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Education of quality to the poor
Get PDFQuality education often eludes South African learners from poverty- stricken environments. There are, however, some notable exceptions. This article looks at how quality education based on social capital is provided to the poor. The author reports on a qualitative investigation based on both focus group and individual interviews conducted at a resource-poor KwaZulu- Natal school serving learners from Grade R to 9. The findings show that quality education at the research site relates to the moral agency of the school principal and teaching staff. Through their ethics of being and doing, the school principal and teaching staff ensure that sufficient resources, sound home-school relations, and a high premium on moral values result in a receptive learner corps. This environment encourages these learners to act with diligence, honesty, politeness, respect and service to the community. The findings contribute to research that maintains that quality education is indicative of the school principal and teachers? ethics of being and of doing
Voorwoord
Get PDFoai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/1Om ’n Festschrift ter ere van die akademiese werk van ’n kollega en medewetenskaplike te publiseer, is sekerlik een van die mees lonende intellektuele gebeurtenisse wat so ’n akademikus kan ervaar. Dit is daarom ook ’n besondere voorreg om die taak opgedra te word om ’n Voorwoord vir hierdie Festschrift te skryf
Education for women: a consideration of the philosophical issues in dialogue with Martha Nussbaum
Get PDFIn some countries in the world, education for women is considered to be unnecessary, undesirable or in conflict with religious principles. Contrary to these points of view, Martha Nussbaum argues that education is important and good. It is one of the capabilities which women need to live a flourishing life. According to Nussbaum, education is a universal value. Pluralists, however, are of the opinion that considering education to be a universal value, in fact, constitutes the imposition of a western value on other cultures. They consider this to be wrong. Nussbaum agrees with this, arguing that we should respect other cultures and that it is not her aim to impose values on them. In this article, I will investigate how Nussbaum seeks to reconcile her universalism (education as universal value) with the pluralist respect for the choices made in other cultures. I begin by describing Nussbaum’s view of education as a capability. I then discuss three examples of arguments through which Nuss-baum attempts to close the gap between universalism and pluralism as well as her notions of context and practical judgement. In conclusion, I argue that although Nussbaum has made a significant contribution to the universalism-pluralism debate, these two positions have not been completely reconciled
Editorial
Get PDFIt is with great pleasure that the Editorial Committee presents the second edition of 2010. The articles in this edition cover a wide range of topics. As always, emphasis is placed on an integrated lifeview foundation that offers new insights into relevant philosophical, moral and ethical issues in the variety of disciplines
Die waarde van waardes: ’n christelikfilosofiese besinning oor die aard en rigtinggewende gesag van waardes
Get PDFThe value of values: a christian-philosophical reflection on the nature and directional power of values To counteract the crisis of direction in contemporary culture, added values to organisations, institutions or businesses are very popular nowadays. What exactly is meant by the concept “value”, however, is usually taken for granted. Even when an explanation is provided, it is usually done in very vague terms. For philosophically-minded people, this situation is unsatisfactory and problematic. Therefore the aim of this article is, from a christian-philosophical point of view, to arrive at more clarity on the question of what precisely the nature, status and directional power of values are. In a previous contribution in this journal, on the value system of the North-West University (NWU), this problem could not be solved satisfactorily, since it mainly focused on practical rather than theoretical aspects. For a better appreciation of the value of reformational viewpoints on values, the investigation begins with a short review of the western history of philosophy. It is only against the backdrop of this historical review that the contribution of reformational thinkers can be fully understood. It then moves to a brief description of D.H. Th. Vollenhoven’s philosophy in order to determine the place of values in one’s view of reality as a whole. The third section deals with H.G. Stoker’s view on values, which clarifies the nature and power of values. An investigation of the viewpoints of J.P.A. Mekkes, J. Olthuis, S. Fowler, J.J. Venter and D.F.M. Strauss provides further clarification enable a formulation of some statements about values which could clarify the current confusion about values, that of the NWU included. Since general values are not capable of providing clear normative direction in multi-religious and multi-cultural institutions, the last section reflects on an alternative way to solve the problems of the NWU as well as other institutions and organisations which have to accommodate different viewpoints. A brief review concludes the study
Publications of B.J. van der Walt 1960-2010
Get PDFAt the Ferdinand Postma Library of the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University an electronic list (both chronological and alphabetical according to titles) of B.J. van der Walt’s publications from 1960 to 2000 is available. (To access the list, go to http://www4-win2.p.nwu.ac.za/dbtw-wpd/textbases/puk-eeu.htm and type in the author’s name: Van der Walt BJ) The website of Mr. Steve Bishop (www.allofliferedeemed.co.uk/ vanderwalt.htm) provides an annotated bibliography of all Van der Walt’s publications in English, as well as a list of the publications of the Institute for Reformational Studies. (E-mail: [email protected]
When the second man takes the lead: reflections on Joseph Barnabas and Paul of Tarsus and their relationship in the New Testament
Get PDFUpon scrutiny Joseph Barnabas, mentioned in the New Testament mainly in the Book of Acts but also elsewhere, emerges as one of the great leaders and mentors in early Christianity. This article offers a biographical sketch of Barnabas with a particular focus on his relationship with Paul. While Barnabas appears to have been the mentor of Paul at an early stage and the leader at the beginning of the first missionary journey, he later on made room for Paul to take the lead while he (Barnabas) continued to support Paul faithfully. It seems that much of what Paul later practised in his own mission work and the way he sought for and trained co-workers had its origin in his mentorship by Barnabas. This relationship of Barnabas and Paul provides a case study of how leaders can develop and how relationships may change. The biblical portrait of this relationship addresses several crucial issues in leadership and poses several challenges to those concerned with Christian leadership
Dialogical inquiry as an instrument of the reconciliation of conflict in the hands of Christian leaders
Get PDFThe apartheid system caused deep rifts in South African society, and even following the dawn of democracy, society in South Africa continues to struggle with violence and conflict, ethnic differences, mass action and poverty. Christian leaders have an important part to play in conflict resolution. Conflict management in organisations incorporates negotiation as a means of conflict resolution. A number of approaches to conflict resolution contribute to this approach; these include forcing, avoiding, accommodating, compromising and collaborating. Christian leaders, however, favour reconciliation as a means of resolving conflict. A Christian approach to conflict resolution needs to take cognisance of the existential aspect of conflict. Examples of such approaches are those of Dreyer, who speaks of reconciliation as a dilemma for forgiveness, and Kistner, who explores the way in which the use of narratives rather than reallife stories in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission reduced the severity of trauma. The social construction of trauma in “Mamelodi” by Brigid Hess, which presents a shift from forgiveness to a journey taken along with the perpetrators, and the belief of Desmond Tutu in the healing brought about by the ubuntu philosophy, are evaluated here as being detrimental to reconciliation. Based on the examples cited, an approach to conflict resolution entailing a clear integration of the biblical approach to reconciliation and dialogical inquiry (DI) is proposed as an appropriate intervention approach for Christian leaders. The present contribution is offered from within the discipline of Practical Theology, with a focus on Pastoral Counseling
Institutional identity: a possible solution to the religion in/and education quandary
Get PDFThe problem of religion in/and education is a worldwide one for education policy-makers – even in the most homogeneous populations. Several strategies have been developed for coping with this problem, but they tend to fall short in terms of finding equilibrium on the universal-particularity continuum. There is a way for attaining the desired equilibrium, namely to take account of the institutional identity of each individual school, and to allow each school community the freedom to choose the type of religion education that would be most suitable to its particular needs and circumstances
