Decolonizing higher education: exploring Student Representative Council’s (SRC) perspectives.

Abstract

Decolonisation as a concept has been in existence for many years within the higher education context. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of debates and articles, both nationally and internationally, about the decolonisation of higher education. The South African context was escalated through a series of student movement protests. Protests such as #FeesMustFall, #RhodesMustFall, and other national protests intensely affected South Africa’s higher institutions between 2015–2016 and gave prominence to the decolonisation of higher education in South Africa. The University of KwaZulu-Natal, which was used for this study, was forced to close when students’ demands to decolonise the curriculum intensified. The rationale for this study was to conceptualise the understanding of the Student Representative Council (SRC) of decolonisation in higher education and their contribution towards the call to decolonise the university. The purpose of the study was to explore the SRC’s perspectives of decolonising the curriculum. The study was done using a qualitative case study and a conceptual framework. The case study method is widely utilized by researchers to delve deeply into a specific situation, event, or entity, offering a comprehensive perspective. The five SRC presidents were selected to participate in semi-structured and focus group interviews. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. It was found that the SRC’s perspectives about the decolonisation of higher education were distinct, congruent, and unambiguous. They were not advocating for the eradication of Western knowledge in the curriculum, but rather for its decentralisation. The literature presented in the study showed that many scholars think that the decolonisation of higher education is critical and yet a debatable discourse in the 21st century as many scholars across the world are moving towards a more congruent and borderless notion of education and responsiveness. Further, literature presented in the study highlights the notion of keeping a tenuous balance in our process to decolonise higher education, as we cannot be ignorant of the reality that 21st century is dynamic in unprecedented ways. The study found that the SRC’s perspectives of decolonisation is centred around the idea of an intervention strategy that is needed as a way of dismantling Eurocentric thoughts. A question may arise in terms of how this can be achieved. Reconciling the Westernised Eurocentric and the Africanised indigenous curriculum, meaning, a curriculum that is culturally sensitive does not mean discounting certain components of Western knowledge constructs that benefit African societies. In this way, learning becomes meaningful (Shizha, 2013). Further, the study found that there is no alignment in terms of operations and consultations between university management and the SRC pertaining to students’ issues. Therefore, the research concludes by providing recommendations for future studies pertaining to the issues around a better understanding of roles of engagement between SRC and university management.