Trends in African philosophy and their implications for the Africanisation of the South Africa history caps curriculum: a case study of Odera Oruka philosophy

A Kenyan philosopher, Henry Odera Oruka (1944–1995), conceptualised and articulated the six trends in African philosophy. These are ethno-philosophy, nationalistic-ideological philosophy, artistic (or literary philosophy), professional philosophy, philosophic sagacity and hermeneutic philosophy. In this article, we maintain that the last three of these trends, namely professional philosophy, philosophic sagacity, and hermeneutic philosophy, are useful in our attempt to contribute to Africanising the school history curriculum (SHC) in the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) in post-apartheid South Africa. Against this background, we make use of Maton’s (2014) Epistemic-Pedagogic Device (EPD), building on from Bernstein’s (1975) Pedagogic Device as a theoretical framework to view African philosophy and its implications for the Africanisation of the SHC in CAPS in post-apartheid South Africa. Through the lens of Maton’s EPD, we show how the CAPS’ philosophy of education is questionable; untenable since it promotes ‘differences of content’; and is at the crossroads, i.e., it is stretched and pulled in different directions in

schools. Ultimately, we argue that Oruka's three trends form a three-piece suit advertising one's academic discipline (professional philosophy); showing South Africa's rich history told in the words of African elders (sage philosophy); and imploring school history learners to embark on a restless, un nished quest for knowledge in the classrooms in post-apartheid South Africa.

Introduction
Oruka's six trends were a direct response to a Euro-western discourse that, for many years, had many believe that African philosophy did not exist. He responded to this discourse precisely because he saw the urgent need to contribute to the Africanisation of the study of philosophy and somewhat elevate the status of African philosophy, because for him "…philosophy is not a science in the ivory tower but has to contribute to the be erment of the life of the people -it has to be practical. Philosophers have to deploy the results of their thinking to the well-being of their communities" (Graness, 2012:2). With that said, philosophers are yet to reach a common consensus on the de nition of philosophy (Mathebula, 2019). is is because of the nature, the character and the complexity of the discipline itself. For this article, philosophy is a body of knowledge that encourages divergent views on what we claim to know, and how we claim to know what we claim to know. With that said, a universal philosophy perspective is an inclusive, rational and re ective practice that makes it possible to merge Western and African philosophies to form a single knowledge system. A single universal mode of inquiry is chosen because it does not treat the so-called 'Western thought' and ' African thought' as unique, distinct, opposite philosophies -thus leading us to unwi ingly perpetuate "narrow provincialism", to use Amin's phrase (1989( , cited in Moll, 2002. If this de nition is accepted, philosophers who theorise about it (philosophical issues) and practice it (issues of educational practice in nature) do not treat it as a xed body of knowledge but rather a logical, coherent, critical, discursive, dynamic, continuous, ongoing and re ective science. It should not be surprising that we chose to focus on the philosophy of education's intellectual ancestry and its prospects hence the metaphor of philosophy as a road (or a journey) to wisdom (Letseka, 2012;Mathebula, 2020). Embarking on this road to knowledge, we • Adopt Karl Maton's Epistemic-Pedagogic Device (EPD) as a theoretical framework to show how the three elds of practice, speci cally the recontextualisation eld through its recontextualising logics, can be used as a site in which professional philosophy, philosophic sagacity, and hermeneutic philosophy can be prioritised in both the production and reproduction elds that inform and shape the school history curriculum (SHC) in CAPS; • Outline Oruka's three trends in African philosophy of education and their implications for the Africanisation of the SHC in post-apartheid South Africa; • Unpack the CAPS underlying principles that point to Oruka's three strands in African philosophy of education in post-apartheid South African schools; and • Argue that education for Africanisation of the SHC rooted in Oruka's professional, sage and hermeneutic philosophical project is not only feasible and desirable in schools but also, a categorical imperative in the classroom in post-apartheid South Africa.
