Abstract

This study explored how lecturers in a post-92 UK university conceptualise and enact decolonial curriculum principles within their teaching and programme design. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with academic staff across multiple disciplines, the research adopts a qualitative, phenomenologically informed approach to examine the interplay between conceptual understandings, structural constraints, professional identities, and pedagogical strategies. Thematic analysis revealed five interconnected themes: diverse and contested definitions of decolonisation; structural and practical constraints; the shaping influence of social identities; strategies for moving beyond tokenism and the role of institutional support in enabling sustainable change. Findings highlight both the opportunities and tensions inherent in translating global decolonial discourses, such as those emerging from South Africa, Australia and Latin America, into the specific context of a UK post-92 university, where widening participation agendas intersect with resource and regulatory pressures. The study contributes to curriculum studies by extending understandings of curriculum enactment in politically charged contexts and emphasising that meaningful decolonial reform requires alignment between institutional commitment, professional development and the structural conditions of academic work. It concluded by arguing that decolonising the curriculum is an ongoing process of epistemic transformation that must be embedded in institutional structures, cultures and everyday pedagogical practice.