Education as Mutual Translation: A Yoruba and Vedantic Interface for Art School Pedagogy

Abstract

This thesis proposes that concepts of self and mutuality with others, found in ancient Indian (Hindu Vedantist) and Yoruba (West African) philosophies can be applied to art school pedagogy and potentially beyond. Mind, self, identity and agency in these traditions echo recent thinking on the student being by Ronald Barnett, and critical consciousness as defined by Paulo Freire. Situating oneself as part of, yet distinct from others, leads naturally to reflection on the nature of self and identity; the thesis urges that art education engage with more awareness of students as cultural, political, and ontological entities, and with learning and teaching as an act of mutual exchange. In support, case studies are presented, gathered through dialogic interviews in a project called 4 Minds. These capture students’ experience of art school pedagogy, Yoruba and Vedantic ideas of the self in relation to society, and their views on the constitution of the self and its role in education. Research methodology and methods employed are reflexive and phenomenological; their impetus has come from responses to a course on Yoruba, Hindu and postcolonial theory, leading to an in-depth examination of its contents, pedagogic tools, and implications for creative education. From this has emerged a theoretical framework for extracting key elements of the originating course and its pedagogic strategies, underscored by specific Yoruba and Vedantic concepts in dialogue with Barnett and Freire.