The decolonization of applied linguistics is a critique of applied linguistics (see Phillipson, 1999; Phipps, 2018 and Pennycook & Makoni, 2020). We argue for a shift toward the Global South, in particular Africa, and for the importance of paying attention to 'race' as a significant category of analysis in applied linguistics in Africa. Three…

This article is based on research into the phenomenon referred to as the "colonization of the mind." It commences with a discussion of four different backgrounds and concomitant experiences regarding this persistent form of colonization: two with reference to the authors of this article, and two with reference to distinguishable…

Students, through teaching and learning, must reflect on what they do not know. It is only when they recognise what they know, and what they do not, that they will awaken to their own curiosity. The more they can open themselves to others and their epistemologies, the deeper their own self-reflection in relation to others. In this way, engendering…

Boys have been identified as the main perpetrators of school violence and bullying, evoking debates on masculinities. However, boys are not always the active producers of violence. This article examines the ways in which primary school boys who otherwise denounce violence explain their participation in it. The data draw from a more extensive…

Throughout my career as an elementary music educator, I constantly sought ways to decenter myself as the instructor and make space for student agency and independence to flourish. However, my efforts over 10 years were rooted in Western Eurocentric thought. Where I thought I was creating a more egalitarian environment, my Whiteness shielded me…

In this essay, I argue that Somali identities exist within a long history of immigrant aspirations toward what scholars call "whiteness" and their resistance to being identified within identities associated with Blackness. There are two main frames of my argument. First, I show that Somali-Americans' resistance to Blackness seems to be…

The ongoing 2015/16 student unrest (#RhodesMustFall; #FeesMustFall) has displayed heightened calls for the decolonising of the curriculum in the higher education (HE) sector. Students have highlighted in the recent protests that the curriculum remains largely Eurocentric and continues to reinforce white and Western dominance. In response to the…

This paper argues that the "institutionalisation" model used by universities to spearhead the intellectualisation of African languages is a non-starter for taking African languages in new creative directions. The major constraint for African language literary culture is that written output has historically been heavily bent towards…

The possibility of individual (istic) identity formation is explored within a context of a synergistic and communal support system. Within this context, the intrinsic complexities of the African child who enters the academia with a multiplicity of epistemic identity contestations are simultaneously explored. The ensuing alienation resulting from…

Namibia has one of the most dehumanising and destructive colonial pasts of any nation in Africa, or, for that matter, the world. Before colonisation, the area now known as Namibia was home to diverse cultural groups. The successive colonial regimes of Germany and South Africa inflicted genocide, brutality and apartheid on the region. Namibia…

This article argues that multiculturalism, especially when it is led and controlled by Whites, and in the absence of collective anti-racist struggles, can reproduce the ontologies, epistemologies, and practices of white supremacy. I use a case study of a reenactment of Atlantic black slavery, produced by white teachers to investigate whether…

In the United States, colleges use the internationalization of their student body as a conduit to achieving greater diversity. Not only has the attraction of international students become a priority for many universities regardless of size or location, universities administrators are often also quick to point to the increasing number of…

In this study, cross-cultural differences in cognitive test scores are hypothesized to depend on a test's cultural complexity (Cultural Complexity Hypothesis: CCH), here conceptualized as its content familiarity, rather than on its cognitive complexity (Spearman's Hypothesis: SH). The content familiarity of tests assessing short-term memory,…

Apartheid created more than physical distances between color groups; South Africa is made up of people with often separated minds. Leaders of the democratic government draw from and modify the ancient African tribal value called "ubuntu" as the philosophic basis for their cultural strategy of unification. Sandra Chait has pointed out…

The author argues in this speech that one cannot expect students in the school system to know and understand the genius of Black history if the curriculum is Eurocentric, which is a residue of racism. He states that his comments are designed for the enlightenment of those who suffer from a school system that "hypocritically manipulates Black…