Nkereunwem, Ogonna Nchekube, PhD
Anyanwu, Edith Ada, PhD
Ubi, Veronica Onwanyi, PhD
Introduction
Nigeria is one of the African nations colonised by the British Empire. Colonialism left many Nigerian indigenous systems in shambles (Robert, 2020). Both good and bad colonial legacies have been sustained in Nigeria over the years by the indigenous leaders and other elites. Studies confirm that colonial pedagogy and curriculum have lingering imperialistic impact on the epistemology of the formerly colonised nations (Jabłoński, 2021; Hanieh, 2019). The focus of the present study is on the impact of colonial pedagogy, which has to be deconstructed using various viable means. For the study, critical pedagogy and classroom reorientation are some of the viable mechanisms for deconstructing colonial pedagogy and promoting indigenous knowledge in the ex-colonies. It avers that to significantly address the concerns associated with colonial pedagogy, critical pedagogy and classroom reorientation should be used to promote indigenous knowledge in the English Language classroom and beyond. The concerns arise from the negative impact of colonial pedagogy, which is monolithic, imperialistic, Eurocentric, and exclusive in cultural and epistemic orientation and socialisation.
Apart from being incapable of giving accurate or factual accounts of indigenous cultures, epistemologies, languages, literatures and other inherent systems of the colonies, the colonial pedagogy misrepresents (Nkereunwem et al., 2025). That is majorly because of its origin, nature and pursuit at formation and institutionalisation. Colonial pedagogy is considered incomprehensive because it is Eurocentric, exclusive and culturally biased or monopolistic. That is why it disregards, keeps out and silences indigenous knowledge and other systems of the former colonies, such as those of Nigeria (Forsyth, 2017). More so, since the pedagogy and curriculum of the ex-colonialists have undergone series of reviews and changes back home, where they were created, instituted and circulated or exported to the ex-colonies, the need for decolonising them in Nigeria and beyond cannot be over-emphasised. Given the undoubted reviews and innovations made so far to the colonial pedagogy and curriculum in the cotemporary Western world, it is justifiable to deconstruct colonial pedagogy and introduce and institutionalise critical pedagogy and indigenous knowledge in Nigerian educational systems.
This study is motivated by the pitfalls of the traditional approach to teaching that characterises the colonial pedagogy, which is teacher-led or teacher-centred (Cutajar, 2008). It seeks to make a paradigm shift from teacher-centred pedagogic practice to a student-centred pedagogy that is critical and decolonising. Considering colonial, traditional or Eurocentric pedagogy as having unfavourable impact on the educational systems of Nigeria and other ex-colonies of British Empire, the paper advocates the deconstruction of colonial pedagogy through the use of critical pedagogy and classroom orientation in the postcolonial era of Nigeria as well as other formerly colonised nations.
Colonial Pedagogy and Curriculum, and their Characteristics
The concept of pedagogy is credited to Johann Herbart, who lived between 1776 and 1841. Herbart, the pioneer of the concept of pedagogy, describes pedagogy as the peculiar teaching method(s) and practice(s) employed by a particular teacher or certain teachers (Learning Journals, 2025). Herbart identified five main components of pedagogy: preparation, presentation, association, generalisation, and application (Yue, 2024). It follows that he considers pedagogy to have five conceptual elements. For this paper, at the preparation, presentation, and application phases, pedagogy gets entangled with curriculum. In practice, pedagogy and curriculum associate (Oluwamayomikun & Oparaku, 2023), thereby bringing to place the association component of pedagogy. In practice, teachers and students also associate. The association between the two in the context of colonial pedagogy and curriculum is suzerain, premised on teacher’s superiority to the student. This is where classroom orientation is the exclusive preserved duty of the teacher.
The concept of pedagogy describes the peculiar teaching method and practices employed by a particular teacher (Mbah, 2023). This means that colonial pedagogy is the peculiar teaching and practices employed by each of the colonial teachers in colonial times, which got codified into the curriculum then and beyond (Carpenter & Haghgou, 2023). In other words, colonial pedagogy describes the educational methods and practices introduced by the colonisers to exercise domineering control, superiority tendencies and impose Eurocentric or Western perspectives, knowledge and culture on the people they forcefully colonised (Ritchie & Mojab, 2019). Colonial pedagogy is characterised by Eurocentric curriculum, Western languages, theoretical knowledge, subjugation of indigenous knowledge systems, and racial discrimination. The practices inherent to colonial pedagogy include militarisation of schools, adoption and regular use of punitive measures, and silencing creativity and originality to avoid resistance (Mayo, 2001).
