Against colonial residues, towards decolonising assessment: a case study of a university history course

Abstract

Assessment remains a power nexus in Higher Education, where remnants of coloniality pool. The power that assessment holds makes it an important site for decolonisation. The purpose of this article is to present an experiment, and open a discussion, on the decolonisation of assessment. We argue that bringing assessment into the decolonisation project is important in a social justice move towards addressing coloniality in Higher Education. This can work to ensure epistemic access and epistemic justice in Higher Education classrooms. In this article, we explore some ideas towards decolonising assessment in Higher Education, offering some alternative assessment practices. We explore a case study of a History course in which the assessment practice was varied and creative. We argue this to provide decolonial paths into assessment while drawing on other assessment traditions. We examine how assessments in the form of a play, portfolio, and reflective essay offer a space for emotion, collaboration, reflection, and ultimately humanisation in assessment. We argue that drawing on varied forms of assessment through multiple types of reflective, collaborative, and imaginative assessment constitutes an important experiment in decolonising assessments in Higher Education. To do this, we draw on assessment and decolonial theory, both wide and varied fields. In this case study, we draw on data from a history module in a Social Science course in a Bachelor of Education program in a South African university. This means that we are embedded in a specific national context, but we argue that the questions we raise are universal.

Keywords

• Higher education
• assessment
• decolonisation
• history
• emotion
• reflection