UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA
College of Education
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HED4804: Higher Education Studies
Assignment 2 — Semester 1, 2026
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HED4804
Module Code:
Higher Education Studies
Module Name:
African Philosophy of Education as the
Essay Topic:
Creation of Concepts-in-Place
Assignment 2
Assignment Number:
2026
Due Date:
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for HED4804 — UNISA 2026
, UNISA | HED4804 African Philosophy of Education
African Philosophy of Education as the Creation of Concepts-in-Place
Introduction
Philosophy is often treated as the preserve of ancient Greeks, European universities,
and lecture halls that feel distant from the realities of African learners. That assump-
tion is worth questioning directly. Education shapes who people think they are, what
they imagine is possible, and whose knowledge counts as real. When those shap-
ing forces come from a single tradition, the result is not universal education; it is
one place’s education dressed in universal clothing. This essay argues that African
philosophy of education, understood as the creation of concepts-in-place, offers a
framework through which education can become genuinely responsive to the lived re-
alities of African communities. Four areas are addressed: the meaning and necessity
of philosophy; the relationship between place, concepts, and philosophy of education;
the construction of concepts from a specifically African place; and the implications
of this view for educational practice in a complex world.
1. Philosophy as a Practical Activity and its Necessity in a Complex World
Philosophy, at its most basic, is the practice of asking questions that other disci-
plines take for granted. Where science asks how things work, philosophy asks why
those things matter and whose interests they serve. I do not understand philosophy
as a collection of abstract ideas stored in dusty texts. It is, as Owoseni (in Higgs,
2012) describes it, both a reflective enterprise and a task. It asks us to interrogate
assumptions, surface contradictions, and think through what education is actually
trying to do.
Why does this matter now? The world that today’s learners are asked to navigate
is genuinely complicated. Rapid technological change, colonial legacies that never
fully resolved themselves, economic inequality, and cultural dislocation all sit inside
the same classroom. A teacher who has never been asked to question the purposes
of education is not better equipped for this complexity; they are simply repeating
inherited answers to questions they were not given space to examine. As Waghid
Page 2 of 9
College of Education
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
HED4804: Higher Education Studies
Assignment 2 — Semester 1, 2026
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
HED4804
Module Code:
Higher Education Studies
Module Name:
African Philosophy of Education as the
Essay Topic:
Creation of Concepts-in-Place
Assignment 2
Assignment Number:
2026
Due Date:
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for HED4804 — UNISA 2026
, UNISA | HED4804 African Philosophy of Education
African Philosophy of Education as the Creation of Concepts-in-Place
Introduction
Philosophy is often treated as the preserve of ancient Greeks, European universities,
and lecture halls that feel distant from the realities of African learners. That assump-
tion is worth questioning directly. Education shapes who people think they are, what
they imagine is possible, and whose knowledge counts as real. When those shap-
ing forces come from a single tradition, the result is not universal education; it is
one place’s education dressed in universal clothing. This essay argues that African
philosophy of education, understood as the creation of concepts-in-place, offers a
framework through which education can become genuinely responsive to the lived re-
alities of African communities. Four areas are addressed: the meaning and necessity
of philosophy; the relationship between place, concepts, and philosophy of education;
the construction of concepts from a specifically African place; and the implications
of this view for educational practice in a complex world.
1. Philosophy as a Practical Activity and its Necessity in a Complex World
Philosophy, at its most basic, is the practice of asking questions that other disci-
plines take for granted. Where science asks how things work, philosophy asks why
those things matter and whose interests they serve. I do not understand philosophy
as a collection of abstract ideas stored in dusty texts. It is, as Owoseni (in Higgs,
2012) describes it, both a reflective enterprise and a task. It asks us to interrogate
assumptions, surface contradictions, and think through what education is actually
trying to do.
Why does this matter now? The world that today’s learners are asked to navigate
is genuinely complicated. Rapid technological change, colonial legacies that never
fully resolved themselves, economic inequality, and cultural dislocation all sit inside
the same classroom. A teacher who has never been asked to question the purposes
of education is not better equipped for this complexity; they are simply repeating
inherited answers to questions they were not given space to examine. As Waghid
Page 2 of 9
