Decolonisation in higher education

Advice on decolonising the curriculum across different disciplines and unpicking the impact of colonial and Western power structures on higher education and models of teaching and learning. These resources aim to help academics enrich education and scholarship through decolonisation, bringing in previously overlooked knowledge and voices and challenging long accepted norms within higher education.

A Native American dance stick

Place Indigenous knowledge at the heart of academic inquiry

Decolonise the curriculum by engaging students with historically marginalised knowledge from a range of sources. Here’s how

Kam Kaur

University of Adelaide

Illustration of head jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing

What trauma-informed practice is not

Before trauma-informed care can be the norm across all areas of the university, academic and professional staff need to understand what it is. Here, three academics debunk myths and demystify best practice

Kate Cantrell, India Bryce, Jessica Gildersleeve

The University of Southern Queensland

Students sitting together in a library

What matters to students’ sense of belonging?

Using an intersectional and decolonial lens and fostering the formation of a discipline-specific identity are some of the ways to make belonging the cornerstone, rather than merely an outcome, of higher education EDI initiatives

Salma Al Arefi

University of Leeds

Students walking through campus building

Rethinking online learning to tackle global injustices

A critical look at how online learning can be used to decolonise global development curricula

Sam Spiegel

The University of Edinburgh

Causeway of Williston Lake in British Columbia

Truth is necessary for reconciliation

Good intentions and generalisations can harm reconciliation in the classroom and academy, writes Daniel Sims

Daniel Sims

University of Northern British Columbia

A group of people put their hands together

Five steps to decolonise your university curriculum and pave the way for a better future

How can universities reset their curricula and embrace a range of experiences? Here are five ways to start down the path of decolonisation

Steve Larkin

University of Adelaide

Academics work together around a table

Start the journey of anti-colonial work with these first steps

Many non-Indigenous staff are worried about doing anti-colonial work for fear of getting it wrong. Sue Sharpe shares four tips for getting started

Sue Sharpe

Australian National University

Selecting language on a screen

Embracing linguistic diversity and equity in global academic publishing

English operates as a gatekeeper in academia, determining who can access and contribute to the most prestigious platforms of knowledge production. We must create spaces where other languages can thrive, write three European academics

Javier Husillos, Carlos Larrinaga, Daniel Martinez

UPNA, Universidad de Burgos, HEC Paris

podcast graphic

Campus talks: what constitutes good teaching in higher education?

Two academics with experience in delivering and researching teaching in varied educational contexts discuss the complexities of effective instruction

Leon Tikly, Jason M. Lodge

The University of Bristol, The University of Queensland

Young student standign on a staircase in a library

Challenge strategic silencing to improve the experiences of global majority students

Universities have the power to create a more inclusive and empathetic world by promoting open dialogue, accountability and cultural diversity, write Christina Dzineku and Craig Mahoney

Christina Dzineku, Craig Mahoney

Independent academic, The Education Group

A group of students having a civil political debate

Pluralistic campuses will foster the bridge-builders our divided nations need

Students with the skills to treat diverse viewpoints with curiosity and respect will be prepared to navigate the complexities of the real world, say Eboo Patel and Rebecca Russo

Eboo Patel, Rebecca Russo

Interfaith America

University student protester

Changing campus protests from disruptions to learning opportunities

Higher education leaders should use student activism to develop leadership and negotiation skills, argue Blair Glaser and Richard Nodell

Blair Glaser, Richard Nodell

Independent consultant

Diversity concept

Celebrate Black History Year and tackle racial inequality all year long

Instead of consigning the recognition of Black histories to one single month, Deborah Husbands, Stephen Bunbury and Dibyesh Anand advocate for a Black History Year

Deborah Husbands , Stephen Bunbury, Dibyesh Anand

University of Westminster

Teacher giving a class to a room full of students

A framework for decolonising and diversifying science curricula

Actions you can take to make your science curriculum more inclusive and relevant to all students

Alice Robson , Bronwen Burton , Caroline McKinnon

The University of Bristol

Podcast discussing building resilience and protecting well-being among university staff and students

Campus talks: an interview with Ngiare Brown, chancellor of James Cook University

Ngiare Brown is the first female and the first Indigenous chancellor of James Cook University. Here, she shares what she hopes to achieve during her tenure, including making higher education a place for Indigenous students

