Decolonization of curriculum of institutions in higher learning in South Africa: where do internationalization and globalization of education feature?

Amidst the outcry of free higher education in South Africa since #Fees Must Fall Movement of 2015, and other factors such as accommodation for all enrolled students in universities, within the movement and other influential pressure groups, there was also an outcry of decolonization of curriculum. The questions which come to mind of the researchers is: What is the meaning of decolonization of curriculum? If curriculum is decolonized, how internationalization will feature in higher education context? How all these (decolonization of curriculum and internationalization) can be infused to the context of internationalization of higher education in South Africa?

Intercultural competence comes into place as South Africa has eleven official languages. The Extension of Education University Act of 1959 and other Apartheid laws might be contributing factors towards the call of decolonization of curriculum in higher education institutions since institutions of higher education are democratized. They are democratized through the promulgation of White Paper on Higher Education of 1997 and other legislation promulgated by parliament. The aim of the research paper is to investigate the custodian of curriculum decolonization and possibility of its infusion into internationalization and globalization of higher education through draft policy framework of the internationalization of higher education in South Africa. The study project will be qualitative design in nature. Population of this project will be Directors of Internationalization and Partnerships, and academics from Department of Curriculum Studies in Faculties or Schools of Education in South African Universities.

Purposive sampling will be used to sample five (5) Directors of Internationalization and Partnerships, and ten (10) academics from Department of Curriculum Studies in Faculties or Schools of Education who are knowledgeable in internationalization and curriculum design. Interviews will be conducted in order to collect data. Data collected will be analyzed through themes and coding.

Download the programme of UNIVEN’s conference on Decolonization (17 October 2018) (pdf)