Abstract: Submission #275

Abstract This paper interrogates the conceptual foundations and practical implications of integrating an Afrocentric lens into social work education. It proposes a multi-dimensional, multi-perspectival framework that enhances transdisciplinary collaboration to enrich curriculum development and pedagogical strategies responsive to the complexities of African realities. This paper is grounded within Africana Critical Theory (ACT); the lens seeks to transcend social identities and foster an African consciousness that resists binary thinking and racial essentialism. This framework is developed through voluntary collaboration among a diverse transdisciplinary team; it emerged from sustained dialogue, critical reflection, and reflexive action, employing Participatory Action Research (PAR) as a research approach and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as an analytic technique. The literature underscores the limitations of reducing African identity to a singular Black ethnic experience and critiques traditional notions of community. Key findings reveal contextual challenges, including a disconnect from lived realities, which contributes to the inadequacy of responses to post-apartheid social, ideological, and cultural tensions. These findings highlight the urgent need for a shared humanity, re-humanisation, and mutual humanisation. Importantly, the philosophy of Ubuntu is shown not to be exclusively African but to derive its significance from Africa’s historical and global context. The paper advocates for Africana critical theorisation and Afrocentric conceptualisation in social work education, practice, and policy. It positions this framework as a vital component of macro-transformative strategies aimed at fostering holistic development and advancing social justice.

Keywords: Afrocentric social work, African realities, African identity, African consciousness, Ubuntu, transdisciplinary