Teachers' and principals' perceptions on decolonisation to foster transformative curriculum development

Abstract

South Africa's pre-democratic education systems has led to significant protest movements such as the Soweto uprising, the Black Consciousness movement, and the People's Education movement and mounting pressure for decolonisation. 1994 marked independence and democracy for South Africa and one would have expected revolutionary changes in our country's post-apartheid education system. However, racial incidents such as the one at Pretoria High School for Girls where black school girls were instructed to straighten their hair, or the Laerskool Schweizer-Reneke incident where learners were positioned in the classroom according to the colour of their skin, or the video made by white male students at Reitz Residence at the University of the Free State of black workers who were forced to eat food which had been urinated on. One could argue that the ongoing fallism student movements at various universities in South Africa, such as #FeesMustFall, #EndRapeCulture, and #RhodesMustFall, where calls were made for free education, an end to the outsourcing of service workers at universities, decent and affordable student accommodation, to end racism, and most importantly, to decolonise the curriculum, has lent impetus to transformation. These calls motivated me to undertake this research study that explores teachers' and principals' perceptions of decolonisation, and identifies possible ways in which their insights could contribute to alternative ways of decolonising the curriculum. My overall aim was to unlock the potential of decolonisation for fostering transformative curriculum development. I also explored the scholarly literature on the discourses that inform decolonising the curriculum, in particular the conceptualisation of decolonisation and decoloniality. The interlinking concepts of decolonisation, such as Indigenisation, Africanisation, and Internationalisation, were also explored, before I examined the epistemological dimension of decolonisation. Next, I probed Biesta's functions of education, as well as Aoki's curriculum-as-plan and curriculum-as-lived as experienced by teachers and learners, before discussing curriculum theories that could underpin decolonising the curriculum. These comprised Kumsahiro's anti-oppressive pedagogy, the decolonising pedagogy, hook's engaged pedagogy, and Jansen's conceptions of decolonisation. I then explored the potential these theories have for fostering transformative curriculum development. Finally, I considered Carlo Petrini's Slow Food movement as a possible model for decolonising the curriculum though transformative curriculum development. This scholarly literature was followed by an engagement with my other research aims - to explore what teachers and principals perceive as possible and impossible ways of decolonising the school curriculum; and to consider how their insights might foster transformative curriculum development.

My research aims were situated in a theoretical framework informed by qualitative phenomenology methodology and idealist interpretivism. I used purposive sampling to select the participants and used document analysis to analyse the Further Education and Training Phase's National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement documents and inductive thematic analysis to analyse the data generated by the reflective journals completed by teachers and principals, and a Telegram group discussion. Seven themes emerged from the findings. The first theme is teachers and learners' need to move between Aoki's curriculum-as-plan, or as it is prescribed, and the curriculum-as-lived. The curriculum-as-lived allows teachers and learners to interact with each other in the classroom in a space where learners are supported and encouraged to share their personal opinions and experiences. The second theme is Kumashiro's anti-oppressive pedagogy as a means of assisting teachers to incorporate decolonisation into their classroom. The third theme is the ways hook's engaged pedagogy, which encourages interaction between teachers and learners, enables teachers to incorporate decolonisation into their teaching. The fourth theme is curriculum development and the interlinking concepts of decolonisation. The fifth theme is the dynamics between the teacher and the principal and the importance of educating both parties. The sixth theme is decolonisation using slow pedagogy, drawing on Carlo Petrini's Slow Food movement. This dissertation concludes with a discussion of the possible limitations of this research study and suggestions for further research.