Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu (a Person is a Person Because of/or Through Others) and the Notion of Inclusive Education

Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu (a Person is a Person Because of/or Through Others) and the Notion of Inclusive Education

Nomusa Mlondo
Copyright: © 2022 |Pages: 13
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-4436-8.ch001
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Abstract

This chapter argues that challenges facing inclusive education in South Africa can be dealt with if the approach is rooted in the African philosophy of Ubuntu, a worldview expressed in South Africa's Nguni languages as “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu,” which is the title of this chapter. The expression means a person is a person through others. Although the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and other related legislative frameworks advocate for education as a human right, the reality is that very few children with disabilities attend mainstream schools. They suffer exclusion due to prohibitive actualities like ill-equipped teachers, large classes, and lack of enabling resources. A lack of enforcement of applicable policies has led to discrimination on the basis of ability. For children with disabilities, the doors of learning are not yet open; these children are practically not “allowed” to attend mainstream schools. There is a need to replace Euro-centric education with Afro-centric education to promote the inclusion of all children.
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1.2 Origins And Transformation/Metamorphosis Of The Concept Ubuntu

Gade (2011) researched the genealogy of the concept Ubuntu. He found that the current ideas about Ubuntu, including the description that it is African humanism, a philosophy, a principle or a belief system/perspective, first emerged in written literature in the second half of the 1900s. The concept became popular as a guiding ideal during the political periods of transition from white minority rule to black majority rule in both Zimbabwe and South Africa (Gade, 2011:303). Ubuntu first appeared in 1846 in the works of Europeans, and by 1950 it had appeared in 51 texts. Among African scholars, it was Rwandan Tutsi Catholic Priest Alexis Kagame who used it in his book “La philosophie bantu-rwandaise de l’tre”, in 1956. The usage/citing of the term became prominent in academic circles in the 1990s, especially in 1994 when South Africa gained freedom from the apartheid regime. In other African countries like Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia the use of the concept has also been associated with regaining of political freedom after colonisation by colonial masters. In the case of South Africa, it was touted after dismantling apartheid. The Ubuntu term was used to restore disrupted African culture and dignity.

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1.3 African Philosophy And Lived African Experience

Higgs (2008) suggested that conversations about transforming/decolonizing African education should be based on an agenda that respects diversity and recognises the lived experiences of African people. African philosophers have to initiate and construct an African order of knowledge, building on indigenous knowledge systems. African philosophy itself has to be based on African content and methodology. Oyeshile (2008) concurred that African philosophy should be a reflection of the real experiences of the African people and that such a reflection has to arise from “wonders about some compelling problems of life and existence. Another essential ingredient is that such reflection must be critical and logical” (Oyeshile, 2008:7).

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