Colonial curriculum describes the educational practices, methods and content imposed on the people under colonisation, with the aim of changing their culture, societal structures, epistemic and other indigenous systems, and mentality with deceits, Western perspectives and misleading constructs (Robert et al., 2016; Prah, 2009). The characteristics of colonial pedagogy apply to colonial curriculum, because the curriculum is the continuation, institutionalisation, and formalisation (Mbah, 2023). The characteristics of colonial curriculum include cultural and linguistic domination, neglecting and endangering indigenous systems, sustenance of dependence and underdevelopment, placing emphasis on conformity and obedience, and structural inequalities (Appiah, 2018; Utietiang, 2000). Examples of colonial curriculum in Nigeria include the 1882 Education Ordinance in the Southern Provinces, and the 1948 Educational Ordinance in all parts of Nigeria. The 1882 Education Ordinance is the first colonial curriculum introduced in Nigeria. It was imported from the 1642 Ordinance template of the Dame schools (Mbah, 2017; Igboanụsị, 2002; Ụbahakwe, 1979).
Their constructed and applied personal teaching method and practices in teaching students of the then colonial territories, which are now ex-colonies, became teaching codes, practices and legacies that they left behind. These got sustained across the colonial era to date (Robert, 2020). Their constructions were Western, Eurocentric, subjective, narrow, and teacher-centred (Piaget, 1954). Based on critical reflections on the colonial experiences, it is logical to reason that the colonial teachers saw the students as persons having nothing to offer in the classroom. The foregoing is captured by Ashcroft (1989) viz: “more than three-quarters of the people living in the world today have had their lives shaped by the experience of colonialism” (p. 1). As such, the students were to rely solely on their teachers for knowledge. These were informed by misleading Eurocentric perspectives. Eurocentric perspectives led to various negative constructions about Nigerians, Africans and peoples of other colonised territories (Chimakonam, 2019; Appiah, 2018; Utietiang, 2000).
The efficacy of instructional methods in any institution directly impacts on the overall quality of education and human capacity development (Alsalhi et al., 2024; Oviawe, 2010). As Menakaya et al. (2022) emphasise, conventional/traditional approach is the most used teaching strategy in most schools, whereby teachers use it exclusively to carry out the teaching and learning of reading comprehension. This approach is inefficacious. As in other contexts, instructional methods play a key role in preparing learners for professional roles, while at the same time producing well-rounded individuals, who can think critically, lead effectively, and proffer tangible solutions to different problems in both complex and simple environments (Gouëdard et al., 2020).
Theories of Pedagogy
The theories of pedagogy offer postulations on how teaching should be carried out to get the best out of the process to learning and offer valuable insights into practical practices in teaching and learning (Yue, 2024). The theories of pedagogy are rational approaches to explaining and understanding pedagogy in different contexts. These include critical pedagogy, behaviourism, problem-solving learning (also known as critical literacy), cognitive theories, culturally responsive pedagogy, connectivism, Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory, constructivism, cognitivism, collaborative approach, experiential theory, reflective approaches, humanism, integrative approach, liberationism, and the inquiry-based approach (Yue, 2024; Rutto, 2017). The theories allow for a meaningful engagement of learners in the classroom. It should be noted that this study uses ‘classroom’ to refer to any setting in which the learning from a teacher or an instructor takes place. It may be synchronous or asynchronous, face-to-face, online or hybrid (Obinna et al., 2024).
The different theories of pedagogy have different postulations, thereby showing variations in views on pedagogy. This study focuses on critical pedagogy. Thus, the theory of critical pedagogy is given an exposition hereafter. In contemporary times, there are three major theories of pedagogy. These are Herbatianism, the New London Group, and Learning theories. While the two others will be merely described hereafter, Herbatianism will be engaged with, as to critique it while showing its place in pedagogy and curriculum. The school of pedagogy is named after Johann Herbart, its founder. Herbart is considered the father of pedagogy. Additional to conceptualising pedagogy, he theorised it. He teaches that pedagogy has five components. These are preparation, presentation association, generalisation and applications. The first component involves getting ready for the process of instruction or teaching. After getting ready, presentation follows suit. This means that had been prepared by the teacher or instructor is now being delivered to the learner.
Next, in bringing ideas together, association occurs between the teacher and the learner on one hand. On the other hand, the association occurs among ideas, thoughts, and sensations in human memory or imaginations. Thus, there is a mental connection or relationship between or among ideas, thoughts, and/or sensations. Generalisations occur as general concepts are formed from specific instances, and the individual reasons from detailed facts to general principles. The last but not the least component refers to the act or process of putting to practice what has been learnt. Based on Johann Herbart’s postulations, this paper avers that a teacher’s knowledge of the aforementioned components grounds their pedagogical knowledge and skills. For this study, the five components of pedagogy identified by Johann Herbart are processes of pedagogy, which serve as pathways to understanding pedagogy well and showcasing competence in it.
Theoretical Framework
The study adopts Freire’s (1970) Critical Pedagogy (CP) for theoretical grounding. Freire (1970) is the pioneer of CP. The theory encompasses critical literacy, problem-solving learning, Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory, liberationism, and integrative, collaborative and the inquiry-based approaches. Critical Pedagogy (CP) encompasses theories of critical literacy, reflective approaches, culturally responsive pedagogy, integrative approach, and the inquiry-based approach. This study considers critical pedagogy to be encompassing because it is characterised by critical literacy, critical consciousness, reflection, analysis and responses to socio-political constructions of indoctrination in the school and other social settings (Freire, 1970; Freire & Macedo, 1987).
