Masihambisane [Let’s walk]: walking the city as an interdisciplinary pedagogical experiment in Durban, South Africa

Abstract

ABSTRACTSouth African education is in crisis, which also presents an opportunity for innovation and experimentation. This paper describes and analyses one such pedagogical experiment with a combined class of Architecture and Applied Theatre students from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa. Students were taken through a critical pedagogical process that culminated in a ‘spatial event’ entitled Masihambisane [Let’s walk!] that was responsive to the inner-city site and its peripatetic occupants. The article takes the position that a critical and socially responsible pedagogy can mitigate against the damage of past injustice and the alluring alienation of the capitalist agenda.