IntroductionThe enduring legacy of colonisation on global health education, research and practice is receiving increased attention and has led to calls for the ‘decolonisation of global health’. There is little evidence on effective educational approaches to teach students to critically examine and dismantle structures that perpetuate colonial legacies and neocolonialist control that influence in global health.MethodsWe conducted a scoping review of the published literature to provide a synthesis of guidelines for, and evaluations of educational approaches focused on anticolonial education in global health. We searched five databases using terms generated to capture three concepts, ‘global health’, ‘education’ and ‘colonialism’. Pairs of study team members conducted each step of the review, following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyse guidelines; any conflicts were resolved by a third reviewer.ResultsThis search retrieved 1153 unique references; 28 articles were included in the final analysis. The articles centred North American students; their training, their evaluations of educational experiences, their individual awareness and their experiential learning. Few references discussed pedagogical approaches or education theory in guidelines and descriptions of educational approaches. There was limited emphasis on alternative ways of knowing, prioritisation of partners’ experiences, and affecting systemic change.ConclusionExplicit incorporation of anticolonial curricula in global health education, informed by antioppressive pedagogy and meaningful collaboration with Indigenous and low-income and middle-income country partners, is needed in both classroom and global health learning experiences.

IntroductionIncreasing calls have been made to decolonize global health education but there has been a lack of consensus and clarity on how this should be done. We conducted a qualitative study to understand current educational programs and curricula that aim to educate public health and allied health students to increase awareness of how colonialist structures of power influence current global health practice and provide students with tools to decolonize global health. Our goal is to inform related curriculum development and provide recommendations.MethodsWe conducted key-informant interviews with 14 study coordinators and faculty from institutions of higher learning with global health programs who are involved in developing educational approaches. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using an ‘up from the data’ approach.ResultsParticipants varied in their understanding of decolonizing global health and recognized that there is a lack of guidance in the field; this has an impact on how curriculum is developed and taught. Participants described a range of decolonizing global health educational activities in the classrooms and in applied learning activities. Most programming was situated in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives and participants did not always feel this was the best ‘home’ for such work; to some this reflected a lack of institutional support. Other institutional barriers included lack of protected time for faculty and limited budgets for speaker honoraria, co-creation, and related teaching expenses.DiscussionInstitutes of higher learning can play an important role, either positively or negatively, in decolonizing global health education. At a minimum such institutions should financially support faculty to incorporate decolonizing global health in their pedagogy and strengthen scholarship towards common understandings. More substantive institutional support is needed however to meaningfully transform institutional relationships that actively support equitable partnerships, co-creation, and responsiveness to local community priorities.