Ubuntu Pedagogy: An Enabling and Empowering Approach for Peer Assisted Learning

Abstract

Peer assisted learning (PAL) is integral to student learning in higher education and provides opportunities for learning that extend beyond academic support. This study explores how students perceive the peer support received from tutors, mentors, retention officers and teaching assistants.  Principles of Ubuntu pedagogy, namely support from a position of love and care, building positive relationships, working collectively and nurturing students’ minds underpin this study. Qualitative surveys with closed and open-ended questions were administered for data generation to garner perceptions of academic and social interventions. It allowed participants to articulate their experiences and viewpoints in their own words, providing rich insights and perspectives. Findings revealed that those who provided peer support are epistemic agents facilitating pedagogical encounters, and in this dialogical process both epistemic agents and students develop reciprocally. This study foregrounds a novel approach to peer support where the principles of Ubuntu are central to opening vistas for student learning, empowerment and success. The study contributes to strategies on the role of indigenous knowledge systems in transforming peer-to-peer engagement and recommends that tacit Ubuntu values be made overt in PAL training programmes.