Decolonisation and student experience: evidence from an Otago project

Updated Sep 07, 2026

Brown, Martin and Abdul Aziz's journal article concerns students' experiences of decolonising and indigenising higher education. Its text was unavailable during this review. The account below instead draws explicitly on their accessible University of Otago project report, Decolonising education: An Ōtākou approach. It should not be read as verification of every finding in the later article.

What the project report describes

The team involved 68 students in three initial wānaka, followed by a fourth workshop to discuss findings. Their analysis adapted Critical Tiriti Analysis to the local context.

Participants described limited opportunities to understand Te Tiriti o Waitangi in their programmes, tokenistic curriculum content and change that depended on individual lecturers. They wanted stronger mana whenua presence, more meaningful cultural content and space for difficult conversations.

These findings are grounded in particular Indigenous relationships and obligations. They should not be reduced to a generic satisfaction theme or assumed to represent every student. The report itself describes the journal paper as still in preparation at that time; differences between versions remain unchecked.

Questions for a local discussion

Our practical suggestion is to ask who defines the purpose and categories of an inclusion review. Invite relevant students and communities to explain the distinctions that matter in their setting. Agree how accounts will be interpreted, who can challenge that interpretation and what decisions the work could inform.

A review can ask where curriculum commitments are visible in everyday teaching and where students see gaps. It should also allow disagreement: several students may describe the same practice differently. Preserve those accounts rather than forcing a single positive or negative verdict. Our governance checklist provides general questions about responsibilities, while local cultural and research expertise must shape the actual process.

FAQ

Can the methodology be copied into a UK survey?

Its concepts are embedded in local knowledge, relationships and place. A UK project should establish its own purpose and work with relevant communities instead of borrowing labels as interchangeable techniques.

Has the 2026 article been fully verified?

No. Its identity is confirmed, but the evidence discussed here comes from the separately linked project report.

References

Brown, K., Martin, R., & Abdul Aziz, Y. (2026). Student experiences of decolonising and indigenising Higher Education. Teaching in Higher Education. Article text not available for this review.

Brown, K., Martin, R., & Abdul Aziz, Y. (2023). Decolonising education: An Ōtākou approach. University of Otago project report, internal pages 1–7.

Correction, 7 September 2026: replaced unverified article detail with an explicitly sourced project-report account and clarified the limits of this review.