Inclusive Pedagogy: Toward a Pedagogy of Belonging and Transformation

Emeka Okoli

doi:doi:10.11648/j.hss.20261402.14

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Inclusive Pedagogy: Toward a Pedagogy of Belonging and Transformation

Emeka Okoli^*

Published in Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 14, Issue 2)

Received: 16 January 2026 Accepted: 27 January 2026 Published: 23 March 2026

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Abstract

Inclusive pedagogy is increasingly promoted within higher education as a response to inequity and exclusion, yet it is often framed as a technical or policy-driven intervention focused on access and accommodation. Drawing on decolonial and humanising scholarship, this article challenges such framings by conceptualising inclusive pedagogy as an ethical, political, and ontological praxis concerned with epistemological equity. Using qualitative interview data from historically marginalised psychologists, drawn from a doctoral study employing a Decolonial Constructivist Grounded Theory approach, the article examines how inclusive pedagogy is experienced, contested, and reimagined within Westernised higher education contexts. The findings reveal how pedagogy operates simultaneously as a site of epistemic violence and as a space of relational possibility, shaped by racialised standards of legitimacy, embodied reflexivity, ethical discomfort, and institutional constraint. Inclusive pedagogy is shown to function not as a fixed set of strategies but as an ongoing praxis of becoming, sustained through relational care, critical consciousness, and resistance to Eurocentric knowledge hierarchies. The article contributes to scholarship on inclusive and decolonial pedagogy by advancing epistemological equity as a central analytic lens and by foregrounding lived experience as a critical site for understanding the harms and transformative possibilities of pedagogy in higher education.

Published in	Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 14, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.hss.20261402.14
Page(s)	97-105
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2026. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Inclusive Pedagogy, Decolonial Pedagogy, Epistemological Equity, Higher Education, Humanising Pedagogy

References

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APA Style

Okoli, E. (2026). Inclusive Pedagogy: Toward a Pedagogy of Belonging and Transformation. Humanities and Social Sciences, 14(2), 97-105. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20261402.14

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ACS Style

Okoli, E. Inclusive Pedagogy: Toward a Pedagogy of Belonging and Transformation. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2026, 14(2), 97-105. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20261402.14

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Okoli E. Inclusive Pedagogy: Toward a Pedagogy of Belonging and Transformation. Humanit Soc Sci. 2026;14(2):97-105. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20261402.14

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@article{10.11648/j.hss.20261402.14,
  author = {Emeka Okoli},
  title = {Inclusive Pedagogy: Toward a Pedagogy of Belonging and Transformation},
  journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
  volume = {14},
  number = {2},
  pages = {97-105},
  doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20261402.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20261402.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20261402.14},
  abstract = {Inclusive pedagogy is increasingly promoted within higher education as a response to inequity and exclusion, yet it is often framed as a technical or policy-driven intervention focused on access and accommodation. Drawing on decolonial and humanising scholarship, this article challenges such framings by conceptualising inclusive pedagogy as an ethical, political, and ontological praxis concerned with epistemological equity. Using qualitative interview data from historically marginalised psychologists, drawn from a doctoral study employing a Decolonial Constructivist Grounded Theory approach, the article examines how inclusive pedagogy is experienced, contested, and reimagined within Westernised higher education contexts. The findings reveal how pedagogy operates simultaneously as a site of epistemic violence and as a space of relational possibility, shaped by racialised standards of legitimacy, embodied reflexivity, ethical discomfort, and institutional constraint. Inclusive pedagogy is shown to function not as a fixed set of strategies but as an ongoing praxis of becoming, sustained through relational care, critical consciousness, and resistance to Eurocentric knowledge hierarchies. The article contributes to scholarship on inclusive and decolonial pedagogy by advancing epistemological equity as a central analytic lens and by foregrounding lived experience as a critical site for understanding the harms and transformative possibilities of pedagogy in higher education.},
 year = {2026}
}