Theoretical framework Maton (2014) developed the EPD drawing from Bernstein's (1975) pedagogic device (PD). Bernstein was of the view that knowledge is constructed and transmi ed in three elds of practice that are hierarchically related and governed or regulated by distinct operative logics. ese elds include the production eld (a site where knowledge is constructed, usually, but not exclusively, at universities), the recontextualisation eld (a site where the knowledge from the production eld is recontextualised by people such as curriculum designers and textbook writers in partnership with the state into o cialised curriculum documents and textbooks), and the reproduction eld (a site where knowledge from the production eld recontextualised in the recontextualisation eld is then reproduced by mainly in-service educators and lecturers through various pedagogical choices in their classrooms and lecture venues). is process, for Bernstein, symbolises a production line that is hierarchically interrelated but not dialectical. For instance, any change in the operative logics in the recontextualisation eld cannot inform and shape what happens in the production eld. In other words, the recontextualisation of knowledge in the recontextualisation eld cannot happen without the said knowledge being produced in the production eld, and the reproduction of the said knowledge cannot take place without the said knowledge being recontextualised in the recontextualisation eld from the production eld (Bernstein, 2000). erefore, Maton's EPD stretches and strengthens Bernstein's PD by arguing that the elds of practice are not only interrelated; they are dialectical too . See image 1: Image 1: e arena created by the epistemic-pedagogic device (EPD) Source: Maton, 2014:51. is means that whatever change in the operative logics of any one of the elds of practice has a direct and dialectical impact on the other two elds of practice. For instance, new knowledge cannot be viewed as exclusively being produced in the production eld. is new knowledge can be produced in either the reproduction or recontextualisation eld and dialectically move between all the three elds of practice. is understanding of Bernstein's PD is powerful in that it disrupts the view of the academic project as resembling a production line. It also empowers other players located in other elds of practice that are not the production eld to produce new knowledge that has the potential to inform and shape the understanding of the SHC and the philosophies of education that inform and shape it. It is from this logic then, that we are of the view that if the three trends proposed by Oruka are employed in the recontextualisation eld, that is, the harmonisation of 'philosophy' and 'education' becomes a balancing act that is not di cult to follow. e state, as mandated by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996), can give direction to curriculum designers located in the recontextualisation eld as to what kind of SHC, informed by a certain philosophy of education, they think the country should adopt. erefore, we chose to concentrate on the recontextualisation eld because we believe that players (speci cally curriculum designers and textbooks writers) in this eld are be er positioned to advance and productively insert Africanisation in the SHC in CAPS that recentres Oruka's three trends of philosophy. is is because some of these players, if not all of them, are both academics or intellectuals located in the production eld (universities), and at the same time, they are either curriculum designers or textbooks writers. From this logic, those players have the power to in uence what happens in the production and recontextualisation elds, which has a bearing on the reproduction eld.
Oruka's three trends in African philosophy of education and their implications for the Africanisation of the school history curriculum in South Africa: A production field What conception of African philosophy should underpin education in the post-apartheid South African SHC? A historical-analytical geography is worth considering at length, for what it reveals about the philosophy of education in post-apartheid South Africa since, e education system under apartheid had been agmented along racial and ethnic lines and had been saturated with the racial ideology and educational doctrines of apartheid. e theoretical undergirding for this agmentation in education was traced to the in uence of Fundamental Pedagogics, which in its practice of science, its critics claimed had been responsible for reproducing and maintaining the ruling social and political ideology in South A ica, namely, Christian National Education. Taylor (1993, p.3) is of the opinion that there is a wide and enduring view that Fundamental Pedagogics was more about socialisation than philosophy and more about instilling passive acceptance of authority than providing students with the conceptual tools necessary for creative and independent thought. Furthermore, it is evident that such a narrow utilitarian view of education, as a process of socialisation, emphasised the maintaining of particular cultural and social norms [to] provide the necessary homogeneity for social survival and political hegemony, and did not account for the possibility of the learner participating critically in the learning interaction (see Higgs 1994c). In this way, Fundamental Pedagogics instilled a spirit of intolerance, and an unwillingness to accommodate divergent perspectives and points of view, while at the same time embracing a totalising discourse on the nature of education theory and practice (Higgs, 1998:3).
e fundamental pedagogic philosophy that underpinned apartheid education gave way to a new philosophy of education in post-apartheid South Africa. As a notable example, the preamble of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa "recognise[s] the injustices e-ISSN 2309-9003 of our past … to heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice, and fundamental rights" (Republic of South Africa, 1996:1). Equally, the Higher Education Act (1997:1-3) promises to "redress past discrimination and provide optimal opportunities for learning … contribute to the advancement of all forms of knowledge and scholarship … promote the values which underlie an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom [and] democracy". us, it is for this reason that we believe that Oruka's three trends in African philosophy of education should guide curriculum designers and textbook writers located in the recontextualisation eld, and certainly, philosophers at our universities, when they plan, develop and implement a SHC for post-apartheid South African schools. is, with the view of challenging and transcending what Ndlovu-Gatsheni (2013:8) has termed "the nal contour of coloniality" underpinning the current SHC in CAPS and its distributive logics, as highlighted by EPD's distributive logic. EPD, amongst other things, stands for "the control of African subjectivity and knowledge, including the imposition of western epistemology and its use in shaping the formative processes of development and entrenching the permanency of black subjectivity" Ndlovu-Gatsheni (2013:8). erefore, the three trends we propose are professional philosophy, hermeneutical philosophy, and philosophical sage.
