The African ethic of<i>Ubuntu/Botho</i>: implications for research on morality

Metz, Thaddeus; Gaie, Joseph B. R.

doi:10.1080/03057240.2010.497609

Cited by 234 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…African language and culture influences the knowledge and belief system of the EAL speaker (Lemmer, Meier & Van Wyk, 2006;Metz & Gaie, 2010) and therefore influences their response to the tests, which have been predominantly normed on US or UK populations, societies whose language and culture is different from theirs (Higgs, 2003;Kroes, 2005;Makgoba, 1999;Semali, 1999). Therefore, the background, values and stories of the EAL speaker, such as found in traditional oral African culture manifesting in African signs and symbols (Maathai, 2009;Mutwa, 1998), tend to be disregarded, devalued, ignored or only superficially addressed (D. Miller, 2012) when resources for evaluations do not reflect the African experience.…”

Section: Discussion and Implications Of The Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are South African speech-language therapists adequately equipped to assess English additional language (EAL) speakers who are from an indigenous linguistic and cultural background? A profile and exploration of the current situation

Mdlalo¹

2017

J Speech Pathol Ther

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This article presents an aspect of a larger PhD study, the aim of which was to critically evaluate and interrogate the use of language assessment tools, in their current form, within the South African context and to produce guidelines for adaptations to these tools that will better accommodate English Additional Language (EAL) speakers. These guidelines and principles could be used by language professionals to manage the assessment process and interpretation of findings from EAL speakers in a more accurate, appropriate and equitable manner. The term 'EAL speaker' is used here to specifically refer to South African multilinguals who are non-mother tongue speakers of English and are from indigenous language and cultural backgrounds 1 .The larger study makes use of a specific screening tool as a model, to exemplify and illustrate the argument. In this study, the cultural and linguistic relevance of this commonly used screening tool is interrogated from four different viewpoints: firstly, the perspective of the children, who are the target population of the tool; secondly, that of the parents and community, who play a significant role in the socialisation of the children; thirdly, from the perspective of the academics from an indigenous language and cultural background, who provide an academic perspective of the tool; and, finally, that of Speech-Language Therapist (SLT) practitioners who administer the tool and interpret the findings. As language assessments are conducted on people who exist within a cultural context, the cultural capital is embedded in language (Peltier, 2010;Seidman, 2008;Westby, 2009). Since the larger study focuses on the relationship between language and culture and adopts an ecological approach to the problems addressed in the study, a conceptual model that encompasses a strong ecological and cultural component was selected; that is Taylor's (1986) cultural framework for viewing normal and pathological communication.As part of this larger study, a national survey was conducted with SLTs to establish current practices in assessment and intervention, training and challenges experienced when working with a client who is an EAL speaker. Not a homogenous group there may be inter-and intra-linguistic and cultural variabilityThis article presents the results of a survey conducted on Speech-Language Therapists (SLTs) regarding current practices in the assessment of English Additional Language (EAL) speakers in South Africa. It forms part of the rationale for a broader (PhD) study that critiques the use of assessment instruments on EAL speakers from an indigenous linguistic and cultural background. This article discusses an aspect of the broader research and presents the background, method, findings, discussion and implications of the survey. The results of this survey highlight the challenges of human and material resources to, and the dominance of English in, the profession in South Africa. The findings contribute to understanding critical factors for acquiring reliable and valid assessment results ...

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Section: Discussion and Implications Of The Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are South African speech-language therapists adequately equipped to assess English additional language (EAL) speakers who are from an indigenous linguistic and cultural background? A profile and exploration of the current situation

Mdlalo¹

2017

J Speech Pathol Ther

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“…A common thread running through the work of Metz and Gaie (2010), Metz (2007), Bessler (2008), Broodryk (2002), Ramose (1999Ramose ( , 2002, Letseka (2000), Sindane and Liebenberg (2000), Sindane (1994), Tutu (1999), Mokgoro (1998), Shutte (1994), Teffo (1994), to mention a few, is the conviction that ubuntu is a moral theory. That is, it serves as a cohesive moral value in the face of adversity (Teffo 1994).…”