The theory allows for criticality, self-reflection, critical consciousness, problem-solving learning, and learner-teacher interaction, brainstorming and collaboration for the integration of knowledge content, ideas, perspectives, concepts, theories and practices (Nwode & Danjuma, 2023; Robert et al., 2022; Knoblauch & Brannon, 1993; Lankshear & McLaren, 1993). According to Freire (1970), ‘conscientisation’ is the concept for understanding political indoctrination in various social contexts and the subsequent development of a critical consciousness that makes the individual rethink what is being indoctrinated. This is given credence by Bishop (2014), who argues that critical literacy is “built on exploring personal, socio-political, economic and intellectual border identities” (p. 51). This quotation implies that critical literacy, like critical pedagogy, rouses critical mindedness or consciousness to the issues concerning these identities, some of which are politicised and indoctrinating.
On their part, Knoblauch and Brannon (1993) have noted that critical literacy exhibits the complexity of a socio-political framework that grounds “the relationships of language and power with practical knowledge of how to use language for advocacy, social critique, and cultural transformation” (p. 15). Critical literacy relates to critical pedagogy in terms of its ideals and teachings on criticality in teaching and learning in ways that the learner is an active participant in the teaching and learning process, and contributes to the process as a result of the roused consciousness towards critical concerns. The quotation is a pointer to the fact that critical pedagogy is encompassing, reactive, responsive, and stimulating. These, this study posits, arise from the critical consciousness gained from critical literacy and critical pedagogy.
Critical Pedagogy, also known as Freirian Pedagogy, basically teaches that critically literate individuals understand how meanings are socially constructed in texts; the political and economic contexts of the created texts; and the contexts grounding the meanings of the social constructions created in texts (Freire, 1970; Freire and Macedo, 1987). Therefore, critical pedagogy can serve as a practical mechanism for deconstructing colonial pedagogy for the attainment of diverse, inclusive, robust and innovative approaches to teaching and learning. Using it to orient learners in the classroom can provide a range of invaluable theoretical and ideological insights on practical best practices in teaching and learning.
Negative Impact of Colonial Pedagogy
Colonial pedagogy has left negative impact on the indigenous knowledge systems of colonised populations (Ritchie et al., 2022). The impact also obtains on the knowledge of their history and migration experiences. By putting out these aspects of Nigerian peoples in the educational systems, practices and methods they passed on to Nigerians, the colonialists succeeded in subverting and eroding Nigerian history and migration experiences, tales and even written narratives (Robert, 2016). Ferguson and McNally (2015) report that immigrants in Canada suffer a lot of challenges as a result of White supremacist display of racism and neoliberal capitalist exploitation. Of course, the exploitation is extended to the indigenous knowledge of immigrants. Racial colonialism, which recent studies confirm to still obtain in contemporary Canada, characterises colonial pedagogy and curriculum. Among such studies are Estes et al. (2021), Gilo-Whitaker (2019), Nichols (2019), and Dunbar-Ortiz (2015). Chatterjee (2018a) criticises the racial discriminations associated with the settlement practices in Canada, whereby those considered as settlers are discriminated against.
It is reported that the racism in the West brought repressive embargoes and woes upon African American community, men and women, adults and children in the Diaspora, leading to gender stereotype, abject poverty, underdevelopment and other ills hampering their well-being (Anyanwu, 2023; Orjinta, 2013; Kolawole, 1997; Williams, 1995). It is logical to reason that the wrongs of the colonialists are what informed the call for ‘decolonisation’ or ‘indigenisation’ in Canada “since the publication of the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action in Canada” (Carpenter & Haghgou, 2023, p. 2). The foregoing critiques have been echoed by Black Canadian scholars, who analyse and criticise colonialism, white supremacy, domineering relations, imperialism, racism, and cultural and material capitalism that are projected pedagogically and politically (Walia, 2021 & 2012; Nichols, 2019; Chatterjee, 2018b; Dhamoon, 2015; Snelgrove et al., 2014).
The impact of colonial pedagogy can be grouped into cultural erosion, resistance to decolonisation, susceptibility to domination, political and economic inequalities, and ethical deviations (Carpenter & Haghgou, 2023). The superiority mentality of the colonialists made them to consider themselves as gods or lords over their African students. Their mentality made them think that education is merely a process of producing or offering knowledge to learners without receiving any from the learners. That is the conception of the adherents of ‘educare’, a Latin word for ‘education’ meaning “to mould” or “to make” (Ocheje, 2020). The opposite Latin word for ‘education’ is ‘educere’ meaning “to lead out”, “to uphold” or “to build”. It is generally subjective to consider learners as being empty-headed individuals, who the teacher has the obligation of making or moulding them to become educated, rational, and creative.
