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A qualitative case study applies critical realism and critical discourse analysis to uncover generative mechanisms tied to profit and governance. Interviews with six experienced lecturers show conceptual fluency in decolonisation alongside severely constrained agency under profit-driven ethos and centralized curriculum governance.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-illusion-of-change-the-unfulfilled-promise-of-decolonisation-in-a-south-african-private-higher-education-institution/582305/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-illusion-of-change-the-unfulfilled-promise-of-decolonisation-in-a-south-african-private-higher-education-institution/582305.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Margaret","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":19},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What does the study investigate about decolonisation in private higher education?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It examines how structural and cultural conditions reproduce coloniality and inhibit decolonisation in a South African private higher education institution.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Which research approach does the study use?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"It uses a qualitative case study design supported by a critical realist and critical discourse analysis lens.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What limits lecturers’ agency according to the findings?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Lecturers’ agency is curtailed by an unnegotiable, profit-driven institutional ethos and rigid, centralised curriculum governance.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},582305,1792616281,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":19,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":52,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},137451207643,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","Transformation in Higher Education  \nISSN: (Online) 2519-5638,(Print) 2415-0991  \n~~ ~~ Page 1 of 10  \nOrigina~~l Research ~~  \nThe illusion of change: The unfulfilled promise of decolonisation in a South African private higher education institution  \nAuthor:  \nPrince Leburu1,2   \nAffiliation:  \n1School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa  \n2Department of Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Commerce, Rosebank College, Johannesburg, South Africa  \nCorresponding author:  \nPrince Leburu,  \n[lbrmos001@myuct.ac.za](lbrmos001@myuct.ac.za)  \nDates:  \nReceived: 15 Sept. 2025  \nAccepted: 02 Dec. 2025  \nPublished: 09 Feb. 2026  \nHow to cite this article:  \nLeburu, P., 2026, ‘The illusion of change: The unfulfilled promise of decolonisation ina South African private higher education institution’, Transformation in Higher Education 11(0), a684 . [https://doi.org/10.4102/the](https://doi.org/10.4102/the). v11i0.684  \nCopyright:  \n© 2026. The Author. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4 .0) license ([https://](https://)[ ](https://)[creativecommons.org/](creativecommons.org/)[ ](creativecommons.org/)[licenses/by/4.0/](licenses/by/4.0/)) .  \nRead online:  \nScan this QR code with your smart phone or mobile device to read online.  \nWhile decolonisation discourse has surged in South African public universities, private higher education institutions (PHEIs) remain a significant, under-researched site of market-driven education. This study aimed to identify the structural and cultural conditions that reproduce coloniality within a large, Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed South African PHEI. Using a qualitative case study design, this research applies a critical realist and critical discourse analysis lens to move beyond surface-level rhetoric. It seeks to identify the deep, unobservable generative mechanisms (profit, governance) that shape the institutional landscape. Findings from interviews with six experienced lecturers show that while they are conceptually fluent indecolonisation, their agency is severely curtailed by anon-negotiable, profit-driven institutional ethos and a rigid, centralised curriculum governance. This combination produces a state of‘colonial morphostasis’, an active reproduction of the status quo. The study concludes that meaningful, structural decolonisation is antithetical to the institution’s current corporate model. It reveals the mechanisms by which neoliberal and colonial logics merge to reproduce the coloniality of power, knowledge and being.  \nContribution: This study advances decolonisation debates by providing a rare empirical analysis of the under-explored PHEI sector. It uses a critical realism and social realism framework to offer a causal explanation for why transformation is inhibited, concluding that the institution’s core business model is a primary mechanism of colonial reproduction. It proposes ‘pathways for bounded agency’ as a form of critical micro-resistance for lecturers in similar corporate contexts.  \nKeywords: decolonisation; private higher education; lecturer agency; critical realism; curriculum transformation; epistemic justice; critical discourse analysis; South Africa.  \nIntroduction  \nThe call to decolonise higher education in South Africa has gained urgent prominence. Student movements, such as \\#FeesMustFall, have amplified this demand, bringing it to the forefront of academic and public discourse (Heleta 2016; Le Grange 2016) . This discourse examines the lingering grip of coloniality, an enduring logic of power, knowledge and being (Mignolo 2007; Quijano 2007) that outlived formal colonialism. It scrutinises knowledge systems and social hierarchies that continue to shape higher education long after the end of formal colonial rule (Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2015) . The debate challenges institutions to confront these legacies and rethink who produces and benefits from knowledge.  \nWhi","cbCaijbb7r76xG4k","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijbb7r76xG4k","pdf",386094,"English","# Introduction\n## Research question and sub-questions","[{\"question\":\"What does the study investigate about decolonisation in private higher education?\",\"answer\":\"It examines how structural and cultural conditions reproduce coloniality and inhibit decolonisation in a South African private higher education institution.\"},{\"question\":\"Which research approach does the study use?\",\"answer\":\"It uses a qualitative case study design supported by a critical realist and critical discourse analysis lens.\"},{\"question\":\"What limits lecturers’ agency according to the findings?\",\"answer\":\"Lecturers’ agency is curtailed by an unnegotiable, profit-driven institutional ethos and rigid, centralised curriculum governance.\"}]","The illusion of change - The unfulfilled promise of decolonisation in a South African private higher education institution | PDF",1792043002,25]