The University, Power and Social Change Towards a Period of Post-Massification

We argue for a Rancierean account of teaching whereby students are summoned to the pedagogical encounter to speak with authority. We contend that students ought to critically [re]examine their engagement in communities of practice and become co-constructors of knowledge instead of relying only on what they have been told by university teachers. The point about teaching with authority has to do with creating opportunities for students to engage in acts of community without the condition of belonging. We argued that Ranciere’s (1991) account of the ‘ignorant schoolmaster’ is necessary for [re]examining the role of the university educator in the era of post-massification. If universities in South Africa are to transition successfully in a period of post-massification, then students ought to always be emancipated to take control of their learning, one in which they have the will to use their intelligence and one where the university educator has the will to relinquish any forms of unequal power in the classroom. We further extend to include Ranciere’s (1991) notion in the context of community engagement to include the role of the student as the ‘ignorant community practitioner’. We argue that students ought to critically [re]examine their preconceived judgements and assumptions concerning the community they serve as a means of breaking away from the dominant paradigms, one where universities function as collaborators with the community and not primarily as the primary providers of knowledge.