Drawing on the Past to Open up Possible Futures

This article is a response to a qualitative study that examined how the indigenous African notion of "ubuntu" informs how some school teachers in a Black township in South Africa conceptualize Western-oriented narratives of democracy. While the study acknowledges important differences in h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Democracy & education 2018-03, Vol.26 (1)
Main Author: Ambrosio, John
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citizenship Education
Democracy
Democratic Values
Educational Practices
Foreign Countries
Indigenous Knowledge
Indigenous Populations
Moral Development
Moral Values
Qualitative Research
Social Change
South Africa
Teachers
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Summary:This article is a response to a qualitative study that examined how the indigenous African notion of "ubuntu" informs how some school teachers in a Black township in South Africa conceptualize Western-oriented narratives of democracy. While the study acknowledges important differences in how ubuntu is understood and defined, the author argues that it nonetheless tends to overlook them in order to harness ubuntu as a force for positive social change and national development. The author argues that ubuntu could potentially serve as a powerful cultural force for change, but this requires a context in which some of the moral qualities associated with ubuntu are more widely practiced and visible in communities and in the policies and practices of government at all levels. It also requires a reconceptualization of ubuntu as an inclusive and nonessentialized notion that is responsive to the practical needs of contemporary South African society. [The article is in response to "The Cultural Contours of Democracy: Indigenous Epistemologies Informing South African Citizenship." To view this article, see EJ1120063.]
ISSN:1085-3545