Abstract

VAN DER WALT, Johannes L.. A reform Approach to the Philosophy of Education in South Africa: Challanges for Now and for the Future. Koers (Online) [online]. 2025, vol.90, n.1, pp.1-10. ISSN 2304-8557.  https://doi.org/10.19108/KOERS.90.1.2635.

This article examines the author's perspective on the development of the reformational approach to the philosophy of education in South Africa, from the mid-19th century through to 2024. It begins by highlighting the foundational work of early pioneering educationists such as Professors J Chr Coetzee and HJJ Bingle. The overview then follows the decline of this approach from around 1969, as South African philosophers of education increasingly turned to alternative paradigms, such as pragmatism, phenomenology, and postmodernism. This ideological shift led to a noticeable decrease in the influence of the reformational tradition among both university lecturers and students. Drawing on three key studies, each providing a unique perspective, the article traces the transformation that has unfolded over the last six decades. The establishment of a fully democratic South Africa in 1994, coupled with major reforms in school and university education, further accelerated the turn toward secular humanism. As a result, the reformational philosophy of education has effectively been relegated to the private sphere. This shift places the responsibility on philosophers of education within private higher education institutions to continue the reformational education philosophical legacy where previous generations stopped.

Keywords : higher education; phenomenology; philosophy of education; postmodernism; pragmatism; private institutions of higher education; reformational approach.

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