Using the School Environmental Education Programme (SEEP) to Decolonise the Curriculum
Zimu-Biyela, Acquinatta Nomusa
The topic of decolonisation has become a contested terrain because of the curriculum
challenges facing education systems in Africa, particularly South Africa. To address these
challenges, many scholars have underscored the importance of using socio-culturally
relevant curricula in Africa. This article is divided into two sections. First, it explores challenges
facing education systems in Africa and how decolonisation and socio-culturally relevant
curricula, resources, and teacher training can provide answers to those challenges. Then
the article explains how Ufasimba Primary School emerged as a school where the School
Environmental Education Programme (SEEP) was used to decolonise the curriculum. The
challenge, however, was that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) in the KwaZulu-
Natal province in South Africa had not made it mandatory for schools to implement the
SEEP. This study recommends that the integration of the SEEP into the curriculum should
be mandatory at primary education level. A qualitative approach and a grounded theory
method, underpinned by the social constructivist paradigm, were used for this study. Data
collection methods included semi-structured interviews and the observation method. The
basic principles of grounded theory and the NVivo software program assisted in the data
analysis for this study.
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