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T1  - Inclusive Pedagogy: Toward a Pedagogy of Belonging and Transformation
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Emeka Okoli

Department of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom

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http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3549-8905

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APA Style

Okoli, E. (2026). Inclusive Pedagogy: Toward a Pedagogy of Belonging and Transformation. Humanities and Social Sciences, 14(2), 97-105. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20261402.14

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ACS Style

Okoli, E. Inclusive Pedagogy: Toward a Pedagogy of Belonging and Transformation. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2026, 14(2), 97-105. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20261402.14

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AMA Style

Okoli E. Inclusive Pedagogy: Toward a Pedagogy of Belonging and Transformation. Humanit Soc Sci. 2026;14(2):97-105. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20261402.14

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@article{10.11648/j.hss.20261402.14,
  author = {Emeka Okoli},
  title = {Inclusive Pedagogy: Toward a Pedagogy of Belonging and Transformation},
  journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
  volume = {14},
  number = {2},
  pages = {97-105},
  doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20261402.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20261402.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20261402.14},
  abstract = {Inclusive pedagogy is increasingly promoted within higher education as a response to inequity and exclusion, yet it is often framed as a technical or policy-driven intervention focused on access and accommodation. Drawing on decolonial and humanising scholarship, this article challenges such framings by conceptualising inclusive pedagogy as an ethical, political, and ontological praxis concerned with epistemological equity. Using qualitative interview data from historically marginalised psychologists, drawn from a doctoral study employing a Decolonial Constructivist Grounded Theory approach, the article examines how inclusive pedagogy is experienced, contested, and reimagined within Westernised higher education contexts. The findings reveal how pedagogy operates simultaneously as a site of epistemic violence and as a space of relational possibility, shaped by racialised standards of legitimacy, embodied reflexivity, ethical discomfort, and institutional constraint. Inclusive pedagogy is shown to function not as a fixed set of strategies but as an ongoing praxis of becoming, sustained through relational care, critical consciousness, and resistance to Eurocentric knowledge hierarchies. The article contributes to scholarship on inclusive and decolonial pedagogy by advancing epistemological equity as a central analytic lens and by foregrounding lived experience as a critical site for understanding the harms and transformative possibilities of pedagogy in higher education.},
 year = {2026}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Inclusive Pedagogy: Toward a Pedagogy of Belonging and Transformation
AU  - Emeka Okoli
Y1  - 2026/03/23
PY  - 2026
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20261402.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.hss.20261402.14
T2  - Humanities and Social Sciences
JF  - Humanities and Social Sciences
JO  - Humanities and Social Sciences
SP  - 97
EP  - 105
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-8184
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20261402.14
AB  - Inclusive pedagogy is increasingly promoted within higher education as a response to inequity and exclusion, yet it is often framed as a technical or policy-driven intervention focused on access and accommodation. Drawing on decolonial and humanising scholarship, this article challenges such framings by conceptualising inclusive pedagogy as an ethical, political, and ontological praxis concerned with epistemological equity. Using qualitative interview data from historically marginalised psychologists, drawn from a doctoral study employing a Decolonial Constructivist Grounded Theory approach, the article examines how inclusive pedagogy is experienced, contested, and reimagined within Westernised higher education contexts. The findings reveal how pedagogy operates simultaneously as a site of epistemic violence and as a space of relational possibility, shaped by racialised standards of legitimacy, embodied reflexivity, ethical discomfort, and institutional constraint. Inclusive pedagogy is shown to function not as a fixed set of strategies but as an ongoing praxis of becoming, sustained through relational care, critical consciousness, and resistance to Eurocentric knowledge hierarchies. The article contributes to scholarship on inclusive and decolonial pedagogy by advancing epistemological equity as a central analytic lens and by foregrounding lived experience as a critical site for understanding the harms and transformative possibilities of pedagogy in higher education.
VL  - 14
IS  - 2
ER  -

Copy | Download