Academic Argues Eurocentric Education is Justified, Criticizes Decolonization Movement
Three years ago, Anthony Freeling, the acting vice-chancellor of Cambridge University, made a startling confession that resonated throughout British academic circles. He admitted to being completely baffled by the term "decolonization," stating that it had been misused to such an extent that he could no longer provide an accurate definition. This candid admission highlighted a growing confusion surrounding one of the most contentious debates in contemporary education.
The Multiple Meanings of Decolonization
Professor Nigel Biggar, a prominent academic voice in this discussion, expresses sympathy with Freeling's confusion. He suggests that millions likely share this bewilderment about what "decolonization" actually means in practice. According to Biggar, the term encompasses a wide spectrum of interpretations, ranging from entirely reasonable applications to deeply problematic ones that have infiltrated educational institutions under the guise of progressive reform.
The concept finds its most natural home in former European colonies, where it can represent entirely reasonable aspirations. Biggar points to Kenyan novelist Ngugi wa Thiong'o's 1986 work "Decolonising the Mind" as a prime example. In this influential book, Thiong'o argued persuasively for African literature to be written in African languages like his native Gikuyu, aiming to help Africans recover cultural self-respect and move beyond the assumption that European cultural products are inherently superior.
Reasonable Applications in Western Contexts
When translated to contemporary Britain or Canada, Biggar acknowledges that decolonization can still make considerable sense in certain contexts. It might involve correcting historical neglect in school curricula regarding immigration history and immigrant contributions to national development. Alternatively, it could mean including important texts that have been excluded from reading lists due to racial prejudice against their authors rather than any deficiency in their literary quality.
"If it is true that the history of immigration and the multicultural reality of Britain and Canada have been neglected," Biggar states, "and if it is true that important texts have been excluded just because of the author's skin colour, then curricula should indeed be 'decolonized.'" He emphasizes, however, that such claims must be demonstrated as factual rather than assumed as self-evident truths.
The Problematic Opposition to Eurocentricity
Where Biggar identifies significant problems is in what he describes as the opposition of "decolonization" to "Eurocentricity" and the insistence on shifting educational focus away from European histories and cultures. He argues forcefully that a certain Eurocentricity in British and Canadian education is not only defensible but entirely justified by historical reality.
"Britain is not Anywhere," Biggar asserts. "It is located in North-West Europe, it has a particular history, and it has developed particular institutions and traditions." He contends that British primary and secondary education should properly focus on helping future citizens understand the specific cultural and political environment in which they live and for which they will eventually bear responsibility.
The European Foundations of Canada
The same principle applies with equal force to Canada, according to Biggar's analysis. While acknowledging the vital contributions of Indigenous Canadians and recent immigrants from Asia and Africa, he emphasizes that the original builders of the Canadian nation-state were predominantly European—especially French and British, with significant Scottish influence.
Canada's primary languages, parliamentary institutions, legal system, and liberal traditions "didn't drop from heaven," Biggar notes. "They aren't universal. They were created over centuries—sometimes at considerable human cost—in certain parts of Europe." He argues that emerging Canadian citizens need to understand this European particularity in their country's origins.
Biggar warns that without appreciating this European heritage, Canadians risk squandering the rights and liberties uniquely bequeathed to them through their European inheritance. He suggests that decolonization, when framed as opposition to Eurocentric education, becomes a means to "smuggle in anti-western ideology" rather than pursue legitimate educational reform.
The debate continues to unfold in academic institutions across the Western world, with Biggar's arguments representing a significant counterpoint to more radical interpretations of decolonization that seek to fundamentally reorient educational priorities away from European historical and cultural foundations.
