PgCert

Ahmed, S. (2012) ‘Introduction: On Arrival’, in On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, pp. 1–19. 

Alvesson, M. (2011) ‘Views on interviews: A skeptical review’, in Interpreting Interviews. London: SAGE Publications, pp. 3–40. 

Betts, R. F. (2004) Decolonization. 2nd edn. New York and London: Routledge, pp. 23–37. 

Betts, R. F. (2012) ‘Decolonization: A brief history of the word’, in Bogaerts, E. and Raben, R. (eds.) Beyond Empire and Nation: The Decolonization of African and Asian Societies, 1930s–1970s. Leiden: Brill, pp. 23–35. 

Chen, K.-H. (2010) Asia as Method: Toward Deimperialization. Durham and London: Duke University Press. 

Elkins, J. (2007) Art History as a Global Discipline. London: Routledge. 

Fanon, F. (1961) The wretched of the earth. Translated by C. Farrington. Harmondsworth: Penguin. 

Freire, P. (1970) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum. 

Gardinier, D. (1968) ‘Decolonization’, in Dunner, J. (ed.) Handbook of world history: concepts and issues. London: Owen, pp. 268–272. 

Hargreaves, J. D. (1996) Decolonization in Africa. 2nd edn. London: Longman. (The Postwar World). 

House of Commons Library (2024) The Post-11 July 2024 general election: A guide to the results. Research Briefing 10037. Available at: https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-10037/CBP-10037.pdf (Accessed: 25 December 2025). 

Irvine, A., Drew, P. and Sainsbury, R. (2013) ‘“Am I not answering your questions properly?” Clarification, adequacy and responsiveness in semi-structured telephone and face-to-face interviews’, Qualitative Research, 13(1), pp. 87–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794112455046 

Mbembe, A. J. (2016) ‘Decolonizing the university: New directions’, Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 15(1), pp. 29–45. doi: 10.1177/1474022215618513. 

Relli, S. (2025) Imperialism vs Colonialism: Key Differences Explained. The Collector, 15 February. Available at: https://www.thecollector.com/colonialism-imperialism-key-differences-explained/ (Accessed: 25 December 2025). 

University of the Arts London (2018) Decolonising the Arts Curriculum: Perspectives on Higher Education. Edited by J. Ameeriar, S. Bhagat, and P. Richards. London: University of the Arts London. 

University of the Arts London (2025) Report and financial statements for the year ended 31 July 2025. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/513765/UAL-Report-and-Financial-Statements-31-July-2025.pdf(Accessed: 25 December 2025). 

Reflection 

As I reflected on my research, I realised that the more I engaged with this topic, the more layers of complexity emerged. The research intersects with institutional structures, government policy, colonial legacies, and educational norms, making it difficult to identify a single point of focus. I therefore attempted to reflect step by step, addressing one issue at a time. 

International students’ experiences 

Through the interviews, international students expressed genuine appreciation for the institution’s stated commitment to decolonisation. However, a recurring theme was the gap between institutional discourse and lived experience. 

Students acknowledged that studying abroad inevitably involves cultural differences. What they identified as most impactful was not tutors asserting their own knowledge, but practices grounded in understanding, patience, and reduced judgment. While I remain uncertain whether the inclusion of marginalised voices should be equated directly with decolonisation, it became clear that those who speak least are often those who are unfamiliar with UK academic and cultural norms.  

“I sometimes feel invisible, not because of language, but because I don’t speak first.” 

Global economic power dynamics also shape the composition of the student body. A significant proportion of students now come from China, which can result in a “minority within a minority”.  

“In the movement classes or discussions, they always ask Chinese students how it is in China, but they almost never ask me about Turkey.”  

This highlights the limitations of understanding diversity purely through numbers or financial contribution. Genuine inclusion requires responding to varied lived experiences rather than demographic dominance. 

Staff awareness plays a crucial role in shaping international students’ experiences. International students are not in the UK simply to absorb UK culture. They are here to learn and exchange perspectives, knowledge, and cultural practices.  

Tutors often say international students are lost. This statement is completely ignorant. International students aren’t lost. They’re adjusting without any guidance.  (Interviewee, staff member)

This is evident in students’ final projects, which frequently draw on their own cultural contexts. (UAL, 2018) 

Students’ experiences are shaped primarily through everyday interactions with tutors, technicians, and teaching staff. Once inside the university, students rarely engage directly with the institution as an abstract structure. For both home and international students, teaching staff have the most immediate and lasting influence on their learning experience, and this influence warrants greater attention.

