Decolonising development practice from the classroom through “engaged reflexivity”

This article examines the use of reflexivity as a decolonial pedagogical approach to teaching Development Studies. We reflect on the implementation of a practice-based subject we have coordinated since February 2022 until 2025 and argue that critical pedagogies are fundamental to support students to enable just development futures. Our teaching philosophy aims at bridging the gap between theory and practice and it is informed by our concept of “engaged reflexivity”. This pedagogy draws on students’ own experiences and contexts to identify and re-evaluate their interdependent roles with the oppressing socio-economic and political processes they aspire to have an impact on. Engaged reflexivity involves a three-step process of challenging one’s assumptions, questioning one’s role in development practice, and committing to changing praxis, which we embedded in different activities in the course. This critical pedagogy has implications for transformative higher education, especially in Western settings.