Neoliberalism and education: A reformational-pedagogical perspective (part 2)

AbstractThis is the second part of an article that forms a link in a series of studies and publications from the pens (computers) of reformational educationists regarding the so-called –isms deemed to be threats to the Christian (Biblical) orientation to education (including teaching and learning). In the first part, an overview was given of how reformational educationists have so far attended to the various “-isms” that they perceived as threats or challenges to Christian education. This was followed by an attempt to define the concept “neoliberalism” and to indicate what it means in general and, in particular, for education. The first part of the article has paved the way for what follows here: a critical analysis of neoliberalism as a recognisable “philosophy of education” and of its transcendental preconditions.OpsommingDie neoliberalisme en opvoeding en onderwys: ‘n reformatories-pedagogiese perspektief (deel 2)Hierdie is die tweede deel van ‘n artikel wat ‘n skakel vorm in ‘n reeks artikels en publikasies uit die penne (rekenaars) van reformatoriese opvoedkundiges oor die sogenaamde –ismes wat hulle geag het bedreiginge te wees vir die Christelike (Bybelse) benadering tot opvoeding (insluitend onderrig en leer). In die eerste deel van die artikel is ‘n oorsig gegee van hoe die reformatoriese opvoedkundiges dusver aandag geskenk het aan die “-ismes” wat hulle gemeen het sodanige gevare vir die Chrsitelike opvoeding inhou, of uitdagings daaraan rig. Dit is opgevolg deur ‘n poging om die begrip “neoliberalisme” te omskryf en aan te dui wat dit in die algemeen beteken, dog ook in die besonder vir opvoeding en onderwys. Die eerste deel van die artikel het die weg voorberei vir wat nou hier aangepak word, naamlik om ‘n kritiese ontleding aan te bied van neoliberalisme as ‘n herkenbare “opvoedingsfilosofie” en van die transendentale voorwaardes daarvan.https://doi.org/10.19108/KOERS.82.1.230

Christian philosophy of education in South Africa: the cultural-historical activity theory to the rescue?

Parents’ choice of schools for their children has become particularly problematic in the current circumstances because of the fact that most schools have become secular and hence cannot support Christian parents in their task of educating children in line with the former’s baptismal vow. In addition to this, Philosophy of Education has all but disappeared from teacher education curricula. These circumstances have not, however, detracted from Christian parents’, teachers’, caregivers’ and other educators’ need for a Christian Philosophy of Education. This article offers such a Philosophy of Education in the form of Biblical perspectives regarding the main facets of education couched in cultural-historical activity theory.  This approach circumvents objections against a mere “grab bag” of Biblical perspectives about education as well as against yet another master theory or grand narrative about Christian education.https://doi.org/10.19108/KOERS.81.2.226

Another look at education from a Christian stewardship perspective

Despite the current postmodern aversion to large-scale philosophies, another look at Christian stewardship education has become necessary. Christian educators need a reminder in the prevailing socio-political conditions in South Africa about the intricacies of their calling and duties towards the upcoming generation. The article commences with a discussion of education in general and then goes on to argue that the ‘thin’, minimalist and universalist language of modern day secular pedagogical theory should be augmented, or preferably replaced, by the ‘thick’, maximalist and particularist language of education theory rooted in the Bible. The article highlights a number of key concepts associated with Christian stewardship education and concludes by observing that, whilst an entire book (once again) could have been written on the subject, the discussion of a few key issues with regard to Christian stewardship education can serve as a reminder to Christian educators about their pedagogical responsibilities

The opening and reopening of schools in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic: An appraisal from two vantage points

General legislation as well as legislation specifically regulating education in South Africa is aimed at the protection and advancement of the best interests of children (learners). Developments in the school education sector during the COVID-19 pandemic, which reached the shores of South Africa in March 2020, starkly underscored that not only the interests of the learners were at stake but also those of a variety of other stakeholders such as the parents (-in-organisation), the teachers (-in-organisation), the wider community (civil society) and the state (in the form of, for instance, the Departments of Basic Education and of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs). An examination of the situation in the schooling sector reveals that decisions had to be taken about the opening and reopening of schools in a context of great complexity. This paper examines this complexity from two vantage points, a societal-theoretical and a pedagogical-ethical perspective. The societal-theoretical perspective might help all the role-players to gain a deeper understanding of what their respective roles should be during a crisis: does a situation such as this indeed require a nanny-state (based on the notion of an external locus of control) or should the state allow all those involved to just muddle through the crisis; how should the different role-players interact with one another while confining themselves to their own spheres of competence and respecting those of other parties? The pedagogical-ethical perspective, in turn, might assist the various role-players to understand the ethical dilemmas that tend to surface during a pandemic. The aim of the investigation was to derive guidelines for role-players to find their way through the complexity brought about by a crisis such as a pandemic that seemed to threaten the very fibre of civil life

Chaos and order in education

The relation between chaos and order in social systems has been a recurring theme in educational literature over the last decade. Discussions commonly propose links with developments in mathematics and physics. The authors take a critically constructive look at some of the fundamental questions that underlie the discussion. They look at the nature of the relevant developments in mathematics and physics in their possible relation to educational theory and practice. They proceed to explore the role of order, predictability and control and the place of religion in the education systems, and in academic discourse, of today's pluralist societies. South African Journal of Education Vol.24(1) 2004: 64-6

Violent societies: Educating the upcoming generations about their social contract

