1.1 Define African philosophy. (5)
Philosophy means path.
Philosophy to African cultures, values and traditions, and to the notion of ubuntu, and sought to
understand the reasons for students’ inclination to treat African philosophy in this way. African
philosophy accentuates the importance of being reasonable – the ability of people to articulate
clear, logical and defensible arguments, on the one hand and to demonstrate a willingness to
listen carefully to others, on the other hand. (p. 57)
1.2 Explain why Wahid and Higgs (2017) adopted the view of “mutual attunement”. (5)
-A pedagogy of friendship, is ability to be aware of and respond to the child’s needs.
[T]o act responsibly, one also needs to engender friendship through one’s (inter)actions – the idea of
“doing things together”, that is, a kind of mutuality whereby one engages another and to be engaged
in return. ...
[M]mutuality can be captured in Aristotelian phrases such as “spending days together”, “spending
time together”, “living together”, acquiring experience of one another and becoming familiar with
each other’s habits, as well as in more transient interactions such as great conversation, in knowing
glances, in a moment of shared repartee that lasts no longer than an instant, yet captures in that
moment the magic of a special connection.
For me, such a notion of friendship, which requires time and familiarity with each other’s characters
on the basis of doing things with each other, cannot be separated from the relationship that ought
to exist between a university teacher and her students. (Wahid 2007, 189). Here friendship is
characterized by mutual engagement, mutual attunement and mutual action. This notion of
mutuality includes the space to correct one another. ‘It is this idea of correcting one another and
learning from each other in an atmosphere of trust, goodwill and mutual benefit that holds much
promise in reshaping teaching and learning’ (Wahid 2007, 189).
2. Pragmatism and education
2.1 Show how “experience” of pragmatism has been challenged by pragmatists such as Rory.
(5)
According to pragmatism, an idea or a proposition lies in its observable practical consequences
rather than anything metaphysical. Whatever works is likely true. Pragmatism is the philosophy
that encourages us to seek out the processes and do things that work best to help us achieve
desirable ends. Pragmatism is a practical, matter-of-fact way of approaching a situation or of
solving problems. According to Dewey, the methods and the process of enquiry are more
important than the product or the contents to be learnt. Knowledge for its own sake is at odds with
/