Decolonisation Calculators (DECAs)

For DECA for universities and colleges, use this link. For DECA for social work and development education institutions, use the DECA below.

DECOLONISATION CALCULATOR FOR SOCIAL WORK AND DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS (DECA-SWDEI) (Version 1.01 2022, copyright ASWNET)
Instructions: There are 10 questions. Read the question. Select an answer between 0 and 10. Click Calculate to get a result. Click Reset to restart. Use scale to understand your result. The calculator takes 5 minutes to finish. The calculator can be used by individuals or groups. If used by individuals, comparison is recommended.
Scope: This calculator can be used in any former colonised region or country of the world. Where used, 'locally' or 'local' refers to the country or region, as long as the country or region was colonised. The calculator primarily refers to social work education institutions so it is suitable for use by Principals, Directors, Administrators, Librarians, Academics, Students and Alumni but can also be used by Deans and Vice-Chancellors.
1. Literature - out of every 10 books you have in your libraries (includes online library), how many are written and published locally? Locally means your country and continent.
2. Staff - out every 10 staff you have, how many are local?
3. Philosophy - out of every 10 students, how many use local philosophy. For example, in the philsosophy is Ubuntu.
4. Theories - out of 10 theories used by your staff and students, how many are local or developed locally?
5. Fieldwork - out of 10 fieldwork placements, how many are developmental (focused on preventing poverty, building income and production)?
6. Research - out of every 10 research done by staff and students, how many use local research methods?
7. Continous Professional Development (CPD) - out of every 10 CPD programs in your country, how many have decolonial objectives and outcomes?
8. Indigenous - on a scale of 0 - 10, how would you rate the indigenous nature of social work and development in your country? This includes using local languages, orature and involving the community.
9. Developmental - on a scale of 0-10, how would you rate the developmental nature of social work and development in your country?
10. Future - when you think about the future of social work and development training and practice in the next 10 years, how likely is it to be decolonial, developmental and indigenous?
Finish or restart buttons
Scale: 0-49 = Colonial; 50-74 Transitioning to Decolonial; 75 = Decolonial; 90 = Indigenous
Thank you for taking time to use the calculator.