On Being Human: Reconsidering an African Philosophy of Education - A Conversation with Prof. Yusuf Waghid

Prof. Yusef Waghid, a leading African philosopher of education,
holds three doctorates in the fields of education, policy, and
philosophy from the University of the Western Cape and
Stellenbosch University in South Africa, respectively. As a
tenured professor since 2002 he was honoured with the title of
distinguished professor (2014-2023) on the grounds of his
research excellence at Stellenbosch University. He has been a
prolific author with 419 publications to date of which 54 are
academic books and edited collections and, 89 invited
contributions to books. He received the Association for the
Development of Education in Africa's prestigious Education
Research in Africa Award: Outstanding Mentor of Education
Researchers (2015). Throughout his tenure, he occupied leading
management positions at Stellenbosch University, such as having
been appointed Chair of the Department of Education Policy
Studies (2003-2007, 2022); and Dean of the Faculty of Education
(2007-2012; 2017-2018). In the main, his long-standing
relationship with education began as a high school science
teacher (1979-1996) before he joined higher education as a senior
teaching advisor to advance his professional career in higher
education (1996-).  


His published works includeTowards an Ubuntu University: African
Higher Education Reimagined (Palgrave-MacMillan, 2023, with
Zayd Waghid, Judith Terblanche, Faiq Waghid, Lester Shawa, Joseph
Hungwe, Thokozani Mathebula & Foreword by Carlos Alberto
Torres); Education, Crisis, and Philosophy: Ubuntu within
Higher Education (Routledge, 2022); Democratic
Education as Inclusion (Lexington, 2022, with Nuraan
Davids); Higher Teaching and Learning for Alternative
Futures (Palgrave-MacMillan, 2021, with Zayd Waghid, Judith
Terblanche & Faiq Waghid); Academic Activism in Higher
Education: A Living Philosophy for Social Justice (Springer,
2021, with Nuraan Davids); Towards a Philosophy of Caring in
Higher Education: Pedagogy and Nuances of
Care (Palgrave-MacMillan, 2019); Education for
Decoloniality and Decolonisation in
Africa (Palgrave-MacMillan, 2019, with Chikumbutso Herbert
Manthalu); Rupturing African Philosophy of Teaching and
Learning (Palgrave-MacMillan, 2018, with Faiq Waghid &
Zayd Waghid); and African Philosophy of Education
Reconsidered: On Being Human (Routledge, 2014). In
recognition of his high quality scholarly works that also appear
in many leading education journals, the National Research
Foundation in South Africa rated him as an internationally
acclaimed scholar who provides exemplary leadership in advancing
philosophy of higher education in Africa (B-1).


He pioneered a online course on Teaching for Change, selected by
the Sustainable Development Goals Academy of the United Nations:
Class Central as a free online international course to learn
about the United Nation's sustainable development goals and he
collaborated with renowned international scholars on a leading
UNESCO pioneered research project, Education for Flourishing
and Flourishing in Education initiated by the Mahatma Gandhi
Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development.