The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa 
ISSN: (Online) 2415-2005, (Print) 1817-4434
Page 1 of 10 Original Research
Considering the Basotho indigenous education and 
school system as resources for peace-building 
education in Lesotho
Author: Lesotho faces political, economic, social, cultural, religious, institutional and interpersonal 
Rasebate I. Mokotso1,2 violence, a situation that prompted the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural 
Affiliations: Organization (UNESCO) to introduce a peace-building education program. This indigenous 
1Department of Religion auto-ethnography inquiry arose as the result of the investigator’s realisation that the UNESCO 
Studies, Faculty of Theology strategy to establish peace education in Lesotho is an exclusive, narrow approach based on the 
and Religion, University of formal Western education system. While UNESCO’s initiative to instil a culture of peace via 
the Free State, Bloemfontein, 
South Africa education is commendable considering the seriousness of the violence in Lesotho, the article 
contends that the approach excludes many out-of-school youth from learning about developing 
2Department of Language a culture of peace. The article also reveals some characteristics associated with the Western 
and Social Education, Faculty educational system that contribute to its inability to incorporate all eligible groups in peace-
of Education, National 
University of Lesotho, Roma, building education. Guided by the theoretical framework of critical interculturality, this article 
Lesotho highlighted the Basotho lebollo education system as having the ability to extend peace-building 
education beyond the confines of Western schooling and education to include out-of-school 
Corresponding author: adolescents. The compatibility of the lebollo school system with peace-building education was 
Rasebate Mokotso,
rasebatemokotso@gmail. proved by its indigenous epistemology and pedagogy. The article recommends a nonviolent 
com strategy devoid of colonial violence and based on mutual respect that can bring lebollo on board 
for peace-building education, as has happened in response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic.
Dates:
Received: 12 Mar. 2022 Transdisciplinarity Contribution: This paper contributes to the broad debate that Western 
Accepted: 09 June 2022 formal education ensnared in colonial power structures, has difficulty meeting the educational 
Published: 31 Aug. 2022 needs of the African child, despite its noble intentions. Using Basotho indigenous education 
How to cite this article: system as a framework for calling for recognition of indigenous education, the paper makes 
Mokotso RI. Considering the case for peacebuilding education as a potential model for indigenous education.
the Basotho indigenous 
education and school system Keywords: Basotho; education; indigenous; interculturality; lebollo; peace.
as resources for peace-
building education in 
Lesotho. J transdiscipl res 
S Afr. 2022;18(1), a1213. Introduction
https://doi.org/10.4102/ Currently, Lesotho is afflicted with multiple forms of violence, including direct violence, structural 
td.v18i1.1213
violence and cultural violence. Direct violence includes behaviour that undermines life itself and/
Copyright: or decreases one’s ability to meet basic human needs. Examples of direct violence are killing, 
© 2022. The Authors. maiming, bullying, sexual assault and emotional manipulation. On the other hand, structural 
Licensee: AOSIS. This work violence refers to the systematic denial of access to goods, services and opportunities for some 
is licensed under the 
Creative Commons groups of society. Cultural violence represents the prevailing or prominent social norms that 
Attribution License. make direct and structural violence seem ‘normal’, ‘just’ or at least ‘acceptable’.1 The United 
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) responded to this situation 
in the country by introducing a peace-building education program. The UNESCO educational 
program aims at fostering peace, resilience and the avoidance of violent extremism. The project’s 
main objective is to teach young people about peace, global citizenship, resilience and the 
avoidance of violent extremism through education. As one of the African Union’s (AU’s) 
established agenda items, the intended objective of the initiative is to eliminate all types of wars, 
civil disputes, gender-based violence and violent conflicts on the continent.2
In collaboration with the Japanese government, UNESCO held seminars for teacher educators 
Read online: from universities and teacher training colleges, as well as secondary school teachers, as part of the 
Scan this QR project’s execution. The seminars were meant to increase teachers’ ability by informing and 
code with your 
smart phone or empowering them on why and how to educate for peace. Peace education aims to examine ethical 
mobile device issues and transformative pedagogy and offer practical tools that encourage learners to alter the 
to read online. world around them. Transformative pedagogy is optimised to empower both teachers and learners. 
http://www.td-sa.net Open Access
Page 2 of 10 Original Research
It is intended to enable students to become introspective and by consumers for the purpose of building ‘skill sets’ to be 
critical thinkers who can make a positive contribution to their used in the marketplace, rather than as a set of skills, attitudes 
local and global societies.2 This article wholeheartedly and values necessary for everyday life.
supports UNESCO’s action, especially given the severity of 
the violence in Lesotho. Lesotho is currently beset with The second point of the education–employment linkage 
political, social, economic, cultural, religious, institutional adds to the first by increasing the number of dropouts and 
and interpersonal violence.3,4 However, the article argues child labour. With unemployment reaching 24% in 2019,11 
against the current approach on two grounds: firstly, the affecting individuals both with and without degrees, 
program is focused on the formal Western schooling system. conventional schooling has gradually lost influence. Young 
Victims and perpetrators of domestic and cultural abuse are people are seeking alternative work and self-employment 
not recognised and targeted in this way. The formal Western opportunities that do not require formal education. Many 
education system does not serve a sizable number of Basotho young boys work as herders in order to become self-
youth. As a result, the scope is narrow, and the impact is likely employed farmers in the future.10 According to recent media 
to be limited. Lesotho did, in fact, introduce free primary reports, a chief from the Thaba-Tseka district in Lesotho, 
education in 2000 and made it mandatory with the passing of which has one of the highest out-of-school child rates at 29% 
the Education Act of 2010.5 However, the United Nations as compared to the other nine districts, visited his villages to 
Children’s Fund (UNICEF)6 recorded a total of 3% out of discover why eligible children are denied access to education. 
school at the primary level, 14% at the lower secondary level Both the children and their parents expressed their 
and nearly 36% at the upper secondary level nationwide in dissatisfaction with the Western schooling system. They 
2021. Also, the legal term ‘compulsory’ appears to be stated that their focus is on the expanding wool and mohair 
ineffective. According to Lekhetho,4 the government of farming industry, as well as the booming illegal mining 
Lesotho lacks the capacity to prosecute parents who do not industry in South Africa.12 Indeed, according to the Central 
send their children to school because of the complexities of Bank of Lesotho,13 only half of college and university 
the issue, which involves some cultural beliefs and practices. graduates are working, while the other half are job seekers. 
