Educational Paradigm with Ubuntu Mindset: Implications for Sustainable Development Goals in Education

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of our development systems and drawn attention to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this chapter, we acknowledge the critical role of education in supporting sustainable development. We argue for inclusive education for the Sustainable Development approach and offer the African philosophy of Ubuntu (I am because we are) as a mindset that should drive the transformative change required. We contend that this mindset serving as a theoretical and methodological model offers unique potential possibilities of bringing learners close to their social realities and helping them learn together better, the Africentric way. We expect this model to help better understand the intervention and transformative changes required for sustainable education that works for all learners.

1. Introduction

1.1 Impact of Covid-19 on educational systems

The March of 2020 was the start of the most significant pandemic that the world has ever seen and unleashed a crisis of gigantic proportions. We never imagined that the so advanced human race would be defeated by a virus, impacting different aspects of human development such as education, health, income, well-being, etc. As news of the Covid-19 virus traveled from the Wuhan province of China to the rest of the world, national borders were closed overnight, flights suspended, and lockdowns imposed globally in the first attempt to contain the spread of the virus. The Covid-19 virus brought the entire world to a standstill. With many lost lives and livelihoods, we continue to fight the virus tooth and nail. The virus had a devastating impact on people, businesses, and economic systems, with the entire world, turned upside down. To ensure continuity in how we worked, learned, and lived, the world embraced digital transformation, overhauling systems over the next few months. Lockdown measure shifted many activities online. However, this adoption of technology brought the digital divide globally to the front. The World Economic Forum indicated that more than 4 billion people, mostly in developing countries, still do not have access to the Internet [1]. That is almost half of the world’s population. And, as expected, the impact was severe for people without Internet access. Even with technological advances, Internet access and availability are issues in several countries globally. Many rural and low-income communities worldwide, including those in large urban areas, lack reliable, affordable access. So, when schools and other educational institutions adopted online schooling to ensure learning continued, that was a start to one of the most prolific challenges and changes in the history of educational systems.

The pandemic brought about the most extensive disruption of education systems ever. The United Nations estimates that approximately 1.6 billion students in more than 190 countries were out of classrooms due to the lockdowns imposed by governments across many countries. Schools and other educational institutions closed overnight to contain the spread of the virus, impacting 94 percent of the world’s student population and up to 99 percent in low and lower-middle-income countries [2]. However, education systems worldwide were swift to react and digitally transform themselves. The crisis stimulated innovation within the education sector, with solutions previously thought difficult or impossible to implement were seamlessly adopted within the educational landscape. Educational stakeholders quickly developed distance learning solutions, with online learning becoming the new way of acquiring education from home. Though this shift to online learning mitigated the pandemic’s adverse effects on education, the entire experience also caused many students’ trauma and loss of knowledge, particularly in disadvantaged and vulnerable communities. For these students, the crisis exacerbated the already existing educational inequities globally. Without access to or availability of the Internet, electronic devices for learning or a home environment conducive to learning, students lose learning times. A lot of schools also lacked the infrastructure to help such students. According to the United Nations, the economic impact of the pandemic coupled with school closures could turn the learning crisis into a generational catastrophe impacting the future of many students. Nevertheless, the pandemic has taught us that while technology is here to stay, creating sustainable and resilient systems is required to overcome the challenges and avoid this crisis turning into a generational catastrophe.

1.2 Impact of Covid−19 on disadvantaged students

According to UNESCO, millions of children do not go to school each day due to emergencies and ongoing humanitarian crises. Schools protect children from the physical dangers around them, provide food, water, health care and hygiene supplies, and ensure their physical and emotional well-being [3]. Education attainment is a significant factor in reducing poverty and increasing a student’s ability to lead a healthy life and participate in society. Despite the enormous benefits of education to children and communities, the United Nations points out that education is often the first service suspended and the last to be restored during a crisis. And this scenario is what we experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic. Though most students experienced the negative impact of the pandemic on their learning, the vulnerable ones before the pandemic were disproportionately affected widening the pre-existing opportunity and achievement gaps.