Professional philosophy e professional philosophy trend in African philosophy constitutes works by Africans and non-Africans who are trained in formal philosophy, usually trained in Euro-western philosophy (Higgs & Smith, 2006). Its main advocates include the likes of Oruka (1972), Kwasi Wiredu (1980), Peter Bodunrin (1981) and Paulin Hountondji (1996). ese scholars hold a universalist view of what should inform and constitute the discipline of philosophy anywhere in the world (Imbo, 1998). For them, this philosophy ought to be independent, dynamic, logical, coherent, critical, and discursive and should avoid being particularistic in its approach (Wiredu, 1980). is, they believe, will enable those who practice the discipline to enjoy "freedom of inquiry, openness to criticism, scepticism and fallibilism and non-veneration of authorities" (Oyeshile, 2008:60). e implications of this trend on the development of the SHC in post-apartheid South Africa are as follows. Firstly, an African philosophy of education that informs and shapes the SHC must be underpinned by conscious, logical, coherent, critical, dynamic, continuous, creative discursiveness, and rational and systematic tradition of doing philosophy (Hapanyengwi-Chemhuru, 2013;Ndo repi, 2013). is would in turn complement some of the existing skills and aspects already embedded in the current SHC in CAPS such as re ection, analytical thinking, as well as working with and within an implicit historical signi cance, using evidence, historical thinking, historical writing, continuity and change, cause and consequence, historical perspectives, the ethical dimension of history, sourcing, contextualisation, and corroboration (Department of Basic Education, 2011a & b; Maluleka, 2018). Moreover, this would mean that the SHC would then need to embrace a doing history approach that entails thinking, reading, and writing like a historian that ought to inform any SHC (Bertram, 2008;Wineburg, 2001;Wineburg & Martin, 2004;Seixas, 2010Seixas, , 2013. In so doing, both educators of history and their learners are likely to engage in "robust formal intellectual encounters characterised by systematic complex arguments and counterarguments" (Mburu, 2018:73). is would result in "critical re ections on personal wellbeing or human ourishing, on communal ethics and how this ought to impact on human conduct" (Letseka, 2000:182). is will also see philosophy and applied history coming together, thus professional philosophy "plays mainly the role of a midwife: it helps in bringing [history] to birth in the way that midwives help in delivering babies" (Akinpelu, 1981:167).

Philosophical sage
e philosophic sagacity is considered the second trend in African philosophy of education by Oruka. It is known as sage philosophy, which is practised by indigenous knowledge producers, in uenced by learning from their culture and other cultures. is is because a purely traditional African or philosophy does not exist. Despite the Western in uence, sage individuals "are deeply rooted in their culture, li le a ected by Western scholarship, and authentic agents of traditional Africa in the modern situation" (Ndo repi, 2013:48). Some of them "…might have been partly in uenced by the inevitable moral and technological culture from the West; nevertheless, their outlook and cultural belonging remain that of traditional rural Africa. And except for a handful of them, [most] are illiterate or semiilliterate" (Oruka, 1991:51). ese are oMakhulu 1 who are considered institutions of indigenous knowledge that store, transfer, and disseminate knowledge in the form of history and philosophical wisdom (Magoqwana, 2018). Also, sage philosophers engage in a process of re ective philosophical evaluation of thought which is o en rigorous e-ISSN 2309-9003 (Ndo repi, 2013). ese are individuals that are "… versed in the wisdom and traditions of [their people, and very o en they are] recognised by the people themselves as having this gi " (Oruka, 1991:51). Oruka (1990a:16) furthers characterises these sage individuals as: ... critical, independent thinkers who guide their thoughts and judgments by the power of reason and inborn insight rather than by the authority of the communal consensus. ey are capable of taking a problem or a concept and o ering a rigorous philosophical analysis of it, making it clear rationally where they accept or reject the established or communal judgment on the ma er.
is does not mean that all oMakhulu qualify as critical sages. Hence, Oruka argues that there is a di erence between an ordinary sage and a critical sage. An ordinary sage (also known as folk sage) "…does not necessarily make a philosopher, some sages are simply moralists and the disciplined, diehard faithful to a tradition… others merely historians and good interpreters of the history and customs of their people" (Oruka, 1990b:177). While a critical sage (also known as a philosophic sage) is " … not only wise but also capable of being rational and critical in understanding or solving the inconsistencies of his or her culture and coping with foreign encroachments on it. us, as thinkers, they opt to recommend only those features of belief and wisdom that make the grade of their test" (Oruka, 1990b:177). To drive home this point, Hall and Tandon (2017) show that there are elements of a 'knowledge democracy' discourse and decolonising practice in most of our universities. As a notable example, a Ugandan intellectual and civil society activist, Paulo Wangoola (cited by Hall & Tandon, 2017:9-10) "dedicate [d] himself to the creation of a village-based institution of higher education and research that is today known as the Mpambo Afrikan Multiversity, a place for the support of mother-tongue scholars of African Indigenous knowledge".
