Decolonisation in the field of public administration: The responsiveness of the scholarship of teaching and learning

Abstract

This article sets out to explore and analyse the repositioning of the scholarship of teaching and learning in the study of governance. The proponent of this study argues that the scholarship of teaching and learning in public administration and management must respond to decolonisation within the context of its disciplinary culture and practices. Decolonisation in South Africa followed in the wake of student demands for free and equal education and the call for the rejection of the hegemony of Western, European and apartheid knowledge production. As part of responsiveness, this article argues that the scholarship of teaching and learning in the field of public administration and management must be repositioned by recognising the existence of new narratives in the pedagogy of governance that upholds African agency, culture, societal values and practices without compromising quality. Findings from this study suggest that the scholarship of teaching and learning must be framed by local knowledge and must create a drive for a restoration of epistemic agenda in African universities that teach governance studies.