Through this process, I also began to understand why international students are excluded from EDI reporting. The criteria are used to eliminate the gap within students in the UK. International students are outside of this frame due to their nationality. 

However, this framing cannot justify the exclusion of marginalised international students from considerations of inclusivity at the ground level. Regardless of individual wealth, UK/Western institutions occupy a dominant position within global education systems and therefore retain responsibility for students’ inclusion. 

What I learned as a tutor 

This research has significantly reshaped my understanding of my role as a tutor. I have become more attentive to the needs, challenges, and aspirations of international students, particularly in how they navigate learning while abroad. Engaging with decolonisation has also heightened my awareness of how classroom norms reproduce everyday power structures. 

I am now more conscious of the references I introduce, the voices I prioritise, and the space I create during tutorials and group discussions. I actively try to give more room to students who are not the most vocal. Students are influenced by tutors not only through what we say, but through our actions. Regardless of scale, I intend to continue challenging bias and raising awareness when I encounter injustice in my teaching practice. 

University of the Arts London (2018) Decolonising the Arts Curriculum: Perspectives on Higher Education. Edited by J. Ameeriar, S. Bhagat, and P. Richards. London: University of the Arts London. 

Instead, decolonisation requires a decentring of the West as the universal reference point and a shift from vertical power relations to more horizontal forms of discourse and knowledge exchange. Asia as Method by Kuan-Hsing Chen offers useful frameworks for thinking beyond Eurocentric universals without simply inverting existing hierarchies. (2010) 

Decolonisation is a political term that emerged in direct opposition to colonial empires, and its use should not be reduced to a metaphor. As Tuck and Yang (2012) argue, decolonisation is fundamentally about Indigenous land and sovereignty. Its radical potential lies in its ability to prevent the repetition of colonial violence and dispossession, rather than serving as a symbolic or rhetorical gesture. 

For this reason, conversations about decolonisation should be uncomfortable and unsettling. They should not function as institutional claims of “doing something good”. Sara Ahmed similarly warns that institutions often adopt the language of decolonisation and diversity too easily, using it as a form of self-affirmation rather than structural change. (2012) What matters most is critically examining what these initiatives actually do rather than simply treating them as box-ticking exercises. (Ahmed, 2012) 

Why can/does UAL recruit so many international students? 

It is not surprising that UAL attracts a large number of international students through learning above. Western universities continue to hold economic, cultural, and symbolic capital, reinforced by global rankings in which UAL is one of the best in the world. As Mbembe warns, the idea of the “world-class” university contributes to a form of global educational inequality, shaped by the historical power of former empires such as the UK and the dominance of English. (2016) 

UK higher education is also heavily market-driven. Since around 2011, government funding for teaching has significantly declined (House of Commons Library, 2024, p. 28), and with undergraduate fees for home students frozen, universities started relying on fees. At UAL, 58% of income comes from international students. (UAL, 2025) This creates a structural power imbalance in which international students are essential to institutional survival yet positioned primarily as sources of revenue. 

Even more problematically, even when marginalised artists are successfully absorbed into the global art economy, exhibiting in capital cities, selling work at institutions such as Christie’s, and contributing to contemporary art history, they often remain positioned as “the other” if they are not Euro-American because you are playing in the field of the western context of art in which we are taught universal value of art. James Elkins articulates that the art history framework is centred on Western art, and the method of critique is also Western. (2006) 

This literature review reshaped my research question. One question is whether international students can be meaningfully included in decolonisation discourses within the UK. A second question is how institutions can become more inclusive of those who study in the UK temporarily. My research is more closely aligned with the second question, while being informed by decolonial thinking, particularly in its critique of Euro-American–centric education and its emphasis on diversity and inclusion. 

Ahmed, S. (2012) On being included: racism and diversity in institutional life. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. 

Chen, K.-H. (2010) Asia as Method: Toward Deimperialization. Durham and London: Duke University Press 

Elkins, J. (2007) Art History as a Global Discipline. London: Routledge. 

House of Commons Library (2024) The Post-11 July 2024 general election: A guide to the results. Research Briefing 10037. Available at: https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-10037/CBP-10037.pdf (Accessed: [25 Dec 2025]). 

University of the Arts London (2025) Report and financial statements for the year ended 31 July 2025. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/513765/UAL-Report-and-Financial-Statements-31-July-2025.pdf(Accessed: [25 Dec 2025]). 