A sizable proportion of Basotho youth are not served by the The majority of those employed are in the low-paying private 
formal Western education system. sector, which does not recognise their college credentials.
Second, peace education promotes and supports a culture of Based on the importance of peace-building education and the 
peace by teaching children, youth and adults the skills of above expressed doubts about Western formal education, the 
peaceful living. A culture of peace entails a set of values, author proposed expanding the scope of peace-building 
attitudes, behaviours and common lifestyles characterised by education by incorporating indigenous Basotho educational 
respect for life and human rights, avoidance of all forms of approaches. The major goal is to use an intercultural approach 
violence and observance of the principles of peace, such as in which global perspectives on a culture of peace are 
justice, tolerance, solidarity, cooperation and equality.7 Peace- taught through indigenous education systems, with the 
building education or education for building a culture of goal of reaching out to out-of-school children and adults. 
peace, according to Navarro-Castro and Nario-Galace,8 Navarro-Castro and Nario-Galace8 argue that peace-building 
serves to cultivate knowledge, skills, attitudes and values in education is more successful and meaningful when it is 
order to shape people’s mindsets towards living out peace. tailored to the social and cultural context of the country in 
Peace-building education, simply put, aims to create a culture which it is conducted. Indigenous education and pedagogy 
that reflects human nature as peaceful people. proposed in this article are strategies to tailor peace-building 
education congruent to the social and cultural context of 
However, Western education has always been associated Basotho.
with preparing people for the labour market, rather than 
education for a life orientation. That is, the value of a child’s 
education is weighed against the potential for future A methodological guide
employment. As Western education was introduced to Africa, In pursuant of the mentioned objectives, the author used 
Africans have found it particularly appealing on account of indigenous auto-ethnography. Auto-ethnography, according 
its economic benefits and social prestige, according to to Grist,14 differs from standard ethnography on purpose. 
Ukpabi.9 Western education is frequently viewed as a means Traditional ethnographers focused on recording the 
to an end, with the end being the acquisition of white-collar mysterious ‘Other’ by participant observation, living in close 
jobs that require men and women with educational proximity to indigenous peoples to observe and record that 
credentials. In a study of the meaning of schooling in Lesotho, behaviour new to the ‘civilised’ world. In the majority of 
Dungey and Ansell10 discovered that, while formal education cases, ethnographers distorted the ‘Other’ by failing to 
is thought to contribute to moral and physical well-being, the comprehend the indigenous culture and knowledge systems 
primary purpose of schooling is usually linked to economic they documented. By contrast, auto-ethnography refers to a 
survival. Education is seen as a key to gaining access to piece of research that looks at personal experience (auto) in 
formal sector jobs, which pay well and allow people to live order to understand cultural experience (graphy).15 In the 
comfortably. This means that education in Western school auto-ethnographic method, the researcher retroactively and 
systems is mainly seen as a commodity that can be purchased selectively writes about past experiences. The researcher 
http://www.td-sa.net Open Access
Page 3 of 10 Original Research
does not live through these experiences solely for research within a single nation-state. According to critical 
purpose; instead they are assembled using hindsight. In this interculturality, the answers to this question lie in the history 
article, indigenous auto-ethnography plays a particularly of colonialism, where a colonial political system existed in 
important role, as it allows recreation of stories that reflect which one country was conquered by a foreign power. 
cultural differences caused by colonialism within a state or According to Santos,19 critical interculturality exposes the 
ethnicity. realities of colonialism, which include cultural estrangement, 
self-denial and the desire to become acquainted with the 
This indigenous auto-ethnography was written from the superior culture, while ignoring the valuable contribution 
perspective of the ‘self’, that is, presenting personal experience that subaltern culture can make in addressing current national 
while retaining indigenous identity. Using Anderson’s auto- and global social, political and cultural formations. As an 
ethnography techniques, the following five steps were analytical instrument, critical interculturality enhances our 
followed: ‘(1) complete member researcher status (CMR), (2) awareness of the historical and structural nature of imperial, 
analytic reflexivity, (3) narrative visibility of the researcher’s colonial injustices that shape modern cultural diversity.
identity, (4) dialogue with informants beyond oneself and (5) 
commitment to theoretical analysis’ (p. 378).16 In the first Critical interculturality identifies collective actors that may 
instance, the author played the role of an opportunistic CMR, transform asymmetrical relations by developing new 
being indigenous to Basotho culture. The views imparted are channels of participation and recognition. It is an attempt to 
essentially through long-term cultural insider experiences, not bring indigenous thinking into the space of social action. It is 
necessarily recorded for this particular article. Regarding the an ideological paradigm that guides indigenous social and 
second aspect of analytic reflexivity, The researcher invested political thinking and activity.20 As Walsh20 indicates, it is a 
some meanings in Basotho cultural practices. The author new critical thought for divergence from dominant culture 
entered into the discussion as the ‘self’ within the community and convergence with indigenous culture as one mode of 
of ‘others’; that is, the author reflected on the meanings of decolonisation process. Such divergence and convergence, 
cultural schooling and indigenous education as an insider according to Walsh,21 entails not only relativising indigenous 
cultural representative within the community of different culture and ideas but also enacting their political and 
cultures, the indigenous and Western cultures. The author decolonial character, putting them in the proper place of their 
maintained the third element of the visibility of the researcher’s relevance with the supposed superior culture. It necessitates 
self in the text by organising the discussion through experience a radical change by engaging in a process of transforming, 
rather than imminent recorded information, as epiphanies in reconceptualising and refounding national structures and 
order to disqualify the ‘normal’. The author upheld the fourth institutions in ways that put varied cultural logics, practices 
item of dialogue with others beyond the ‘self’ through and ways of knowing, thinking, doing, being and living in an 
17
triangulating self-experiences with the literature relevant to equitable (but still conflictive) relationship.
issues of discussion. The last tenet of commitment to theoretical 
analysis was enhanced through the use of a critical Critical interculturality served as a springboard for this 
interculturality analytic framework. study, which began by examining the current state of Basotho 
indigenous schooling and education systems, specifically 
Analytic and transformational why they are at a nonexistent stage in preparing Basotho for current global knowledge demands, particularly knowledge 
framework on how to build a culture of peace. The intention was to 
In this study, critical interculturality, which is compatible with locate them and bring them forward with the ultimate goal of 
the indigenous auto-ethnography, was applied to provide an using them in UNESCO’s planned peace education program. 
analytical framework. Walsh17 describes critical interculturality The reasoning derives from worries about the extent and 
as a different perspective from relational interculturality coverage of Western education, as well as its transformational 
approach. The other reason was that Basotho education was 
that views cross-cultural contact as a natural process of 
deemed to be better capable of attaining the required effects 
syncretism and transculturation. Critical interculturality also 
than Western education. All of these doubts originate from 
contrasts with functional interculturality in that the latter is knowledge politics or the struggle for a place and value for 
based on the acceptance of cultural differences and their Basotho indigenous knowledge systems, which are colonially 
incorporation into social structures, and it attempts to subjugated. This article is an act of activism for the ‘other’ 
encourage dialogue and tolerance without examining the knowledge, that is, indigenous knowledge, within epistemic 
origins of asymmetry and sociocultural unfairness. interculturality, with a firm trust in its ability to produce the 
intended outcome.
