2.3 Traditional Civic Education in Formerly Colonized African Countries
2.3.2 Learning Through Ubuntu/Botho
The African philosophy, which was practiced historically/traditionally, is known as ubuntu or botho. Gade (2012, p. 484) describes ubuntu as the “moral quality of a person” on the one hand, and on the other hand, as a “phenomenon.” Ubuntu as a moral quality meant showing a sense of connectedness and respect as a central value that was promoted together with the notion of compassion in traditional African societies (Waghid, 2010, 2014). The value of ubuntu laid emphasis on the relationship of a person with others, highlighting that there was a strong association between an individual and the community where the issue of caring for one another was emphasized (Pacho, 2013; Waghid, 2010).
The traditional educational approach, expressed through these southern African concepts of ubuntu and botho, focused on ideologies of communalism, connectedness,
interdependency, and intersubjectivity, which all emphasized the importance of humanness and prioritized human relationships over individual gain, with a view to encouraging respect, sharing, caring and concern for others (Duncan et al., 2007; Metz, 2014; Preece, 2009;
34 Waghid, 2014; Waghid & Smeyers, 2012). This attitude in Africa is reflected in the Sesotho proverb ‘a person is a person through other persons’ (motho ke motho ka batho).
Moreover, Waghid (2014) asserts that ubuntu, understood as caring, suggested that people should be resourceful and familiarize themselves with societal principles and practices for the empowerment purposes. In other words, people should also try to help themselves in making a living rather than relying on others in everything. For instance, Gboku and Lekoko (2007) explain that, traditionally, Africans worked in cooperation and in collaborative ways that socialized people into their societies and children were steeped in these values, which entailed the following:
- The principle of acting together against acting alone.
- The principle of cooperation against fragmentation or competition - The principle of unity against friction
- The principle of collectivism against individualism
- The sense of belonging or connectedness to a group against isolation (2007, p. 10).
In the African context, these principles served as a guide when performing social activities and enhanced a sense of belonging, which reflected the African values that were culturally acceptable in peoples’ lives. Due to this functionality of traditional education that equipped learners with skills, knowledge and competencies that were useful in their daily lives, people coped with realities of life. Therefore, the ideology of ubuntu helped Africans to cultivate cooperation and interdependence (Waghid, 2010), which was used to preserve human dignity and respect and also brought people into unity, with a sense of equality in times of domination and exploitation, especially during the post-colonial independence era.
However, it can also be argued that the issue of ubuntu or botho, which placed a heavy emphasis on the notion of respect, had the limitation of not promoting a democratic citizenship in African cultures in that the authority of the elderly was not challenged. This is affirmed by Waghid (2010) in his description of ubuntu, exemplified in his reference to the authority of leadership positions in the education system that are not challenged by students:
35 It is commonly accepted in many African cultures that the authority of people in leadership positions should not be challenged. This viewpoint is evident from the behaviours of several of my students from Southern African countries who seem to be hesitant to challenge university professors at the institution where I work as a mark of respect for academic authority (Waghid, 2010, p. 111).
Waghid (2014) asserts that respect, in the African context of ubuntu, was associated with relying upon the truth of the elders because of their wisdom, which was used as a yardstick for collective decision making. However, the suggestions by the elderly were still open to deliberation and thorough scrutiny (Waghid, 2014), that was done through caring for one another. The current day contradictions articulated by Waghid are supported by Maathai (2009, p. 25), who holds that African people have embedded their “trust” in their leaders although only a few of the latter honour that trust. Maathai (2009) asserts that most African leaders mirrored the colonizers’ tactics of divide and rule, in other words, setting apart the people of one country. This author argues that citizens undermine their own ability and responsibility to take action, which is a persistent trait inherited from colonialism. Maathai (2009, p. 44) states that because citizens were educationally and economically
disadvantaged, they could not “hold their leaders accountable, while the latter took advantage of that fact.” Moreover, African leaders have continued with their culture of disempowerment that they learnt from the colonizers that kept people ignorant, fearful, passive and obedient, as expressed by Maathai (2009) when revealing that:
They exploited their peoples in the name of progress, employment, and a better quality of life, and accumulated wealth for themselves, their families, and their friends, often corruptly and at the expense of the majority of their citizens … They adopted the attitude of the former European master and did whatever they deemed necessary for their peoples and then shed crocodile tears over their continued poverty, conflicts, and all other ills associated with the continent (p. 44).
The above contention supports what Matolino and Kwindingwi (2013) affirm, concerning African leaders’ practice of the elitist notion of ubuntu. This also supports Shizha and Abdi (2013) in their assertion that there is little that the first elite political leaders have done to enhance citizenship rights of the people. Instead they have provided citizenship education that creates passive subjects whose loyalty to military rulers and civilian dictators is
sustainable. The above authors’ view is that political education that was provided by these elite leaders promoted the dependence of the people on Europeans and encouraged
36 Africans to suppress their own views and opinions while looking upon the wisdom of wise advisers (Maathai, 2009; Shizha & Abdi, 2013; Waghid, 2010). Similarly, Morrow (2009) highlights that the post-colonial type of education totally failed to support citizens in their fight against social injustices. Instead, Morrow states, this education has facilitated:
A society drifting towards greed and competitive individualism, where market forces seem to override all other social ties (Morrow, 2009, p. 1).
This suggests that there is a trend in which self-centered individuals advance their own interests. This is a disturbing, continuing signal of the historical political divisions (see Chapter One) in a democratic society, which this study explores in the findings Chapters Five, Six and Seven. Although traditional education emphasized the importance of the connections between people in the society as a value that was obeyed, practiced and recognized by all, that value appears to have changed in the urban setting due to the
influences of modernisation, industrialization and globalization (Mamdani, 1996; Matolino &
Kwindingwi, 2013; Morrow, 2009; Root, 2007). The emphasis, today, is on individualism – expressed as one person for himself or herself. Today, people speak of the politics of economy, where they put income or reward first, as expressed by Root (2007) and Morrow (2009), before they can think of extending their services to their relatives, neighbours and the society at large. Therefore, the notion of citizenship is transformed into one that is associated with modernisation (Mamdani, 1996; Morrow, 2009; Root, 2007). This is in contrast with the African traditional context, where extended families had influence, the strong and well-off provided for the weak with a view to harmonizing individual interest with community interest (Mamdani, 1996). It is argued that these modernisation values stem from Western knowledge - a system which promotes individualism, self-actualization and wealth creation, so that the purpose of lifelong education is for industrial production within the capitalist framework (Abdi, 2008; Crick & Joldersma, 2007; Mamdani, 1996;
Morrow, 2009). In this context, Waghid (2014) and Pacho (2013) propose that civic education has to re-foster the engagement of people with one another and respect the views of others. Waghid further suggests that ubuntu has the potential to connect critical thinking and deliberative conversations. Waghid (2014, p. 57) asserts that, “collective decision making was not alien to traditional African society,” and illustrates that Africans have always used ubuntu throughout their lives.
37 The next section examines the international perspective on civic education that derives primarily from Western values. It can be seen that there are some overlaps with African perspectives in terms of the contribution to community life.