Ngiare Brown

James Cook University

Indigenous Australian people perform a ritual of lighting a fire

Indigenous knowledge provides skills for lifelong learning that AI cannot

Indigenous ways of knowing can provide skills and strategies for learning that could assist educators in addressing the climate emergency, decolonisation and balance the outsourcing of knowledge to AI, Alexandra Sherlock writes

Alexandra Sherlock

RMIT University

Two hands, one offering up a tree growing out of the earth, the other offering up a high-rise city

Decolonisation as a driver for the Sustainable Development Goals

How decolonial approaches can underpin and drive work to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals across higher education

Sean Porter, Eleanor Cook

The University of Exeter

Two Maori women talking in an office

Decolonising interview methods: a call to look to the moon

The interview process often rests on colonial perceptions of what counts as knowledge, how knowledge is generated and who ‘owns’ it. But researchers can use orienting questions to reflect upon and decentre this approach

Rosalind Edwards, Teah Carlson , Rachel Liebert

University of Southampton, Massey University, University of East London

An old map of Africa showing countries as former British and French colonies

Bring staff and students together to decolonise in seven steps

Seven stages to decolonising a curriculum, drawing lessons from a staff-student collaboration to decolonise the teaching of geography

Caitlin Kight, Eleanor Cook

The University of Exeter

Road towards Aoraki mountain on South Island, New Zealand

Can we really decolonise the university?

To explore what is possible, non-Indigenous scholars Mahdis Azarmandi and Sara Tolbert offer an anticolonial feminist praxis for unsettling settler institutions

Mahdis Azarmandi , Sara Tolbert

University of Canterbury | Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha

A graphic of a colonial ship

Power and possibility: the role of universities in decolonisation

The question of decolonisation has grown in prominence in higher education in the past decade. Foluke Adebisi looks at why the concept is so often misinterpreted – and what is needed for universities to do it well

Foluke Adebisi

The University of Bristol

Australian Aboriginal flag

Decolonisation to Indigenisation: how can institutions centre Indigenous knowledge?

Beyond the concept of decolonisation is the process of Indigenisation. Here, Raelee Lancaster provides four reflective questions that institutions can ask themselves when considering how to respect and elevate Indigenous knowledge

Raelee Lancaster

The University of Queensland

Magnifying glass over southern Africa on a globe

Why learning to listen will help you avoid ‘helicopter research’ and make you a better science communicator

A year of failed fieldwork in Africa led Sallie Burrough to ask questions about how researchers interact with the societies they work in. Here, she shares five tips for transparent, inclusive practices

Sallie Burrough

University of Oxford

Podcast discussing building resilience and protecting well-being among university staff and students

THE podcast: how to deal with the legacy of empire in higher education

Hear from a historian who sees decolonisation as a by-product of his scholarship and a mathematician who is using original sources to teach the global history of the discipline

Farish A. Noor   , Brigitte Stenhouse

University of Malaya, The Open University

Self-reflection is crucial for decolonisation in higher education

Why is self-reflection core to decolonisation and anti-racism in the academy?

To move beyond rhetoric, hollow commitments and well-intentioned one-time efforts, we must hold ourselves accountable, says a team from Simon Fraser University

Multiple authors

Simon Fraser University

Australian aboriginal hands against red dirt road illustrating exchange of Indigenous wisdom

Steps to decolonise higher education: after yourself, change the curriculum

Opening the curriculum to First Nations’ histories and knowledge is a key part of decolonisation, as lisahunter and Karen Lambert explain in this second part of their series

lisahunter, Karen Lambert

Monash University

History books

The history versus fiction debate revisited (again) thanks to ‘The Crown’

In the wake of the notorious television series it feels more crucial than ever that faculty reiterate to students the difference between historical fact and fiction

Farish A. Noor  

University of Malaya

Primary source materials

Primary sources as a tool for greater diversity

Primary sources can be used to diversify curricula and bring in marginalised voices. Jade G. Winn and Michaela Ullmann explain what library teams can do to support faculty and students in finding and assessing diverse materials

Jade G. Winn , Michaela Ullmann

University of Southern California

decolonising education pencil heart

How to decolonise initial teacher education: start with yourself

Decolonisation has the potential to rattle higher education’s sandstones and ivory towers, yet many struggle to know where to start. Karen Lambert and lisahunter use the context of initial teacher education in Australia to explain that it starts with you

Karen Lambert, lisahunter

Monash University

Image representing global perspectives

Decolonising the curriculum through collaboration, partnership and dissemination

Tips on how to decolonise curricula through collaboration, partnership and dissemination, from four university educators