Critical interculturality, according to Fleuri and Fleuri,18 
concerns colonial constructs of cultural differences within a Entering the world of Basotho 
nation state or ethnicity. Its focus is not necessarily on ethnic 
and cultural diversity but cultural differences created as the indigenous education
colonial power pattern infused virtually all layers of life. The world of Basotho indigenous education is the world 
Critical interculturality poses the question of why there is a of subaltern education, the education that suffered 
cultural divide between modernity and traditional cultures marginalisation, exclusion and disqualification. However, it 
http://www.td-sa.net Open Access
Page 4 of 10 Original Research
continued to survive and seek its place within the current view that schooling is the process of socialising groups of 
colonial order as an alternative for most indigenous people. children and young people on specific skills and values in a 
As early as the arrival of Western missionaries in the 1830s, society. This socialising mechanism contributes immensely to 
Lesotho embraced a Western schooling system that was social conformity and becomes essential glue that holds 
consistent with Western civilisation, culture, economics and society together.30,31
political systems.22 The existing indigenous cultural outlets, 
organisations and educational institutions were suppressed. Lebollo possesses these features, and it might be said that it 
However, they continued existing at the margins, parallel to symbolises the indigenous Basotho schooling system because 
Western formations. it is institutionalised and includes a set of cultural curriculum 
content, cultural professional teachers and a specific period 
The Basotho indigenous education system occurs in different and location agreed upon. This, however, does not indicate 
settings and uses different procedures.23 However, the author that lebollo fits the standards of the Western schooling system, 
proposed to enter into the Basotho education system by contrary to Matsela,23 who says that lebollo qualifies as formal 
aligning with UNESCO’s strategy of peace education through schooling because of its qualifying traits. Some people argue 
school system. The first topic to be addressed is whether an that African indigenous education should not be classified as 
indigenous schooling system existed prior to the entrance of formal and should instead be considered informal. Osaat and 
Western prototype school. The answer is obviously yes, from Asomeji,32 for example, suggested that African indigenous 
the author’s perspective as a Basotho cultural insider; there education is informal in character as learning experiences are 
was, and still is, the existence of an indigenous Basotho conducted orally and knowledge is stored in the heads or 
schooling system in the form of lebollo. However, the literature minds of elders. It is primarily oral and does not exist in 
is inconsistent or does not provide a straightforward ‘yes’ to printed form.
this problem. The misunderstanding may be exacerbated by 
the fact that, other than mophato, there is no actual institution The author advocated engaging in formal–informal debate 
in indigenous Basotho society that is referred to as a ‘school’. based on critical interculturality precepts. Santos19 proposed 
Lebollo is the term used to describe the activities at mophato. the concept of the interepistemic interculturality that stems 
According to Machobane,24 mophato is an initiation lodge, and from the realisation that historical colonialism did not 
lebollo is an initiation procedure. Therefore, mophato is a only include the wilful eradication of other civilisations in 
location where candidates, often youngsters, are initiated the process of indigenous cultural genocide. Instead, there 
into the mysteries of Basotho culture and adult life. was also a deliberate destruction of indigenous knowledge 
Machobane’s approach is more ritualistic than educational, systems, which Santos19 referred to as ‘epistemicide’ or 
with an emphasis on initiation ceremonies. Also, Matobo, the destruction of colonised populations’ knowledge 
Makatsa and Obioha25 depicted lebollo as a rite of passage from construction and deprivation of their modes of knowledge 
adolescence to maturity. Others, however, have categorised it transmission. According to Granados-Beltrán,33 epistemic 
as a school because of the fact that lebollo is active in interculturality represents ‘an-other’ or ‘border thinking’, 
educational activities and problems. Ngale,26 for example, which refers to oppositional indigenous thinking that is 
classified it as a traditional initiation school. Because the term seeking sociohistorical structural transformation rather than 
‘initiation’ is usually associated with rites of passage rather acceptance or inclusion. Similarly, indigenous knowledge 
than education,27 the author suggested referring to mophato systems, according to Granados-Beltrán,33 do not seek to 
and lebollo as the Basotho indigenous schooling system where operate as a separate paradigm outside of modern dominant 
circumcision is taught as part of health and sex education structures. Rather, they enter those structures to suggest 
rather than performed as a rite. The author’s proposal is alternative thinking that affects and decolonises those 
in agreement with Letseka28 which refers to lebollo as the hegemonic paradigms in order to shatter the cultural 
schooling system with a systematic educational programme. standardisation that underpins Western universal knowledge 
structures but which fails to offer comprehensive solutions to 
Two related characteristics are used to categorise lebollo as an problems affecting indigenous people. Walsh20 pointed out 
indigenous schooling system. The first point to consider is that while interculturality has a different rationale from 
how schooling is defined or characterised. Secondly, what is colonialism, it also works outside the ancestral limits that 
the point of schooling? In different viewpoints, the schooling existed prior to colonisation. Hence, one may say that Basotho 
system is described differently. However, in this study, the indigenous education is neither formal nor informal but 
author used Goslin’s29 definition, which claims that schooling rather a context-specific education rooted in ancestral 
is an organised process of cultural transmission from one knowledge but applied in a modern context. As a support for 
generation to the next. Saldana30 adds that schooling is the education, which is context specific, Matambo34 asserted that 
official or formal method through which a society’s culture is theories of education must reflect the society in which it 
handed on to its offspring. Goslin29 defined culture as occurs. There are differing social, economic, cultural and 
cognitive systems, skills, beliefs and values, whereas formal religious circumstances that require different types of 
or organised refers to a condition in which an activity is no education. The concept of indigenous education takes into 
longer individualised or family based, but rather community account the cultural and scientific background of the 
or societally based. Related to cultural transmission is the indigenous people in the present context.