Schools are a source of daily meals and provide a safe and comforting environment for many students globally, alleviating the difficulties at home. While school closures led to the quick adoption of alternate learning modes, the prominent rise of online learning as a delivery model impacted students from different walks of life. The hardest hit were those from vulnerable and marginalized communities. Students from privileged backgrounds could find a way to work around the new learning systems with access to all or most of the resources required. However, many students from disadvantaged backgrounds lost access to education and other facilities when schools shut down. Students lost access to their meals, health facilities and other benefits apart from learning that schools provide. The Covid-19 pandemic exposed many shortcomings and inequities, such as; limited access to the internet and devices for learning, supportive home learning environment, putting many students at a further disadvantage. Furthermore, other students faced mental and emotional health issues due to social isolation from their friends and peers.

In the United States, the McKinsey & Company [4], analysis of schools showed that the impact of the pandemic on K–12 student learning was significant. Their research indicates that students, on average, were five months behind in mathematics and four months behind in reading by the end of the 2020–2021 school year. In math, students in most Black schools ended the year with six months of unfinished learning, and for students in low-income schools, the deficit was seven months. High schoolers have become more likely to drop out of school, and high school seniors, especially those from low-income families, are less likely to go on to postsecondary education. And the crisis had an impact on not just academics but also on the broader health and well-being of students. Students of color and low-income students suffered the most. Long-standing inequities such as disproportionate levels of punishment, suspensions, assignment to special education programs, inherent racism, stereotyping and social labeling have further compounded other pandemic-related factors such as social isolation and family economic losses. These challenges reiterate the urgent need to build educational systems that are resilient and sustainable and where every child can succeed, irrespective of their background.

1.3 Building sustainable education systems with an “Ubuntu” mindset

Extant research since 2020 in the context of K-12 education examined the impact of Covid-19 on learning loss for students across different parts of the world. Several studies have brought to light the inequities and injustices faced by marginalized groups. Research has also revealed that systems and structures in educational institutions were under immense stress during this crisis. This time of global upheaval and uncertainty allows us to question the design of educational systems that perpetuate and aggravate historical barriers to equitable education. With several kinds of inequities within the educational systems brought to the front during the pandemic, we believe in the need to broaden the notions of academic resilience and bring about a remarkable transformation in the education landscape.

An important lesson from the pandemic is the realization that we as individuals do not exist in isolation, and we are all interconnected. The lesson that we argue can serve as a systematic transformation required to overhaul education systems and redesign them based on strong partnerships and collaborations among its stakeholders. We contend that such sustainable educational systems are required so that all students from every walk of life succeed at school and in life. We argue that creating such sustainable systems would require a mindset that we as a human race are connected, and in order to progress, we must do so together. We characterized this concept as “Ubuntu” mindset that is critical to understanding our interconnection with each other required to build strong partnerships to transform learning environments. Educational leadership and management can benefit from developing an Ubuntu mindset to bring about a transformation where every stakeholder works collaboratively to ensure that every student succeeds. This idea fulfills one of the fundamental principles of ‘transdisciplinary education,’ which scholars highly recommend as one way to accomplish sustainability goals.

2. Education for sustainable development

The United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity [5]. The movement serves as the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all and address the global challenges we face: poverty, climate change, and educational inequity. The 17 SDGs aim to ensure that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability, given their interconnectedness. SDG 4 – Quality Education focuses on ‘ensuring inclusive and quality education for all and promoting lifelong learning’[6]. According to the United Nations, education enables socioeconomic mobility upward and is a key to escaping poverty. Education also helps reduce gender or socioeconomic inequalities and is crucial to fostering tolerance and creating more peaceful societies. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) was born from the need for education to address the growing sustainability challenges and posit education as the most critical factor for ensuring holistic development [7]. ESD, an integral part of SDG 4, recognizes education as a means of societal transformation and is posited as the critical factor in accelerating progress across all the other SDGs.