What is decolonisation? 

I began by briefly tracing where the concept of decolonisation comes from, drawing on Decolonization: A Brief History of the Word by Raymond F. Betts. Decolonisation refers to the act of gaining sovereignty from a colonial state. As John D. Hargreaves (1996: 244) explains, its ‘central theme’ was ‘the creation of self-governing nation-states’. Decolonisation was initially understood as a political phenomenon but was soon extended to include all elements incurred through the colonial experience, ‘whether political, economic, cultural or psychological’. (Gardinier, 1968)   

Frantz Fanon expands this understanding by foregrounding the psychological and embodied dimensions of colonialism and decolonisation. In The Wretched of the Earth (1961), Fanon argues that colonialism does not only operate through political or economic domination, but also through the internalisation of inferiority, violence, and alienation within the colonised subject. Decolonisation is a radical and often painful process of psychic, cultural, and social transformation. 

After the Second World War, decolonisation had its greatest impact, as many former colonies claimed political independence. However, the legacy of colonialism remains visible, particularly in the global domination of wealth and power. The effects of colonialism continue economically, psychologically, and structurally. 

Fanon also warns that decolonisation can fail if it only replaces colonial rulers with national elites who reproduce colonial power structures. (1961) In this sense, some formerly colonised countries have gone on to mirror the hierarchies and systems of domination established by their former colonisers, exerting power over weaker groups. This complicates the idea of decolonisation as a completed or purely liberatory process. 

The Relationship between Decolonisation and the University 

In Decolonizing the University: New Directions, Achille Mbembe identifies multiple areas within the university that require decolonisation, including knowledge production, elitist structures, accessibility, classroom culture, authoritative and hierarchical systems, and the commodification of education. (2016) What these systems share is that they were largely created by white men and continue to be recognised as universal. As a result, they remainhegemonic and resistant to alternative ways of knowing and being. (Mbembe, 2016) 

It is also important to acknowledge that marginalised groups who have grown up in the UK and marginalised international students experience these structures differently. Their positionalities, histories, and relationships to colonial power are not the same, and this shapes how decolonisation is understood and lived within the university. 

In the UK context, discussions of decolonisation often focus on the relationship between the West and the ex-colonies. However, each marginalised group in the university has distinct experiences of colonialism and its aftermath. Depending on where individuals are from and where they grew up, decolonisation is perceived and enacted differently. It should therefore not be simplified into a narrative in which “the West” is positioned as the singular enemy of decolonisation, as this risks reinforcing a bipolar opposition such as West versus non-West. (Chen, 2010) 

Betts, R.F. (2012) ‘Decolonization: A brief history of the word’, in Bogaerts, E. and Raben, R. (eds.) Beyond Empire and Nation: The Decolonization of African and Asian Societies, 1930s–1970s. Leiden: Brill, pp. 23–35. 

Chen, K.-H. (2010) Asia as Method: Toward Deimperialization. Durham and London: Duke University Press 

Fanon, F. (1961) The wretched of the earth. Translated by C. Farrington. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Gardinier, D. (1968) ‘Decolonization’, in Dunner, J. (ed.) Handbook of world history: concepts and issues. London: Owen, pp. 268–272. 

Mbembe, A. J. (2016) ‘Decolonizing the university: New directions’, Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 15(1), pp.29–45. doi: 10.1177/1474022215618513. 

Hargreaves, J. D. (1996) Decolonization in Africa. 2nd edn. London: Longman. (The Postwar World). 

In this section, I will highlight some important topics from the interview. I used the software https://turboscribe.ai/ to transcribe the interview.  

Interview Questionnaires Yui Yamamoto.docx This document is a set of questions I briefly followed. Below is the summary of the answers of the interviewees.  

Interviewee 1: Postgraduate student from Turkey 

Transcript Interviewee 1.docx 

Cultural Identity & Inclusion 

Feels largely unseen as a Turkish student, especially when tutors consistently invite Chinese students to share cultural context, but rarely ask her. Expressed feeling like a “minority within the minority”, especially being the only Turkish student in her cohort. 

“In the movement classes or discussions, they always ask Chinese students how it is in China, but they almost never ask me about Turkey.” 

Diversity in Staff & Curriculum 

Found it ironic that although the UK claims to be diverse, much of the curriculum is still Eurocentric. Expressed interest in more globally representative course content, particularly related to performance traditions from Turkey or non-Western countries. Noted that even in Turkey, performance education is also based on European (esp. Russian and Western) traditions, which limits local authenticity. 