http://www.td-sa.net Open Access
Page 5 of 10 Original Research
The case for peace-building through education programs.39 Traditional leaders representing lebollo 
indigenous education seem to be thankful for the recognition that they have received for their health education and practice; as one leader 
As stated in the introduction, several issues support the noted, ‘To make a new loin cloth, you use old pieces and add 
argument for peace education through the lebollo education new ones’, which suggests a need to build on old knowledge 
system. The first step is to target a large number of out-of- when introducing new strategies.39 According to Bulled,40 
school adolescents who are excluded from conventional traditional leaders in Lesotho viewed the government 
Western education. According to Makatjane, Hlabana and approach as more empowering as it recognises and values 
Letete,35 10 000 young men attended indigenous Basotho the role of lebollo health education in reducing HIV infections.
schools every year. While this number may include candidates 
with basic and tertiary Western education, Integrated Therefore, lebollo values the interculturality of biomedical 
Regional Information Networks News (IRIN)36 found that (objectivity) and indigenous circumcision (subjectivity) 
the bulk of trainees attending lebollo schools are primary and health practices in the fight against HIV transmission. The 
secondary school dropouts. As reported by Liphoto,12 the acceptance of coming into an agreement with the government 
Ministry of Education and Training recorded that 825 primary indicates tolerance and solidarity in lebollo, despite the fact 
school dropouts and 600 secondary school dropouts attended that, as Bulled40 highlighted, Western-educated elites are 
lebello schools in 2018. Malefetsane Liau, chairperson of the continually disgusted by lebollo. Western-educated elites see 
Council of Traditional Healers and one of the country’s most themselves as part of a rapidly modernising society, and their 
well-known herbalists, noted that lebollo provided boys education status distinguishes them from others who 
with an awareness and appreciation of their culture that participate in cultural ceremonies and practices. Although 
the conventional schooling system could not deliver.36 the lebollo schooling system welcomed the government’s 
Incorporating peace education within the lebollo curriculum invitation, this does not imply a willingness to submit 
would be a responsive technique for out-of-school youngsters. indigenous practices to the regulating institutions of Western 
The implication is that by including out-of-school youth, culturally oriented elites. During conversations concerning 
peace-building education would not just be an educational the potential incorporation of biomedical information in 
activity but an act of building peace by overcoming the lebollo, one traditional practitioner cautioned against ‘the 
divide between Western schooling and the indigenous incursion of governmental influence into a realm where some 
schooling system. The response would be in line with the of society’s poorest and most marginalised attempt to keep a 
critical interculturality proposition, as Santos19 realised that it limited hold on power’ (p. 87).40 She indicated that lebollo 
consists of developing (whenever appropriate) new forms of graduates are those with few marketable talents and few 
cultural understanding and intercommunication that may be opportunities to show power or position. As the region 
useful in favouring interactions and strengthening alliances becomes more connected to global markets, these people will 
among oppositional social institutions of different cultural have limited access to any alternative currency that they can 
contexts. Overcoming cultural divide through peace-building easily convert into coinage of the current liberal capitalist 
education would indeed be cherishing interculturality, which order. Subsequently, ‘tradition’, which the state risks 
is explained by Walsh17 to be a process of moving from an devaluing further, is perceived as a finite currency to 
exclusionary state towards an inclusive pluricultural country exchange for power.40 Guilherme’s41 concept of critical 
that integrates different sectors of society in any social, interculturality supports traditional leaders’ point that the 
political and cultural initiatives. Culturally inclusive peace- existence of multiple cultures as autonomous entities, 
building education, borrowing from Walsh,17 serves as a albeit heterogeneous in essence, should focus on the spaces 
transition from focusing on the dominant elitist group to in-between, that is, on their dialogical interaction, the elastic 
focusing on all members of society, and it gradually heals the nature of cultural identities and the dynamics of intercultural 
scars of inequality and cultural needs, guaranteeing collective encounters. As a result, reservations and expectations from 
responsibility in the efforts of peace-building. the two dialoguing groups must be respected in this sensitive 
and delicate encounter. Interculturality does not necessarily 
The most important point is that there are some lebollo imply fading into hybridisation or transculturality; rather, it 
elements that are compatible with peace-building education. denotes the establishment of critical interepistemic and 
In the first place, UNESCO37 and Navarro-Castro and decolonial interactions while acknowledging on-going 
Nario-Galace38 highlighted that building a culture of peace struggles for social and cognitive justice. It entails 
entails the promotion of intercultural understanding, reintroducing indigenous knowledge and traditions that 
tolerance and solidarity. Although lebollo is entirely a cultural have been rendered invisible and unheard. It pertains to 
institution providing ancestral-oriented education, it is capturing and articulating the knowledge, behaviours and 
always open to tolerate and work in solidarity with modern beliefs of the population that constitute the majority in terms 
demands for the betterment of Basotho society. For example, of numbers despite being the minority in terms of power.41 
in recognition that male circumcision reduces human Therefore, the viability of lebollo for peace-building education 
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection by at least 60%, does not necessarily entail its annihilation or consent to 
Lesotho took a dialogical initiative to involve lebollo, as it subjugation but rather a dialogic approach that acknowledges 
already incorporated circumcision into its health and sex lebollo’s ongoing colonial cultural resistance.
http://www.td-sa.net Open Access
Page 6 of 10 Original Research
Lebollo schooling and peace- skills such as tenacity, tolerance and selflessness are instilled 
building education through the deprivation technique, in which students are sometimes left stranded without basic necessities such as 
It is advocated in this article that peace-building education be shelter, water and food while being expected to be even more 
introduced using the lebollo pedagogy. Lebollo pedagogy is an thoughtful and vigilant.
indigenous Basotho pedagogy that, according to Burney’s42 
definition of indigenous pedagogy, refers to a broad-based Borapedi (spirituality) is at the heart of lebollo education. 
education philosophy, practice and reflection of the Other in Students are taught the value of their indigenous belief 
society, life and all aspects of representation in socio-economic systems and the necessity of religion in sustaining their 
and political life. It is pedagogy which symbolises a program, identity and connecting them with all created beings. 