‘ESD for 2030’is the global framework for the implementation of Education for Sustainable Development from 2020 to 2030. The framework emphasizes education’s contribution to the achievement of the SDGs. It aims to review the “purposes and values that underpin education and reorient all levels of education and learning to contribute to sustainable development” [8]. The framework takes a ‘whole institution approach emphasizing that “to encourage learners to become change agents who have the knowledge, means, willingness and courage to take transformative action for sustainable development, learning institutions need, themselves, to be transformed” [9]. This whole-institution approach to ESD calls for learning environments where learners learn what they live and live what they learn. An expert review of literature on processes of learning for Education for Sustainable Development by Prof. Tilbury [10] identified certain key processes that underpin ESD frameworks and practices, including processes that engage the ‘whole system’. ESD seeks to challenge existing educational systems, structures and/or practices and adopt a systematic approach to change. The process supports the attainment of – as well as the education of – sustainable development, which brings to life not only in the curriculum but also in other educational systems such as teaching practices, pedagogy, data systems, and processes [10]. And to successfully foster these transformative and sustainable changes will ultimately depend on effective leadership and management within the educational system. The pandemic highlighted the interdependence amongst students, teachers, families, school leadership, government and the community as a whole. Educational leadership and management (EDLM) played a critical role in the pandemic. They will now again play a vital role in reorienting the whole institution towards an innovative, democratic environment that is responsive to social and community needs. EDLM will be a significant factor in bringing about the transformation by adopting the Ubuntu philosophy to build back a shaken system.

3. What is Ubuntu?

Ubuntu is a philosophy that inspires the beliefs, values, norms and practices of different African societies [11] and is one of the “inspiring dimensions of life in Africa” [12]. Ramose [13] states that “Ubuntu is simultaneously the foundation and the edifice of African philosophy” (p. 49). The notion of Ubuntu has its roots in the sub-Saharan African culture and focuses on the interconnectedness and relationality amongst the human race [14]. The concept is indigenous to the African continent and one of the foundations of the different cultures across Africa. Ubuntu is one of the foundational tenets of African communal cultural life [15], and its meaning is often explained with the phrase “umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu”, which means “a person is a person through other people” [16]. Similarly, Mbigi [17] also stated that Ubuntu literally means “I am because you are – I can only be a person through others” (p. 6). According to Lutz [18], Ubuntu signifies the notion of one being truly human only as a part of the community rather than in isolation. This means that “people are not individuals, living in a state of independence, but part of a community, living in relationships and interdependence” ([19] p. 36). The basic concept is that our social and economic development evolves through relationships with the larger group. Malunga [20] describes Ubuntu as a cultural worldview that captures the essence of being human and humanity. According to Woermann and Engelbrecht [21], Ubuntu “addresses our interconnectedness, our common humanity and the responsibility to each other that flows from our deeply felt connection.”

Describing the core values of Ubuntu, Mangaliso et al. [11] stated vales that include harmony and solidarity, reciprocity, respect for elders, collaboration, mutual concern, compassion, consultation, and consensus”. Similarly, Horwitz [22] points out the significance of collective solidarity and interrelationships, stating that “values such as adherence to social obligations, collective trust, deference to rank and seniority, sanctity of reciprocity and good social and personal relations are relevant” (p. 2943). Ubuntu “addresses our interconnectedness, our common humanity and the responsibility to each other that flows from our deeply felt connection” ([12], p. 1). Oviawe [23] describes Ubuntu as “a philosophy of being that locates identity and meaning-making within a collective approach as opposed to an individualistic one” (p. 3).

Relationality and interconnectedness are central to the concept of Ubuntu. According to Nussbaum ([12], p. 1), “one of the ontological assumptions of Ubuntu is the communal or relational nature of being” The entire idea of Ubuntu is opposite to that of individualism, which characterizes many Western cultures. According to Hofstede [24], individualism can be defined as “a preference for a loosely-knit social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of only themselves and their immediate families” (p. 1). Contrarily, the central belief of Ubuntu is the fact that we are humans only because of the connection that we share with other human beings. Explaining the same, Mbigi ([17], p. 69) stated that, “I cannot separate my humanity from the humanity of those around me”. Pérezts et al. [14] reiterated the fact that “such a relational approach to morality and ethics grounded in harmony, and brings a different ethos to Western approaches, which prioritize utility, autonomy and capability” (p. 736). Ubuntu stresses “an I/we relationship as opposed to the Western I/you relationship with its emphasis on the individual” ([25], p. 21). An individual is bound by others and a sense of community and does not exist independently. Luthans et al. [26] stated, “under Ubuntu there is an individual existence of the self and the simultaneous existence for others” (p. 515).