It is equally important to note that sage philosophy is di erent from culture philosophy (ethnophilosophy) that o en characterises what is known as African philosophy (Ochieng-Odhiambo, 2012). is di erence is propelled by the fact that sage philosophy "implicitly rejects the holistic approach to African philosophy" that characterises culture philosophy (Bodunrin, 1984:2). Hence, Oruka (1990b:178-179) argues that … beliefs or truth claims within a culture philosophy are generally treated as absolutes … Philosophic sagacity, however, is o en a product of a re ection; a re-evaluation of the 'culture philosophy'. e few sages who possess the philosophic inclination to make a critical assessment of their underlying beliefs. e implications of this trend in the development of a SHC in post-apartheid South Africa are far-reaching. For instance, oral history and research projects that are o ered as part and parcel of the history curriculum in CAPS can only be carried out if learners work closely with oMakhulu the critical sages in their respective communities. However, this is only possible if learners are given clear and explicit guidelines on how to approach these projects in a manner that recentres and humanises oMakhulu as institutions of indigenous knowledge. If this is done, it would mean that schools would end up with a history curriculum that does not only pay lip service to the critical role oMakhulu can play in our understanding of the world and its past, but also e ectively and practically bring oMakhulu into the classroom in a di erent pedagogical form. is would enable both educators and learners to recognise and engage with them in ways that are meaningful, truthful, and enriching to their learning about the past the rich history and heritage of South Africa gone by. e educational bene ts of the sage philosophy-based history curriculum are thus immense. First, history learners are encouraged to devote their time and energy to scienti c research inquiry, e.g., oral history and research projects where history learners can work with oMakhulu, as critical thinkers in their respective communities. Second, learners are given clear and explicit guidelines as to how to approach this task in a manner that recentres and humanises oMakhulu as institutions of indigenous knowledge. ird, sage philosophy "make[s] practical sense of deep theoretical issues" as argued by Waghid (2005:126-7). In the end, oral history projects are at the heart of the African philosophy of education that looks both to the academic discipline and to educational practice in post-apartheid South African schools.
is is a trend that seeks to explore the problem of the relationship between culture and philosophy, as well as the relationship between universality and particularity in the development of a SHC for post-apartheid South African schools. Hence, hermeneutical e-ISSN 2309-9003 philosophy's approach to these problematic issues is di erent from ethno-philosophy. 2 In the hermeneutical approach, the starting point of philosophy is with the understanding of the lived experiences of Africans with the view of dismantling pervasive e ects of cultural and economic imperialism imposed by the global North (Ndo repi, 2013). is is informed by the fact that this trend understands philosophy to be inherently interpretative (Komo, 2017). Hence, Okere (1983) in his book, entitled: A ican Philosophy: A Historico-Hermeneutical Investigation of the Conditions of its Possibility, explores the interpretative nature of hermeneutic philosophy. Okere concludes that its interpretative nature is a result of the intersectionality and interconnectedness of language, context, and history which are inextricably linked to culture (Komo, 2017). By centring culture, Okere was pushing back against the notion advanced by Euro-Western philosophy that purported that Africans as a people cannot think, reason, or rationalise. If people have their own cultures, histories, philosophies, and languages it means they too can think, reason, or rationalise. In his own words, Okere (1983:17) argues the following about re ective interpretation being philosophy: "re ection is the appropriation of our e ort to exist and of our desire to be across the works which bear witness to this e ort and desire. It is the incorporating of our new understanding of our culture into our self-understanding". e implications of Hermeneutical philosophy in the development of a SHC compel those operating in the recontextualisation eld to think of curriculum and its knowledge as needing to critically re ect the culture of the people it is meant for. First, the SHC should transcend the seemingly particular, opposite and irreconcilable Euro-centred and Afro-centred philosophies or schools of thought. Second, Western philosophy and African philosophy should bury their narrow di erences and "work together, recognising that what they have in common is much more than what separates them" (Budge, 1993:154) a unity of a single philosophy, of a single abstract subject-ma er, careful and systematic thinking (method) and way of life. ird, two possible traps need to be avoided when thinking about an African philosophy of education based history curriculum: a) an essentialist de nition 2 Ethno-philosophy is what is known as culture philosophy. What then is hermeneutic philosophy? Komo (2017:85-86) argues that hermeneutic philosophy is an approach to philosophy that precedes ethno-philosophy, and it is concerned with articulating "a genuine African philosophy within African cultures, without eschewing philosophical tradition or exigencies". In other words, it is an approach that is concerned with mediating between philosophy and culture, because philosophy is always determined by culture (Okere 1983;Komo 2017). Equally, "philosophy always grows out of the cultural background and depends on it. Without this background, there cannot be a foreground. Although philosophy is not to be confused with myths, weltanschauung, and religion, it is always rooted in a speci c culture. Culture provides the horizon of interpretation" (Komo 2017:85-86).
