Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T03:46:04.350Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Case Study: Decolonising the Curriculum – An Exemplification

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2021

Caroline Wilson ,
Christine Broughan  and
Guy Daly
Caroline Wilson
Affiliation:
Coventry University, Coventry, UK E-mail: caroline.wilson@coventry.ac.uk
Christine Broughan
Affiliation:
Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK E-mail: christine.broughan@northumbria.ac.uk
Guy Daly
Affiliation:
Coventry University, Coventry, UK E-mail: hsx885@coventry.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Coventry University has made a strategic commitment to address the dimension of ‘race’ in its learning and teaching. Central to this is the establishment of a cross-institution curriculum change initiative called ‘Curriculum 2025’. The case study shared here details how we are approaching this task and some early reflections. Two things are explained: first, the provision of resources for staff who want to learn more about possible actions to take; second, our approach to working alongside course teams on new materials, often designed as reusable learning objects. An example of such a learning object is discussed which uses Wikipedia to enable students from diverse backgrounds to examine critically academic texts, books and other resources to understand how their learning may be skewed in favour of Western-originated thought and to identify alternative perspectives. The student activity also provides a co-creation opportunity, in that students are discovering the curriculum for themselves.

Keywords

Decolonisationcurriculumlearning objectsco-creationhigher education
Type
Article
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 21 , Issue 1: Themed Issue: ’Race’, Learning and Teaching in Social Policy , January 2022 , pp. 142 - 150
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, R. (2020) ‘Ministers to ditch target of 50% of young people in England going to university’, The Guardian, 9 July, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jul/09/ministers-to-ditch-target-of-50-of-young-people-in-england-going-to-university [accessed 29.10.2020].Google Scholar
Akena, F. A. (2012) ‘Critical analysis of the production of western knowledge and its implications for indigenous knowledge and decolonization’, Journal of Black Studies, 43, 6, 599–619.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhambra, G. K., Gebrial, D. and Nişancıoğlu, K. (2018) ‘Decolonising the University?’, in Bhambra, G. K., Gebrial, D. and Nişancıoğlu, K. (eds.), Decolonising the University, London: Pluto Press, 1–16.Google Scholar
Bhopal, K. (2017) ‘Addressing racial inequalities in higher education: equity, inclusion and social justice’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 40, 13, 2293–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biggs, S. (2020) ‘Towards decolonising research processes - Inviting researchers to seek out Black scholars and scholars of colour’, Decolonising the Curriculum: Teaching and Learning about Race Equality, July 2020, Issue 3, https://cpb-eu-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.brighton.ac.uk/dist/f/80/files/2020/07/Decolonising-the-Curriculum-Issue-3-Teaching-and-Learning-about-Race-Equality-July-2020.pdf [accessed 29.10.2020].Google Scholar
Bovill, C., Cook-Sather, A., Felten, P., Millard, L. and Moore-Cherry, N. (2016) ‘Addressing potential challenges in co-creating learning and teaching: overcoming resistance, navigating institutional norms and ensuring inclusivity in student-staff partnerships’, Higher Education, 71, 2, 195–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coventry University (n.d.) Coventry University Group: Access and Participation Plan 2020-21 to 2024-25, https://apis.officeforstudents.org.uk/accessplansdownloads/2024/CoventryUniversity_APP_2020-21_V1_10001726.pdf [29.10.2020].Google Scholar
Craig, G., Cole, B., Ali, N. and Qureshi, I. (2019) ‘The missing dimension: where is ’race‘ in social policy teaching and learning?’, Social Policy Association, http://www.social-policy.org.uk/spa-reports/the-missing-dimension-where-is-race-in-social-policy-teaching-and-learning/ [accessed 29.10.2020].Google Scholar
Deeming, C. (2016) ‘Rethinking social policy and society’, Social Policy and Society, 15, 2, 159–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grove, J. (2020) ‘Does global health still have a colonial mindset?’, Times Higher Education, 15 July, https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/does-global-health-still-have-colonial-mindset [accessed 29.10.2020].Google Scholar
