Abstract
As feminist scholar-practitioners who are committed to an abolitionist teaching praxis, we are embracing the concept of Ubuntu, “I am because you are,” to build Black students’ research confidence through joyful collaboration. This critical commentary draws on our autoethnographic accounts to discuss how centering decolonial, critical, and Black feminist frameworks shifted how we support students in co-constructing knowledge through a cohort based undergraduate research program. Our collaborative approach to pedagogy has built students’ research confidence through culturally centered practices that value diverse ways of knowing and student contribution. Love (2019) argues, “abolitionist teaching is not sustainable without joy” (p. 120). As such, we developed a space where students deconstruct the silos of individual research through pedagogical practices that support collaborative work and center the joy of community. Our curriculum moves from creating contemplative research that analyzes and critiques social structures of power, towards research that embraces social transformation and centers appropriate interventions in students’ respective academic disciplines. Through this commentary, we discuss how our pedagogical practice has both impacted our relation to students and our own identity as researchers who see students’ success as part of ours and our communities; further fostering the centering of Ubuntu in our work. As we share our experiences, we hope to move others to consider how incorporating Ubuntu can support sustainable abolitionist teaching in their own praxis.
Recommended Citation
Rodriguez Candeaux, Suyent and Wells-Stone, Brandi
(2025)
"Centering “Ubuntu” to Build Research Confidence and Joyful Collaboration,"
Feminist Pedagogy: Vol. 6:
Iss.
4, Article 20.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/feministpedagogy/vol6/iss4/20
Included in
Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Educational Sociology Commons, Social Justice Commons