Suchergebnisse

Review of: Teaching, Friendship and Humanity, Nuraan Davids and Yusef Waghid (2020)
Singapore: Springer, 109 pp.,
ISBN 978-981-15-7212-8, e-book, €42.79

Chartered accountant educators and accounting students at a historically disadvantaged institution (HDI) in South Africa explored concepts of responsible decision-making and leadership, social justice and the effect of decisions on local and global communities and the environment within the business context. The workshop was grounded on the global, focusing on sustainable human and planetary well-being and the local, centring on the notion of ubuntu. Specifically, this workshop was framed in line with the notion of glo-ubuntu as an extension of global citizenship education (GCE). The workshop's purpose was to create a space for students to engage with the consequences of business leaders' decisions critically. This was to be achieved by drawing on their embodied knowledge and nurturing, as future business leaders, social awareness of the need for decisions that are just – towards social cohesion, restorative justice and planetary well-being through sustainable businesses.

The chartered accountant (CA) profession plays a significant role in the South African business society, as individual members often fulfil leadership positions. Consequently, whether CAs are cultivated into being responsible and socially just leaders whilst they are at higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa is an important aspect to consider. Decoloniality and ubuntu principles, those associated with restoring human dignity through recognition, contribute to the fostering of the appropriate conditions for human engagement that could result in a social awareness. So far, the CA profession has largely ignored the call for decoloniality, and we argue for a certain response by the profession that will result in meaningful transformation of the profession, the fostering of relationships, and a socially just consciousness. In particular, such a response has to do with openness towards other knowledge systems, a willingness to deliberate and the adoption of deliberative teaching and learning approaches.

Undoubtedly, the global COVID-19 pandemic ruptured life as we knew it. Globally, citizens' freedom of movement, socialization needs and economic activity ground to a halt as governments around the world introduced stringent measures in response to the ravaging spread of the virus. In South Africa, a national lockdown was announced in March 2020, and the campuses of institutions of higher learning became lifeless and barren. The aftermath of the pandemic will surely be a time of mourning when considering losses in terms of life and socio-economic well-being. Despite these devastating realities, this moment could also be one of promise and hope. Considering commonplace resistance to change, the pandemic is forcing leaders and citizens to reflect on habitual behaviour and decisions. This period in time could become a moment of true transformation that could meaningfully address matters of inequality and injustice. All sectors and industries have to think anew about operational matters, inclusive of the higher education sector. South African higher education residential institutions were not prepared for the sudden transition from face-to-face lecturing to online teaching; from invigilated examinations to take-home online assessment. Further, the South African educational landscape is marred with disparity between the previously disadvantaged and advantaged institutions. These remnant realties from the country's apartheid past continue to find expression in signifiers of inequality and found poignant expression in measurables such as students' access to devices, data and a conducive learning environment. This inequality, compounded by the current pandemic, warrants a particular response from the educator to ensure meaningful education continues. In this contribution, we argue that educators need to assume a different role and position, which demands more than merely transitioning to online teaching platforms. The time is now for the educator in becoming to lead vulnerably in the nurturing of confidence through connection and to demonstrate equality in teaching and learning.