A Critical Reflection of African Philosophy and decolonization of the educational discourse in South Africa

Abstract

Higgs (2003, 01 - 03) argued that the philosophical discourse in South Africa concerning higher education, teaching and learning has always been fragmented. Twenty-five years later the philosophical discourse in education remains fragmented. During the apartheid years, philosophical discourse about the nature of higher education, teaching and learning was dominated by Fundamental Pedagogics, providing the foundational landscape for apartheid education in the form of Christian National Education. As such, “Fundamental Pedagogics” was regarded as a crucial element of apartheid education, evinced through Christian National Education. With the dismantling of apartheid and the abandoning of the system of Christian National Education it became necessary to formulate a new philosophical discourse in higher education. But what should constitute such a re-vision of philosophical discourse? In this paper, I argue for the introduction of an African discourse into the conversation surrounding the revision of philosophy of education in South Africa. In other words, the paper seeks to extend African philosophical ideas in the debate of decolonization of South African higher education. Thus, providing a contribution to contemporary practical issues to African philosophy and African experiences, specifically, South African. Such a discourse will refer to the African philosophy body of literature and the recent calls for decolonization in higher education as seen by social media hangtags, #FeesMustFall, #RhodesMustFall and media outlets.