The Educational Review, USA, 2019, 3(6), 50-57 http://www.hillpublisher.com/journals/er 50 DOI: 10.26855/er.2019.06.001 The Educational Review, USA Decolonising the curriculum at a university of Technology in South Africa Lawrence Meda 1 , Amanda Swart 2 and Nomakhaya Mashiyi 3 1 Lawrence Meda is a Senior Lecturer and Teaching and Learning Coordinator in the Faculty of Education at Cape Peninsula University of Technology in South Africa. His research feld is in Curriculum Studies 2 Amanda Swart is a Senior Lecturer at Cape Peninsula University of Technology in South Africa. her research interest is in decolonisation of the curriculum 3 Nomakhaya Mashiyi is a Senior Lecturer at Cape Peninsula University of Technology and Faculty Language Coordinator. Her research interest is in languages and decolonisation How to cite this paper: Meda L, Swart A and Mashiyi N. (2019). Decolonising the curriculum at a university of Technology in South Africa. The Educational Review, USA, 3(6), 50-57. http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/er.2019.06.001 *Corresponding author: Lawrence Meda is a Senior Lecturer and Teaching and Learning Coordinator in the Faculty of Education at Cape Peninsula University of Technology in South Africa. His research feld is in Curriculum Studies. Email: medalawrence@gmail.com Abstract Keywords A good number of universities in South Africa came to a standstill in 2016 when student protests in quest for a decolonised curriculum intensifed. Today, decolonisation has become a buzzword in the country’s higher education institutions as academics are challenged to meditate around the term and integrate it into the curriculum. The purpose of this study is to investigate ways in which lecturers decolonise the curriculum. The study was done using a qualitative case study at a university of technology in South Africa. Rawls’ theory of justice was used as a theoretical framework. Sixteen lecturers were selected to complete open-ended questionnaires. Data was analysed using content analysis. It was found that lecturers decolonise their curricula by integrating indigenous African knowledge and at the same time retaining Western knowledge in order to prepare students to be able to live and work in an international, intercultural and global environment. Decolonisation; Curriculum; University; Decentring; Indigenous Knowledge 1. Introduction What started as a peaceful demonstration for free education (Fees Must Fall) in 2015 and 2016 escalated to an intense protest for decolonisation of the curriculum in South African universities. The #FeesMustFall protests intensified and resulted in students demanding for a decolonised curriculum (South African Institute of Race Relations 2016, 7). Students protested that sculptures which depicted colonial icons such as the Cecil John Rhodes statue must be demolished wherever they are on a university campus (Murris 2016). The #RhodesMustFall movement which began at a University in Cape Town brought a renewed attention to the need to decolonise the curriculum in South African Higher Education (Prinsloo 2016). Calls to decolonise the curricula are not new in South Africa nor have they gone uncontested whenever they have been made (Mbembe 2016). Considering the contestable nature of decolonisation in higher education because of multiple perspectives about the phenomenon, there is a need to investigate how lecturers go about decolonising the curriculum. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate ways in which lecturers go about decolonising the curriculum. The study was guided by one research question: How do lecturers go about decolonising the curriculum? The paper begins by defining the curriculum, followed by a decolonisation debate. This is followed by presentation of a theoretical framework, context of the study and methodology. Results and discussion follows along with succinct conclusions. 1.1. The Curriculum and Decolonisation Debate There is no one universally accepted definition of the term curriculum. However, various scholars conceptualise it simply as a course of study or that which a learning institution wants students to learn (Marsh and Willis 1995; Pinar 2012; Pinar, Reynolds, Slattery, and Taubman 2008). The presence of many defnitions of curriculum and the fact that it (curriculum) has