Investigating Ubuntu/Botho Through a Selected Setswana Folktale in an Educational Context
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6697/21918Keywords:
Ubuntu/Botho, Setswana folktale, teacher education, moral values, African pedagogyAbstract
Folktales in South Africa have long served as educational resources used to preserve cultural knowledge and transmit moral values. Within contemporary higher education, these narratives continue to stimulate critical thinking, promote moral reasoning, and enhance learners’ understanding of human behaviour. Grounded in the principle of Ubuntu/Botho, understood in this article as a multidimensional ethic of human dignity, relationality, and mutual responsibility, this article examines how Ubuntu/Botho is reflected, contested, or contradicted in the Setswana folktale Tshwene le Nkwe (Baboon and Leopard).
The purpose of the study is to explore how first-year Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) students interpret Ubuntu/Botho when analysing folktales, and how the principle can be applied pedagogically to enrich teaching and learning. A qualitative design was adopted, using classroom observations, text analysis, and focus-group interviews with 24 B.Ed. students. Findings indicate that while Ubuntu/Botho is traditionally associated with harmony, respect, and communal care, characters in the folktale frequently contravene these values, offering meaningful opportunities for moral reflection. The article concludes that integrating folktales with Ubuntu/Botho in teacher education deepens students’ cultural literacy, enhances their critical interpretation skills, and strengthens their moral awareness. Folktales, therefore, remain a vital pedagogical tool for cultivating African epistemologies and humanising educational practices.
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