The kind of education the colonialists had in mind for the colonised populations informed the kind of pedagogy and curriculum they put in place and left as a legacy. Although some nations have changed them, many ex-colonies like Nigeria are yet to change the knowledge systems along with the other superimpositions they inherited from the West during colonialism. Countries like South Africa have been making significant efforts to decolonise their curriculum and educational systems (Oelofsen, 2015; Shizha, 2013). Nevertheless, advances by some indigenous scholars and other personalities in such ex-colonies have caused the combination of the systems inherited from the colonialists with some of the erstwhile abandoned indigenous equivalents. Being constructions made by foreigners, they largely have features and embodiments of what obtained back home where the foreigners came from to Nigeria and the other ex-colonies. Their imperialistic tendency informed their notion and adopted approach to teaching (Hanieh, 2019).
Education is not just a process of giving out alone. It also involves receiving while teaching. Colonial teachers gave no room for such dual teaching and learning between the teacher and the learner. Colonial pedagogy has silenced Nigerian epistemology, making it seem less potent and known. In reality, non-Western epistemologies are neither inferior nor superior to the Western equivalents. The mentality that the students got nothing to offer but teachers alone is the base of the colonial pedagogy of having no ethical considerations for their students and underrating them. This mentality is that of considering students as being tabula rasa. Earlier, Aristotle had stated in his De anima (‘On the Soul’) that “the mind is empty, or nothing exists in it, until it thinks” (Polansky, 2007, p. 453). This paper posits that it is difficult to determine when and how exactly the mind thinks. Secondly, the mind does not necessarily think only when its carrier gets to school.
Thus, if the mind thinks outside the school environment, one cannot logically claim that the mind is empty until the teacher loads or feeds it with thoughts, ideas, constructions, etc. during teaching sessions. Any such claim limits thinking to the teacher-learner setting alone, which is unrealistic. The responsibilities of training and building the mind of the child do not imply that the child’s (learner’s) mind is empty. The tender learner’s mind had earlier had some inputs from the home before getting to the school for formal learning. Of course, that is not the case in reality. This study does not subscribe to the idea that human mind is tabula rasa at birth. The fact that the teacher ought to teach the learner does not mean that the individual has nothing in their mind before being engaged in the learning process.
If every learner’s mind is tabula rasa, it means that the learner acquiring advanced education (say, Master’s or PhD) has nothing in their mental faculty until they begin to receive lessons for the Master’s or PhD. Also, this paper also does not subscribe to the view that learners have nothing in them until they are being taught and made or moulded. In addition, the unequal relational patterns characterising the colonial pedagogy and curriculum do not pave way for liberality and student participation, but reliance on the pedagogic content passed on to the learner by the teacher without any questioning. Without questioning means that learners are not allowed to question what they consider inappropriate or subjective. That is how colonial rhetoric’s, prejudices and unrealistic views about ex-colonies like Nigeria got spread and sustained across centuries since the colonial era to date.
Critical Pedagogy and Classroom Deconstruction Imperative
The potential of classroom orientation to affect positive within and outside the classroom is affirmed by several extant studies. The study by Nwode et al. (2025) reveals that with effective language use, the Igbaboi can be well projected in the classroom and on the new media to extent that many Igbo youths would become keenly interested in the Igbaboi practice right from the school. The study adds that such classroom teaching for sensitive enlightenment is usually result-oriented, problem-solving, and influential to learners. Anyanwu (2025) avers that by “consistently rousing the consciousness of non-Western nations’ young people to their indigenous linguistic and cultural identities in the classroom, language teachers help eliminate or reduce Western linguistic imperialism in the era of globalisation” (p. 1). From the analysis of the study’s primary data, she shows that through consistent classroom teaching and conviction of young Igbo learners about their language and culture, and the imperative of learning, speaking and even writing the Igbo language, the young Igbo are bound to become interested in and conscious of their linguistic identity in and outside the classroom.
The concept and practice of deconstruction is also affirmed to have the potential to affect changes in various regards. For example, Anyanwu (2024) empirically demonstrates that deconstruction can aptly serve as a tool for assertive actions capable of changing misogyny, gendered language and gender-based ills against women in Igboland. In another development, Danjuma (2023) demonstrates that negative gender constructs about women across cultures can be deconstructed and reconstructed to a large extent by using written and oral resources and forms of language to reorient and sensitise people about such gendered constructs that portray women in negative light. Similarly, Nwode et al. (2024) call for the deconstruction of the notion of popular culture, which negates other cultures considered unpopular. In the same vein, the present study calls for the deconstruction of colonial pedagogy using critical pedagogy to reconstruct it in the classroom.
