In the Spirit of Ubuntu: Stories of Teaching and Research (Transgressions: Cultural Studies and Education) - Tapa dura

"This is an excellent and timely book ... In the Spirit of Ubuntu: Stories of Teaching and Research represents a seminal educational intervention that should re-direct the way we see and interact with learning and pedagogical projects and relationships. The book is well organized, is written in non-alienating, humanist language, and should be very useful for students, researchers, and the general public. Students in the West, who are not familiar with the philosophy of ubuntu, should be exposed to the contents of this book."--Ali A Abdi, in Alberta Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 58, No. 4 "The essays in this volume ... inspire the reader to draw parallels with his or her own work or to wonder how ideas might be applied in different contexts. My response to these essays certainly reflects my own experience and my efforts to attune my teacher education students to the deep connections between social justice, democracy and education in the United States. For educators who have taken on this struggle, they will find wisdom, example, and advice in many of these essays and the worldview of Ubuntu will give them a new way to think about their work."--ENCOUNTER: Education for Meaning and Social Justice, Volume 23, Number 2 "It is not, 'I think therefore I am.' It says rather: 'I am human because I belong. I participate, I share.' A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed, or treated as if they were less than who they are. " (Desmond Tutu, 1999, No Future without Forgiveness, p. 31) In the Spirit of Ubuntu: Stories of Teaching and Research offers a collection of stories to encourage teachers and researchers to embrace the spirit of Ubuntu, which can guide our work. These authors seek to bridge their academic work with community engagement, well-being and transformation. Many of the book's contributors demonstrate a research commitment to working collaboratively with underrepresented communities, who are viewed not as "objects" to be studied or rescued, but as partners in a shared project. Others demonstrate how self-reflection informs and transforms their teaching practice. Overall the writers show through their stories, how an ethic of care, respect and reciprocity applies to teachers as well as researchers and works toward the decolonization and humanization of schooling and the academy. From the Foreword by Ngugi wa Thiong'o: "The stories here are united in a common quest for Ubuntu but in the process they become an important contribution to that common quest...They should be read as an expression of the common quest for a more humane world."

It is not, 'I think therefore I am.' It says rather: 'I am human because I belong. I participate, I share.' A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed, or treated as if they were less than who they are. (Desmond Tutu, 1999, No Future without Forgiveness, p.31) In the Spirit of Ubuntu: Stories of Teaching and Research offers a collection of stories to encourage teachers and researchers to embrace the spirit of Ubuntu, which can guide our work. These authors seek to bridge their academic work with community engagement, well-being and transformation. Many of the book's contributors demonstrate a research commitment to working collaboratively with underrepresented communities, who are viewed not as "objects" to be studied or rescued, but as partners in a shared project. Others demonstrate how self-reflection informs and transforms their teaching practice. Overall the writers show through their stories, how an ethic of care, respect and reciprocity applies to teachers as well as researchers and works toward the decolonization and humanization of schooling and the academy. From the Foreword by Ngugi wa Thiong'o: The stories here are united in a common quest for Ubuntu but in the process they become an important contribution to that common quest...They should be read as an expression of the common quest for a more humane world. The cover photograph was taken by Esther Kogan at the Caroline Wambui Mungai Home, Wangige, Kenya.