Marginalized students and the Eurocentric curriculum in South Africa and the U.S.A.

• In Event: The Politics of the Curriculum

Proposal

While some forms of colonialism have begun to recede worldwide, this does not necessarily include a reduction in the impact of the colonizers’ Eurocentric curriculum; a curriculum focused on European and/or Western ideas that often ignore the histories and contributions of ethnic minorities in predominantly white countries, as well as populations within former European colonies, such as Viet Nam or Ghana. While a vibrant and ongoing examination of the impact of this curriculum on students within emerging nations remains essential to understand the challenges and achievements of learners in the Global South, these studies (Jansen & Walters, 2022) do not necessarily include an examination of education in countries such as Canada or the U.S.A. (Ndlangamandia & Chaka, 2022; Savo, 2018). Moreover, though the U.S.A. might be considered a former European colony, its pattern of internal colonialism (Altbach & Kelly, 1978; Gutierrez, 2004; Pinderhughes, 2011; Wolpe, 1975) suggests the need for the U.S.A. to be included in discussions focused on the impact of the Eurocentric curriculum. Unfortunately, previous comparative scholarship regarding the U.S.A. often addressed only educational inequities based on quantitative analyses of attendance patterns, test scores, and the level of racial/ethnic integration within local neighborhoods and schools (Landsberg, 2022; Logan, Minca & Adar, 2012; Scott, 1987), as opposed to a critical analysis of the internal colonialism theory focused on Eurocentric curricular content. Thus, in the U.S.A., qualitative analyses of the content and appropriateness of the academic curriculum, particularly for marginalized students, while available (Parrish, 2022), is more challenging and often requires sophisticated qualitative comparative research. To address this conundrum, the paper will examine and compare the impact of a Eurocentric curriculum on two post-colonial countries (the U.S.A. and South Africa) that continue to face internal challenges when attempting to move beyond their historic and essentially racist histories. The paper begins with a brief quantitative comparison of learner attendance patterns by race, ethnicity and/or class in public schools during the past three decades in South Africa and the U.S.A., and how the academic performance of marginalized students often lags behind national expectations. (This timeline begins in 1994 with Mandela’s presidency, the initial transformation of South Africa, and the maturation and impact of court ordered school integration in the U.S.A. which began in 1954.) The paper qualitatively analyzes a sample of Eurocentric curricular trends currently found within school systems in both countries and concludes with a brief discussion of how curricular imbalances, if not corrected, might negatively impact the academic success of marginalized students within the U.S.A. and South Africa.

Author

• Karen Biraimah, University of Central Florida