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It is not, 'I think therefore I am.' It says rather: 'I am human because I belong. I participate, I share.' A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed, or treated as if they were less than who they are. (Desmond Tutu, 1999, No Future without Forgiveness, p.31)
In the Spirit of Ubuntu: Stories of Teaching and Research offers a collection of stories to encourage teachers and researchers to embrace the spirit of Ubuntu, which can guide our work. These authors seek to bridge their academic work with community engagement, well-being and transformation. Many of the book's contributors demonstrate a research commitment to working collaboratively with underrepresented communities, who are viewed not as "objects" to be studied or rescued, but as partners in a shared project. Others demonstrate how self-reflection informs and transforms their teaching practice. Overall the writers show through their stories, how an ethic of care, respect and reciprocity applies to teachers as well as researchers and works toward the decolonization and humanization of schooling and the academy.
From the Foreword by Ngugi wa Thiong'o:
The stories here are united in a common quest for Ubuntu but in the process they become an important contribution to that common quest...They should be read as an expression of the common quest for a more humane world.
The cover photograph was taken by Esther Kogan at the Caroline Wambui Mungai Home, Wangige, Kenya.
