Decolonising: Its enough to put a crack in it...

"while we may want to bring down the wall (of history and of the system), "basta con hacerle una grieta" ([it is] enough to make a crack in it). Walsh, 2018.

There are so many colleagues who are not sure where to start, and what to do when it comes to decolonising HE.

- Some have expressed it is a massive undertaking that cannot possibly be done by any one person, module, course, or even institution.

- Some have expressed that it is so theoretical that they struggle to understand how they can apply it in practice.

- Some have expressed that it is almost impossible to measure any results of "decoloniality" in HE.

I have also had these considerations across the journey of my learning, experiences, and research into decoloniality, postcolonialism, and anti-colonialism. At times, I still do.

But I was reminded recently in my reading that decoloniality is not about completely taking down the entire system - well it may be, eventually - but it is enough to put a crack in it. This should not be confused with accepting incorrect and harmful understandings of what decolonality is, and it should not be an excuse to settle for short term wins that are measurable, over long term decolonial thought and change.

SO!

Don’t get lost in the sauce – Decolonising HE is happening, even though it is at times called something else.

It can seem quite a tricky conversation – we must call oppression out for what it is, change the power dynamics, correct incorrect narratives, and change the system. It needs to be done for the oppressed, by the oppressed. It must be systemic change as much as it is individual change, and decolonising of the mind must take place first. While all of these are fundamental to decoloniality, I often wonder whether we have missed something that is right under our noses.

So, I’d like to suggest that Decolonising HE is taking place. There are many initiatives, activities, and changes that support the work of decolonising as an ongoing learning process and as an outcome. Examples of this include:

• Learning and development spaces and research for understanding what decoloniality is;

• Attempts to reform and innovate with assessment;

• Introducing and celebrating new ways of critical thinking and theory in lectures and discussions;

• Student partnership work that is sustained, where students are not volunteers;

• Attempts at embedding student voice throughout the organisation;

• Programmes and resources in support of marginalised groups success;

• Intentional knowledge exchange programmes and initiatives with individuals and institutions in postcolonial countries;

• Actions for Anti-racism, sexism, all the other isms and oppressions, as well as the intersections of these forms of oppression;

• Action/research into the lived experiences of marginalised groups.

There is still a way to go when looking at how well these things are done from a decolonial perspective, but these are cracks that did not exist before. Making cracks are important, and we have to work to keep pushing the cracks wider open, by improving our approaches and understanding of decoloniality and taking action to change.