With the recent addition to my class of one such learner I felt compelled to try and assist with this new learners feeling of being isolated and alone in a new environment. To ensure this new learner did not feel singled out or further disadvantaged, I used the African philosophy concept of “Caring Communities” as a form of welcoming and embracing this shy and anxious learner into our group. Through the love and caring shown to all members of our group or class community, no one member need ever feel alone, left out of an activity or interacting without at least one friend at a time. This means we are all embracing our other community members, treating them equally and treating them as we want to be treated. This creates social security or a safe sense of community for all and ensures our new learner is feeling less socially awkward, isolated and alone.
This sense of community is one of the fundamental corner stone’s of African philosophy and one of the greatest differences with the western philosophy. It is a spoken tradition where great emphasises is placed “for the good of the community” rather than one individual person and is marked by communalism and communal interdependence in many spheres of community life. African philosophy is a natural response to the strife, dilemmas and obstacles faced by Africa, together with the elimination and repudiation of colonisation and domination by the Western world. African philosophy has captivated the Western world, who incorporated the various facets into their own New Age Movement.
Included in African philosophy is the extensive
References: 1. Higgs, P & Smith, J. 2000. Rethinking our world. Cape Town: Juta.