“If Turkish education doesn’t include traditional content, how can UK tutors give us anything related to it?” 

Experience as a Muslim student 

She feels understanding of the Muslim ritual in the UAL, having a quiet room on campus. She contrasts the experience in Spain, where she experienced Muslim foiba.  

Interviewee 2: Postgraduate student from China 

Transcript Interviewee 2 

Decolonisation 

Expresses discomfort with decolonisation education being overly centred on African or Western colonial history, making it hard for East Asian students to resonate. Suggests that discussing Eastern forms of colonisation (like in China or Korea) could make such topics more relatable for Asian students. Feels like Chinese and other Asian perspectives are underrepresented or misunderstood in these discussions. 

Language 

Communication challenges are more cultural than purely linguistic. Finds that English-speaking or extroverted students often receive more attention and visibility. Sometimes struggles to express herself fully due to introversion and cultural upbringing. She’s aware of stereotypes about Chinese students (e.g. quiet, insular) and wants to avoid reinforcing them. 

“I sometimes feel invisible, not because of language, but because I don’t speak first.” 

Members of staff 

Feels it’s important to have Asian mentors or staff members who can relate to and support East Asian students. Particularly values staff who actively listen and understand diverse backgrounds. Some tutors were especially appreciated for their methodology, supportiveness, and practical focus. 

Interviewee 3: Postgraduate student from South Korea 

Transcript Interviewee 3 

Language 

She admits they rushed into studying abroad without being fully prepared for academic English. English remains a persistent struggle, affecting participation, comprehension in seminars, and social interaction. Particularly in early group meetings, jokes and fast-paced conversations were difficult to follow, leading to feelings of exclusion. 

“I was always serious in meetings because I couldn’t follow the jokes or conversation. I felt excluded.” 

Language cont.  

Because of the language barrier, she frequently missed emails or opportunities because of language barriers or information overload. Expressed a desire for scripts or lecture outlines in advance, but wished it didn’t require a specific request each time. 

Isolation 

Felt isolated as the only Korean student in the class. Chinese students could translate and support each other, but she had no language peer group, compounding the sense of exclusion. Was hesitant even to reach out to a Korean tutor due to formality and language uncertainty in emails. 

Educational Value and Decolonisation 

Appreciated UAL’s attempt to include decolonisation and gender themes in its seminars. While unsure how effective these initiatives were, they found them encouraging and felt less alone in a Western educational system. 

Interviewee 4: Academic staff (Performance) from South Korea 

Transcript Interviewee 4 

I interviewed an academic member of the staff who has not only an international background but also a former international student in the performance department. I asked questions similar to those of students; however, mainly I asked the question asking her teaching experience and view on students.  

Language and cultural barriers 

Asian students, especially from China, often struggle with recognition and integration in class. UK-based tutors tend to remember local students more easily—due to easier-to-pronounce names and higher vocal participation. This creates disparities in support and feedback, unintentionally disadvantaging quieter international students. Some students adopt English names to bridge this gap and increase visibility. 

“Even when Asian students are good, they can go unnoticed if they’re quiet or their names are unfamiliar.” 

Cont. 

Staff are trained extensively in mental health and physical accessibility, but not in cultural literacy or international student backgrounds. There’s little to no education for staff about basic facts (like capital cities, naming conventions, or educational styles) from the countries students come from. 

“There’s no training on understanding students from China, Korea, or elsewhere… but we’re expected to teach them.” 

Cont. 2

Non-native English speakers feel pressured not to speak up in class for fear of being misunderstood or judged. Some feel safer speaking broken English to non-native tutors, believing they’ll be more empathetic. There’s an implicit privilege for native English speakers, even if unintended. 

“They’re afraid to ask someone to slow down, because no one else does, and they don’t want to be the problem.” 

Many Baises on International students 

Tutors often say international students are lost, but she claims International students aren’t lost. They’re adjusting without any guidance. 

Colonial structure

She criticises the UAL acts as benevolent gatekeepers, but allowing inclusion without changing core systems. Inclusion seems to be an optional, not structural.

I chose interviews as a method to collect data on the lived experiences of students and staff members. I referred to Views on Interviews: A Skeptical Review by Mats Alvesson to plan the interviews, guided by tutor feedback and peer discussions. 