a strategy and education that is interdependent and According to Gill,22 the belief in the relationship between the 
connected with the culture and history of the Other and the living and the dead is important to Basotho religion, which 
indigenous. Lebollo pedagogy is founded on Basotho postulates the ancestors’ continuous engagement in the 
philosophy of education, teaching and learning practice and affairs of the living, whose physical, material and moral well-
Basotho cultural life. It reflects the planned educational being is their concern. Students are taught how to maintain 
activities that stem from ancestral knowledge and have the good relations with their ancestors in order to gain ancestral 
ability to meet the demands of Basotho society in the past, support. To acquire ancestral protection and blessings, the 
present and future. living must follow certain moral standards and undertake 
particular social processes (including lebollo itself) that allow 
Lebollo pedagogy adheres to the epistemic principles of them to achieve botho (fuller humanity) and seriti (spiritual 
holism and communalism.43 Holism refers to the different strength). According to Maharasoa and Maharaswa,
44 
elements that comprise the self, which include intellectual, safeguarding national secrets (makunutu a sechaba) referred to 
spiritual, emotional and physical components. Holism also keeping lebollo activities secret as vital to moulding a people, 
refers to a method of teaching and learning that does not distinguishing it from others through what is taught in lebollo. 
separate learning experiences into subject areas, as Western Keeping lebollo secrets is regarded as the highest moral norm, 
education does.43 ’s pedagogy allows students to as it preserves Basotho identity. It protects the nation’s Lebollo
uniqueness and the importance of what makes Basotho 
reflect on the four dimensions of knowledge: (1) emotional, 
who they are against modern dilution and total mental 
(2) spiritual, (3) cognitive and (4) physical learning experiences. 
colonisation.
According to Maharasoa and Maharaswa44 and Letseka,28 
instruction and learning activities at lebollo are aimed 
Communalism is another epistemic assumption that 
at developing holistic interrelated competencies such as 
underpins lebollo education. African communalist 
bohloeki (purity), thuto-kelello (cognition), makhabane (virtues), epistemology emphasises that people cannot achieve their 
borapedi (spirituality [national unity and respect for social human attributes on their own or by themselves. Their 
structures]). Of course, there are other competencies, but the accomplishments are not dependent on willpower, memory 
ones described above are more relevant to peace-building or intellect, but rather on relationships with other people. 
education. Shutte45 explained that the concept of self is not anything 
inside a person or one’s mental characteristics or strength; it 
Purity or cleanliness (bohloeki) refers to the ability to maintain is something outside, derived from one’s relationships with 
mental, emotional and spiritual purity, that is, to think others and the world order. The individual can only say, ‘I 
carefully, to be pure in heart and spirit. These skills are am, because we are, and since we are, therefore I am’ (p. 41),45 
created via the telling of folktales.44 Critical thinking or ‘I am related, so I am, not I think, so I am’ (p. 54).46 This 
development promotes cognitive functionality by allowing expression is found in the Sesotho saying, ‘motho ke motho 
students to debate history and poems connected to the ka batho ba babang’, meaning a person is a person only 
socio-economic and political lives of the society. Critical through others. Consequently, lebollo uses a variety of 
thinking is intended to improve reasoning skills for the instructional strategies to instil communal values in the 
khotla (a traditional judicial and parliamentary institution) students. The seclusion approach, according to Magesa,47 is 
deliberations. The technique is a problem-based education, itself a planned psychological procedure in which students 
in which students are required to solve problems that are are isolated from their community in order to withstand 
representative of the community’s real life environment.44 physical and psychological constraints meant to instil a sense 
Hard effort, respect for all, humility, perseverance, tolerance, of collective yearning. As a result of their disengagement, the 
service to one’s homeland and patriotism are all emphasised students are trapped. Their sense of belonging is snatched 
in the lebollo curriculum. According to Maharasoa and from them. In this approach, they are taught to desire 
Maharaswa,44 there are two instructional strategies for connectedness to family and community while also being 
developing healthy moral behaviour. The first is aware of the perils of individuality. Communal competencies 
role-modelling, in which instructors are selected based on are also developed through the pedagogy of lebollo. According 
their strong moral standing in the community, as well as their to Maharasoa and Maharaswa,44 there is continuous 
substantial political, economic and social status. Students are integrated learning and assessment meant to identify each 
influenced to want to be like them. Emotional intelligence person’s strengths and weaknesses. The term ‘assessment’ 
http://www.td-sa.net Open Access
Page 7 of 10 Original Research
refers to the process of describing the areas in which students to UNESCO, teaches peace values and virtues such as 
best display their abilities. The students are assigned names compassion, friendliness, humaneness, sharing, respect and 
associated with their talents and skills (a form of caring, which lead to more descriptive terms of human action 
specialisation), which they must demonstrate in the such as empathy, hospitality, dignity, harmony, humility, 
community after completion of training. Examples are Lenepa forgiveness, responsibility, order, understanding, helping 
(the exact one), Leteba (the one who goes in depth) and Letsitsa and peace creation.
(the stable one). Lebollo graduates possess a clear sense of 
social responsibility aligned to their area of specialisation.44 Although lebollo and conventional peace education have a 
meeting point, this does not mean that the two are identical 
In light of this Basotho philosophy of education, it is clear or that one is submitting to another. As Monyela55 pointed 
that lebollo pedagogical approaches and international peace- out, in the lebollo education system, peace competencies are 
building education are inextricably linked. Starting with cultivated through torture, corporal punishment and inflicted 
holistic pedagogy, it is clear that authors in peace-building sacrifices. For example, trainees undergo physical training to 
education such as Mondal and Ghanta,48 Singh49 and overcome difficulties and pain in order to cultivate courage, 
UNESCO50 appeared to follow the definition of peace endurance, perseverance and obedience. Maharsoa and 
44
education offered by Schmidt and Friedman51 that ‘peace Maharaswa  further added that students at lebollo are often 
education is holistic’. It emphasised the physical, emotional, deprived of basic needs such as food, water, sleep and 
intellectual and social development of children within a affection, while they have to stay focused on the cause and 
system of values based on the traditional human values. think strategically about what needs to be done. Additionally, 
39
Schmidt and Friedman’s holistic approach to peace education Bullied  concurred that students at the lebollo school are 
leaves out the element of spirituality, but Magro52 argued that subjected to physical hardships, including nakedness in the 
for a comprehensive, transformative peace-building education, winter, beatings, starvation, torture and harassment and 
learning cannot be compartmentalised and viewed solely suffering the pain and complications associated with 
from a cognitive perspective but must include a spiritual circumcision surgery. In contrast, mainstream peace-building 
dimension. Learning, from a spiritual standpoint, does not education is said to be supported by a peaceful, safe and 
merely concern the intellect, but all aspects of human welcoming learning environment. According to UNESCO,
2 
factors that threaten a safe learning environment include 
existence, including the physical, emotional, aesthetic and 
53 those related to physical safety, such as corporal punishment; spiritual. Meyerhof  defined spirituality as a dynamic 
those related to emotional safety, such as bullying and 
process of consciousness and as a path of evolution which 
manipulation; those related to environmental safety, such as 
brings humans closer to themselves, the planet, their larger 
properly constructed schools, attacks, conflicts and natural 
cosmos and the eternal source of all that is. According to 
disasters; cognitive safety threats, such as malnutrition and 
Meyerhof,53 tapping into the spiritual dimension through indoctrination; and spirituality safety threats, such as a lack 
peace education allows people to feel connected, of spaces for silence and reflection. These factors are present 
interconnected and aligned with all humanity, animals, in lebollo, but UNESCO views them as incompatible with 
nature, economy and cosmos, leading to ethical, holistic and peace-building education.