of African identity that suggests that there is only one authentic set of characteristics which all African people share and which do not alter across time identities involve multiplicity, therefore they are rarely coherent and integrated (Woodward, 1997:2); and b) Africans are not a solidi ed, undi erentiated and homogenous mass of people (this tends to ignore di erences and the fact that ' Africans' are individual subjects too). Moreover, Hermeneutical philosophy advances the type of philosophical and historical underpinnings to a curriculum that is not universalistic or singularistic, but rather promote philosophical and historical underpinnings that are for epistemic shareability, pluriversality, particularism as pluralism, and transmodernity. As it stands, the current history curriculum in CAPS re ects this 'collective singular' that is o en employed in African philosophy of education in the Global South. Hence, Kgari-Masondo (2019:119) argued that "CAPS-History emphasise[s] the importance of teaching historical concepts but excludes the critical concept of historical signi cance … which safeguards skills of interpretation and understanding why certain histories are in the o cial arena and others not". In other words, although the historical signi cance is stated in the history curriculum in CAPS; it is not explicitly stated and emphasised as one of the important skills learners need in doing history.

African philosophy of education and CAPS-history curriculum: A recontextualisation field
e CAPS underlying principles point to Oruka's three trends in African philosophy of education. To illustrate this point, CAPS' philosophy of education includes, among others: • "Active and critical learning: encouraging an active and critical approach to learning, rather than rote and uncritical learning of given truths" (Department of Basic Education, 2011a:4) this is evidence of professional philosophy; • "Valuing indigenous knowledge systems: acknowledging the rich history [as told in the words of our elders] and heritage of this country as important contributors to nurturing the values contained in the Constitution" (Department of Basic Education, 2011a:5) this is evidence of philosophic sage; and • "Ensur[ing] that children acquire and apply knowledge and skills in ways that are meaningful to their own lives … promotes knowledge in local contexts, while sensitive to global imperatives" (Department of Basic Education, 2011a:4) this is evidence of hermeneutical philosophy. ere are three points worth noting about the African philosophy of education in the CAPS document. First, it re ects Oruka's professional philosophy, philosophic sage and hermeneutical philosophy as located in the production eld. Second, this advancement of scholarly knowledge from the production eld is then recontextualised by history curriculum designers in the recontextualisation eld. ird, Oruka's three strands are brought together within the new context of consolidating South Africa's Constitutional democracy by a) recognising history as an academic, professional philosophy that fosters active, critical and inquisitive citizens in post-apartheid South African schools; b) subscribing to sage philosophy, i.e., the words of elders as walking libraries of wisdom in post-apartheid South African schools; and c) acknowledging hermeneutics as a philosophy of education that helps both educators and learners to create meaning in their local context while mindful to global issues. It is clear therefore that these strands of philosophy, i.e., professional (or critical, academic), sages (wisdom of elders) and hermeneutics (lived experiences of Africans), have emerged in the wake of a empts to Africanise the history curriculum in CAPS in post-apartheid South Africa. As mentioned in the previous section, the CAPS' philosophy of education is rstly questionable especially if you consider the urgent need to disrupt the academic and particular worldviews, to form a single philosophy in schools. Secondly, it is untenable since it promotes 'di erences of content' , i.e., oral tradition versus wri en tradition in the school history curriculum. Furthermore, the di culty is that presently CAPS does not have a se led African philosophy (of education): it is at the crossroads and is stretched and pulled in di erent directions. Let us take a look at how Oruka's three trends in African philosophy of education are re ected in the history curriculum in CAPS.