Engaging in classroom orientation of learners in contemporary Nigeria and other ex-colonies requires classroom-based critical analysis of the impact of colonial pedagogy and curriculum on the indigenous knowledge of Nigeria. Doing so offers learners valuable insights into the impact of pedagogy and curriculum. Critically analysing the impact of pedagogy and curriculum entails making a paradigm shift from the inherited colonial pedagogy and curriculum, which would avail contemporary Nigerians as well as people of other ex-colonies the opportunity to get familiarised with their indigenous knowledge along with other indigenous systems. The learners would deeply learn and relearn a whole lot about their indigenous knowledge in comparison with the colonial equivalent enshrined into and sustained in colonial curriculum.
The shift from colonial pedagogy to critical pedagogy is an intellectual gesture for advancement and innovations in the education sector. During colonialism, colonial pedagogy and curriculum got introduced into Nigerian educational system as well as those of other ex-colonies. The colonialists also introduced Eurocentric perspectives on African indigenous systems and the act of dabbing the systems variously with denigrating labels that make them seem inferior to their Western equivalents. Regrettably, the colonial mentality has been sustained in contemporary times by neo-colonialists and Africans who uphold the constructed Eurocentric perspectives and adopted mentality of dabbing anything African (Robert, 2020; Prah, 2009). These constructions are evident in colonial pedagogy and curriculum passed on to Nigeria and other ex-colonies. These elements of colonial pedagogy and curriculum and the foreign aspects of Western knowledge and cultures exert negative impact on the indigenous knowledge of African colonised nations, including that of Nigeria.
Mbah (2023) states that education entails providing and receiving knowledge, skills, and human development along with opportunities for achieving progress, affluence, improved standard of life and efficiency in various activities. Thus, teaching does not only entail giving out to the learner, but also receiving from the learner too. This is the ideal practice taught, upheld and promoted by critical pedagogy. Drawing insights from John Locke’s views on education, Androne (2014) states that “education means shaping according to each individual’s temperament and skills, exercised without brutality, but in a rigorous and pragmatic manner,” and it “plays a crucial role in the moral development and social integration of any human being” (p. 74). Before the rise of critical pedagogy, the brutality meted out by the teacher on the learner was never faulted, but considered a disciplinary practice in the education system. This is practice introduced to the colonised nations by their colonisers, who also introduced them to Western education.
There is need to critically engage contemporary students in Nigeria and other ex-colonies in indigenous discourses, thereby creating cultural literacy and equipping them with critical skills. Consequently, they become critically minded, sensitive and aware of their indigenous systems in comparison with those of the West. At that point in time, they could realise and differentiate between colonial and critical pedagogies, indigenous and Western cultures and systems of society, and so on. The realisation can drive personal and collective efforts toward deconstructing colonial pedagogy and Western systems and practices to attain changes. These can lead to knowledge deconstruction and reconstruction, thereby having and promoting reconstructed indigenous knowledge that truly reflect and represent indigenous systems without any prejudices.
As Ogegbo and Ramnarain (2024) and Rutto (2017) agree, teachers ought to incorporate critical pedagogy, learner-centred approach, reflective practices, innovative systems and best practices into their teaching method and practices so as to allow for reflective and meaningful learning, and nuanced individual-society positive impact. The implication is that the absence of these means the absence or insignificant presence of reflective and meaningful learning, and the manifestation of the negative impact of non-reflective and teacher-centred pedagogy and curriculum. Thus, exposing learners to both positive and negative impacts of colonial pedagogy in comparison with those of the critical pedagogy would enable them discern the two and opt for the better one.
Critical pedagogy, Abu-Shomar (2017) notes, is an instrument for resisting and changing the colonial hegemony instituted in the education systems of Saudi Arabia and other formerly colonised nations. Critical pedagogy advocates and allows for full participation by learners and teachers in the learning process (Hickey, 2020). This study argues that the colonial pedagogy exerts more negative than positive impact on learners. This is because it is epistemologically monopolistic, and inhibits learners’ knowledge. Thus, it infringes on learners’ rights to fair hearing, personal dignity and participation in social processes like those obtained in the classroom. Also, in the course of the essay, critical pedagogy and colonial pedagogy will be compared and contrasted in terms of their positive and negative impacts on indigenous knowledge systems (Ritchie, 2013). Since learning is ultimate to the classroom, it is essential to ensure and uphold best practices in the classroom, where learners are oriented and reoriented adequately. Doing so allows for the attainment of standards, quality, optimal performance, and high productivity.
As Rutto (2017) notes, “to achieve best standards of learning,” teachers/instructors have to “be adequately equipped with pedagogical knowledge and skills” (p. 2025). This quotation underscores the importance of pedagogy and emphasises the need for teachers to be well grounded in the knowledge and skills of pedagogy. The implication is that teachers are bound to perform well when they are equipped with pedagogical knowledge and skills. It is because pedagogy is impactful that it is needed to achieve best standards in teaching and learning. Here, the essay argues that the impact of pedagogy on teachers extents to their students. This is because the teacher transfers the acquired pedagogical knowledge and skills to learners while teaching in the classroom.
