Reimagining teacher education for inclusive education in Southern Africa: Ubuntu perspective

Abstract

Countries in Southern Africa have taken efforts to implement inclusive education. While policies exist and some efforts are made around inclusion in schools, limited attention has been given to the work required of teachers to actualise inclusivity. What is missing are mechanisms that can enable teacher education to develop inclusive pedagogical proficiency in future teachers. This study reimagined teacher education for inclusive education in Southern Africa through Ubuntu philosophy that positions disability as the moral and analytical basis of inclusivity. A qualitative conceptual-policy analysis approach was used to analyse the regional Policy Framework on Care and Support for Teaching and Learning. The analysis was theoretically guided by critical disability perspectives and Ubuntu relational ethics. The analysis showed that disability is framed in the policy framework as intersecting with multiple forms of vulnerability, and that inclusivity is conceptualised as a multisectoral agenda. However, the policy framework under-theorises teacher education for ethical decision-making, reflexivity and collaborative practice in crisis-affected contexts. This article argues that reforming teacher education to support inclusive education requires more than policy adherence. It also requires educating relational and reflexive teachers grounded in Ubuntu ethics by strengthening disability inclusivity as the foundation for such transformation.
Contribution: The Ubuntu framework has been primarily applied in school research. There is limited application of this framework in teacher education research. This creates a lacuna in understanding how school teachers are expected to practise Ubuntu, yet their training has not adequately prepared them. Therefore, this study applies the Ubuntu framework to teacher education by linking disability, inclusive education and Ubuntu ethics to offer insights that can inform debates on teacher education development in Southern Africa.