Decolonisation philosophy of Education

A case study of African philosophy in South African universities

Abstract

This theoretical paper enters the debates on decolonisation by challenging the Africanness of the philosophy of education with a focus on South African universities. Of special attention is our interrogation of the nature of the African philosophy of education. Conversely, is it a philosophy of education grounded in the Cartesian tradition or in African philosophy? If it is the latter, what underpins its nature and orientations? We therefore deploy Afrikology as a theoretical framework to uncover a nuanced epistemic direction in a decolonised philosophy of education in South African universities. The paper also gestures towards a synthesis of philosophical orientations in decolonisation, African philosophy, and Afrikology, aiming to decipher how the philosophy of education can be considered truly decolonised. Taken together, this piece of paper adopts African concepts, such as Ubuntu, Ukama, and Ma’at, amongst others, in the very act of writing, teaching, seeing, and theorising a decolonised African philosophy of education in South African universities from an African worldview.