Harris, L. M. and Usher, J. (2008) ‘From disenchantment to dialogue and action: the “transforming community” project at Emory University’, Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 40, 2, 18–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Irving, Z., Yeates, N. and Young, P. (2005) ‘What can global perspectives contribute to curriculum development in social policy?’, Social Policy and Society, 4, 4, 475–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
John, G. (2019) ‘Decolonising the curriculum: transforming the academy and practising the freedom to interrogate academic freedom’, Inaugural Annual Lecture of the British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS), UCL Institute of Education, 7 October.Google Scholar
Leask, B. (2015) Internationalizing the Curriculum, London and New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liyanage, M. (2020) Miseducation: Decolonising Curricula, Culture and Pedagogy in UK Universities, London: Higher Education Policy Institute.Google Scholar
Mapondera, D. (2019) ‘Decolonising the curriculum: perspectives from teaching nursing in higher education’, in Moncrieffe, M., Asare, Y., Dunford, R. and Youssef, H. (eds.), Decolonising the Curriculum: Teaching and Learning about Race Equality, Brighton, UK: University of Brighton Press, 10–11.Google Scholar
Muldoon, J. (2019) ‘Academics: it’s time to get behind decolonising the curriculum’, The Guardian, 20 March, https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/mar/20/academics-its-time-to-get-behind-decolonising-the-curriculum [accessed 29.10.2020].Google Scholar
Nathan, L. F. (2019) ‘Creativity, the arts, and the future of work’, in Cook, J. (ed.), Sustainability, Human Well-Being, and the Future of Education, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Nordensvärd, J. and Ketola, M. (2019) ‘Rethinking the consumer metaphor versus the citizen metaphor: frame merging and higher education reform in Sweden’, Social Policy and Society, 18, 4, 555–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (2019) OECD Future of Education and Skills 2030 Concept Note: Student Agency for 2030, Paris: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.Google Scholar
Prasad, A. (2003) ‘The gaze of the other: postcolonial theory and organizational analysis’, in Prasad, A. (ed.), Postcolonial Theory and Organizational Analysis, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 3–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) (2019) Subject Benchmark Statement: Social Policy, London: The Quality Assurance Agency.Google Scholar
Ross, F. M., Tatam, J. C., Hughes, A. L., Beacock, O. P. and McDuff, N. (2018) ‘”The great unspoken shame of UK Higher Education”: addressing inequalities of attainment’, African Journal of Business Ethics, 12, 1, 104–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schucan Bird, K. and Pitman, L. (2020) ‘How diverse is your reading list? Exploring issues of representation and decolonisation in the UK’, Higher Education, 79, 5, 903–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Timmis, S., Mgqwashu, E., Naidoo, K., Muhuro, P., Trahar, S., Lucas, L., Wisker, G. and de Wet, T. (2019) ‘Encounters with coloniality students’ experiences of transitions from rural contexts into higher education in South Africa’, Critical Studies in Teaching and Learning, 7, 2, 76–101.Google Scholar
Trancozo Trevino, M. (2020) ‘The many languages missing from the internet’, BBC Future, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200414-the-many-lanuages-still-missing-from-the-internet [accessed 30.10.2020].Google Scholar
Universities UK (UUK) and National Union of Students (NUS) (2019) Minority Ethnic Student Attainment at UK Universities: #Closingthegap, Universities UK and National Union of Students, https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Documents/2019/bame-student-attainment-uk-universities-closing-the-gap.pdf [accessed 30.10.2020].Google Scholar
Wiki Education (2020) Wiki Education Dashboard, https://dashboard.wikiedu.org/ [accessed 30.10.2020].Google Scholar
Wikipedia Education Program (2014) ‘Instructor basics: how to use Wikipedia as a teaching tool’, Wikipedia Education Program, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Education_program_basics_%28WMUK_specific%29.pdf [accessed 30.10.2020].Google Scholar
Wilson, C. and Broughan, C. (2018) ‘Global perspectives on teaching excellence’, in Broughan, C., Steventon, G. and Clouder, L. (eds.), Global Perspectives on Teaching Excellence: A New Era for Higher Education, Abingdon: Routledge, 180–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winberg, S. and Winberg, C. (2017) ‘Using a social justice approach to decolonize an engineering curriculum’, 2017 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 248–254, DOI: doi.org/10.1109/EDUCON.2017.7942855.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zepke, N. (2015) ‘What future for student engagement in neo-liberal times?’, Higher Education, 69, 4, 693–704.CrossRefGoogle Scholar