In his book titled “Ubuntu: Shaping the Current Workplace with (African) Wisdom”, the author Vuyisile Msila [27] demystified the concept of Ubuntu and explained its meaning for everyday corporate life and organizations. He talks about the “five P’s in Ubuntu philosophy:

• People-centeredness: Ubuntu emphasizes the role of the people within the organization. Without an interest in people, Ubuntu cannot be realized.

• Permeable walls: communication in the organization is not restricted, and the walls are not opaque. All the members can communicate with one another without fear.

• Partisanship: one of the most positive factors of the Ubuntu philosophy is loyalty. People communicate freely, making them feel closer to the organization.

• Progeny: Ubuntu leadership promotes collective decision-making. However, effective leadership is respected, and the leader is respected.

• Production: when the above characterizes the organization, production is guaranteed. The organization prospers when its members enjoy respect, loyalty and good leadership” (p. 15).

According to Mangaliso et al. [11] “a great deal of research on Ubuntu has offered positive vantage points for revaluing African philosophies and translating them into management practices, most notably in the field of human relations” (p. 4). Msila [28] stated that Ubuntu is a very crucial concept for many institutions in the society, including the understanding of leadership and management in varied organizations. Though Ubuntu might be an African philosophy, its basic ideas and ethos have a global appeal for leading and managing people and organizations effectively. According to Lutz [18], the first step in developing a leadership and management style based on upon the philosophy of Ubuntu, is to recognize the organization or institution as a community, where every individual is critical to the success of the community. According to Karsten and Illa [29] “Ubuntu provides a strong philosophical base for the community concept of management” (p. 6). Similarly, McFarlin et al. [30] state that the African management philosophy that “views the corporation as a community and can be summed up in one word – Ubuntu” (p. 71). The idea here is not about maximizing the value for only the owners or shareholders of the organization, but for the entire community and its members who are important stakeholders of the organization. The central idea of Ubuntu is interconnection between individuals. Ubuntu espouses the idea of the collective achievement of the goals of the organization. It does not relegate an individual’s own goal as secondary, but confirms to the idea of achievement of individual goals and the achievement of group goals are equally critical and go hand-in-hand. Ubuntu is about pursuing your own good through the common good [18].

3.1 Ubuntu for educational leadership and management

To ensure that we overcome the barriers faced and become more resilient to such drastic effects on schooling systems, a systematic transformation is required. Scholars have indicated that traditional top-down hierarchical structures in school are rigid and not agile to change and adaption. Such hierarchical styles have resulted in dysfunctional schools and researchers call for the need to adopt newer and contemporary leadership and management styles in educational institutions. The pandemic brought to light the interdependence amongst educational stakeholders including children to overcome the difficulties faced during the pandemic. Collaboration, co-operation and partnerships were some of the basic qualities that helped schools overcome the challenges and ensured that there were no interruptions to learning. As we navigate an uncertain future, leading with such a people-centered and collaborative mindset is critical to developing resilience and sustainable education systems. And this is where an Ubuntu mindset comes into the picture. Msila [31] contends Ubuntu as a classic model for educational leadership and management. The communal nature of Ubuntu can help the success of any institution including educational leadership and management. He states that leading with an Ubuntu mindset would enable school leaders to lead school effectively with the resources at their disposal.

Extant research has established the benefits of leading with an Ubuntu mindset for educational leadership and management. The basic fundamental principles of Ubuntu, namely interconnectedness and relationality are important to cater to the diverse stakeholders in educational institutions. Schools have students with different nationalities, cultures, social class, language, values and belief systems. Ubuntu brings together people from different walks of life, to work and live harmoniously. Mbigi and Maree [32] explain that Ubuntu enables one to move towards a common goal based on the belief of collective shared values and solidarity with the group. Similarly, Ubuntu style of leading an organization involves “a departure from hierarchically structured management relations and rather introduces a cooperative and supportive form of leadership in which collective solidarity of the group is employed and respected” ([31], p. 149). Here the leader seeks co-operation and interdependence amongst members of the organization to achieve its goals. Collective solidarity amongst team members can enable the effective achievement of goals. Rather than a top-down management approach, Ubuntu is about shared decision-making, participation, collaboration, cooperation and a shared vision. It is about fostering a culture of collectivism among the organization and progressing the entire system with a ‘whole institution’ approach. Mboyo [33] reiterated how leadership and management of educational systems can benefit from the unique Ubuntu operational patterns such as understanding others’ needs, negotiating and prioritizing needs, assessing available resources, attending to others’ needs, and raised expectations and commitment to organizational goals.