Novelty and Contributions
The study has undoubtedly made a significant contribution to discourses on colonialism, pedagogy, and language teaching and learning. This is particular evidenced by its adopted problem-solving and change-driven preoccupations and approaches. There is no doubt that the study offers valuable empirical insights on ways of improving English language teaching and learning in Nigeria as well as other non-Western nations. Ultimately, the essay makes valuable contributions to education in practice and theory, making critical reflections on what ought to be corrected in colonial pedagogy in the contemporary educational system of Nigeria.
By critically analysing the impact of impact of colonial pedagogy and curriculum of indigenous epistemology, the study has unveiled the intricacies of the inherited and colonial educational systems characterised by Eurocentric and Western epistemology and culture. Besides, it has demonstrated the imperative of having a comprehensive pedagogy that is rooted in Nigerian indigenous epistemology and curriculum, while also making reflections on the colonial equivalents. The insights also foster changes, such as educational reforms, policy review, changed educational practices, promotion of indigenous cultures, sustainability, and innovations, and inclusive educational practices that prioritise community education and de-emphasises Westernisation, and imperialistic knowledge and societal systems.
Based on the exposition made so far, the study is significant, as it goes beyond promoting indigenous education, epistemic decolonisation, and cultural awareness, competence, reformation, and sustainability to promoting social and epistemic justice, integrative epistemology and the refinement of professional practices in Nigeria and beyond. Following critical pedagogy and classroom orientation, the younger generations would become poised to appreciating, upholding, studying and promoting their indigenous knowledge, languages and other societal systems inherent to every nation.
Conclusion
Colonial pedagogy is Westernised. It is characterised by epistemic exclusivity. Since it neither includes nor covers indigenous realities and systems of the colonised nations, colonial pedagogy has to be deconstructed across institutions of learning across the ex-colonies. This study has analytically explained how the deconstruction can be done through critical pedagogy and classroom reorientation. Drawing scholarly evidence from a range of extant studies, it aptly demonstrates that colonial pedagogy is deficient in imparting indigenous knowledge and systems, including indigenous cultures. In contrast, indigenous pedagogy is transformative, learner-centred, community-oriented, sustainable, inclusive rather than exclusive, and problem-solving. It does not misrepresent indigenous epistemology, realities, and systems.
Thus, it is imperative to deconstruct colonial pedagogy in Nigeria by using critical pedagogy classroom reorientation to promote indigenous knowledge. Deconstructing colonial pedagogy promises practical implications for the advancement of indigenous knowledge and systems. Promoting indigenous knowledge in the classroom by reorienting learners can foster the practical realisation of the goals of deconstructing colonial pedagogy. Besides, critical pedagogy proffers pragmatic awareness and competence, and critical skills with which learners are bound to become more informed and interested in indigenous knowledge and systems.
Additional to leveraging these mechanisms for the deconstruction of colonial pedagogy, future empirical research should pay deserving attention to the themes of deconstructing colonial pedagogy, the role of critical pedagogy, prospects and challenges of deconstructing colonial pedagogy, and how critical pedagogy impacts on indigenous knowledge and systems, among others. Curriculum review should significantly incorporate decolonised educational systems and practices. These include indigenous knowledge systems, language teaching and learning, and curricula. The current Nigerian pedagogy and curriculum should be redesigned and made comprehensive. Favourable legislations should be enacted for policy supports to the move for colonial deconstruction.
References
Abu-Shomar, A. (2017). Critical pedagogy and postcolonial education (Saudi Arabia). In International critical pedagogy reader (pp. 27-36). Routledge.
Alsalhi, N. R. et al. (2024). Evaluating the impact of reciprocal teaching strategy on international postgraduate science education programs. Journal of International Students, 14(3), 491-507.
Androne, M. (2014). Notes on John Locke’s views on education. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences, 137, 74–79.
Anyanwu (2025). Rousing the consciousness of the young Igbo to their linguistic identity in contemporary classroom: Prospects and challenges. Paper presented at 3rd Hybrid World Igbo Conference and Workshop, themed “Challenges and Survival Strategies of the Igbo in a Globalized World,” organised by the Centre for Igbo Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 13th-15th March.
Anyanwu, E. A. (2023). Linguistic profiling of gendered roles in Mbaise and Afikpo. Unpublished PhD thesis submitted to Department of Languages and Linguistics, School of Post-Graduate Studies, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki.
Anyanwu, E. A. (2024). Assertive rather than affirmative action and the deconstruction of gendered language about women in Igboland. Paper presented at Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities’ Maiden Multidisciplinary Conference 2024 on “Issues in Nigeria’s development in the 21st century: Looking ahead,” held at the Faculty Auditorium, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria, 4th-6th June
Appiah, K.A. (2018). The lies that bind: Rethinking identity, creed, country, colour, class, culture. Liveright Publishing Corporation.
