Applied Feminist Systems Thinking in decolonising the university curricula, pedagogies and institutional practices
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi40.1466Keywords:
Feminist Systems Thinking, decolonise, decolonise HE, decolonise the universityAbstract
This paper examines the application of Feminist Systems Thinking (FST) as a strategy to decolonise university curricula, pedagogies, and institutional practices, drawing on postcolonial and decolonial frameworks. FST is a praxis, with the capacity to interrogate power dynamics. Recognising the complex interconnections between power, knowledge, coloniality, and institutional practices, the paper illustrates an embedded approach to decolonising. This paper emerged from four years of experience as a research fellow leading institutional commitment to decolonise. Key interventions include collaborative curriculum redesign, workshops on whiteness in the academy and critical pedagogy, incorporating alternative epistemologies that reflect the lived experiences of marginalised groups within academia, and a sustainable approach within existing university processes and regulatory frameworks. The study contributes to broader discussions on the role of universities in addressing historical colonial injustices and offers some ideas on curriculum design and pedagogies to integrate equality, diversity, and inclusion in learning development and teaching frameworks.
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