Session Information
WERA SES 04 C, Integrating Marginalised Education Spaces into Mainstream Global Discourses
Paper Session
Contribution
Over the past two decades, the notion of gratitude – briefly defined here as ‘the act of giving back from acknowledgment of what we have received, in ways that are not necessarily reciprocal’ – has been the centre of a burgeoning body of international research studies in a variety of disciplines, including education. Both theoretical and empirical studies have discussed the central place of the conscious expression of gratitude to enrich our relationships and sense of community (e.g. Emmons & McCullough, 2004; Watkins, 2014). Notably, the sociologist George Simmel (1996) sees gratitude as the most important cohesive element for society; it is the “moral memory of mankind”, the bridge connecting one human being with another.
However, much of the contemporary research on gratitude does not take into account the implications of cross-cultural differences in both how the term is constructed and enacted. Social anthropologist Margaret Visser (2009) has provided an important basis upon which to consider cultural differences in the ways in which we express gratitude, and the miscommunication that can occur if we are not sensitive to these differences. Positioning our research in the field of education, and from the perspective of two very different cultures, the key hypothesis guiding our paper is that neglect of this cross-cultural dimension leaves us with not only an impoverished sense of gratitude, but also a diminished ability to allow our expressions of gratitude in education to reach their full potential to enhance relationships.
In exploring a phenomenology of gratitude, using case-study analysis and narrative inquiry, Howells (2012, 2014) has highlighted several aspects of gratitude that need to be considered if we are to account for both its potential and its challenges within an educational setting. Those at the centre of this paper relate to: conceptualising gratitude; its role in relationships; its asymmetrical relationship to resentment; and its place in dealing with adversity. The paper aims to explore the following research question:
What impact does a cross-cultural analysis of Western and Indigenous African perspectives on gratitude have on our understanding of the role of gratitude in education?
Our research highlights the need to recognise that in the West gratitude may be considered as a way of being that one chooses, and is something novel to consider, but in indigenous African culture it is a fundamental aspect of their identity, and to ‘Ubuntu’ – their fundamental philosophical basis of communal life and world view. The paper thus provides a point of reflection for how Western domination may have resulted in a focus on competition, entitlement and individualism when influencing the education systems of this culture. As these are conditions that research shows make it very difficult for gratitude to thrive, the consequence has been an impoverishment of culture in contemporary teaching and learning pedagogy, resulting in chronic problems bedeviling the schooling system for the past two decades of post-democratic South Africa. We see our paper as one small step towards recovering an important aspect of indigenous African culture in education, which seems to be an important missing link in all the intervention programs so far.
A further advantage to exploring cross-cultural expressions of gratitude is that we may be able to enrich our understanding of how we show gratitude. Although this is often culturally bound, we can expand our sense of identity in celebration of the differences as displayed by other cultures. The paper will also draw implications for how educators working across these two cultures, or indeed any other culture, need to be respectful of difference when attempting to bring about what Visser calls “recognition” through the practice of gratitude.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Bakhtin, M. (1981). The dialogic imagination (C. Emerson & M. Holquist, Trans.; M. Holquist, Ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press. Emmons, R. McCullough, M. (eds). (2004). The Psychology of Gratitude. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Freire, P. (1970) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum Books. Howells, K. (2012). Gratitude in Education: A Radical View. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. Howells, K. (2014). An exploration of the role of gratitude in enhancing teacher-student relationships. Teaching and Teacher Education, 42, 58-67 Kotsopoulos, D. (2010). Dialogic Inquiry. In A. Mills, G. Durepos, G. & E. Wiebe, Encyclopedia of case study research. London: Sage. Visser, M. 2009. The Gift of Thanks: The Roots and Rituals of Gratitude. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Simmel, G. 1996. “Faithfulness and gratitude.” In The Gift: An Interdisciplinary Perspective, edited by A. Komter, 39-48. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. Watkins, P. (2014). Gratitude and the good life: Toward a psychology of appreciation. New York: Springer. Wells, (1999) Dialogic inquiry: Towards a sociocultural practice and theory of education. New York: Cambridge University Press.
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