Transforming Epistemologies in the Postcolonial African University? the Challenge of the Politics of Knowledge

The process of knowledge production, dissemination and consumption has captured much scholarly attention from a political viewpoint in recent times. Discourses on development, empowerment, transformation and democracy have revolved around knowledge and power and more precisely on the politics of knowledge. Institutions of higher learning, especially universities, globally, as nerve centres of knowledge production and distribution, have not been spared from the challenges of the politics of knowledge. In this conceptual paper, we theorise the dynamics of the challenges and opportunities of the politics of knowledge in the context of the postcolonial African university's endeavour to transform epistemologies in higher education in the 21st century Africa. Our case is premised on three claims, namely that 1) the production and mediation of knowledge is a genuinely political process(Weiler, 2011b) 2) universities can be considered among the most political institutions in society (Ordorika, 1999) and 3) recontextualisation and transformation of university epistemologies (Weiler, 2011a) is a prerequisite for an authentic postcolonial African university

African universities on a global ranking scale: Legitimation of knowledge hierarchies?

In this theoretical paper, I argue that the interconnection between the excruciating superiority of the West to conflate its own prototype of society with the ideal state of being is manifested through the heirarchisation of knowledge in the name of the university global rankings. My case is that by accepting the centre–periphery disjunction within the knowledge–power dynamic through situating African universities within the global university rankings is only an entrenched fashion of endorsing the legitimation of the heirarchisation of knowledge. Ranking universities on the league table puts western scientific knowledge systems at the epitome against the local and African indigenous knowledges seating at the bottom of the global knowledge ladder. Arguing from a critical theory perspective, I submit that the elite universities domiciled in the world's wealthiest economies enjoy a disparate influence over the international standards for scholarship and knowledge processes while denigrating African ways and sources of knowing by placing them at the bottom of the knowledge pyramid. While acknowledging the need for excellence and competitiveness on a global scale, I advance and provide strong evidence that knowledge processes in African universities should not be measured against western –dominated processes due to the uniqueness of each. Conversely, I forward the case that each system of knowing is distinct and placing them on an equal pedestal is indefensible and therefore illegitimate.  To that end, I make proposals for African universities to find alternatives to global university rankings that measure their own competitiveness

A crisis like no other: Disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic in the neoliberal African higher education era

The Covid-19 pandemic has offered an opportune moment to assess the neoliberal tendencies in (South) African higher education. In critiquing neoliberal tendencies in higher education, this article proffers the thesis that university in (South) Africa perpetuates and entrenches neoliberalism as a Eurocentric canon, thereby shadowing the public good agenda of higher institutions of learning. The dawn of democracy in many African countries ushered in new thinking concerning higher education policy and practice. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the fact that African higher education has remained tethered to the former colonial powers’ whims, thereby maintaining the dominator-dominated relationship. We argue that the imposed Western-style education has produced an educated élite with Western values and entrepreneurial attitudes that pilot their states on the path to modernity through the capitalisation of knowledge. Subsequently, the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed deep inequalities in relation to access to African higher education. To that end, we conceptualise the predominance of neoliberal philosophy in African higher education as an instrument of keeping the public good idea of the African universities under surveillance. We provide theoretical evidence of how African universities are still suffering from colonisation of the mind decades after the attainment of political independence through complicit or sometimes implicit imbibing and embracing of the Euro-centred neoliberal philosophy under the guise of globalisation. We make a case for (South) African higher education to turn the tide to encompass locally relevant teaching and research with an eye on local needs in the context of Covid-19 pandemic. On the understanding that Covid-19 pandemic affected places differently, we argue that the deep underlying inequalities in African higher education were exposed

A critical interrogation of paradigms in discourse on the decolonisation of higher education in Africa

There have been persistent contestations over the conceptual implications of paradigms in the decolonisation of higher education in Africa. As a contribution towards the continued pursuit of a succinct conceptualisation of decolonisation, this conceptual article interrogates four paradigms that undergird the decolonisation of higher education in Africa. These paradigms – decolonisation as Africanisation, decolonisation as indigeneity in education, racial undertones, and decolonisation as Ubuntu – are employed as benchmarks for decolonisation. The unexamined entrenchment of these paradigms within the decolonisation of higher education, however, tends to encumber the intended goals of that process. The conclusion arrived at here, is that while decolonisation is a noble cause that must be pursued consistently; the distortion of these paradigms ultimately hinders the objectives of decolonizing African higher education. &nbsp

Higher Education in the melting pot

The idea of this book emerged from the Education Deans Forum (EDF) meeting held in Johannesburg in 2018. The forum discussed the twin issues of the 4IR and Decolonisation and how these were likely to impact the future development of Higher Education in South Africa. Essentially, this book provides scholarly analyses of a range of possible impacts of the two discourses. On one hand, the discourses are discussed as representing convergences and divergences in relation to their epistemological, ontological, axiological and methodological assumptions. On the other, they are portrayed as competing for dominance in the contemporary and future discourses in Higher Education. As a scholarly compilation of high-end research, the book is a must-read resource for academics generally and those in teacher education disciplines particularly. Issues of the automation of academic workspaces, impact of digital divides, the opportunities and constraints of the technologisation of curricula, pedagogies, teaching and learning and the intractable challenges of remote modalities of university instruction are dealt with by some of the leading thinkers in the South African academies

Higher Education in the melting pot

The idea of this book emerged from the Education Deans Forum (EDF) meeting held in Johannesburg in 2018. The forum discussed the twin issues of the 4IR and Decolonisation and how these were likely to impact the future development of Higher Education in South Africa. Essentially, this book provides scholarly analyses of a range of possible impacts of the two discourses. On one hand, the discourses are discussed as representing convergences and divergences in relation to their epistemological, ontological, axiological and methodological assumptions. On the other, they are portrayed as competing for dominance in the contemporary and future discourses in Higher Education. As a scholarly compilation of high-end research, the book is a must-read resource for academics generally and those in teacher education disciplines particularly. Issues of the automation of academic workspaces, impact of digital divides, the opportunities and constraints of the technologisation of curricula, pedagogies, teaching and learning and the intractable challenges of remote modalities of university instruction are dealt with by some of the leading thinkers in the South African academies

Making a Christian Private University Appealing to Prospective Students: The Case of Covenant University

Worldwide, universities are established to train highly skilled manpower that are expected to contribute to the development of their societies. Nigerian universities are expected to contribute to the achievement of the national goals using education as a tool. Before 1993, the provision of university education in Nigeria was a government monopoly. Many people could not be offered admissions into public universities because the existing facilities could not accommodate the deluge of requests. However, private universities have entered into the higher education service provision market. With many of them competing for prospective student enrolment, it is not surprising that some of them have deployed marketing strategies to attract students and make them stand out from the cluttered market. This paper examines how Covenant University, a Christian faith-based university and the acclaimed leader in the private university industry in the country has marketed itself. It found that it uses its product, people, work processes and serene physical location to attract new students. Importantly, it uses its relatively high tuition fees to position itself as the school for the children of the elites