Gesturing towards decolonial teaching praxis and unlearning colonial methods: teaching reflections in the struggle to decolonise research methodologies

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this article, we reflect on our experiences teaching and learning in a digital course for PhD students, Oxford-UNISA Decolonising Research Methodologies. The aim of the course was to ‘gesture’ beyond the coloniality of knowledge by thinking ‘otherwise’ about research methodologies. As a decolonial teaching praxis, gesturing embraces experimentation, humility and becoming as we pursue decolonial being/thinking and seek/create coexistence, well-being and dignity beyond its constraints. We conceive of co-teaching as co-learning and co-becoming. Teaching as becoming, we argue, means engaging with students without a rigid structuring telos. We revisit video footage from the class, course materials and review insights from our students to reflect upon the substance and configurations of our co-teaching. We analyse the significance of ‘keeping the fire’ of our shared intellectual projects, even as we remain situated within colonial institutions. Three interrelated challenges emerged while teaching decolonial geographies and decolonising methodologies in this online course. These dynamics include: (a) the challenges of cultivating student-teacher trust in digital exchanges; (b) the aspiration to embolden transdisciplinary engagements in the face of logistical, temporal and practical constraints, including ‘settler time’ and our ties to stated disciplines; and (c) the significance of co-presence and shared commitment to challenge academic hierarchies.