Decolonising the Curriculum – where, why, and how to begin?
While decolonising the curriculum has become more and more visible within academia, there are still questions from staff members on what it means, and what can they do in their specific roles at the Business School to decolonise.
The “Decolonising the Curriculum: where, why, and how to begin” workshop was designed to explore and understand not only the ‘why’ but also the ‘how’ of curriculum decolonisation. The workshop aimed to spark an individual roadmap on decolonising the curriculum. It accommodated everyone, whether they had not started or were at the outset of their decolonisation journey or wanted to deepen their existing practices.
While decolonising the curriculum has become increasingly visible at Birmingham Business School, many colleagues continue to ask what it means in practice and how it relates to their own roles, disciplines and positionalities. Rather than offering prescriptive answers, we created space for critical self-reflection on both the purposes and practices of teaching.
Centring reflexivity
Reflexivity was approached as an ongoing process through which educators examine how their assumptions, experiences, identities and institutional locations shape what and how they teach. The workshop emphasised that decolonisation is not a fixed end point but a continuous journey of learning, unlearning and relearning. Participants joined the session at different stages of this journey, from those newly engaging with the agenda to colleagues seeking to deepen existing practice, with the shared aim of developing an individual and context-sensitive roadmap for action.
Prior to the workshop, colleagues were invited to complete a survey mapping the ways in which they were already engaging with decolonising initiatives. This provided an important starting point, recognising existing efforts while also highlighting areas of uncertainty and tension. Building on this, the workshop brought participants together as a community of practice, encouraging collective learning and mutual support.
Embedding our arts-based approach
A key element of the session was a creative, arts-based activity that invited participants to respond to the question: What does decolonisation mean to you, and how does it influence your teaching? Through drawing and visual expression, colleagues were able to reflect on their personal journeys, articulate uncertainties and aspirations, and surface emotional and embodied dimensions of teaching that are often overlooked. These creative reflections underscored the importance of reflexivity in decolonising pedagogy, not only as an intellectual exercise, but as a practice that reshapes how educators relate to knowledge, students and themselves.
Explore our other project activities:
Decolonising a Business School 