Decolonising the Legal System Module for youth empowerment: student voices and reflections
Abstract
This chapter presents a third-person scholarly examination of the redesign of a Legal System module at the University of Greenwich through a decolonial framework aimed at enhancing youth empowerment, employability, and entrepreneurship, including student-led problem-framing and solution design (e.g., community legal support models and cultural-competence consultancies). It outlines how qualitative and autoethnographic methods function as decolonial strategies that resist positivist traditions in legal pedagogy. Drawing on classroom data and anonymised student survey feedback from the 2024–25 academic year, it explores how critical engagement with the origins of English law, statutory interpretation, judicial precedent, comparative legal systems, professional ethics, access to justice and procedural reform fostered inclusive, reflexive learning. The findings indicate that decolonising pedagogy can bridge epistemic divides, empower students to critique legal structures, and cultivate skills relevant to both professional practice, employment and social transformation.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Legal Education and Practice Innovations
Decolonial Thought and Epistemologies
Comparative and International Law Studies
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Greenwich Academic Literature Archive (University of Greenwich)
- Publication date
- 6 February 2026
- Language
- EN
- Document type
- Book chapter