Exploring lecturers' strategies to decolonise English curriculum at a South Africa university.

Abstract

This study is an interpretive case study research of five English lecturers who reflected on the strategies they employ to decolonise the English curriculum at a South African university. However, while lecturer’s strategies are a common phenomenon the aspect of decolonisation is still very topical. Strategies as a phenomenon was conceptualised into three levels namely: written, habitual and verbal strategies. Reflective activity, one-on one semi-structured interviews and document analysis were used to generate data. The five English lecturers, who were deemed to be rich data sources, were selected through purposive and convenience sampling. The following research questions framed the study: What are lecturers’ strategies to decolonise the English curriculum at a South African University? How do lecturers use these strategies to decolonise the English curriculum at a South African University? This guided the choice of the curricular spider web (CSW) as the conceptual framework used in the study. The curriculum concepts which constitute the CSW are vital for lecturers to teach effectively and thus form the foundation of any strategies the lecturers may employ. The literature reviewed highlighted strategies that may be used to decolonise the curriculum as well as discussed the curriculum concepts exhaustively. The three levels (written, habitual and verbal strategies) were used alongside the curriculum concepts to facilitate the data analysis. Through guided analysis, the study found that lecturers use verbal strategies and habitual strategies frequently as opposed to written strategies. Findings revealed that English lecturers that they believed in student’s social interaction through sharing of experiences and beliefs to connect the content with student’s local context. Additionally, lecturers also used personal teaching approaches as they believed that decolonisation entailed an all - round approach to teaching taking cognisance of global as well as local genres. This Dissertation recommends that English lecturers use all the three levels of strategies to decolonise the curriculum. Decolonisation of the curriculum can take different forms and be effectively implemented if lecturers approach it from the angle of the CSW concepts and its propositions.