Intersection of Ubuntu pedagogy and social justice: Transforming South African higher education

Abstract

Background: Universities, globally, and in South Africa, continue to be confronted with demands for transformation, humanisation of pedagogical practices and to embrace social justice.Aim: In this article, we bring to the surface possibilities of Ubuntu pedagogy within a social justice framework. We intersect Collective Fingers Theory and Social Justice Theory to propose the notion of Ubuntu pedagogy, which draws from African philosophy of Ubuntu. We argue that Ubuntu pedagogy provides an alternation to the current pedagogies that draw from European theories for teaching and learning in the South African higher education context. We put forward that, Ubuntu pedagogy, when embraced with understanding and dignity it deserves, has the potential, firstly, of initiating students from other cultures other than African cultures to the values of Ubuntu and, secondly, of reconnecting students with their values and cultures, but it has a capacity to cultivate social justice values of equity, recognition and fair participation amongst students from diverse social backgrounds.Setting: South African Higher Education.Methodology: The authors draw from literature to position the article within Ubuntu philosophical framework and social justice lenses. Themes emerging from literature are as follows: Intersection of Ubuntu philosophy and social justice, Ubuntu pedagogy and transformation in higher education and guiding principles for possible implementation of Ubuntu pedagogy.Results: At the intersection of Ubuntu pedagogy and social justice, classroom practices are designed to respond to students’ cultural competencies and to embrace all linguistic repertoires that students bring to the classroom for learning. Students are treated equally and with dignity and respect regardless of their social backgrounds.Conclusion: We argue that higher education classrooms in post-apartheid South Africa should enable equal access, equity and inclusivity for all students. We therefore recommend Ubuntu pedagogy as a culturally and socially just pedagogy for transformative higher education classrooms. This article contributes to the continuing dialogues about transformative pedagogies, decolonisation and social justice in South African higher education.

Challenges of transforming curricula: Reflections by an interdisciplinary Community of Practice

“…These practices 'other', misrecognise, undermine and dismiss many peoples' humanity and their sense of knowing, acting and being in the world. This is regarded as epistemic violence on the level of curricula, perpetrated by an untransformed and alienating HE landscape (Ngubane & Makua 2021:2520. Epistemic violence in Social Science research is the act of accounting for a limited number of views and promoting those views as the only knowledge of the world (Boughey & McKenna 2021).…”

Whose language is it anyway? Students’ sense of belonging and role of English for Higher Education in the multilingual, South African context

“…In a very similar study on student's opinions on the "disfavour" of indigenous languages in higher education, Makhanya and Zibane (2020) had similar findings. The use of English in education can indeed be a barrier for some students (Makalela 2016;Ralarala et al 2018;Ngubane and Makua 2021), and, as argued by Ralarala et al (2018, 182-183), language is the mediator of our perception of reality and, "... if our command, our knowledge, our usage of a particular language ... is poor or weak, it stands to reason that our ability to understand our environment and the world around us will be characterized by conceptual and terminological limitations ... language embeds and bears our knowledge, our understanding and our comprehension. "…”

Conceptualisation of Ubuntugogy as a Decolonial Pedagogy in Africa

“…during holidays through projects development to learn to work in groups and thus have equal opportunity to participate in all decision-making processes. This participatory idea of ubuntugogy as a philosophy, therefore, stresses equality among learners whereby learners are not discriminated against because of their gender, age or ethnic group but share ideas freely so that they can develop unity and tolerance towards other members in class hence promoting social justice which is one of the pillars of ubuntu philosophy (Ngubane & Makua, 2021).…”

“…This idea undoubtedly promotes effective participatory methods of teaching, disseminating information using different media such as textbooks, radio and television, among others, to bring about development among schools and the entire community (Quan-Baffour & Vambe, 2006;Hapanyengwi-Chemhuru & Shizha, 2012). By doing so will encourage equal opportunities for access to knowledge like internet facilities at the school level as well as granting learners equal access to learning materials in order to promote equality among the learner hence promoting social justice, which is one of the pillars of ubuntu philosophy (Ngubane & Makua, 2021). Such community feelings enhance a democratic classroom environment where teachers proactively listen to students' views and opinions on issues affecting them, thereby allowing them to participate actively in decision-making processes within the class.…”