Ashcroft, B. (1989). Introduction. In The empire writes back: Theory and practice in post-colonial literatures, B. Ashcroft, G. Griffiths, & H. Tiffin. Routledge.
Bishop, E. (2014). Critical literacy bringing theory to praxis. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, 30(1).
Carpenter, S., & Haghgou, S. (2023). Teaching through contradictions: Anti-colonial pedagogy and English language learning. Critical Education, 14(4), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.14288/ce.v14i4.186746
Chatterjee, S. (2018a). Teaching immigration for reconciliation: a pedagogical commitment with a difference,” Intersectionalities: A Global Journal of Social Work Analysis, Research, Polity, and Practice, 6(1), 1-15. https://journals.library.mun.ca/ojs/index.php/IJ/article/view/1867
Chatterjee, S. (2018b). Immigration, anti-racism, and indigenous self-determination: towards a comprehensive analysis of the contemporary settler colonial. Social Identities, 25(9), 644-661. DOI: 10.1080/13504630.2018.1473154
Chimakonam, J. O. (2019) Ezumezu, a system of logic for African philosophy and studies. Springer Nature.
Cutajar, J. (2008). Knowledge and post-colonial pedagogy. Mediterranean Journal of Educational Studies, 13(2), 27-47.
Dhamoon, R. (2015). A feminist approach to decolonizing anti-racism: Rethinking transnationalism, intersectionality, and settler colonialism. Feral Feminisms, 4, 20-37. https://feralfeminisms.com/rita-dhamoon/.
Dunbar-Ortiz, R. (2015). An indigenous peoples’ history of the United States. Beacon Press.
Estes, N., Yazzie, M., Denetdale, J. N., & Correia, D. (2021). Red nation rising: from border town violence to native liberation. PM Press.
Ferguson, S., & McNally, D. (2015). Precarious migrants: Gender, race, and the social reproduction of a global working class. Socialist Register, 51, 1-23.
Forsyth, H. (2017). Āta: an indigenous knowledge based pedagogical approach to teaching. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 5(10), 1729-1735. DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2017.051009
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Herder & Herder.
Freire, P., & Macedo, D. (1987). Literacy: Reading the word and the world. Bergin & Garve.
Gouëdard, P., Pont, B., & Huang, S. H. P. (2020). Curriculum reform: A literature review to support effective implementation. OECD Working Paper no. 239.
Hickey, D. (2020). Indigenous epistemologies, worldviews and theories of power. Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health, 1(1), 14-25. https://doi.org/10.33137/tijih.v1i1.34021
Igboanụsị, H. S. (2002). A dictionary of Nigerian English usage. Enicrownfit Publishers.
Jabłoński, M. (2021). The ‘illusion’ of social research/action: Reflections on neo-colonial pedagogy. Qualitative Sociology Review, 17(1), 96-109. DOI: http://dx. doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.17.1.7
Knoblauch, C. H., & Brannon, L. (1993) Critical teaching and the idea of literacy. Portsmouth, NH.
Kolawole, M. E. M. (1997). Womanism and African consciousness. Africa World Press.
Learning Journals (2025). “What are the different pedagogical approaches to learning?.” Accessed from learningjournals.co.uk on 23 June, 2025.
Mayo, P. (2001). Globalization, postcolonialism and identity: the role of education in the Mediterranean region. In Svob Dokic, N. (ed.), Redefining cultural identities: the multicultural contexts of the Central European and Mediterranean regions. Institute for International Relations.
Mbah, B. M. (2017). The conditions of the teacher as determinants of the learning of the students. Paper delivered during the one day workshop of the Teachers of the Obollo Zone, Udenu Local Government Secretariat, October 13.
Mbah, B. M. O. (2023). Absolute extremum in the teaching of English studies in Nigeria. Keynote paper presented at the 12th Annual National Workshop/Conference of The English Language Teachers Association of Nigeria (ELTAN) in conjunction with the Department of English, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam, Anambra, Nigeria, 5th–9th September.
Menakaya, C. M. et al. (2022). Effect of cooperative learning method on interest in English reading comprehension in Nsukka education zone of Enugu State, Nigeria. Webology, 19(3), 723-736. ISSN: 1735-188X
Nichols, R. (2019). Theft is property! Dispossession and critical theory. Duke University Press.
Nkereunwem, O. N., Anyanwu, E. A., & Ubi, V. O. (2025). Paper presented at the 14th Annual National Conference/Workshop, themed “Innovative ELT Pedagogy in Nigeria,” hosted by the Department of Language and Communication Education, Federal College of Education (Technical), Asaba, 26th-30th August.
Nwode, G. C., & Danjuma, C. (2023). Critical thinking and literacy for a creatively healthy living: Reflections on some social media health tips. Literacy and Reading in Nigeria, Journal of the Literacy Promotion Association, Nigeria (LiPAN), 21(1), 27-40.
