ABSTRACT
Education provision in post-colonial states is often a contested space. Expressions of policy via curriculum go beyond content and skills to address issues at political and ideological levels. Curriculum policy statements may aspire to disengage a colonial past such as South Africa’s infamous, tiered apartheid education which deliberately limited provision for Black students. In the democratic era, education policy has striven for transformation and in principle, curriculum statements now include Indigenous knowledges. However, despite revised policies, education provision in South Africa differs widely according to persistent levels of privilege related to race and class. Communities’ voices and contexts remain marginalised. In order to illustrate new possibilities, we use a decolonial lens to critique the centre-periphery approach to curriculum policy development. We call for the recognition of community voice as a starting point for meaningful curriculum policy research, which may, eventually, foster education that is relatable for all. We draw on three participatory, decolonial studies to provide insights into community-centred approaches for potentially meaningful curricula reforms.
