Global Health and Decolonisation in Higher Education: Examining the Attitudes, Perceptions and Possibilities of Educators

Globally, there have been numerous calls to decolonise Global Health, most of them focusing on research-related practices while less attention has been given to Global Health education. The aim of this paper is to explore the perceptions and the meanings attributed to the decolonisation of Global Health education by Global Health educators from higher education institutions in both the Global North and Global South. To do so, we used a descriptive cross-sectional study using a mixed-method design approach. An online structured questionnaire was sent out in the second half of 2022 to 18 Global Health educators from both the Global South and the Global North to understand what the decolonisation of Global Health education means to practising educators, and what pedagogical practices should be recommended. In total, sixteen respondents filled out the survey. We used thematic analysis for the first question and found four sub-themes that we divided into the epistemic level (knowledge and its validation) and the ontological level (the nature of being). At the ontological level, we found that while the concept of decolonising Global Health was perceived as valuable and relevant; it was also seen as new and evolving, and lacking common direction. We found respondents saw the decolonisation of Global Health in education as a means of challenging power structures and colonial legacies, as well as a means of attaining innovation through reciprocity and equity. We end the discussion with recommendations for the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) of Global Health educators.