Assignment 1 2025
Unique number: 711336
Due Date: 28 May 2025
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, QUESTION A (3 ANSWERS PROVIDED)
Africanising and decolonising the curriculum in the South African context
means restructuring education to reflect African knowledge systems, histories,
and experiences while dismantling the dominance of Eurocentric content. This
involves integrating indigenous African languages as mediums of instruction
beyond the foundation phase, ensuring African philosophies such as Ubuntu
are embedded in subjects like history and social sciences, and using
indigenous knowledge systems in science and mathematics. For example,
traditional African healing practices can be studied alongside Western
medicine in health sciences, while ethnomathematics can demonstrate
mathematical concepts through African architectural patterns or beadwork.
Furthermore, literature curricula should include works by African authors
alongside Western texts, and history should focus on African civilizations
beyond colonial encounters. Schools must also foster critical thinking that
challenges epistemic injustices, ensuring education is relevant to the realities
of African students.
OR
Africanising and decolonising the curriculum in South Africa involves
integrating indigenous knowledge systems, African histories, and local
languages into education to reflect the country’s diverse cultural heritage and
realities. This means moving away from Eurocentric perspectives that
dominate the curriculum and ensuring that African voices, philosophies, and
contributions are central to learning. For example, in history, students should
learn about pre-colonial African civilizations such as Mapungubwe and Great
Zimbabwe alongside European history. In mathematics and science,
traditional African problem-solving methods and technologies, such as ancient
African architecture and indigenous healing practices, should be explored.
Language plays a crucial role—schools should prioritize teaching in
indigenous languages beyond Grade 3 to improve comprehension and
identity formation. Moreover, literature studies should include works by African
authors like Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o and Bessie Head, alongside Shakespeare and
Dickens. Decolonising education also means addressing socio-economic
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