Towards a Formulation of a Philosophical Base for Education in South Africa

Abstract

The reconstruction of educational practice in South Africa, should have as an aim the accommodation of local realities. It is argued that this can be achieved when educational practice is inspired by a specific idea of what it means to be fully human. A definition is given of what is meant by the term ‘humanness’ in the following terms: Full humanness exists where a person achieves agency. Agency can be conceptualized in terms of the three phenomena — autonomy, reflexivity and mutuality, the latter being the situational condition for the existence of the former. Autonomy and reflexivity develop on two conditions: (1) where the intersubjective experiences of a person are open and take place in a spirit of mutuality and through talk; and (2) where the moral order which regulates the intersubjectivity, protects both autonomy and reflexivity. In turn, the moral order should also be protected by the intersubjective context. Two paradoxical positions are therefore emphasized: humanness as an expression of agency and the moral order which supports the agency. Further thoughts are given on how this idea of full humanness differs from what has up to now dominated the educational scene, also on why it should lead to its improvement.