Abstract:
Premised on decolonial theoretical framework this research interrogated the colonial
Eurocentric epistemology that underpins student development programmes in higher education
and proposes a decolonial paradigm that takes into account mainstreaming epistemologies from
the Global South. The aim of this research was to examine and contextualise the contention
that student development in post-colonial higher education in the Global South has continued
to promote Eurocentrism at the expense of Afrocentric epistemologies. The research was
designed as a qualitative study that employed grounded theory methodology focussing on
student development practice at three state universities in Zimbabwe which in this study are
identified as A, B and C. Research data was collected through in-depth interviews with Student
Affairs Practitioners, focus group discussions with Student Representative Council members
and analysis of documents. Data were analysed qualitatively through coding of emerging
themes during the course of the research process. This was complimented with the use of
NVIVO qualitative data analysis software and textual analysis for documentary data. Using the
lens of decoloniality, the major focus of the analysis was to determine recognition by the
Student Affairs Practitioners of the absence of and the need to prioritise epistemologies of the
Global South in student development practice. The research findings indicate that Eurocentric
hegemony is pervasive in student development practice in post-colonial higher education in the
Global South. Theorising on this complexity, the research identified mainstreaming
hunhu/ubuntu values as a practical approach to address these effects of onto-epistemological
coloniality. The researcher recommends the conceptualisation and designing of student
development programmes that imbue cultural values and norms of indigenous peoples of the
Global South. To guide this process the researcher developed the Social Enculturation/Three Legged Pot Model that imbues hunhu/ubuntu values. This approach inspires epistemic justice
by recentring epistemologies of the Global South for onto-epistemic self-determination.