3.2 Ubuntu for teaching and learning

Ubuntu as a philosophy not only helps leading and managing educational institutions, but also can be adopted as a teaching philosophy by teachers to reconstruct their behavior and effectiveness in schools [34]. Today’s culturally diverse societies are reflected in classrooms, where we have students from different walks of life. Ensuring the learning of diverse students requires teachers to adopt strategies that ensure inclusive education processes that help every learner succeed. Ubuntu as a philosophy that can assist teachers to manage classrooms effectively, as it encourages working together amongst people in various settings [35]. Broodryk [36] stated that underlying values of Ubuntu include that of humanness, trust, empathy, respect, tolerance and compassion. Embodying such values would help teachers connect better with their diverse students and this would make a significant difference in the school and student outcomes [37]. With students from marginalized and vulnerable communities facing racism within schools, educators with an Ubuntu mindset would help us address the systematic barriers within the school system. Given the benefits of adopting Ubuntu, Mutanga [38] called for teacher education premised on the indigenous Unhu/Ubuntu philosophy. Pather [39] contended that Ubuntu as a concept, encourages inclusion and cohesion in education, where there is a continued focus on a segregated approach to supporting children. According to Elder et al. [40], Ubuntu can help us with defining and understanding newer interpretations of inclusive education, where every child feels included and an important part of the classroom. Beets [41] recommended “infusing the principles of Ubuntu in the way teachers act, opens new possibilities for deepening the morality of their teaching practice - of how they, for example, use assessment to enhance both teaching and learning in the interests of each learner and ultimately society” (p. 70). Furthermore, Brock-Utne [42] calls for the need of an Ubuntu paradigm in curriculum work, language of instruction and assessment to redesign school systems based on the basic principle of humanity. Similarly, Nxumalo and Mncube [43] recommend the inclusion of Ubuntu philosophy in the school curriculum using indigenous games for teaching a decolonized curriculum content and instilling moral principles and cultural beliefs such as the value of communal identity.

4. Transdisciplinary education with an Ubuntu mindset

In order to prepare students to cope with the challenges of an uncertain, volatile, ever-changing and a complex world, an approach to teaching needs to meet the ideals of ESD. Only academic or discipline knowledge is inadequate to prepare students to tackle sustainability challenges. Thus, ESD promotes an inter- and a transdisciplinary, learner-centered, participatory, and locally relevant approach to learning and teaching [44]. Sustainability problems are often acknowledged as complex or “wicked problems” that require a multifaceted approach, and this is where transdisciplinary education plays a pivotal role. Transdisciplinarity is characterized by its focus on “wicked problems” that need creative solutions, its reliance on stakeholder involvement, and engaged, socially responsible education [45]. According to UNESCO, “transdisciplinary approach is an approach to curriculum integration which dissolves the boundaries between the conventional disciplines and organizes teaching and learning around the construction of meaning in the context of real-world problems” [46]. This approach focuses on producing knowledge with the help of non-academic stakeholders who bring in practice-based, local and indigenous knowledges [47]. Mutual learning, collaboration, decision-making and problem solving amongst educational institutions, businesses, government and the society characterize transdisciplinarity in education. A transdisciplinary approach to education can “facilitate transformative learning through a focus on real-world challenges, complex systems thinking, the integration of diverse knowledges and reflexivity” ([48], p. 1). According to Kubisch et al. [44], “transdisciplinarity is characterized by three aspects:

1. The starting points are socially relevant issues, which are jointly identified and which are researched by means of integrative scientific methods, with the aim of developing interdisciplinary solutions or strategies for transformation;

2. during the whole research process there is an exchange between scientific and non-scientific partners, the latter, e.g., politicians, require the generated knowledge for decision-making;

3. integration of non-scientific partners, like citizens, to consider experiences and context-based knowledge” (p. 3).

