How decolonization of education can impact student outcomes

The education sector has undergone a protracted and fundamental change over the last decade. This transition has been exacerbated by the recent COVID- pandemic and the ubiquitous need for education reform throughout the developed world. Here, competition from foreign advisories, and change societal needs have all require a reconstitution of modern-day education principles. These principles have manifested themselves in the form of decolonization within core educational curriculum. The nature of the world requires a fundamental shift in how education in instructed. This entails a multi-year commitment to alter the overall curriculum within education institutions, test its effectiveness, make changes, and continue to reiterate the process on a go forward basis. This process is therefore esoteric in that many of the steps are unknown and will not to be catered towards specific demographics and populations (Kim, 2009).

The anticipated learning outcomes are correlate to a much more comprehensive and multi-disciplinary approach towards education. This shift is designed primary to prepare students for the economic challenges of the future, which are primarily centered around critical thinking. Here, the anticipated learning outcomes will provide learns with a better ability to think independently, objectively, and critically in order to solve complex problems. This, in turn, will help students to become more competitive within an international context against other high achieving learners.

Research is currently mixed on the effective of decolonization of global learning principles and experiences. Here certain subjects and material lend themselves well to the decolonization of global education. Research conducted by Sheryl MacMath and Wenoma Hall found that indigenous education worked extremely well using the principles of decolonization (MacMath, 2018). Their research found that using a multidisciplinary approach through decolonization was more effective at helping student better grasp and understand the course material. Research conducted Nina Asher, also points to the benefits of decolonization within the education context. Here, she found that subjects that require a multi-dicplinary understanding with core concepts for other subjects worked well within the educational environment (Asher 2009). Subjects related to anthropology, history, and sociology, according to Asher, work extremely well. Jovan Lewis, within the Journal of Anthropology also reiterated these findings with support for the decolonization of education (Lewis 2018).

Within a virtual environment learners have a much large opportunity to be engaged with the course material. However, research has also shown that a virtual learning environment also presents challenges for those who are unprepared to leverage the benefits of technology (Berger, 2008). To engage learners, it is important to have strong oversight and review capabilities to understand when a student logs on, how they interact with course material, and how long they engage with the material within a given day or week. As such, educators must periodically review the statistics to determine engagement. In addition, their must be safeguards in place to prevent cheating and other behaviors that can undermine the integrity of the overall learning experience. Finally, it will be important for students to interact and learn from one another within the virtual setting. Research has shown that the peer-to-peer student interaction is vital within the overall learning experiences (David, 2004).

References

1. Asher, N. (2009). CHAPTER 5: Decolonization and Education: Locating Pedagogy and Self at the Interstices in Global Times. Counterpoints, 369, 67–77. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42980382