The Sustainability of Unhu/Ubuntu as a Philosophy of Education in a Postcolonial and Globalising Zimbabwe: A Hermeneutical Discussion

This inquiry was motivated by a great deal of debate that surrounds Ubuntu (also called ‘hunhu/unhu’ in Shona or ‘botho’ in Sotho), a philosophy specific to Sub-Saharan Africa in general and Zimbabwe in particular. The study was, therefore, a critical examination of the sustainability of Ubuntu as a philosophy of education in a postcolonial and globalising Zimbabwe. The current inquiry took a qualitative research approach, which is informed by the interpretivist research paradigm - a research worldview considered more successful in inquiries of a human-social nature. As a case study, the field inquiry was conducted in 3 schools and a university within Masvingo Urban, Zimbabwe. The research participants included 3 school teachers, 3 deputy heads, 3 heads, and 4 university lecturers. Despite the criticism that the Ubuntu philosophy is a postcolonial utopia invention as well as narrow Bantu philosophy without continent-wide resonance, the current inquiry discovered that the said philosophy is well-positioned to salvage Zimbabwe’s education system from the negative influences of globalisation and Euro-American modernity. It was, therefore, concluded that Ubuntu remains a sustainable philosophy guiding instruction in a postcolonial and globalising Zimbabwe. This inquiry, thus, recommends the escalation of education for Ubuntu in order to advance the social-cultural-moral formation of the Indigenous Zimbabwean learners.