Ch 3: Conceptualizing Decolonization as an Actionable Framework

Conceptualizing Decolonization as an Actionable Framework: What’s the Syllabus Got to Do With It?

Theresa Cann

Chapter Summary:

This chapter examines how the syllabus, which has typically been a tool for transmitting colonial legacies, can also serve as a tool for decolonization. The author uses the Integrated Multimodality Approach (IMA), a nonlinear systematic roadmap for creating a decolonized syllabus and pedagogical practices, to engage readers with how they can decolonize their syllabi. Moreover, the author adds a fifth dimension to this roadmap by inquiring how global development studies engages with its historical past. The IMA design principals for decolonizing the syllabus include design level typology of global development studies, the logic of centering and de-centering coloniality, critical reflection for understanding rhetorical power and the implementation level that includes the three pillars of pedagogy.