On the relevance of an African Philosophy of Higher Education

DOI: https://doi.org/10.20853/35-5-4871
Keywords: African philosophy, higher education, pedagogy of resistance, deliberations, critique

Abstract

Nowadays, higher educational theory seems to be concerned with positional thinking that reconsiders what universities ought to accomplish to justify their existence in the realm of higher education (Waghid and Davids, 2020). I want to extend this claim by arguing in defence of an African philosophy of higher education – one that is genuine and enframes higher education as a pedagogical space for resistance, critique, deliberative iterations, autonomy, and intellectual activism. Put differently, an African philosophy of higher education is one that is not only concerned with thinking and justification but expands into notions of democratic engagement, citizenship, and activism. When the latter are present, African philosophy of higher education has a real chance of manifesting ubiquitously in higher pedagogical actions, mostly teaching and learning. Only then, it possibly maintains its relevance to higher education discourses.

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Author Biography

Y. Waghid, Stellenbosch University

Department of Education Policy Studies

References

Davids, N. and Y. Waghid. 2020. The Thinking University Expanded: On Profanation, Play and Education. London: Routledge.

Davids, N. and Y. Waghid. 2021. Academic Activism in Higher Education: A Living Philosophy for Social Justice. Dordrecht: Springer.

Foucault, M. 1988. Politics, Philosophy, Culture: Interviews and Other Writings (1977‒1984), ed. L. D. Kritzman. London: Routledge.

Rancière, J. 2011. The thinking of dissensus: Politics and aesthetics. In Reading Rancière: Critical Dissensus, ed. P. Bowman and R. Stampt, 1‒7. London: Continuum.

Waghid, Y. 2020. “On a Cosmopolitan Ubuntu in Becoming: Implications for Education in Africa.” Contributions to the Africa SIG Bantaba Series session titled “Education beyond the Human: African Perspectives” held 16 April 2020, as part of vCIES 2020. Presentation available at YouTube at https://youtu.be/WNTcEgdnozM.

Waghid, Y. and N. Davids. 2020. The Thinking University Expanded: On Profanation, Play and Education. London: Routledge.

Published
2021-10-31
How to Cite
Waghid, Y. 2021. “On the Relevance of an African Philosophy of Higher Education”. South African Journal of Higher Education 35 (5), 1-3. https://doi.org/10.20853/35-5-4871.
Issue
Vol. 35 No. 5 (2021)
Section
Leading Article

Copyright (c) 2021 Y. Waghid

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