thursday 9 September, 2 to 3pm (UK)

• Affirmative action and transformation in South African higher education

Tuesday 14 September, 2 to 3pm (UK)

• Dismantling the colonial university: defiant scholarship and decolonial thought in Africa

Thursday 16 September, 2 to 3pm (UK)

• Learning whiteness: material, epistemic and affective relations of higher education

Tuesday 21 September, 2 to 3pm (UK)

• Colonial legacies in “academic quality” structures: A missing component in the decolonisation debate?

Tuesday 28 September, 2 to 3pm (UK)

• On decentralising: epistemic authority beyond the centers of knowledge production.

Links

• Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE)
• Department of Education, Practice and Society