Reimagining Research Methods Curriculum in Education Otherwise: A Decolonial Turn

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter seeks to explore decolonisation as a creative orientation to problematise the politics of knowledge hierarchies of university curriculum (research methods in the case of this chapter) in order to respond to issues of epistemic violence and exclusion, and create transformative and radical ideas about the future of education. The critical discussions are the result of my interactions with different educators and students within the UK and beyond, my lived experience as an Algerian Kabyle who immigrated to the UK, and my doctoral research. The latter sought to explore the lived experiences of EFL (English as a foreign language) master’s (MA) students in studying research methodology and writing their dissertations in education fields at an Algerian university. I begin to discuss my own education journey in both Algeria and the UK which was grounded in Eurocentrism. The chapter then defines the concept of decolonisation in the context of educational research, and what this proposed orientation may mean for the future of education. I further explain the significance of using decolonisation as a creative approach to address exclusion and inequality, and invite readers to think of what it may mean in terms of their practices, pedagogies and creating new possible realities of educational futures. I also conclude with offering some practical ideas for change to decolonise educational research methods curriculum in a higher education (HE) context.