Nwode, G. C., Danjuma, C., & Robert, O. S. (2024). Conceptual analysis of culture in negation of the notion of popular culture. EBSU Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 14(2). Retrieved from https://www.ebsu-jssh.com/index.php/EBSUJSSH/article/view/169.p. 442-448
Nwode, G. C., Nwankwegu, J. A., & Nwamini, S. C. (2025). New media and classroom projection of the Igbaboi means of survival among the Igbo: Language role. Paper presented at 3rd Hybrid World Igbo Conference and Workshop, themed “Challenges and Survival Strategies of the Igbo in a Globalized World,” organised by the Centre for Igbo Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 13th-15th March.
Ocheje, D. O. (2020). Philosophy of education (second edition). Yinkus and Sons Enterprise.
Oelofsen, R. (2015). Decolonisation of the African mind and intellectual landscape. Phronimon, 16(2).
Ogegbo, A. A., & Ramnarain, U. (2024). A systematic review of pedagogical practices for integrating indigenous knowledge systems in science teaching. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 28(3), 343-361. DOI: 10.1080/18117295.2024.2374133
Oluwamayomikun, O. A., & Oparaku, D. D. (2023, December 31). Creating an effective curriculum to develop cognitive and social skills in primary school children. International Journal of Education Effectiveness Research (IJEER), 2(2), 88-95.
Orjinta, I.A. (2013). Womanism as a method of literary text interpretation: a study of emergent women’s images under religious structures in selected works of Heinrich Böll. Inaugural-dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Philosophie an der Ludwig-Maximilians–Universitiät München, Vorgelegt von. University of Nigeria Press Ltd. Nsukka.
Oviawe, J. I. (2010). Differential effects of three instructional methods on students’ performance in building technology in polytechnics on Nigeria. PhD Thesis, University of Nsukka.
Piaget, J. (1954). The construction of reality in the child, M. Cook (trans.). Basic Books.
Polansky, R. (2007). Aristotle’s de anima. Cambridge University Press.
Prah, K. K. (2009). African language, African development and African unity. Occasional Monograph, no.14. Presented at the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC) organized Public Lecture, Abuja, Nigeria, 7th May.
Ritchie, G., & Mojab, S. (2019). The ideology of democracy/dictatorship as youth migrate. Globalisation, Societies, & Education, 17(4), 548-560.
Ritchie, G., Carpenter, S., & Mojab, S. (2022). As migrants move: (Re)formation of class and class struggle. In Ritchie, G., Carpenter, S., & Mojab, S. (eds.). Marxism and Migration (pp. 3-31). PalgraveMacmillan.
Ritchie, J. (2013). Indigenous onto-epistemologies and pedagogies of care and affect in Aotearoa. Global Studies of Childhood, 3(4), 395-406. http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/gsch.2013.3.4.395
Robert, O. S. (2016). Appraising a historian’s literary contribution to social order: Prof. Okpeh, Ochai Okpeh, Jnr. Spring International Journal of Arts and Humanities, 3(12), 110-114.
Robert, O. S., Besong, E. N., & Danjuma, C. (2022). Comedy, critical thinking, language use and rethinking/disproving Eurocentric historic non/scientific tales: Mark Angel Comedy episode 129 in focus. In O. Oyeniyi, I. Isah, & V. Ihidero (eds.), Literature and popular culture, quest for humane development: a book in honour of Professor Abubakar Aliyu Liman at 60 (563-576). Ahmadu Bello University Press Limited.
Rutto, D. K. (2017). Pedagogical theories. International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, 8(6).
Shizha, E. (2013). Reclaiming our indigenous voices: the problem with postcolonial sub-Saharan African school curriculum. Journal of Indigenous Social Development, 2(1). http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/29811
Snelgrove, C., Dhamoon, R., & Corntassel, J. (2014). Unsettling settler colonialism: the discourse and politics of settlers, and solidarity with Indigenous nations. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 3(2), 1-32. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/view/21166
Thuy, H. T. P. (2020). John Locke’s educational ideology with educational innovation in Vietnam today. J Adv Educ Philos.
Ụbahakwe, E. (ed.) (1979). The teaching of English studies: Readings for colleges and universities. University of Ibadan Press.
Utietiang, B. U. (2000). Rediscovering our identity as Africans (awareness). Schoen Publishers Nigeria Ltd.
Walia, H. (2012). Moving beyond a politics of solidarity, toward a practice of decolonization. In A., Choudry, J. Hanley, & E. Shragge (eds.), Organize! Building from the local for global justice (pp. 240-253). PM Press.
Walia, H. (2021). Border and rule: Global migration, capitalism, and the rise of racist nationalism. Haymarket Books.
Williams, D. (1995) Sisters in the wilderness: The challenge of womanist god-talk. Orbis Books.
Yue, S. (2024). The evolution of pedagogy theory: from traditional to modern approaches and their impact on student engagement and success. Journal of Education and Educational Research, 7(3), 226-230. DOI: 10.5409/j4agx439