responsible thinking and acting beyond all personal, national, 
ethical or religious boundaries. However, as previously indicated, the meeting point does 
not always refer to the sameness, but to the sameness in 
Lebollo’s communalist approach to teaching and learning difference. Drawing on interculturality theory, Walsh20 
appears to be replicated in UNESCO’s conventional peace- warned that the goal of indigenous pedagogy is to strengthen 
building education. Communalism is synonymous with and position the features of other epistemological logic, logic 
botho in Sesotho and ubuntu in Nguni. Swanson54 asserted that is not always based on equality among education 
that ubuntu is an expression of the philosophy that an systems. It is not intended to bring indigenous education up 
individual’s strength comes from community support and to the level of popularity of Westernised schooling or to open 
that dignity is achieved as a result of openness, empathy, up Westernised schooling to include indigenous education 
generosity and commitment, all of which foster a journey systems. Dr Letsie, a Western-educated doctor and proponent 
towards becoming human. According to Swanson,54 ubuntu of lebollo, underlined this argument at a consultation forum 
epistemology is a mode of knowing that encourages a path on male circumcision and HIV prevention hosted by the 
towards becoming human in a community of humans. It is an Government of Lesotho in 2006. Letsie argued that, while 
indigenous philosophy of ways of knowing (epistemology) traditionalists welcome the government’s acknowledgement 
and being (ontology). The African epistemology of ubuntu of lebollo’s contribution to HIV prevention, lebollo should not 
focuses on human relations by addressing people’s moral be confused with mainstream HIV medical male circumcision 
and spiritual conceptions of what it means to be human and (MMC). Letsie remarked that, while they are willing to adopt 
to have a relationship with the other. The United Nations the Ministry of Health’s proposed safe operation, lebollo 
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization1 affirmed activities remain secret, and that concealment has been and 
ubuntu pedagogy as a learning philosophy that may lead to continues to be an important component of the liberation 
the development of interconnectedness and interdependence struggle against colonialism.39 Indeed, as a school and 
among humans. The ubuntu educational approach, according cultural institution, lebollo serves as a base for colonial 
http://www.td-sa.net Open Access
Page 8 of 10 Original Research
resistance. During colonialism, Emile Ronald, a colonial than ‘making up’ or ‘getting along’ but a serious 
government official in Lesotho, designated lebollo as a centre reconsideration of the totality of relationships to other. 
of colonial resistance in a report on the status of administration. Decolonisation involves profound transformations of self, 
According to Rolland: community and social institutions. It means dismantling 
[T]he rules and character of this institution, as well as its symbolic colonial constructions of differences while reimagining and 
language understood only by the initiated, render it particularly rebuilding practices and institutions for the betterment of 
fit to be the means of a secret and conspiracy, and as long as it all. Considering the need for lebollo to be transformed and 
exists it will form a dead barrier to all improvements, and form a become an urgent of transformation, at HIV and AIDS 
dangerous engine capable of being set against the government … MMC consultation, Dr Letsie (a self-claimed custodian of 
This institution should be at once put down by proclamation, as lebollo) noted that lebollo was part of the liberation struggle 
a custom tending to immorality and dangerous to good against colonialism and that this struggle could be 
governance … This silly distinction conferred by [lebollo] will reoriented for liberation against the HIV scourge. Dr Letsie 
thereby disappear, and the ground taken away for jeer, for which argued that if lebollo were to be incorporated into the 
the black man in his own estimation considers himself to be 
56 mainstream HIV prevention, it would have to be purged of superior to white.  (p. 135)
certain elements and be modified to conform to the 21st-
39
Identifying lebollo as a cultural entry point for mainstream century requirements.  This means that the transformation 
peace-building education necessitates taking into account the of lebollo for peace education should come from within 
reality that the two are distinct, one from hegemonic culture rather than being imposed from without in order to conform 
and the other from resistance culture. Lebollo’s continued to Western peace-building education, thus maintaining 
resistance is evidence that internal colonialism has made colonial policy.
subservient the Basotho and their indigenous school system 
within their own country. Therefore, mainstreaming peace Conclusion
education into indigenous school systems requires a very This article proposes expanding peace-building education 
conscious approach. Based on their experience of Australian beyond the formal schooling system to encompass indigenous 
schools, Biemann and Townsend-Cross57 warned that education, primarily lebollo education. Lebollo is identified as 
indigenous systems of education are often used to achieve an ideal for expanding peace-building education in Lesotho. 
mainstream educational goals. They are often subsumed into Those involved in peace-building education should seek 
the canon of established Western parameters, which result in ways to work with the administrative bodies that oversee the 
them being dismembered and reassembled to fit into the nation’s lebollo education system, such as the traditional 
Western paradigm. In the view of Biermann and Townsend- leaders (marena), the high-ranking members of the National 
Cross,57 this strategy is in fact structural violence, as it Council of Culture and Heritage (Lekhotla la Mekhoa le Meetlo, 
introduces indigenous education in a manner that caters to LMM), traditional healers (lingaka tsa Sesotho) and the 
the interests of the Western educational system while 
National Initiation School Committee. The government, as 
maintaining the methodological and conceptual parameters 
the principal stakeholder, should encourage dialogue in 
of the Western educational system. In order to teach peace-
order to establish a peaceful framework for the teaching and 
building through lebollo, it is prudent to explore the 
learning of peace in the lebollo school system. Three issues 
opportunities offered by critical interculturality. As Walsh17 
argues, critical interculturality demands a dramatic shift in may hinder the government from leading the charge to 
the prevailing order, which is the foundation of Western introduce lebollo into the public space. In the first place, 
modernity, as well as the continuation of colonial power. It cooperation with lebollo instructors and traditional healers 
develops a conceptual understanding of the lived legacies of could indicate that the Lesotho government supports lebollo. 