Under the headings 'What is History' , 'Skills and Concepts' and 'Rationale' , the History curriculum (grades 10-12, 16-18 years of age) wording reads, respectively: History is a process of inquiry. It involves thinking critically about the stories people tell us about the past, as well as the stories that we tell ourselves. Usually, this is done by writing an essay, but it may be done by, for example, making or completing a table, designing a diagram or chart, or preparing a speech. e purpose of this is to remind learners that: questions convey that history is a discipline of inquiry and not just received knowledge; historical knowledge is open-ended, debated and changeable; historical lessons should be built around the intrigue of questions; and research, investigation and interpretation are guided by posed questions (Department of Basic Education, 2012:8-11).
As we can see from the quote above, there are three points worth noting about professional philosophy as located in the recontextualisation eld. First, African philosophy and by implication history is "a set of texts, especially the set of texts wri en by Africans and described as philosophy by their authors themselves" (Hountondji, 1996:33). Second, to defend African philosophy as wri en text, Akinpelu (1981:1) suggests that "to philosophise is to engage in a strenuous [educational] activity of thought … to satisfy the importunate questioning of the human mind" this is an active, not a passive human activity. ird, let us add African philosophy is viewed as 'pure' or 'proper' philosophy a parent discipline that "has an integrity and worth of its own, and its legitimacy is not dependent upon successfully contributing to practice" (Siegel, 2014:30). To put it more simplistically, this refers to the intellectual coming together of school learners philosophers of education "to make practical sense of deep theoretical issues" as Waghid (2005:126-7) aptly points out. We contend that in the face of this yearning for 'independent critical thought' , 'lazy and shallow theorising' , on the one hand, and 'voracious and enthusiastic' practising, on the other hand, are not only distinct but opposite if not incompatible self-regulatory human activity. If we look closer, we can see that professional philosophy's approach to the history curriculum in CAPS is questionable. One hopeful note is that school history as a discipline requires one "to be thoughtful and self-direct[ing]" (Waghid, 2001:211, addition ours). With that said, Rathbone (1971:104) maintains, that "each [philosopher of education] is his [sic] own agent a self-reliant, independent, self-actualizing individual who" "reads up on things for himself before forming opinions" (Ntenteni, 2016:365). Let us turn out a ention to sage philosophy in the history curriculum in CAPS.
As mentioned earlier, CAPS' sage philosophy implores learners to acknowledge the rich history told in the words of African elders. An example in point is ' An oral history and research project' in the Social Sciences History component (grades 7-9, 13-15 years of age) whose topic must be on South A ican history and must involve both oral history and research. [Elders,] parents and local groups. Learners should: identify a person to interview. Interview a person who was a ected by and responded to the [colonial] apartheid law they have researched. ey may write down the interviewee's answers during the interview…Write a coherent story of 600 words about the person they interviewed. Hand in their questions and answers, the story, as well as their own re ections on the experience of doing the project (Department of Basic Education, 2011b: 14-15).

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As the Social Sciences History component quote above indicates, there are three issues worth mentioning about sage philosophy as a recontextualised eld in South African schools. First, history learners are encouraged to devote their time and energy to scienti c research inquiry by "focusing on those individuals in society who are known to be wise and far-sighted, and who can think critically" (Higgs & Smith, 2017:14). Second, oral history is seen as a fully-edged academic discipline with the encounter between the interviewer and the sages at its centre. ird, concurring with the above view, we maintain that research writing is about the scholarship (particular ways of thinking and writing), thinking (quality of the argument, evidence and critical insight) and writing (knowledge is constructed and produced). To achieve this end, learners can grasp the conceptual geography in scienti c investigation in South African schools, i.e., the original focus (of oral history) and achieved insight (oral history) are parasitic on theoretical processing (central operation of theorising). Learners conducting oral history projects must go that far, theorisation is not only possible but a categorical imperative, especially in enabling South Africa's recentring research project in the global "processes of knowledge production" (Hountondji, 1997:13). In our humble view, this process of scienti c inquiry is at the heart of African philosophy of education namely the struggle by African philosophers of education to look both to the parent discipline and educational practice in post-apartheid South African schools this is our disquiet about sage philosophy's approach to the history curriculum in CAPS, it is untenable because it promotes di erences of content and not a single style of inquiry. e focus shi s to hermeneutical philosophy in the history curriculum in CAPS.
