Question :Assess the role of Critical Consciousness to the development of a University graduate

with Unhu/Vumunhu/Ubuntu.
Unhu according to Doval (2018), is a social philosophy which embodies virtues that celebrate
the mutual social responsibility, mutual assistance, trust, sharing, unselfishness, self-reliance,
caring and respect for others among other ethical values. Research says that critical
consciousness focuses on achieving an in-depth understanding of the world, allowing for the
perception and exposure of social and political contradictions. Critical consciousness also
includes taking action against the oppressive elements in one's life that are illuminated by that
understanding. In Zimbabwe, people’s courtesy is only distinguished by the person’s social
abilities (good morals). And to acquire a better person, the education system introduced
critical consciousness in Education 5.0 to assess its effectiveness and also improve innovation
and industrialization. It has also proven to be the biggest role in developing Unhu (morals)
for university.Rodgers (1990) defines student development as “the ways that a student grows,
progresses, or increases his or her developmental capabilities as a result of enrollment in an
institution of higher education.” Student development theory aims to take into account the “cultural
nature of learning, including the social, emotional, motivational, cognitive, developmental,
biological, and temporal contexts in which learning occurs,” in order to support the “well-rounded
development of the whole person” (National Academies of Science, 2018; Walker, 2008).

Critical Consciousness helps a University graduate with analytical thinking.Being able to properly
analyze information is the most important aspect of critical thinking. This implies gathering
information and interpreting it, but also skeptically evaluating data. When researching a work topic,
analytical thinking helps you separate the information that applies to your situation from that which
doesn’t.Ubuntu provides the moral reasons and justifications for those affected by ethical
consideration to accept or comply with the values and beliefs as such decisions are informed by the
very same individuals. Because individuals are to protect others, it thus motivates positive individual
moral behaviors.

Moreover critical thinking helps in good communication skills.Whether you use it for gathering
information or convincing others that your conclusions are correct, good communication is crucial in
the critical thinking process. Getting people to share their ideas and information with you and
showing your critical thinking are components of success. If you’re making a work-related decision,
proper communication with your coworkers will help you gather the information you need to make
the right choice.Understanding the communities we now live in has never been more essential for
communicators. Ubuntu believes in empathy and connectivity that can help us identify and
appreciate points of difference without being afraid or uncomfortable.

In addition it helps a graduate with creative thinking.Being able to discover certain patterns of
information and make abstract connections between seemingly unrelated data will improve your
critical thinking. When analyzing a work procedure or process, you can creatively come up with ways
to make it faster and more efficient. Creativity is a skill that can be strengthened over time and is
valuable in every position, experience level and industry. A good example might be to open meetings
with a personal or otherwise novel touch. A leader might go around the meeting and ask for a
personal detail as well as a business-related development. In doing so, they send the message that
they care about the employee in a broader sense than a purely revenue-related one.

Further more the role of critical consciousness is crucial because creates Open-mindedness.Previous
education and life experiences leave their mark on a person’s ability to objectively evaluate certain
situations. By acknowledging these biases, you can improve your critical thinking and overall decision
process. For example, if you plan to conduct a meeting in a certain way and your partner suggests
using a different strategy, you could hear them out and adjust your approach based on their input.By
simply recognizing and respecting others' beliefs and practices you can build a more harmonious
relationship with whoever you meet. Being open-minded can help us put our differences aside and
cooperate to progress as individuals, and as a society.

Similarly a graduate's ability to solve problems is to a greater extent.The ability to correctly analyze a
problem and work on implementing a solution is another valuable skill. For example, if your
restaurant’s waitstaff needs to improve service speeds, you could consider reassigning some of their
duties to bussers or other kitchen personnel so the servers can deliver food more quickly.

In both private and professional situations, asking the right questions is a crucial step in formulating
correct conclusions.for example open-ended questions ,asking open-ended questions can help the
person you’re speaking to provide you with relevant and necessary information. These are questions
that don’t allow a simple “yes” or “no” answer, requiring the person who receives the question to
elaborate on the answers Likewise outcome-based questions,when you feel like another person’s
experience and skills could help you work more effectively, consider asking outcome-based
questions. Asking someone how they would act in a certain hypothetical situation will give you an
insight into their own critical thinking skills and help you see things you hadn’t thought about before
and also reflective questions,you can gain insight by asking a person to reflect and evaluate an
experience and explain their thought processes during that time. This can help you develop your
critical thinking by providing you real-world examples. Lasty structural questions,an easy way to
understand something is to ask how something works. Any working system results from a long
process of trial and error and properly understanding the steps that needed to be taken for a
positive result could help you be more efficient in your own endeavors.

However, critical consciousness can impact students negatively as they may think to such depths
that they may start to question the higher authority politically, which may not yield good results. In
addition to that, it is not only Critical Consciousness that contributes to ubuntu,,there's religion
which plays a crucial role to and basic training at home ( charity begins at home).

In conclusion, critical consciousness plays a huge role in assessing a development of a graduate with
Unhu/Vumunhu/ubuntu to a greater extent because it promotes analytical thinking as well as good
communication skills with others also creative thinking as people will meet with unrelared data ande
being open-mindedness you can improve your critical thinking and overall decision process.Ability to
solve problems to correctly analyze a problem and work on implementing a solution and Asking
thoughtful questions is a crucial step in formulating correct conclusions.

References

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/critical-thinking-examples

https://dcal.dartmouth.edu/resources/teaching-learning-foundations/student-development

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/importance-of-critical-thinking

Doval K, (2018), What is the meaning of Unhu? [online] Available:

https://medium.com/@kshitijdoval/what-is-the-meaning-of-unhu-8b99da66132e

Nziramasanga, C. (1999). Report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Education

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Mudzamba, H. J. (1982). Grappling with the Vexing Question of Relevance in the

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Makuvaza, N. (2008). Conquest, Colonial Education and Cultural Uprootedness in Africa-

the Role of Education for Hunhu/Ubuntu in Derooting the African in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe
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Gelfand, M. (1973). The Genuine Shona: Survival Values of an African Culture. Gweru:
Mambo Press

Gay, G., & Kirkland, K. (2003). Developing cultural critical consciousness and self-reflection
in preservice teacher education. Theory into Practice, 42(3), pp.181–187

Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). But that’s just good teaching! The case for culturally relevant
pedagogy. Theory into Practice, 34(3), pp.159–165. [Online] Available:
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Carolyn F. Stubbs & Hallett Hullinger (2022), Developing Critical Consciousness in Students for
Cultural Transformation, 12(1), pp.2-4, [online] Available:
https://digitalshowcase.oru.edu/sotl_ched/