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The Ubuntu Epistemology is the Teaching Philosophy at the centre of the TNM Curriculum Project and the “Mandela Global Human Rights: Peace, Reconciliation and Responsibility: A Teacher Guide and Lessons for Educators.” From an educator’s perspective, Ubuntu Philosophy can be developed as the classroom culture. All the classroom activities, behaviors, and lessons can be interpreted through the lens of Ubuntu epistemology, just as they can the ARCC. Nelson Mandela defined Ubuntu as “We are human only through the humanity of other human beings.”^[2] By applying the Culturally Relevant African philosophy with Caring Theory (Lehn, 2016)^[3] students will become more sensitive to the diversity of those in their learning environment. The Intersectionality and Human Rights Curriculum Model is incorporated alongside ARCC. TNM’s Ubuntu Epistemology would not be complete without recognizing the role of Intersectionality as a curriculum design model.

Contexts Informing Assessment and Evaluation Practices When Teaching Nelson Mandela Curriculum

An Ubuntu philosophical approach to teaching and learning, can assist with developing a classroom culture that promotes recognition of our human interconnectedness, mutual respect, dialogue that challenges all forms of oppression and supports community building. As students learn in a nurturing environment where care, connectedness, and value for one another is appreciated, lessons can extend from the learning environment in the classroom outwards into the community. Students and faculty alike can model this philosophy of inclusion and caring in community projects, and ultimately apply their knowledge to respond to global issues through an Ubuntu lens.  By adopting Ubuntu Philosophy, a learning environment nurtures the sense of interconnectedness and value while acknowledging that all voices have merit.

“Mandela Global Human Rights: Peace, Reconciliation and Responsibility: A Teacher Guide and Lessons for Educators,” position the student experience as central to learning. The four phases of the inquiry process (i.e., ARCC) supports a responsive approach to teaching and learning while promoting critical community conversations. An inquiry-based approach allows individual teachers to decide how to scaffold the learning for their students.

As Chair of the Teaching Nelson Mandela TNM Advisory and “Mandela Global Human Rights: Peace, Reconciliation and Responsibility: A Teacher Guide and Lessons for Educators,” curriculum project team, Dolana Mogadime supported the developers of the lessons to ensure each grade has a Lesson Description – Overview to communicate the purpose for the learning. The lesson plans include Lesson Objectives and Relevant Curriculum so teachers can make connections to their curriculum and adjust if needed. Additionally, Human Rights Instruments that are outlined in each lesson, in order to support teachers in integrating human rights into the classroom. Mogadime provided a list of human rights instruments for TNM advisory members, and each lesson plan developer purposefully integrated a selected human rights instrument into their lesson plans. As such, knowledge about human rights are equally important to the teaching, learning processes as they are the assessment and evaluation of students. Intentionality and Human Rights will need to be acknowledged as important components during the assessment of lessons as described by Mogadime in Section 7 of the Guide.

Teachers can inform their assessment and evaluation practices by using the lesson description overview, lesson objectives, relevant curriculum, and human rights instruments in order to provide clear communication to the students.

McCabe suggests that co-creating criteria when discussing expectations for the learning allows for a fair, transparent and equitable approach to assessment and evaluation. By co-creating criteria for assessment, teachers can support student learning through feedback that is connected directly to the learning experience. Supporting critical community conversations, providing ongoing feedback, supporting the peer group as they share their experiences, and helping develop students’ self-assessment skills are essential practices associated with all of the Teaching Nelson Mandela, and Mandela Global Human Rights: Peace, Reconciliation and Responsibility: A Teacher Guide and Lessons for Educators, lessons.

The Seven Fundamental Principles: (Growing Success, Ontario Ministry of Education)

“To ensure that assessment, evaluation, and reporting are valid and reliable, and that they lead to the improvement of learning for all students, teachers use practices and procedures that: are fair, transparent, and equitable for all students; ^[4]

• support all students, including those with special education needs, those who are learning the language of instruction (English or French), and those who are First Nation, Métis, or Inuit;
• are carefully planned to relate to the curriculum expectations and learning goals and, as much as possible, to the interests, learning styles and preferences, needs, and experiences of all students;
• are communicated clearly to students and parents at the beginning of the school year or course and at other appropriate points throughout the school year or course;
• are ongoing, varied in nature, and administered over a period of time to provide multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate the full range of their learning;
• provide ongoing descriptive feedback that is clear, specific, meaningful, and timely to support improved learning and achievement;
• develop students’ self-assessment skills to enable them to assess their own learning, set specific goals, and plan next steps for their learning.” (Growing Success, Ontario Ministry of Education, 2010, p.6)