Towards a decolonial framework for democratic higher education : student perspectives from former British and Portuguese colonies

Abstract

The study explores how students from former colonies conceptualise the colonial impact on democratic values in their higher education systems. Subsequently, it proposes a decolonial framework for the democratisation of higher education. The participants are students originating from countries once under the colonial rule of the British and Portuguese empires. Employing phenomenography as its methodological framework and following an interpretive paradigm, the study attempts to understand the students’ subjective experiences and perceptions of decolonisation and democratisation. A theoretical framework encompassing coloniality, epistemic violence and the democratisation of higher education has been used. Eight students from five countries were purposively selected and were invited to participate in in-depth, semi-structured interviews. A two-dimensional phenomenographic outcome space was formulated at the end. The study found that despite their diverse realities, the students identify decolonial knowledge as an underrepresented academic domain. Their collective understanding reveals that colonial legacies suppress democratic values in higher education, such as freedom, participation, and equality. Authoritarianism, elitism, and language dominance resulting from coloniality were recognised as the main obstacles to democratisation. The empirical data suggest that the democratisation of higher education necessitates the accountability of university teachers and the contextualisation of democratic values. Consequently, the framework proposed in this study encompasses these conceptions and anticipations with a hypothetical illustration of the democratisation process. It also encourages further research for a better cross-cultural understanding of decolonisation and democratisation.