Decolonisation Calculator – Fieldwork
Use this calculator at the start and end of your placement, alone or with your supervisor. Give each question a score from 0 to 10. The scores add up to a total out of 100, your rate of decolonisation. Compare your start and end totals, and discuss in supervision what helped or held back your practice. “Local” means your country or Africa.
| No. | Area | Question | Start (0 to 10) | End (0 to 10) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Literature | Out of every 10 readings you used, how many were written or published in Africa? | ||
| 2 | Philosophy | Out of every 10 practice decisions, how many were guided by Ubuntu or another local philosophy? | ||
| 3 | Theories and models | Out of every 10 theories or models you used, how many are African or developed locally? | ||
| 4 | Fieldwork focus | Out of every 10 activities, how many were developmental, such as reducing poverty or building income? | ||
| 5 | Language | Out of every 10 conversations with service users or communities, how many were in a local language? | ||
| 6 | Orature | Out of every 10 activities, how many used orature, such as proverbs, stories, songs or dance? | ||
| 7 | Supervision | Out of every 10 supervision sessions, how many drew on local or African knowledge? | ||
| 8 | Community involvement | On a scale of 0 to 10, how far were communities involved in planning and deciding your work? | ||
| 9 | Indigenous knowledge | On a scale of 0 to 10, how far did your practice respect local knowledge, customs and spirituality? | ||
| 10 | Future | On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely is your future practice to be decolonial, developmental and indigenous? | ||
| Total out of 100 | – | – | ||
| Rating | – | – | ||
Scale
| Score | Rating | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 49 | Colonial | Practice mostly follows imported knowledge, theories and ways of working. |
| 50 to 74 | Transitioning to decolonial | Local and African knowledge is growing in your practice. |
| 75 to 89 | Decolonial | Local knowledge, languages and community involvement guide most of your practice. |
| 90 to 100 | Indigenous | Practice is rooted in Ubuntu, local knowledge, languages, orature and community ownership. |
Adapted for fieldwork from the Mtandao Decolonisation Calculator (DECA-SWDEI, version 1.01, 2022). Also available in My Ubuntu Student’s Fieldwork Practice Diary (Zivo Publishing, 2026).