As we have already pointed out, CAPS' hermeneutical philosophy helps learners to be more creative, exible and more understanding of others. As a notable example, the topic ' e rst farmers in southern Africa' in the Social Sciences History component (grades 4-6, 11-12 years of age) shows that: Indigenous societies were political and strategically, economically, and technologically innovative before the colonial period. e myth that so equently surfaces is the contrast between societies with writing ('civilised, progressive, innovative'), with indigenous societies ("tribal, mired in a static traditionalism"). All people all over the world are equally politically, economically, strategically, and technologically innovative, irrespective of when they live and where they live (Department of Basic Education, 2011c:39).
As the Social Sciences History component quote above shows, there are ve points worth highlighting about the hermeneutical philosophy as a recontextualised eld in South African schools. First, it shows that Afrocentrism and Eurocentrism, as two positions in the philosophy of knowledge, entail each other Eurocentric thinkers are blind to the entailed opposite while African thinkers believe there is nothing to be done about it in South Africa. Second, it is against this mutual entailment that we encounter the Eurocentric and Afrocentric's "theoretical inadequacy" this compels the advocates of these positions to "start to develop Africa in a universal system of thought" (Moll, 2002:1) in South African schools. ird, in the absence of clari cation and critical evaluation of African philosophy of education, we end up with an uncritical and unargued acceptance of a false dichotomy between bad, indigenous elements of the history curriculum and good, Western features of the history curriculum or the other way around and that is not useful. It is not useful because African philosophers should "take the word philosophy in the active, not passive, sense" (Hountondji, 1996:53). Fourth, philosophy is a universal practice, not con ned to Western or African people. It is possible, as Le Grange (2007:586) argues, to disrupt the dichotomy between classical Western philosophy and African indigenous worldviews. Lastly, as Horsthemke (2015:23) also states, "a rapprochement between so-called indigenous and 'non-indigenous' insights are not only possible but desirable -educationally". Our concern with the hermeneutical philosophy approach to the history curriculum in CAPS is that it does not have a se led African philosophy of education because it is torn between two worlds, i.e., the universal and the particular. We concur with Le Grange's (2007:581) assertion that "the inclusion of [Africanisation] in South African curriculum policy statements [wa]s a positive step and could provide opportunities for debate on interaction(s) between Western and indigenous worldviews". e focus now turns to Education for Africanisation of the SHC in South African schools from a reproduction eld perspective.

Education for Africanisation of the school history curriculum in South African schools: A reproduction field
At this point, the Africanisation of a SHC has undergone a transition from production via recontextualisation to reproduction in post-apartheid South African schools: • Oruka's philosophy of education, namely professional philosophy, philosophic sagacity and hermeneutic philosophy is re ected in the production eld (higher education); • At the same time, CAPS' curriculum designers echoed Oruka's three trends in African philosophy of education in the recontextualisation eld (SHC document); and • Of concern to us is how the Africanisation of the SHC is translated into the reality of history learners' lived experiences a reproduction eld (classroom)?
But, apart from this concern (i.e., the tension between the ideal and the achievement of the ideal), education policies and curriculum developments, in general, are thought of, read as and seen as "de-personalised [contextual elds] complete[ly] devoid of human experiences" (Hulme & Hulme, 2012:44). To make ma ers worse, we have noted the following: 1) Curriculum and assessment policy statement philosophy of education is questionable, especially if you consider the urgent need to disrupt the universal and particular worldviews, to form a single philosophy in post-apartheid South African schools; 2) apart from being questionable, CAPS' philosophy is unsustainable because it promotes 'di erences of content'; and 3) the di culty is that presently CAPS does not have an established African philosophy of education because it is dynamic, complex and multifaceted. What should be the response to this philosophical state of a airs? As for us, the universality of African philosophy must be preserved … because these di erences of content are meaningful precisely and only as di erences of content, which, as such, refer back to the essential unity of a single discipline, of a single style of inquiry (Hountondji, 1996:56). If this argument is accepted, it means that we have to develop a conscious, selfcritical and intelligible education for Africanisation of the SHC in post-apartheid South Africa with clear identi able steps. So, how does education for Africanisation in South African schools use the history curriculum in CAPS? What then are the strategies for ge ing from where we are to where we ought to be? What does this task involve in practical terms? It involves Oruka's three trends, i.e., professional philosophy, philosophic sagacity and hermeneutic philosophy which are not incompatible but, rather, are intimately and reciprocally linked philosophies of education that should be underpinning the history curriculum in CAPS. At a professional philosophical level, Africanisation of the SHC should be perceived as an academic discipline characterised by: • liberating the memory of school history learners who guarantee permanent records by 'writing their memories' or 'keeping diaries in the classroom' . • clarity, logical and systematic thinking in its writing and research thus school history becomes an active, not a passive human activity for learners in the classroom. • school history learners who embrace doing history that entails thinking, reading, and writing like a historian robust formal intellectual encounters through systematic complex arguments and counter-arguments in the classroom. • valuing individual thoughts, group discussion and general debate that enable school history learners to ask the thorniest of questions in the classroom. • developing human capabilities (agency approach) and helping school history learners to forge social solidarity with their peers in the classroom.