Multiple authors

University of Reading

history of mathematics concept

Decolonising learning through access to primary sources

Mathematicians have always looked at old problems in new ways. A database of original sources will give university-level mathematics students a global, historical view of their subject

June Barrow-Green , Brigitte Stenhouse

The Open University

Decolonise a reading list

A global effort to decolonise a reading list

Academics and students from five countries worked together to decolonise a reading list for a public health module, through a global lens. Here, they describe how they did it

Zheng Feei Ma, Kim Duffy, Juming Shen

University of the West of England Bristol, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Kendrick Lamar's lyrics contain EDI lessons for higher education

Why higher education should take an EDI lesson from Kendrick Lamar

The Pulitzer-winning rapper’s disdain for performative activism contains lessons for universities who espouse their good intentions rather than enact change

JT Torres

Quinnipiac University

THE Campus webinar graphic

Campus webinar: Decolonising the curriculum

A panel of academics from Campus+ institutions in the UK and Australia discuss the what, why and how of decolonising the curriculum

Campus team

Campus

Image of old books packed up

Decolonising your learning resources: representation matters

Find out what steps can be taken to review your learning resources from an anti-racism lens and why this is important for both ethnic minority and white students

Musarrat Maisha Reza, Amy McEwan, Emily Calvo-Hobbs

The University of Exeter

Image of an elderly men receiving a vaccine

Decolonising medicine, part three: uncovering silenced voices and histories

Lecturers should ensure they present the full picture when teaching medicine, detailing exploitation and marginalisation of certain groups in the advancement of medical science, as Musarrat Maisha Reza and Emily Calvo-Hobbs explain

Musarrat Maisha Reza, Emily Calvo-Hobbs

The University of Exeter

Colonial power led to differentials between the Global North and South that persist to this day and will not be solved by universities' decolonisation efforts

Does decolonisation in the West do anything for the developing world?

Expanded reading lists do little for the student whose visa is denied because there’s not enough money in their parents’ bank account, says Farish A Noor

Farish A. Noor  

University of Malaya

A man walks past a colonial-era building in modern-day Malaysia

Can there ever be a neat history of colonialism?

People today seem to want their history to be linear and totalising, but it is only by addressing the messiness of the past that we can understand the present

Farish A. Noor  

University of Malaya

Medical students discuss issues of decolonisation relating to medicine

Decolonising medicine, part two: empowering students

The decolonisation of medicine involves making students active agents of their learning and designing assessments relevant to the skills gained through the process, as Musarrat Maisha Reza explains in her second advice resource on the topic

Musarrat Maisha Reza

The University of Exeter

Medical students learning about decolonisation in the context of healthcare

Decolonising medicine, part one: taking the first steps

Decolonisation should not be limited to arts and social sciences, but many struggle with how to apply it across STEM disciplines. In her first resource, Musarrat Maisha Reza shares advice on effective approaches to decolonising medicine

Musarrat Maisha Reza

The University of Exeter

Podcast discussing building resilience and protecting well-being among university staff and students

Campus talks: what does it mean to decolonise a library?

Find out what is involved in decolonising a library from the editors of a book drawing together global perspectives on the subject

Jess Crilly, Regina Everitt

University of East London

Advice on supporting academics staff in taking their first steps towards decolonising curricula

How to support academic staff starting the journey of decolonising the curriculum

How do you support the endeavours of academic staff and build student voice into an institution-wide effort to decolonise the curriculum? Mhairi Taylor and Nighet Riaz share lessons from the University of Glasgow’s action plan

Mhairi Taylor, Nighet Riaz

University of Glasgow

Race tends to come behind gender when it comes to university work on equality

Competing hierarchies of oppression: why is race a lower priority?

Gender is often given priority in HE because it’s seen as a universal concern that affects all women, but this ignores racism within gender equality work, says Kalwant Bhopal

Kalwant Bhopal

University of Birmingham

Insight on steps to tackle Islamophobia in British universities

Challenging Islamophobia across higher education

Ibtihal Ramadan explains why Islamophobia remains absent from many universities’ efforts to tackle racism and what steps can be taken to address the problem at an institutional and individual level

Ibtihal Ramadan

Swansea University

Advice on where to start in decolonising your curriculum

Decolonising the curriculum – how do I get started?

Rowena Arshad provides pointers for any teaching academics considering how to get started on decolonising their curriculum

Rowena Arshad

The University of Edinburgh