Structure 

The interviews were semi-structured. I prepared a set of questions related to the research project. Rather than asking directly about decolonisation, I focused on general school life as an international students. The interviews were designed as casual conversations rather than as a means of obtaining specific answers on the topic. 

Size 

The interviews were conducted individually in a one-to-one format. Participants included three current students and one staff member from the Performance department. 

Participants 

Carys, Rachel, and other peers pointed out that selecting specific students could reinforce existing power dynamics. To address this, I sent a call-out email to students from the course where I work, allowing participants to self-select. Please refer to the call out document for the detailed types of participants.

Medium 

The interviews were conducted face-to-face. I wanted to prioritise a casual and conversational format to enable deeper engagement. I also valued small talk, nuances, and facial expressions within a “social” framing (Irvine et al., 2012). As the interviews involved low risk in terms of privacy and sensitive content, I decided that face-to-face interviews were appropriate. 

Category & Topic Sensitivity 

The sensitivity of the content was low. However, as the participants were students, I provided appropriate support through an information sheet and consent form. 

Language 

The interviews were conducted in English. As I am not a native English speaker, the language used by both the participants and myself was not always perfect. I consider this linguistic imperfection to be part of the participants’ lived experience. When responses were unclear, I asked participants to clarify what they meant. 

Neo-positivism 

As ARP is a small-scale research project, I treat these interviews as partial representations of facts and lived experiences of current students and staff members. This approach provides an overview of existing experiences rather than definitive conclusions. 

Based on the research theme, I produced the following materials: 

callout email draft.docx 

Consent form and Info sheet 

Interview Questionnaires Yui Yamamoto.docx 

Limitations 

As this is a small-scale project, a sample of three students and one staff member may not be sufficient to generate compelling data. In addition, the participants’ nationalities were primarily East Asian, reflecting the majority of international students on the course. This may result in a focus on specific cultural perspectives, whereas a more diverse ethnic sample might have produced different responses. Furthermore, the participating students were highly motivated and proactive, and confident in expressing their opinions. Students who are less proactive may hold different views that are not represented in this study. 

Research Process

My research is based on Kemmis and McTaggart’s action research spiral. I needed to go through a number of revisions of questions.

Alvesson, M. (2011) ‘Views on interviews: A skeptical review’, in Interpreting Interviews. London: SAGE Publications, pp. 3–40. 

Irvine, A., Drew, P. and Sainsbury, R. (2013) ‘“Am I not answering your questions properly?” Clarification, adequacy and responsiveness in semi-structured telephone and face-to-face interviews’, Qualitative Research, 13(1), pp. 87–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794112455046 

Please see the attached link of Ethical Action Plan

Ethical Action Plan Template 2025-26 3.docx

I chose to focus on international students because institutional measurements of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) primarily reflect home students. This is understandable, as UK higher education institutions are reminder accountable to UK government frameworks and regulatory requirements. However, his focus creates a significant blind spot. 

At UAL, international students constitute approximately half of the student population and contribute a substantial proportion of the institution’s income. Despite this, international students are largely absent from EDI measurements, consultation processes, and decision-making structures. This absence suggests that international students are structurally present within the institution but conceptually excluded from its diversity frameworks. 

My interest in this issue is also shaped by my own positionality as a former international student. During my studies, I often felt excluded from decision-making processes and misunderstood within teaching contexts. At the time, I was unsure whether these experiences were specific to me or indicative of a wider structural issue. However, over more than five years of observing teaching contexts both from the perspective of a student and later as a staff member I have noticed that similar challenges are repeatedly reproduced across cohorts. 

Since becoming a member of staff, this pattern has become more visible. While institutional statements emphasise diversity and inclusion, their implementation remains limited, particularly in relation to international students. International students are rarely involved in EDI or decolonisation frameworks, and there appears to be a significant gap in shared understanding of what decolonisation means within this context. 

I chose to frame this inquiry through decolonisation because it foregrounds structural and political questions, rather than focusing solely on representation or inclusion. Decolonisation allows for a critical examination of how knowledge, power, and legitimacy are organised within mainstream art education at UAL. 

I intentionally chose not to undertake immediate action within this project. I did not want to implement initiatives without first understanding the underlying issues. Instead, I have used this opportunity to investigate and clarify the structural conditions shaping international students’ experiences. This research forms the basis for more considered actions in my future teaching practice and artistic work. 

Finaly, I would like to strongly note that decolonisation from Home students included the UK education must have a different view. International students encounter decolonisation discourse from a different historical and institutional location.