At sage level, Africanisation of the SHC in post-apartheid South Africa would be a product of rich history told in the words of African elders through oral history and research projects through: • school history learners who devote their time and energy in scienti c research inquiry (oral testimony, i.e., eyewitness or rst-hand accounts of events or situations that occurred during the life of elders interviewed or oral evidence, i.e., oral tradition, which includes stories, praise songs, genealogies or narratives that have been handed down by word of mouth from one generation to the next) in the classroom. • the oral history which is seen as a fully-edged academic discipline with the encounter between the interviewer (school history learners) and the sages (knowledgeable elders) at its centre in the classroom. • school history learners who conduct oral history projects that enable South Africa's recentring research project in the global "processes of knowledge production" (Hountondji, 1997:13) in the classroom. • the theorisation that brings theoretical ndings in dialogue with the collection of data in the classroom -thus "promot[ing] certain kinds of 'blue-sky' knowledge that is likely to result in 'tangible' or 'concrete' social bene ts such as health, wealth and liberty" (Ndo repi & Cross 2017: 4) in post-apartheid South Africa. • a school history curriculum that is not a feel-good, cosmetic response to African challenges and problems, nor too quick, too neat, too easy a solution but a life struggle for social justice in pursuit of Africa's sustainable future.
Hermeneutically, Africanisation of the SHC in South Africa would show that African e-ISSN 2309-9003 philosophy is "essentially an open process, a restless, un nished quest, not closed knowledge" (Hountondji, 1996:71). is would mean • school history learners' analysis of Africanisation consists of a conceptual de nition and speci cation of its central features (e.g., one can analyse or de ne Africanisation as a 'true democratisation of knowledge' and specify the elements that make up the concept). • learners' synthesis of Africanisation shows the logical relationships whereby the concept (as a unity of knowledge) implies or is implied by another (e.g., one can show a logical relationship between Africanisation and its obligation to transcend the seemingly particular, opposite and irreconcilable Euro-centred and Afro-centred schools of thought). • learners a empt to improve Africanisation, involves recommending a de nition or use that will assist them to clarify the meaning of the concept (e.g., one can recommend, as authors do, that the concept ' Africanisation' should be used in a strictly theoretical sense, and not in the popular, ideological sense). • if school history learners treat the so-called 'Western thought' and ' African thought' as unique, distinct, opposite philosophies, they are unwi ingly perpetuating "narrow provincialism", to use Amin's (1989) phrase (cited in Moll, 2002:11). • as Kanu (2014:92) maintains that philosophy is an "all-inclusive enterprise, a universal activity not limited to whites or blacks, nor con ned to the peoples of the West and the East" in history classrooms. • instead, universal knowledge takes the locale as the basis of international knowledge production -far from "permi ing Western triumphalism or the retrieval of pre-colonial African tradition" (Enslin & Horsthemke, 2016:188) in the history classrooms.

Conclusion
In conclusion, let us put forward the following claim: African philosophy of education and Africanisation of the history curriculum in post-apartheid South African schools can be interpreted in a hierarchical, interrelated and dialectical relationship. By this we refer to the following: one, professional experts in higher education who treat African philosophy as a body of knowledge this is our production eld; two, sages who are walking libraries in local communities in South Africa this is our recontextualised eld; and lastly, and the lived experiences of learners (enacted curriculum) in the classrooms this is our reproduction eld. Sadly, the CAPS' philosophy of education is rstly questionable, especially if you consider the urgent need to disrupt the academic and particular worldviews, to form a single philosophy in schools. Secondly, it is untenable since it promotes 'di erences of content' , i.e., oral tradition versus wri en tradition in the school history curriculum. irdly, the di culty is that presently CAPS does not have a se led African philosophy (of education): it is torn between two worlds, i.e., the universal and the particular. In a strict education for Africanisation sense, the school history curriculum in post-apartheid South African schools should be perceived rst and foremost as a professional philosophical project that African philosophers in higher education devote their time and energy to; second, a sage project that oMakhulu's as part of the broader school communities help history learners through oral history and research projects to address problems and deal with issues facing locals. Last, but not least, it should be perceived as a hermeneutic project that brings philosophy down from the sky, i.e. helps learners to make practical sense of deep philosophical issues in post-apartheid South African schools.