Section: Ubuntu As a Moral Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…I highlight ubuntu's potential to serve as public policy (Nkondo 2007) and briefly commend on the coincidence between the values implicit in the constitution of South Africa and some of the key values of ubuntu (Tshoose 2009;Bekker 2006;Mokgoro 1998). I explore the view that ubuntu is a moral theory (Metz and Gaie 2010;Metz 2007;Letseka 2000;Shutte 1994), and argue that ubuntu implies an interactive ethic in which our humanity is shaped by our interaction with others as co-dependent beings (McCluskey and Lephalala 2010;Cornell and van Marle 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In Defence of Ubuntu

Letseka

2011

Stud Philos Educ

153

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The article defends ubuntu against the assault by Enslin and Horsthemke (Comp Educ 40(4): [545][546][547][548][549][550][551][552][553][554][555][556][557][558] 2004). It challenges claims that the Africanist/Afrocentrist project, in which the philosophy of ubuntu is central, faces numerous problems, involves substantial political, moral, epistemological and educational errors, and should therefore not be the basis for education for democratic citizenship in the South African context. The article finds coincidence between some of the values implicit in ubuntu and some of the values that are enshrined in the constitution of South Africa and that on that basis argues that ubuntu has the potential to serve as a moral theory and a public policy. The educational upshot of this article's argument is that South Africa's educational policy framework not only places a high premium on ubuntu, which it conceives as human dignity, but it also requires the schooling system to promote ubuntu-oriented attributes and dispositions among the learners. The article finds similarities between ubuntu and bildung, whose key advocates, among others was German scholar and intellectual Wilhelm von Humboldt. It argues that it would be ethnocentric, and indeed silly to suggest that the ubuntu ethic of caring and sharing is uniquely African when some of the values which it seeks to promote can also be traced in various Eurasian philosophies.

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“…The value of harmonious human relations at the core of ubuntu as defined above has a distributive dimension which was recently explored by the American philosopher Thaddeus Metz, who lives and works since a number of years in South Africa and is currently at work on an African theory of social justice grounded in ubuntu values and norms (Metz 2007(Metz , 2011(Metz , 2013Metz and Gaie 2010). Metz follows an intercultural, comparative approach to ethical questions by drawing on ideas from different regions of the world like Europe, Africa, and Asia (Metz 2014).…”

Section: Ubuntu As An African Ethicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is the debate on ‘global justice’ a global one? Some considerations in view of modern philosophy in Africa

Graneß

2015

Journal of Global Ethics

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At present, the debate on global justice, a debate which is at the core of global ethics, is largely being conducted by European and American scholars from different disciplines without taking into account views and concepts from other regions of the world, particularly, from the Global South. The lack of a truly intercultural, interreligious, and international exchange of ideas provokes doubts whether the concepts of global justice introduced so far are able to transcend regional and cultural horizons. The article introduces concepts of justice from African scholars, whose voices have remained marginal until now, like the Kenyan philosopher Henry Odera Oruka, the Ethiopian philosopher Teodros Kiros, and the debate on ubuntu, one of the most controversial concepts in southern Africa today. These concepts focus on issues that are seldom considered in the debate on global justice, such as the importance of bodily needs as a prerequisite for human beings to act as moral beings and the importance of human relationships and solidarity. The last part of the article discusses factors which lead to exclusion from the academic discourse and the question how we as scholars can work for more academic justice.

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The African ethic ofUbuntu/Botho: implications for research on morality

Cited by 234 publications

References 17 publications

Are South African speech-language therapists adequately equipped to assess English additional language (EAL) speakers who are from an indigenous linguistic and cultural background? A profile and exploration of the current situation

Are South African speech-language therapists adequately equipped to assess English additional language (EAL) speakers who are from an indigenous linguistic and cultural background? A profile and exploration of the current situation

In Defence of Ubuntu

Is the debate on ‘global justice’ a global one? Some considerations in view of modern philosophy in Africa

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