We focus on one critical aspect of transdisciplinarity, that is, the integration of out-of-school partners or reliance on stakeholder involvement in achieving holistic education. This approach is emphasized in the concept of partnerships [49] and the Ubuntu mindset enables development of successful partnerships [50, 51].

Ubuntu can provide a theoretical foundation for adopting a transdisciplinary approach to education given the fact that community and partnerships are central to the Ubuntu mindset. Achieving the SDGs requires the co-production of knowledge between academic and non-academic actors [52]. Transdisciplinarity considers society as an equal partner and recommends the inclusion of practice-based, local and indigenous knowledges, and to “build capacity and consensus by mutual learning processes” ([47], p. 2). Developing an Ubuntu mindset can help educational institutions to develop strong partnerships with the community that can bring in diverse stakeholders and diverse knowledges within the ambit of learning. Building such partnerships with the community gives students an opportunity to actively conduct research on real-world problems and develop sustainable solutions with out-of-school partners [53]. It enables students to integrate knowledge from diverse domains, recognize real-world complexity and engage affected stakeholders in processes of mutual learning [54]. The inclusion of community partners in setting varied challenges for students provides an important source of practical and contextual knowledge, and helps them understand what they have learnt from a real-world perspective. In partnerships, dissimilarities in knowledge, know-hows, competencies and experiences are not considered as a deterrent but as a foundation of productive partnerships, whereby both students and out-of-school partners stand to gain [49]. Such collaborations offer students access to new and different types of knowledge, such as experiential knowledge and different disciplinary methods [55]. Furthermore, according to Rieckmann [56], partnerships enable students to learn “on the basis of a real societal challenge in local contexts” (p. 57). From an ESD perspective, collaboration with various stakeholders, both in and out-of-school, is desirable as it enables students to engage in competency and societal-oriented learning processes around a real-world sustainability problem. Developing an Ubuntu mindset puts collaboration at the heart of all activities within the school, which helps students learn from diverse stakeholders, value multiple perspectives, analyze their own viewpoints, and make informed sustainable decisions. Ubuntu emphasizes interdependence and relationality, and echoes the ideals of transdisciplinarity.

5. Concluding remarks

“We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity”.

- Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.

These words from the late Archbishop Tutu, the embodiment of Ubuntu, captures the essence of the need to re-imagine our individual selves connected to human development that support our collective survival leaving no one behind. This is an Ubuntu mindset that we have argued is needed to drive the transdisciplinary transformative processes required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and make the world a better place for us all.

Msengana [57] reiterated that adopting an Ubunutu mindset can help in building social relationships in a socially and racially divided organization. The author further stated that cultivating an Ubuntu mindset would help foster the spirit of harmony and reconciliation within the organization and society as a whole. Inequities, discrimination or biases, on the basis of race, gender, socioeconomic status, etc., existing in societies are replicated in schools as well Covid-19 has shaken up the entire education system globally and our traditionally entrenched ways of learning & schooling. Survival and resilience became the mantra of educational institutions and pushed all stakeholders to test their limits to ensure learning continued. While the pandemic opened up new possibilities, it also revealed several challenges and systematic barriers. To bring about a transformative change where every student can succeed, requires a mindset change. Desired organizational goals cannot be achieved in isolation but only through the collective efforts of all members of the organization. In a transformational change, people are the most important part of the system and hence, are critical partners in the process and the desired state. Achieving the desire state of change requires multiple partners who come together for a greater good. Such a transformation requires everyone to understand our interconnection and interdependence on each other in order to complete the bigger picture. An Ubuntu mindset is one such concept that would help bring these multiple stakeholders together and create sustainable and future-proof school systems based on a transdisciplinary approach to learning and teaching. Responses to Covid-19 have been an emergency fix to ensure there were no interruptions in schooling. So, as we move towards a new post-pandemic era, this necessitates recommitting and reimagining our humanity to inform the fundamental transformation required in our schooling systems, right from academic achievement to building inclusive education systems that leave no child behind.