colonisation, oppression, exclusion and colonial difference, For years, the Lesotho government has distanced itself from 
as well as the manifestation of these legacies in social cultural rituals such as lebollo as a means of developing 
structures and institutions, including education. Accordingly, Lesotho into a Christian, democratic and modern nation. 
it strives to reform, reconceptualise and reimagine systems Secondly, lebollo faces criticism from various social groups, 
and institutions in ways that bring contradictory, different particularly faith-based organisations such as World Vision, 
cultural logics, practices and ways of thinking, acting and which is vociferous in its opposition to lebollo, accusing it of 
living into balance. Interculturality, in this view, is an ongoing increasing school dropouts and child marriage. Thirdly, in 
and active process of negotiation and interaction that does 2004, the government attempted a top-down initiative 
not eradicate difference. Instead, it aims to foster new through legislation to regulate and institutionalise lebollo. 
understandings, coexistences, solidarities and joint efforts The motion was withdrawn even before it could be presented 
between communities.17 to Parliament. Members of parliament who attended lebollo 
feared that discussing delicate Basotho culture with people 
While lebollo maintains its stance of colonial resistance, it also who opposed it would betray it (in other words, to betray the 
engages in the decolonisation process of creating new resistance to colonialism). Nonetheless, a nonviolent strategy 
possibilities for new social orders founded on peaceful devoid of colonial violence and based on mutual respect can 
principles of life, fulfilling for all. As Biermann and bring lebollo on board for peace-building education, just as it 
Townsend-Cross57 presupposes, decolonisation implies more happened in response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic.
http://www.td-sa.net Open Access
Page 9 of 10 Original Research
Acknowledgements 18. Fleuri RM, Fleuri LJ. Learning from Brazilian indigenous peoples. Aust J Indig Educ. 2017;47(1):8–18. https://doi.org/10.1017/jie.2017.28
Competing interests 19. Santos B. Epistemologies of the South and the future. From the European South [homepage on the Internet]. 2016 [cited 2021 Dec 05]. Available from: http://
europeansouth.postcolonialitalia.it
The author has declared that no competing interest exists.
20. Walsh C. ‘Other’ knowledges, ‘Other’ critiques: Reflections on the politics and 
practices of philosophy and decoloniality in the ‘Other’ America. Transmodernity. 
2012;1(3):11–27. https://doi.org/10.5070/T413012880
Author’s contributions 21. Walsh C. Shifting the geopolitics of critical knowledge: Decolonial thought and 
cultural studies ‘others’ in the Andes. Cult Stud. 2007;21(2):224–239. http://doi.
R.I.M. is the sole author of this research article. org/10.1080/09502380601162530
22. Gill SJ. A short history of Lesotho. Morija: Morija Museum & Archives; 2010.
Ethical considerations 23. Matŝela ZA. The indigenous education of the Basotho and its implications for educational development in Lesotho [Doctoral dissertations]. Boston, MA: 
University of Massachusetts; 1979.
This article followed all ethical standards for research without 24. Machobane LBBJ. Missionary practice and the African reaction: A case of Barolong 
direct contact with human or animal subjects. and Basotho in the nineteenth century. In: LBBJ Machobane, TL Manyeli, editors. Essays on religion and culture among Basotho. Maseru: Mazenod Publishers, 
2001; p. 127–151.
Funding information 25. Matobo TA, Makatsa M, Obioha EE. Continuity in the traditional initiation practice of boys and girls in contemporary Southern Africa Society. Stud Tribes Tribals, 
2009;7(2):105–113. https://doi.org/10.1080/0972639X.2009.11886600
This research received no specific grant from any funding 26. Ngale IF. Lebollo as a Basotho indigenous knowledge framework for human and 
agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. organizational flourishing. J Anthropol Archaeol Sci. 2021;4(2):475–481. https://
doi.org/10.32474/JAAS.2021.04.000181
27. Mabena, David Khuwa. The role of initiation schools in the identity formation of 
Data availability Southern Ndebele adolescent boys [Masters dissertation]. University of South Africa; 1999.
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data 28. Letseka, M. Educating for Ubuntu/Botho: Lessons from Basotho indigenous education. Open J Philos. 2013;3(2):337–344. https://doi.org/10.4236/
were created or analysed in this study. ojpp.2013.34a005
29. Goslin DA. The function of the school in modern society. In: S Foreman, editor. The 
school in contemporary society. Arlington, VA: American Institute of Research, 
Disclaimer 1965; p. 1–10.
30. Saldana J. Power and conformity in today’s schools. Int J Humanit Soc Sci. 
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of 2013;3(1):228–232.
the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or 31. Hakim-Larson J, Menna R. Acculturation and enculturation: Ethnic identity socialization processes. In: MM Amer, GH Awad, editors. Handbook of Arab 
position of any affiliated agency of the author. American psychology. London: Routledge, 2016; p. 34–47.
32. Osaat SD, Asomeji AI. The philosophical bases for African indigenous education: 
Implications for Nigerian education. J Qual Educ. 2017;13(1):1–7.
References 33. Granados-Beltrán C. Critical interculturality: A path for pre-service ELT teachers. 
Íkala Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura. 2016;21(2):171–187. http://doi.org/10.17533/
1. Galtung, J. ‘Three approaches to peace: Peacekeeping, peacemaking and udea.ikala.v21n02a04
peacebuilding’. Impact Sci Soc. 1976:1/2(25–29):282–461. 34. Matambo, E. Formal against indigenous and informal education in sub-Saharan 
2. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Transformative Africa: The battle without winners. Indilinga Afr J Indigenous Knowledge Systems. 
pedagogy for peace building: A guide for teachers. Addis Ababa: UNESCO-IICBA; 2018;17(1):1–13.
