My understanding of decolonising the curriculum has changed over time. This has in part been informed by the range of conversations I have had with fantastic students and colleagues over the last couple of years. My changing – and hopefully deepening – understanding of the issues involves have also in part been informed through my own efforts to engage with and to put into practice the questions that this work raises.
It is perhaps tempting to try to define and delimit what a decolonial curriculum and decolonial teaching practices would look like. But the more I talk about the topic and the more questions I am asked, the more reluctant I am to settle on neat definitions and interpretations. What does decolonising the curriculum mean to me? It quite likely means a wholesale upheaval of many of the things I have been taught, of many of the things I think I already know, of many of the ways I work to create further knowledge. It means presenting knowledge within is broader historical and present-day reality, and admitting all of the things that we do not yet fully know or understand. It means admitting that many of these ideas and projects are still work in progress. It also most likely means undoing some of my assumptions both in terms of content and in terms of delivery. It may mean unpacking what it means to be an ‘expert’ what it means to know and to know about, and crucially it means reconsidering who gets to decide when this process is complete.
Back in June, I wrote a joint blog post with my colleague Dr Kyle Jerro where we said:
“The term ‘decolonisation’ means different things to different people. In this context, we are using it to highlight the link between present-day racial inequalities and broader historical processes of colonialism.
In the context of education, it is based on the observation that global histories of Western colonial domination have an impact on – and limited – what is considered knowledge and whose knowledge is recognised. This has in turn affected both what we teach and how we teach.”
I still think this is true. But I would now probably throw the net a bit wider. It is perhaps easier to see the way in which processes of colonialism have given rise to present-day racial inequalities. However, Western imperialism also sought to define and categorise – and in many instances erase – certain gender identities. The colonialist, and ultimately capitalist, endeavour was extractive in nature and fuelled class- and caste-based inequalities. It was committed to ensuring that power remained in the hands of a very small group of individuals. This has been foundational in the construction of the only world I know.
As someone who grew up in and has been educated in England, and as someone who is very much the product of the colonial endeavour, the task ahead of me is not insignificant. Although this work cannot be located entirely in the future and the imaginary, what I think is most required of me in this moment is imagination. What it currently means to me is to dismantle a system that I am so thoroughly embedded in, as a student, as a teacher and as a person, that I cannot quite see what the other side of this looks like.
I know it requires change, and I know I can’t do this alone. I know it also requires perseverance, asking the difficult questions and perhaps being honest about the questions to which I don’t yet have answers. A decolonial curriculum is certainly not one that I have been on the receiving end of. But now that I’m a teacher, hopefully, it is one that, along with colleagues and students who are committed to this work, I can be part of creating.
Dr Hannah Gibson is a lecturer in linguistics at the University of Essex and a member of the Decolonising the Curriculum team. She has been involved in numerous activities, including being featured as a guest speaker on a few podcast episodes.
Here you can hear more about Dr Hannah Gibson's research and her views on decolonising linguistics:
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