An ethics of care and Ubuntu reimagination in academic development

Abstract

Academic induction programmes are often designed to professionalise new academics within the normative expectations of the university. Yet, in many Global South contexts, these programmes remain tethered to Eurocentric frameworks that privilege compliance, productivity, and individual achievement over relational and ethical forms of becoming. This article explores how an Ethics of Care and Ubuntu reimagination can offer decolonial alternatives for academic development praxis, re-centring human connection, reciprocity, and collective flourishing as foundational to professional learning. Decolonisation, understood as more than a metaphor, is a political, ethical, and epistemic project aimed at dismantling the colonial matrix of power that continues to define whose knowledge counts and whose humanity is recognised (Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2015). Coloniality persists as a system of domination that positions the Global North as the arbiter of knowledge and truth, while rendering African epistemologies peripheral. Within higher education, these hierarchies manifest in institutional cultures, pedagogical practices, and induction programmes that implicitly reproduce colonial logics of being and knowing. A decolonial turn in academic development therefore demands a shift from technocratic notions of induction to relational, dialogical, and care-centred engagement where professional learning becomes a shared, humanising process rather than an administrative requirement. This article draws on my reflective praxis as a facilitator on an academic induction course at a South African university. A critical incident forms the anchor: a participant’s remark, “Noooo… I don’t want to see you. Every time I see you, my stress levels go up because I know I owe you something!”, expressed in reference to the e-portfolio submission required for course completion. Using Rolfe, Freshwater and Jasper’s (2001) reflective framework ‒ “What?” “So what?” “Now what?” ‒ this moment becomes a lens through which to interrogate how institutionalised expectations of compliance can erode trust, induce emotional fatigue, and reproduce hierarchical power relations within academic induction. The article’s theoretical framing draws on Ethics of Care (Tronto 1993; Noddings 2012) and Ubuntu philosophy (Waghid and Smeyers 2012; Hlatshwayo, Shawa and Nxumalo 2020) to propose an alternative approach to academic development: one that recognises interdependence, compassion, and mutual accountability as essential dimensions of scholarly growth. Ethics of Care foregrounds attentiveness and responsiveness to others’ needs, while Ubuntu articulates a relational ontology encapsulated in the phrase “I am because we are.” When interwoven, these frameworks invite a re-humanisation of academic induction, transforming it into a praxis of care, humility, and shared responsibility. By positioning this reflection within the broader decolonial discourse, the article argues that Ethics of Care and Ubuntu provide generative pathways to disrupt deficit narratives of ‘development’ and to re-imagine induction as a collaborative and affirming process. The study offers a situated, practice-based contribution to ongoing conversations about decolonising higher education in the Global South. It envisions academic induction as a site of ethical relation and collective becoming where care is not peripheral, but central to the pursuit of decolonial futures.