Abstract:

Decolonisation in education has become a dynamic topic of discussion globally, particularly in countries with a history of colonisation such as South Africa. The need to decolonise teacher education has been widely acknowledged, with calls for a curriculum that reflects the diversity of South African society and values indigenous knowledge systems. Consequently, there is a growing recognition of the need to decolonise education systems and practices to address systemic inequalities and to provide inclusive and equitable learning opportunities for all students. In the context of teacher education, decolonisation involves critically examining how knowledge is constructed, taught, and assessed, and challenging dominant Euro-western perspectives that may marginalise diverse cultural and indigenous perspectives. This paper will focus on the efforts made to decolonise teacher education in South Africa. It will explore how lecturers in a teacher education course in South Africa engage with decolonisation and decoloniality in their teaching and assessment practices of curriculum theory. The conceptual framework guiding this study is the four dimensions of curriculum responsiveness to decolonisation namely: ‘disciplinary responsiveness’, ‘cultural responsiveness’, ‘pedagogical and learning responsiveness’ and ‘economic responsiveness’. These dimensions are a crucial lens for engaging with literature and understanding how teacher educators can create a responsive and inclusive curriculum that acknowledges and promotes diverse cultural and indigenous knowledges. The study employed a decolonial case study approach, which enabled a deep and nuanced exploration of how lecturers in a teacher education course navigate the complexities of decolonisation in practice. Through this study, we aim to contribute to the growing body of knowledge on decolonisation in teacher education and to provide insight into how lecturers are presented with a range of opportunities and challenges in efforts to decolonise teacher education. Therefore, through this critical exploration of the experiences and challenges faced by lecturers in this context, we hope to inform future efforts to decolonise teacher education and to promote inclusive and equitable learning opportunities.

Keywords:

Decolonisation, teacher education, multicultural, curriculum responsiveness.