Teachers collaboratively fostering a decolonised curriculum: Teaching strategies to promote social justice

Abstract

Against the backdrop of widespread demands to decolonise education, it has become increasingly evident that the pursuit to decolonise the curriculum is ongoing. To this end, teachers play an integral role in bridging the gap between theory and practice in decolonising the curriculum. However, there is limited research available on how teachers in South African schools apply these ideas in their daily teaching, especially when working collaboratively to decolonise the curriculum. To engage with this intellectual conundrum, this study explored how teachers can collaboratively foster a decolonised curriculum through teaching strategies that promote social justice. A scholarly review of the literature delved into the foundational understandings of decolonisation and explored how the curriculum can be utilised to promote social justice in education. In addition, the role of teacher collaboration in curriculum development, underpinned by the concept of Ubuntu, is explored, and its alignment with the fundamentals of social justice is examined. The literature concluded with an exploration of the three key decolonial foundations of educational transformation: epistemological, ontological and pedagogical decolonisation. The study adopted Participatory Action Learning and Action Research (PALAR) as a paradigm and methodology. Four co-researchers teaching in the senior phase (grades 7–9) at a South African online school were purposively selected and formed the Action Learning Set (ALS), in line with the PALAR methodology. Furthermore, data were collaboratively generated across two cycles, directly addressing the two research sub-questions using arts-based methods. Key findings from the two data generation cycles emerged. Cycle one addressed the first research sub-question: How do teachers understand what it means to decolonise the curriculum? The main findings reveal that teachers’ understanding of the curriculum is centred around knowledge production, questioning power structures, recognising the dehumanising effects of a rigid school structure and the use of responsiveness and restorative approaches to teaching and learning to decolonise the curriculum. Cycle two addressed the second research sub-question: How can teachers collaboratively develop and implement teaching strategies aimed at fostering a decolonised curriculum and promoting social justice? Key findings suggested teaching strategies that teachers can employ, as well as how the use of technology can support the implementation of these strategies and shed light on the foundational elements of love and care in teaching. In addition, the importance of collaboration between teachers was highlighted, and factors that might hinder this collaboration between teachers and other educational stakeholders were discussed. The study concludes with recommendations for curriculum practice and how to use PALAR as a research paradigm and methodology in an online setting, along with suggestions for further research and the possible limitations of this study.