Abstract
This paper is a reflection on the role that education should be playing in the twenty-first century in general and in postcolonial societies in particular. Put differently, what is the role of education in a transforming society and how could we as a society embrace educational approaches that could facilitate social transformation and the building of a more just, equitable and humane society? I will begin the paper by first outlining the purpose of education or what I deem to be its purpose. I will argue with the many contemporary theorists who advocate for social justice and a schooling system and curriculum whose function should be the cultivation of compassionate citizens who are deeply moved by a sense of justice and the creation of a more equal and humane society. South Africa is one of the most unequal societies in the world and the curriculum should address these pressing challenges. I will argue that through education and the curriculum, we can lay the foundation for a different kind of society, i.e. one that is guided by decency and universal human values. Curriculum change on its own to bring about transformation is incomplete without a simultaneous change in pedagogy. Therefore, to achieve the objectives as outlined above, a critical pedagogy approach is indispensable. Finally, I will argue that our efforts to bring about pedagogical and curriculum change will be incomplete without also embracing alternative conceptualisations of knowledge.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abrahams, G. Y. (2014). Critical pedagogy: origin, vision, action and consequences. KAPET, 10(1), 90–98.
Apple, M. W. (1990). Ideology and curriculum. New York: Routledge.
Arendt, H. (1963). Between past and future. New York: Meridian.
Ayers, W., Michie, G., & Rome, A. (2004). Embers of hope: in search of a meaningful critical pedagogy. Teacher Education Quarterly, 31(1), 123–130.
Biesta, G. J. J. (1998). Say you want a revolution …suggestions for the impossible future of critical pedagogy. Education Theory, 48(4), 499–510.
Biesta, G. J. J. (2013). The beautiful risk of education. London: Paradigm Publishers.
Blignaut, S.E. (2012). Create socially just society, The Herald, May 23, 2012. Blignaut, S.
Blignaut, S.E. (2013). Teaching for social justice in South African universities. In G. de wet (Ed.), Beyond the Apartheid University: Critical voices on transformation in the university sector, pp 36-51.
Booysen, S. (2016). Fees must fall. Johannesburg: Wits University Press.
Bowles, S., & Gintis, H. (1976). Schooling in capitalist America: educational reform and the contradictions of economic life. New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers.
Boyce, M. (1996). Teaching critically as an act of praxis and resistance. Electronic Journal of Radical Organisation Theory, 2(2), 1–14.
Coleman, M., Graham-Jolly, M., & Middlewood, D. (2003). Managing the curriculum in South African schools. London: Commonwealth Secretariat.
Dale, J., & Hyslop-Margison, E. J. (2010). Paulo Freire: teaching for freedom and transformation. New York: Springer.
Dall’Alba, G. (2004). Understanding professional practice: investigations before and after an educational programme. Studies in Higher Education, 29, 679–692.
Dall’ Alba G. (2005). Improving teaching: Enhancing ways of being university teachers. Higher Education Research and Development, 24(4), 361–372.
Delpit, L. (1995). Other people’s children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York: New Press.
Ellsworth, E. (1989). Why doesn’t this feel empowering? Working through the repressive myths of critical pedagogy. Harvard Educational Review, 59(3), 297–324.
Escrigas, C. (2016). A higher calling for higher education. Retrieved at http://www.greattransition.org/publication/a-higher-calling-for-higher-education.
Fataar, A. (2012). A pedagogy of hope in the ‘capacity’ to aspire’: youth subjectivity across the post-apartheid schooling landscape. South Africa: Professorial inaugural lecture, Faculty of Education, Stellenbosch University.
Foley, J. A., Morris, D., Gounari, P., & Agostinone-Wilson, F. (2015). Critical education, critical pedagogies, Marxist education in the United States. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, 13(3), 110–144.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.
Giroux, H. A. (2004). Public pedagogy and the politics of neo-liberalism: making the political more pedagogical. Policy Futures in Education, 2(3 &4), 494–503.
Giroux, H.A. (2016). Rethinking education as the practice of freedom: Paulo Freire and the promise of critical pedagogy. Retrieved 26 august, from http://www.truth-out.org/archive/item/87456:rethinking-education-as-the-practice-of-f...
https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/bantu-education-and-racist-compartmentalizing-education
Hyman, A. (2016). Call for action against ‘racist’ teachers. The Herald, September 6.
Johnson, R. W. (1977). How long will South Africa survive? Johannesburg: Macmillan.
Kirsten, J. (1992). The way forward-II. In C. A. Taylor (Ed.), Tertiary education in a changing South Africa. UPE: Port Elizabeth.
Liu, G. (2000). Knowledge, foundations, and discourse: philosophical support for service learning. In Beyond the tower: Concepts and models for service learning in philosophy. Edidted by D. Lisman and E.I. Harvey. Grandview: American Association for Higher Education.
Lotz-Sisitka, H., Wals, E. J., Kronlid, D., & McGarry, D. (2015). Transformative, transgressive social learning: rethinking higher education pedagogy in times of systemic global dysfunction. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 16, 73–80.
Moosa, E. (2005). Ghazali and the poetics of imagination. Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press.
Odora Hoppers, C. A. (2016). Transforming and decolonizing higher education in South Africa: towards cognitive justice and restorative action. The Nelson Mandela Legacy Lecture, 2 September.
Paphitis, S., & Kelland, L. (2016). The university as a site for transformation: developing civic-minded graduates at South African institutions through an epistemic shift in institutional culture. Education as Change, 20(2), 184–203.
Peters, R. S. (1966). Ethics and education. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Postma, D. (2019). Decolonial pedagogical practices: engaging with Ranciere. South African Journal of Higher Education, 33(5), 7–24.
Reid, W. A. (1992). The pursuit of curriculum: schooling and the public interest. Norwood: Ablex Publishing Company.
Sant, E. (2019). Democratic education: a theoretical review (2006-2017). Review of Educational Research, Vol. XX, no. X, 1-42.
Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action. New York: Basic Books.
Shudak, N. J. (2014). The re-emergence of critical pedagogy: a three-dimensional framework for teacher education in the age of teacher effectiveness. Creative Education, 5(11), 989–999.
South African History online. (2019a). A history of apartheid in South Africa. https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-apartheid-south-africa.
South African History online. (2019b). People’s education for people’s power: mobilisation and collective action. https://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/chapter-9-peoples-education-and-peoples-power-mobilisation-and-collective-action.
Tarlau, R. (2014). From a language to a theory of resistance: critical pedagogy, the limits of “framing,” and social change. Educational Theory, 64(4), 369–392.
Vally, S. (2019). Between the vision of yesterday and the reality of today: forging the pedagogy of possibility. Professorial inaugural lecture: University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Zajda, J. (2010). Globalization, education and social justice. London: Springer.
Zippin, L., Fataar, A., & Brennan, M. (2015). Can social realism do social justice? Debating the warrants for curriculum knowledge selection. Education as Change, 19(2), 9–36.
Acknowledgements
Most of the ideas outlined in this article formed part of my Professorial inaugural lecture in 2016.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Blignaut, S. Transforming the curriculum for the unique challenges faced by South Africa. Curric Perspect 41, 27–34 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41297-020-00104-6
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41297-020-00104-6