The citizens of many countries in the world, particularly of South Africa, are experiencing the collapse of the social order in their country as a result of certain circumstances. This fact of social disintegration has led educationists to again examine the nature and contents of the social contract that the South African citizenry has entered into. In secular states, the social contract should at least be rooted in two ethical principles, namely trust and humanistic versions of the Golden Rule. Analysis of the South African social contract demonstrates this point, and also shows how a positive modus vivendi [living together] can flow from the recognition and application of these two principles. The upcoming generations should therefore be educated to understand the nature and content of their social contract, the two ethical principles, and the need for a positive modus vivendi based on their particular social contract

Ubuntu in South Africa: Hopes and disappointments – a pedagogical perspective

The indigenous sub-Saharan African philosophy of ubuntu that comes down to the expression: “I am a human being because of being with other human beings”, developed over centuries. This philosophy, embodying the notion of deep respect for all human beings, is rooted in a humane inclination towards kindness and sound relationships among all people. Before its adoption as a principle in the South African Interim Constitution of 1993, ubuntu had never been referred to, or codified in any statutory format. Since then, however, although not mentioned in the final Constitution of 1996, the humane undertones of the ubuntu philosophy have often surfaced in South African jurisprudence, particularly in cases involving citizens’ Constitutional right to human dignity (section 10). This paper examines the phenomenon that the actual modern-day practical, day-to-day life in South Africa does not seem to attest to application of the ubuntu ideal of maintaining and improving the human condition. After examining a number of possible reasons for this phenomenon, ubuntugogy is presented as a possible remedy for this condition. This paper reports on an interdisciplinary analysis involving philosophical, societal, anthropological, legal and pedagogical perspectives. A mixed method research methodology in the form of a social science based interpretive-constructivist qualitative approach combined with a legal approach was followed

Education for minority groups: a case study

No Abstract.South African journal of Education Vol. 25(4) 2005: 287-29

Numerical relativity on cosmological past null cones

The observational approach to cosmology is the endeavour to reconstruct the geometry of the Universe using only data that is theoretically verifiable within the causal boundaries of a cosmological observer. Using this approach, it was shown in [36] that given ideal cosmological observations, the only essential assumption necessary to determine the geometry of the Universe is a theory of gravity. Assuming General Relativity, the full set of Einstein field equations (EFEs) can be used to reconstruct the geometry of the Universe using direct observations on the past null cone (PNC) as initial conditions. Observationally and theoretically this is a very ambitious task and therefore, current developments have been restricted to spherically symmetric dust models while only relaxing the usual assumption of homogeneity in the radial direction. These restricted models are important for the development of theoretical foundations and also useful as verification models since they avoid the circularity of verifying what has already been assumed. The work presented in this thesis is the development of such a model where numerical relativity (NR) is used to simulate the observable universe. Similar to the work of Ellis and co-workers [36], a reference frame based on the PNC is used. The reference frame used here, however, is based on that of the characteristic formalism of NR, which has developed for calculating the propagation of gravitational waves. This provides a formalism that is well established in NR, making the use of existing algorithms possible. The Bondi-Sachs coordinates of the characteristic formalism is, however, not suitable for calculations beyond the observer apparent horizon (AH) since the diameter distance used as a radial coordinate becomes multi-valued when the cosmological PNC reconverges in the history of a universe, smaller in the past. With this taken into consideration, the Bondi-Sachs characteristic formalism is implemented for cosmology and the problem approaching the AH is investigated. Further developments address the limitations approaching the AH by introducing a metric based on the Bondi-Sachs metric where the radial coordinate is replaced with an affine parameter. The model is derived with a cosmological constant Λ incorporated into the EFEs where Λ is taken as a parameter of the theory of gravity rather than as a matter source term. Similar to the conventional characteristic formalism, this model consists of a system of differential equations for numerically evolving the EFEs as a characteristic initial value problem (CIVP). A numerical code implemented for the method has been found to be second order convergent. This code enables simulations of different models given identical data on the initial null cone and provides a method to investigate their physical consistency within the causally connected region of our current PNC. These developments closely follow existing 3D schemes developed for gravitational wave simulations, which should make it natural to extend the affine CIVP beyond spherical symmetric simulations. The developments presented in this thesis is an extended version of two papers published earlier

The search for a moral compass and a new social contract in the context of citizenship education

Some observers regard South Africa as one of the most violent, lawless and morally depraved societies in the world. Several other countries around the world can be shown to be similarly afflicted. In South Africa’s case, this condition might be because of political transformation, particularly the lingering effects of the struggle against past injustices (apartheid, racism) inflicted on sections of the population. The social instability has been exacerbated by an influx of migrants and a resultant increase in diversity. One way of attempting to assuage this situation is to harness the school subject known as ‘citizenship education’ for guiding the upcoming generations into committing to a new moral compass, that is, awareness or consciousness with a conscience, and to an accompanying new social contract. Finding a rationale for such a moral compass and social contract that all the citizens of South Africa and of other similarly stricken countries would be prepared to commit to is a daunting task because people tend to be subjective in reflecting about their personal and group views, particularly about their religious beliefs and convictions. Closer examination reveals, however, that despite all the diversity, differences and conflict prevalent in societies, people are potentially able to share a set of basic values that arguably could form the core of the sought-for moral compass. Citizenship education could be functional in bringing home to the next generation the notion of henceforth living in accordance with the precepts of such a moral compass and social contract