Educational Paradigm with Ubuntu Mindset: Implications for Sustainable Development Goals in Education

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of our development systems and drawn attention to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this chapter, we acknowledge the critical role of education in supporting sustainable development. We argue for inclusive education for the Sustainable Development approach and offer the African philosophy of Ubuntu (I am because we are) as a mindset that should drive the transformative change required. We contend that this mindset serving as a theoretical and methodological model offers unique potential possibilities of bringing learners close to their social realities and helping them learn together better, the Africentric way. We expect this model to help better understand the intervention and transformative changes required for sustainable education that works for all learners.