Introduction
According to Iweriebor (2011) the majority of Africa had been colonized by European powers in the beginning of the 20th century because of political, religious and economic reasons. Europeans believed that no philosophers were present in Africa as they imposed their knowledge systems on Africans. Chimakonam [n.d.] disputes this claim by stating that the African philosophy can be traced back to the early 1920s. During the colonial years, the identity of Africans was European as they as they positioned themselves within Western cultures. Slavery inflicted by Europeans might have ended might have come to an end, but their knowledge systems are still a great part of our lives. Unfortunately, this is at the expense of our own knowledge systems. Chimakonam [n.d.] continues to state that in order to rediscover our African identity, there needs to be social, economic and political systems that are non-colonial. That is where the African philosophy comes in. This also applies to the education system. The aim is to have an education system that focusses on the needs of Africa.
This essay will focus on the African philosophy with specific regards to the education system in South Africa and its current inequality challenges, with specific regards to resources in schools, the effects and how we solve such issues. Understanding ethical teaching practice through the African philosophy will also be discussed in this essay.
Before this essay can unpack the African philosophy in terms of the education system the term philosophy needs to be understood before this essay unpacks the African philosophy. Pannone (2007) defines philosophy as searching for the truth endlessly. Philosophy is the study relating to questions of life, values, reason, knowledge as well as language. He continues to state that these questions often come in the form of problems that need to be solved through a method of inquiry.
127 our experts are availableright now
How can this method of inquiry be applied to Africa? Study Moose (2016) describes the focus of the African philosophy on promoting African identity and unity. The aim is for Africans to understand the importance of their own knowledge and value systems. According to Sayed (2020), the African philosophy consists of four methods of inquiry. The methods are as follows; ethnic philosophy, this involves religious and moral beliefs of Africans. Sage philosophy, also known as wisdom philosophy focusses on individuals whose views challenge authority through critical thinking. Political philosophy states that politics should be African inclined. Lastly, pure philosophy includes the areas of critical rationalism, empiricism and existentialism.
The African philosophy prides itself with people being conscious of their surroundings through indigenous knowledge. Nengwekhulu [n.d.] defines the concept black consciousness as a state of mind in which black people should reject value systems that are foreign. He continues to state explain that black people should be aware of the importance of African based value systems, with specific regards to cultural, political and socio-economic values.
Now that this essay has established what the African philosophy is, how does it relate to the education system? Waghid (2016) defines the African philosophy of education as a way of critical inquiry relating to the education in Africa. He continues to state that an education system that is focussed in the African needs offers learners a platform to address issues relating to poverty, violence, exclusion amongst many others. Not only does the African philosophy of education analyse these problems, it also offers learners a platform to resolve those issues.
Section 6.4 of the guidelines relating to the planning for public school infrastructure in South Africa, published by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) (2012), states that a schooling environment is regarded as functional if it has classrooms, electricity, bathrooms, textbooks as well as basic teaching aid supplies. Unfortunately, some schools do not meet this criterion.
One of the biggest problems within the current education system in Africa is the lack of resources. This also applies to South Africa. Statistics conducted by UNESCO (2016) outlines the challenges relating to poor infrastructure and the lack of resources in African schools. There are various barriers to learning, some are intrinsic while some are extrinsic. Statistics provided by UNESCO (2016) analyse the extrinsic barriers to learning. This essay specifically focuses on the South African statistics. The identified barriers within the statistics include the number of learners in a classroom, textbooks as well as access to basic services which include toilets, drinking water and electricity. According to these statistics, South Africa has an average of 50 learners per classroom. This is a problem as meaningful learning does not take place in overcrowded classrooms. This is due to the fact that the teacher cannot cater for the everyone’s individual needs. Another problem that prevents meaningful learning is that on average, there is one reading book for every two learners, for mathematics, there is one textbook for every three learners. Statistics continue to state that 1% of schools do not have toilets, 2% do not have drinking water and 5% do not have electricity.
