HUNHU (UBUNTU) AND SCHOOL DISCIPLINE IN AFRICA
Keywords:
Ubuntu, way of life, compassion, reciprocity, dignity, harmony and humanity, mutual caring, our interconnectednessAbstract
Ubuntu lies at the heart of the African way of life and impacts on every aspect of people’s well being. Broodryk1
observed that Ubuntu is present in all languages of Africa. For instance Hunhu a Shona description in the
Zimbabwean context, is known as Ubuntu in Zulu; Botho in Sesotho: Ajobi in Yoruba: Numunhu in Shangaan; Vhuthu in Venda; Bunhu in Tsonga; Umntu in Xhosa; Utu in Swahili and Abantu in Ugandan. This paper seeks to explore the notion of being human by grounding discussions around the concept of what is generally referred to as ubuntu in South Africa and hunhu among the Shona in Zimbabwe. The issue of discipline in schools is selected as a way to demonstrate the concept of hunhu/ubuntu mostly amongst students. Ubuntu can be regarded as the soul force that drives almost every facet of societal life in African societies. In this paper the concept of ubuntu and hunhu have the same meaning and are used interchangeably. The paper seeks to understand how hunhu impacts on discipline in Zimbabwean schools. While hunhu in the Zimbabwean context is seen as that act of being human, Nussbaum observed that ‘ubuntu is a capacity in African culture to express
compassion, reciprocity, dignity, harmony and humanity in the interests of building and maintaining a community with justice and mutual caring.’2 Nussbaum further notes that ubuntu expresses ‘our interconnectedness, our common humanity and the responsibility to each other that deeply flows
from our deeply felt connection.’3
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