Cultural influences on self-directed learning among African students: An Ubuntu-informed educational inquiry
Abstract
In South Africa's culturally diversified higher-education system, traditions emphasising communal values shape learning in ways that defy individualist interpretations of self-directed learning (SDL). Many self-directed learning scholarships interpret autonomy as individual self-sufficiency, offering limited conceptual guidance for independent agency. In this conceptual study, we employ an interpretive integrative review of peer-reviewed literature (2000-2025) sourced from African Journal, EBSCOhost, Google Scholar, and Web of Science to explore how African cultural factors influence self-directed learning processes among African students in South African higher education. We developed an Ubuntu-informed interpretive framework and themes from a theory-driven narrative synthesis of SDL processes (goal setting, resource identification, self-monitoring, and evaluation judgment) and cultural mechanisms (relational accountability, mediational access, and evaluation standards). Ubuntu and collectivist values may facilitate SDL through relational scaffolding and accountable support, while hierarchical power that suppresses learner voice may hinder it. We propose an Ubuntu-informed SDL framework that reconceptualises autonomy as socially situated and that promotes a shift from epistemic inclusion towards epistemic transformation.