Using Student Voice as Decolonial Pedagogy in a South African Neoliberal Open Distance e-Learning (ODeL) University

Although the history and evolution of open distance e-learning (ODeL) universities in South Africa and elsewhere are well documented, there remains a need to deepen scholarship on teaching and learning in ODeL to establish evidence-informed and values-driven foundations for teaching, learning, student support, and assessment, particularly in the context of neoliberal, market-oriented pressures. In this theoretical-conceptual article, I draw on my experiences of teaching in an ODeL university in post-apartheid South Africa to reflect on and theorise about my use of student voice as a decolonial pedagogical approach within a Research Methodology module as part of the Bachelor of Education with Honours programme. Framed through voice as a decolonial pedagogy, and employing an autobiographical approach as methodology, I explore and examine how this pedagogical approach positioned my students as co-creators of knowledge. Rather than seeking to demonstrate measurable impact, I use autobiographical insights to highlight the potential of this pedagogical approach to centre marginalised knowledges and advance decolonial impulses in distance education.