Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Education
The Cultural Contours Of Democracy: Indigenous Epistemologies Informing South African Citizenship, Patricia K. Kubow, Mina Min
The Cultural Contours Of Democracy: Indigenous Epistemologies Informing South African Citizenship, Patricia K. Kubow, Mina Min
Democracy and Education
Drawing upon the African concept of ubuntu, this article examines the epistemic orientations toward individual-society relations that inform democratic citizenship and identity in South Africa. Findings from focus group interviews conducted with 50 Xhosa teachers from all seven primary and intermediate schools in a township outside Cape Town depict the cultural contours of democracy and how the teachers reaffirm and question the dominant Western-oriented democratic narrative. Through ubuntu, defined as the virtue of being human premised upon respect, the Xhosa teachers interrupt the prevailing rights-and-responsibilities discourse to interpose a conception of democracy based on rights, responsibilities, and respect. …
Unalienated Recognition At The Core Of Meaningful Exchange Between School And Community. A Response To "Unalienated Recognition As A Feature Of Democratic Schooling", Robin R. Sears
Democracy and Education
I apply the concept of unalienated recognition as a form of democratic exchange, introduced by Rheingold (2012), to a different educational setting. Through a case study of the School for Field Studies international environmental programs, that are, like Rheingold’s study school, field based and community centered, I explore the hypothesis that today’s undergraduate students’ desire to serve and to solve can be usefully harnessed in formal coursework and research to address real problems at their foundation. I link the cases by building on Rheingold’s use of the concept of boundary objects as an organizing principle behind the success in motivating …