Cocooning, Shedding of Decolonization, Flying to Decoloniality
breaking free of Western dominance to embrace indigenous wisdom in theology and pedagogy
Ina ter Avest
Texts of the webinar “Beyond Decolonialization towards Decoloniality” organized by NICMCR’s Pokja Education and Religion on November 27th, 2025.
The webinar explored approaches to the process of decolonization of Islamic and Christian religious education, with a focus on rethinking knowledge production and religious education regarding in particular Islamic and Christian education. Central in the speech of the Dutch King Willem Alexander was that much of the experiences of violence, terror, forced labor, hunger, imprisonment and humiliation during and after colonization remained unspoken for many years. This sorrow and the silencing thereof caused additional pain long after the war was finished, he said. Together with the King’s statement that “peace begins with recognizing differences and being able to build bridges so we can live together, even with people who are radically different from us” this was taken as a starting point and elaborated upon by the presenters and their responders. The presenters as well as their responders explored the concepts of decolonialization and decoloniality. Attention was given to the need of freeing from Western dominance and the exploration of indigenous knowledge, in the field of theology and pedagogy. Learners must be introduced in critical thinking and dialogue. Classrooms should function as an open space for learning from and with each other. The way from decolonization to decoloniality seems to be paved by awareness of coloniality in our minds, the process of freeing from its dominance and the inclusion of indigenous knowledge. With the help of concepts of the theology and pedagogy of liberation, and observed examples of ‘good practice’, (religious) education may be freed from westernized knowledge about pedagogy, and about the traditions of Christianity and Islam, and become a safe place for the exploration of indigenous wisdom, in processes of learning from and with each other.
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