To contribute to this discourse, Nelson Mandela University’s Faculty of Education, in collaboration with the Centre for Women and Gender Studies, will be hosting a conversation between internationally renowned author, Dr Sindiwe Magona, and the new Chief Albert Luthuli Research Chair at UNISA, Prof Puleng Segalo, tomorrow (15 June 2021).
This conversation, which takes place during Youth Month in South Africa, seeks to foreground intergenerational knowledge transfer mechanisms through amabali, iintsomi and endogenous principles that are an investment to education today.
The conversation – the theme of which takes on the title of Dr Magona’s widely acclaimed autobiography, To My Children’s Children – will look into the author’s life journey, her stories in children’s books and Prof Segalo’s engagement with this work. It will also link children’s education today to the broader conversations around ‘belonging, memory and voice’.
“As we continue to decolonise education and linking it to the African value systems for children’s curriculum, we hope that this conversation will create and maintain the umbilical cord between the living and those who are yet to come,” said the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Education, Dr Muki Moeng.
“As a university that is grounded in a Humanising Pedagogy and criticality, this conversation will challenge us to reflect on how the systems that we have learned to live with, perpetuate the very issues that we consider as challenges.”
Dr Magona was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Faculty during the University’s virtual graduation in December for her outstanding achievements in literature and playwriting and for using her pen as a weapon in the struggle for peace, social change and freedom.
She is a quintessential storyteller whose work has revitalised the traditional isiXhosa iintsomi, ensuring that these tales are available in different languages to enable all children to engage with the diverse culture of our country.
Prof Segalo, who was recently awarded the Chief Albert Luthuli Research Chair at UNISA, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of South Africa. Her work pays attention to gender inequality, decolonising psychology and social suffering. She recently conducted a critical review of Dr Magona’s To My Children’s Children.
Event details:
Date: 15 June 2021
Time: 17:00 – 18:15
Venue: Nelson Mandela University YouTube