Teacher education and 'a politics of humanity'

Since the demise of apartheid education, the development of policy in relation to teacher education in South Africa has undergone major adjustments. By far the most poignant conceptual and pragmatic change that teacher education has been subjected to points towards the cultivation of teachers who can enact their professions as democratic citizens. This implies that teachers ought to engender in learners a spirit of democratic citizenry that can imbue in them the virtues of dialogical engagement, connecting caringly with the other, and performing their tasks in a responsible manner. In this article I want to explore what it means to be a teacher who does not practise disgust and shame and their implications for humane learning. If universities intend to contribute seriously to teacher education, their programmes have to be aligned with what it means to cultivate humanity.