Deconstructing and reconstructing African development studies through student engagement and cross-cultural collaboration at a UK university

This paper reflects on the authors’ experience of seeking student feedback and peer recommendations to reconstruct learning content for the delivery of a module on African development studies at a university in the United Kingdom (UK). This restructuring process relied on a form of Appreciative Inquiry that covered the four stages of discovery, dreaming, delivery, and destiny. The paper finds that most students enter university with a limited understanding of Africa framed by overwhelmingly negative associations and have difficulty accessing positive narratives about African countries in their programmes of study. Consequently, problematizing generalised perceptions of Africa must form an obligatory part of transformative change in UK universities, so that students can gain an education that provides them with a more rounded understanding of and appreciation for the continent and its people. The paper also highlights that for sustained, transformative change to occur, efforts to decolonise teaching must go beyond the fragility of siloed initiatives to institution-wide efforts that include establishing training programs and the targeted recruitment of staff with specialised knowledge. Through a discussion of its key findings, the paper seeks to contribute to a growing body of literature providing practical examples of how universities in the UK (and beyond) can decolonise, diversify, and update their social science curricula.