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Decolonisation has recently captured the attention of those who inhabit South African universities, mainly sparked by student protests of 2015 and 2016. In this article writing is used as a mode of inquiry to explore what it means to decolonise the university in a contemporary world that is confronted with crises of all kinds; political, economic, environmental, health, education, and so forth. A third world university is pitted against a first world university (the neoliberal university that accumulates) and a second world university (the university that critiques), not as a new utopian idea but as a university that scavenges on the scrap material of the first and second world universities to retool them for decolonial purposes. In doing so the article changes the angle of vision on decolonising the university in South Africa and elsewhere. The author thinks with la paperson's ideas including hir notion of scyborg, which refers to people who use their agency to retool material of the first and second world universities to garner decolonial desires. A third possibility for the university jettisons the idea of a totalizing, utopian, decolonised university. What is possible is that the university can operate like a decolonised university, without being disengaged from the first and second world universities, signifying new ways of thinking/doing research, teaching, learning and community engagement.

As witnessed at the 2004 EEASA Conference, environmental learning is emerging as a popular term in environmental education discourses in South Africa. There are those who argue that there is no need to speak about environmental education in South Africa anymore since environment is embedded in the new curriculum frameworks for General Education and Training and Further Education and Training. All that is required is the (environmental) learning of what is defined in various education policies. In this viewpoint paper I contextualise ‘environmental learning’ within the emergence of a language of learning internationally. I raise some concerns about a language of learning and argue for a language of environmental education.

As the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014) draws to an end, one could pose the question: what might education’s response be to a deepening environmental crisis as we move beyond the decade? Sustainability as a frame of mind presents a different perspective to that of sustainable development as a policy (the focus of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development) and therefore cultivating it through education might be a response that could take us forward. In this article we argue for an expanded notion of sustainability as a frame of mind, viewed through the lens of place-based/place-conscious education and also informed by the metaphysics of ubuntu. The aim of the article is to introduce place-based education and sustainability as a frame of mind as conceptual avenues for challenging educators to rethink environmental education as we enter an era beyond the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. We do this by conceptually exploring the concepts of place-based and place-conscious education and how these fairly new educational notions might assist in developing sustainability as a frame of mind. We also discuss the educational implications of practising a pedagogy of place with specific reference to sustainability.

At the heart of the discussion in this special issue on race and affirmative action is the issue of whether race should be used as a category in admissions policies of South African universities. In my contribution I shall argue that there are no races. By race I mean the idea that skin colour (or other phenotypical features) associated with different social groups in South Africa is indicative of distinctive intellectual and moral essences. I suggest that the matter at hand is one of justice/fairness and not one of skin colour. In other words, the debate should be about the reality that certain social groups were disadvantaged during apartheid and that, as citizens, members of such social groups should be given equal life chances. I argue that in order to ensure that all citizens are given equal life chances it is necessary that contingent colour conscious should form part of public policy.

In my review of the articles published in this issue of SAJHE I use the notion of ‘after’ in two senses: ‘in imitation of’ and ‘following in time’ (moving beyond) (Schad 2003, x). In the first instance I wish to assess the extent to which contributors have drawn on Paulo Freire’s concept of a ‘pedagogy of hope’ – how their work imitates that of Freire. In the second instance I wish to examine the extent to which authors engage critically with Freire’s work and perhaps help us in moving beyond Freire’s ideas.It is imperative that we maintain hope even when the harshness of reality may suggest the opposite (Freire in hooks 2003).

No Abstract.

Environmental justice, along with constructs such as environmental rights, has gained prominence in environmental discourse over the last three decades. These constructs have also migrated into education discourses including education policies. In South Africa environmental justice is a component of one of the key principles supporting South Africa’s recently implemented National Curriculum Statement. Despite these developments, there is still uncertainty as to what environmental justice means. Vincent (1998) analyses the term and concludes that it is a double category error since it does not rest well with either environmental theory or justice theory. I suggest that the angle of vision should shift from a focus on what environmental justice means to a focus on what it does and what it produces.

No Abstract.South African Journal of Education Vol. 27(3) 2007: pp. 421-430

No Abstract. South African Journal of Higher Education Vol. 20 (2) 2006: 189-194

Dominant approaches to educational research rarely examine the philosophical underpinnings, specifically epistemological and ontological assumptions, in relation to the research process. Usher argues that the failure to examine these assumptions leads to research being understood as a 'technology', as simply a set of methods, skills and procedures applied to a given research problem. I argue that when research is understood in Usher's terms as a 'technology', it serves only the status quo and does not enable us to interact and transform society. In this article I critically examine different research approaches in terms of their potential to contribute to transformation of societies. I argue that instead of educational research merely contributing to social change it can be a process of change itself. Additionally, I raise challenges for educational research in South Africa and elsewhere, in the context of processes of globalisation and internationalisation currently prevalent. (South African Journal of Education: 2002 22(1): 36-39)

We (de)construct interpretive discourses in South Africa\'s recently published White Paper on Special Needs Education. In particular, we (de)construct objects, agents, actions and binaries constituted by social constructionist discourses as well as the voices these discourses marginalize. We discuss the implications that interpretive discourses, as we deconstruct them in White Paper 6: Special Needs Education, have for inclusion / exclusion. (South African Journal of Education: 2003 23 (2): 152-156)

In the current phase of our history, crises abound in many spheres of life - political, ecological, economic, personal, and so on. When crises manifest themselves in society we often turn to education as a panacea for addressing these societal ills as if `education' might not be part of the problem. All education is ideological in the sense that an educational activity can not be neutral. Educational ideologies have shaped different approaches to environmental education, and have influenced its implementation in formal education. Through a critical examination of educational ideologies that underpin environmental education, I explore possibilities and constraints (poverty) of education in addressing environmental problems. I argue that in order for environmental education to avoid the status of a peripheral pedagogy, it needs to be liberated from the ideological constraints of how it is often defined. Also, I point out that a language of probability is needed for its systemic implementation. I contend that in South Africa OBE might be a vehicle for the systemic implementation of environmental education. (South African Journal of Education: 2002 22(2): 83-87)

In this essay I introduce Guattari’s philosophy of environment and focus in particular on his ecosophy which comprises three interlocking dimensions of self, society and nature. Guattari argues that integrated world capitalism is concerned more than anything else with the production of human subjectivity. He suggests that through its technological arm, the media, integrated world capitalism is producing human subjectivities that are domesticated, that is, passive, dull and uninspiring. The symptoms of the homogenising and normalising effects of integrated world capitalism are evident in suffering occurring in the three ecologies: environment, social and mental. Creating new ways of living (alternative to those configured by integrated world capitalism) requires the (re)singularisation of both individuals and institutions – their uniqueness should be reclaimed. Guattari points out that new ways of living are not to be achieved through macropolitical consensus but rather through micro-political dissensus – vectors of dissent open up possibilities for substantive change in serendipitous ways. Furthermore, transformative events in one of the ecologies can have similar effects in the other ecological domains. In my essay I explore some implications Guattari’s expanded idea of ecological niche has for environmental education in (post)colonial Africa. In doing so I give particular attention to the notion of sustainable development.