Exploring the students' experiences of (de)coloniality: a case study of Social Work programme at a South African university in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.

Abstract

This thesis unpacks African graduates' understanding of (de)colonial Higher Education through the narratives of post-graduate social work students and practitioners who attended a university located in KwaZulu-Natal. This study is inspired by the 2015/2016 #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall South African students’ movement, which called for a need to explore students' views about (de)coloniality in Higher Education. The case study was framed within the anti-colonial and Afrocentric theory and drawn on the tenets of the social constructionism paradigm in understanding the participants’ experiences of university education. Twenty-two (22) graduates who were purposively selected participated in this study. Data was collected through focus group discussions and semi-structured individual interviews. The collected data was analysed through thematic content and discourse analysis. In a setting dominated by colonial legacies, graduates spoke about coloniality as the endorsed activities that oppress African people's humanity through Western domination. The study findings suggest that colonial cultures, white supremacy, colonial language/s, and difficulty in accessing the African university not only hinder access of African students in higher education (HE), but also suppress their emancipation during academic engagements. The graduates thus spoke about teaching and learning pedagogies, epistemologies, and languages as vital instruments that enforce coloniality in social work education and practice. Although participants acknowledged the encountered transformations in the new democratic dispensation of South African higher education; they perceive such transformation as at the minimal. Graduates thus called for higher education institutions (HEIs) to be mindful of the stubborn and persistent colonial realities still existing in African universities.