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.