2017. 35. Makatjane T, Hlabana T, Letete E. Male circumcision and HIV in Lesotho: Is the 
3. Matlosa K. Pondering the culture of violence in Lesotho: A case for demilitarisation. relationship real or spurious? Analysis of the 2009 demographic and health 
J Contemp Afr Stud. 2020;38(3):381–398. https://doi.org/10.1080/02589001.202 survey. Maryland, MD: ICF International. 2016; p. 1–34.
0.1749246 36. Integrated Regional Information Networks News (IRIN). Boys quit school to 
4. De Wet C. School violence in Lesotho: The perceptions, experiences and become men. The New Humanitarian [homepage on the Internet]. 2011 [cited 
observations of a group of learners. S Afr J Edu. 2007;(27):673–689. 2022 Jan 15]. Available from: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org
5. Lekhetho M. The impact of free primary education on access and quality of 37. UNESCO. The culture of peace and UNESCO’s action. Paris: UNESCO; 1998.
primary education in Lesotho. Int J Edu Sci. 2013;5(4):397–405. https://doi.org/1
0.1080/09751122.2013.11890101 38. Navarro-Castro L, Nario-Galace J. Peace education: A pathway to a culture of peace. Quezon: Center for Peace Education; 2010.
6. UNICEF. Lesotho education fact sheets 2021: Analyses for learning and equity 
using MICS data. Maseru: UNICEF Lesotho. 2021. 39. Ministry of Health. Report on male circumcision and HIV prevention country 
consultation meeting. Maseru: Ministry of Health; 2006.
7. UN. Declaration on a culture of peace. Paris: United Nations; 1999.
40. Bulled NL. New lives for old: Modernity, biomedicine, traditional culture and HIV 
8. Navarro-Castro L, Nario-Galace J. Peace education: A pathway to a culture of prevention in Lesotho. Global Discourse. 2013;3(2):1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080
peace. Quezon City: Centre for Peace Education. 2010. /23269995.2013.804700
9. Ukpabi SC. Western education and African culture. Présence Africaine. 41. Guilherme M. The critical and decolonial quest for intercultural epistemologies 
1970;(3):163–172. https://doi.org/10.3917/presa.075.0163 and discourses. J Multicult Discourses. 2019;14(1):1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/
10. Dungey CE, Ansell N. ‘I go to school to survive’: Facing physical, moral and 17447143.2019.1617294
economic uncertainties in rural Lesotho. Child Geogr. 2020;18(6):614–628. 42. Burney S. Toward a pedagogy of the other: Interculturalism, inclusiveness, 
https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2020.1822514 interdisciplinarity. Counterpoints. 2012;(417):195–208.
11. The World Bank in Lesotho. Country economic overview. The World Bank Lesotho 
[homepage on the Internet]. 2021 [cited 2022 Jan 05]. Available from: https:// 43. Morcom LA. Indigenous holistic education in philosophy and practice, with 
www.worldbank.org/en/country/lesotho/overview#1 wampum as a case study. Foro de Educación. 2017;15(23):121–138. https://doi.org/10.14516/fde.572
12. Liphoto N. Keeping an eye on initiation schools. Maseru: The Post 2022 Feb 15. 44. Maharasoa MMA, Maharaswa MB. Men’s initiation schools as a form of higher 
13. The Central Bank of Lesotho. The economic impact of youth unemployment in education within the Basotho indigenous knowledge systems. 2004;18(3):106–
Lesotho. Econ Rev. 2012;(148):1–8. 114. https://doi.org/10.4314/sajhe.v18i3.25484
14. Grist H. The Dennis Potter Heritage Project: Auto/Ethnography as process and 45. Shutte A. Philosophy for Africa. Cape Town: UCT Press (Pty) Ltd; 1993.
product. eSharp [serial Online]. 2013 [cited 2021 Nov 28];(20):1–25. Available 
from: http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_279208_en.pdf 46. Bujo B. The ethical dimension of community. Nairobi: Pauline Publications Africa; 
1998.
15. Ellis C, Adams TE, Bochner AP. Autoethnography: An overview. Hist Soc Res. 
2011;36(4):273–290. https://doi.org/10.12759/hsr.36.2011.4.273-290 47. Magesa L. The moral: African traditional religion of abundant life. Nirobi: Pauline 
Publications Africa; 1998.
16. Anderson L. Analytic autoethnography. J Contem Ethnogr. 2006;35(4):373–395. 
https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0891241605280449 48. Mondal M, Ghanta B. Theoretical perspectives of peace education. Int J Res Anal 
Rev. 2018;5(3):1842–1847.
17. Walsh C. Interculturality and decoloniality. In: W Mignolo, C Walsh, editors. On 
decoloniality: Concepts, analytics, praxis. Durham: Duke University Press, 2018; 49. Singh K. Concerns of school in nurturing peace education. TechnoLEARN. 
p. 60–80. 2015;5(1–2):9–13. https://doi.org/10.5958/2249-5223.2015.00002.9
http://www.td-sa.net Open Access
Page 10 of 10 Original Research
50. UNESCO. Learning the way of peace: A teachers’ guide to peace education. New 54. Swanson DM. Ubuntu: An African contribution to (re)search for/with a ‘humble 
Delhi: UNESCO; 2001. togetherness’. J Contem Issues Educ. 2007;2(2):53–67. https://doi.org/10.20355/
51. Schmidt F, Friedman A. Peacemaking skills for little kids. Miami: Peace Education C5PP4X
Foundation; 1988. 55. Monyela NC. The experiences of newly initiated Basotho men in selected 
52. Magro K. Teaching for social justice and peace education: Promising pathways for Botshabelo High Schools, Free-State Province [Master’s Degree dissertation]. 
transformative learning. J Peace Res. 2015; 47(1/2):109–141. University of the Free State; 2017.
53. Meyerhof N. From peace education to education for spiritual peace building. 56. Rolland ES. ‘Notes on the political and social position of the Basotho tribe’. 
Federation of World Peace and Love [homepage on the Internet] 2016. [cited Lesotho Natl Arch. 1868;IV(1):125–151.
2022 Jan 16]. Available from: http://www.fowpal.org/peak-view/peace- 57. Biermann S, Townsend-Cross M. Indigenous pedagogy as a force for change. Aust 
education-education-spiritual-peace-building J Indig Educ. 2008;37(S1):146–154. https://doi.org/10.1375/S13260111 0000048X
http://www.td-sa.net Open Access