Epistemic Justice and Curriculum Reform in Nigerian Teacher Education: A Critical Theoretical Investigation

This study conducts a critical theoretical investigation of epistemic justice in Nigerian teacher education curriculum, examining the extent to which existing curriculum frameworks marginalise indigenous knowledge systems and reproduce colonial epistemological hierarchies. Epistemic injustice in teacher education has profound implications for the professional identity, cultural competence, and pedagogical effectiveness of Nigerian teachers in diverse classroom settings. The study employs a critical qualitative design, combining systematic document analysis of National Commission for Colleges of Education curriculum frameworks across five Colleges of Education in South East, North East, and North West Nigeria with in-depth interviews of 48 teacher educators, curriculum policymakers, and student teachers. Critical discourse analysis and Feminist Standpoint Theory inform the analytical approach. The study extends Fricker's Epistemic Injustice Framework, Mignolo's Decolonial Theory, and Ngugi wa Thiong'o's work on decolonising the mind to examine how knowledge hierarchies are reproduced in teacher preparation content and assessed through examination systems. Findings are anticipated to reveal systematic marginalisation of indigenous pedagogical knowledge, local language instruction, and African philosophy of education in curriculum design. Recommendations target the NCCE and Federal Ministry of Education on decolonising teacher education curriculum through participatory curriculum redesign processes that centre African and Nigerian intellectual traditions. The study makes an original contribution to critical curriculum theory in Nigerian higher education. Keywords: epistemic justice, curriculum reform, teacher education, decolonisation, Nigeria