Josephine Sangaré, a PhD candidate in Cyber Law at CREATe, University of Glasgow, and member of the Decolonising the School of Law Forum, is among the international participants at the University of Fort Hare’s 2025 Teaching & Learning Week Conference.
Her research focuses on cyber law, public-private partnerships for capacity building, and the inclusivity of academia and technology.
Sangaré presented a paper titled “AI’s Infinite Wisdom and the Challenged Role of the Educator,” which explored the risks posed by generative AI tools to critical thinking, digital literacy, and ongoing efforts to decolonise higher education.
“In decolonising our curricula, we have long engaged in intentional acts: diversifying reading lists, valuing local knowledge, and examining how our own cultural and educational backgrounds shape learning dynamics,” she stated. “Generative AI creates a new illusion – that its outputs are complete and correct. The danger is that students bypass the very critical thinking that education seeks to cultivate.”
Her paper argued that educators should not reject AI outright but engage it critically through peer feedback, collaboration, and stronger staff-student forums. “The role of the educator should not be seen as gatekeeper,” she explained, “but as co-creator of meaning in a digital age.”
Sangaré said when she saw the conference call for papers, the theme resonated strongly with her research interests. “Coming from a European university, our debates about decolonisation and technology obviously have a Eurocentric focus, which doesn’t mean that we don’t engage with decolonisation. We do, and we inquire, but our debates are very different from debates that are had in other places. I wanted to learn, because I can only get the full picture if I hear from different people’s stories.”
For Sangaré, bringing diverse perspectives into shared spaces is vital. “If we decolonise and we want to include other knowledges, we need to go to the source of that knowledge and understand what that knowledge is and where it’s produced. Otherwise, we are creating another image of other knowledges that is still not what the original knowledge is.”
Sangaré arrived in East London on Sunday and says she has found the conference to be both welcoming and enriching. “I’ve really enjoyed it. I got to engage with a lot of different people, and it’s very interesting to hear that everyone’s from different departments and has different teaching experiences that they can share.”
She hopes her participation will help build lasting collaboration between institutions. “What I hope to take away is broadening my understanding, learning which approaches decolonisation and which approaches through AI have worked here. What I’m hoping to contribute is experience from my institution, and ultimately find a way that we can collaborate and stay in exchange, because the solution is not one size fits all. We can open channels to learn together.”