1. European history in and African classroom: Students ideas of curriculum decolonisation
Marshall Maposa

2. Background – the module
Change, industrialisation and modernity
The industrial revolution
The Russian revolution
The French revolution
“Why are we learning this?”
Increased ‘decolonisation’ discourses

3. Decolonisation
Kwame Nkrumah: “Seek ye first the political freedom and all else will follow”
Need for a deep understanding of neo-colonialism and the postcolonial condition
- the state
- internal political and socio-economic structures
- a culture of political and economic exploitation
- knowledge

4. Decolonising knowledge
Ideology/philosophy (Mbembe)
Language/concepts (Ngugi wa Thiong’o)
History (Cheik Anta Diop)
The curriculum
History curriculum (Johnson, 2008)
- content
- focus
- pedagogy

5. Methodology Case study Sample of 20 students (voluntary participation)
Focus group discussions (5 per group)
Follow-up one-on-one interviews
Data analysed thematically

6. Findings The module should be scrapped
- “We shouldn’t be studying European history”
- “I do not see myself in this module”
- “This is a continuation of apartheid”
- “Why are all the readings written by Whites?”
- “I’m sure they don’t study about us in Europe”

7. Findings The module should be retained
- “I really find the revolutions exciting”
- “I’m tired of learning about apartheid”
- “I want to know more about the world”
- “What if I want to travel to Europe one day?”
- “Some of this stuff is relevant to us today”

8. Discussion Content focus Relevance Ideology Race Utilitarian value
NB: None of the students mentioned pedagogy, concepts, language

9. Preliminary conclusions
The students have diverse views on decolonisation of the history discipline. The discourses on decolonisation are engaged with at a surface level with not much engagement with the nature of the postcolonial condition. As a result an idealised return to precolonial nativity conflicted by the hybridity of the postcolonial being.