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A decolonial approach to a socially just curriculum? a case study of a first-year common course in an emerging post-apartheid University eMzansi Afrika
This qualitative case study sought to explore whether and how the University of Mpumalanga (UMP) imagined social justice in its first-year common course, MIC100 (Mpumalanga in Context). The UMP is one of the only two universities established after apartheid in South Africa, and it does not have a co...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
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School of Education
2026
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| _version_ | 1867613266661867520 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Mona, Msakha |
| author2 | Morreira, Shannon |
| author_browse | Mona, Msakha Morreira, Shannon |
| author_facet | Morreira, Shannon Mona, Msakha |
| author_sort | Mona, Msakha |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | This qualitative case study sought to explore whether and how the University of Mpumalanga (UMP) imagined social justice in its first-year common course, MIC100 (Mpumalanga in Context). The UMP is one of the only two universities established after apartheid in South Africa, and it does not have a colonial and apartheid history. However, its newness does not absolve the UMP from coloniality, thus the study found that the institution is implicated in coloniality due to its existence within a higher education environment that is pervasively Eurocentric. Thus, the study explored how the UMP worked with this complication through its curriculum in MIC100. Theories of social justice and decoloniality framed the study. While pointing out some of UMP's complicities in coloniality, the study found MIC100 to have made significant moves towards social justice and decolonization. The main data for this research was the students' reviews of MIC100, student interviews, and the UMP's documentary data which were analyzed on NVivo. Among the implications of the study, is the need and call for universities to be more intentional in responding to the decolonial question in ways that achieve social justice. Therefore, the findings reveal some of the strategies that were employed in MIC100 that can be adapted by educational institutions, lecturers, and curriculum designers. The strategies include efforts to recognize black students and their cultural products such as African languages; and creating teaching and learning environments where students can feel ayoba. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/42508 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | English eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:25.185Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | School of Education |
| publisherStr | School of Education |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/42508 A decolonial approach to a socially just curriculum? a case study of a first-year common course in an emerging post-apartheid University eMzansi Afrika Mona, Msakha Morreira, Shannon Luckett, Kathy social justice decoloniality higher education ubuntu translanguaging curriculum This qualitative case study sought to explore whether and how the University of Mpumalanga (UMP) imagined social justice in its first-year common course, MIC100 (Mpumalanga in Context). The UMP is one of the only two universities established after apartheid in South Africa, and it does not have a colonial and apartheid history. However, its newness does not absolve the UMP from coloniality, thus the study found that the institution is implicated in coloniality due to its existence within a higher education environment that is pervasively Eurocentric. Thus, the study explored how the UMP worked with this complication through its curriculum in MIC100. Theories of social justice and decoloniality framed the study. While pointing out some of UMP's complicities in coloniality, the study found MIC100 to have made significant moves towards social justice and decolonization. The main data for this research was the students' reviews of MIC100, student interviews, and the UMP's documentary data which were analyzed on NVivo. Among the implications of the study, is the need and call for universities to be more intentional in responding to the decolonial question in ways that achieve social justice. Therefore, the findings reveal some of the strategies that were employed in MIC100 that can be adapted by educational institutions, lecturers, and curriculum designers. The strategies include efforts to recognize black students and their cultural products such as African languages; and creating teaching and learning environments where students can feel ayoba. 2026-01-09T11:21:26Z 2026-01-09T11:21:26Z 2025 2026-01-06T11:42:07Z Thesis / Dissertation Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42508 en eng application/pdf School of Education Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | social justice decoloniality higher education ubuntu translanguaging curriculum Mona, Msakha A decolonial approach to a socially just curriculum? a case study of a first-year common course in an emerging post-apartheid University eMzansi Afrika |
| thesis_degree_str | Doctoral |
| title | A decolonial approach to a socially just curriculum? a case study of a first-year common course in an emerging post-apartheid University eMzansi Afrika |
| title_full | A decolonial approach to a socially just curriculum? a case study of a first-year common course in an emerging post-apartheid University eMzansi Afrika |
| title_fullStr | A decolonial approach to a socially just curriculum? a case study of a first-year common course in an emerging post-apartheid University eMzansi Afrika |
| title_full_unstemmed | A decolonial approach to a socially just curriculum? a case study of a first-year common course in an emerging post-apartheid University eMzansi Afrika |
| title_short | A decolonial approach to a socially just curriculum? a case study of a first-year common course in an emerging post-apartheid University eMzansi Afrika |
| title_sort | decolonial approach to a socially just curriculum a case study of a first year common course in an emerging post apartheid university emzansi afrika |
| topic | social justice decoloniality higher education ubuntu translanguaging curriculum |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42508 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT monamsakha adecolonialapproachtoasociallyjustcurriculumacasestudyofafirstyearcommoncourseinanemergingpostapartheiduniversityemzansiafrika AT monamsakha decolonialapproachtoasociallyjustcurriculumacasestudyofafirstyearcommoncourseinanemergingpostapartheiduniversityemzansiafrika |