Pedagogy of incoko: challenges in adapting conversational forms as a praxis of student care and engagement in the context of digital learning in South Africa

In this article we explore and conceptualise incoko, conversationalism, as a critical praxis and pedagogy of care in our university teaching practice. In “normal” times, it is the conversations in the classroom, in the halls as we pass students and in seminars that help us make the human connection and foster belonging and engagement as we work and inhabit the university as a learning and working space. The conditions of Covid-19 have dramatically disrupted and made impossible organic opportunities for ukuncokola that characterise university life. This has compelled us to rethink how we can convey care, belonging and learning on digital platforms. We observe that digital platforms not only close down spaces for conversationalism but also open up opportunities for new networks of engagement that widen and deepen learning and engagement. We also find that these platforms have opened up rich opportunities for ukuncokola, more intimately and closely across space and geography. By abolishing constraints of space, travel and funding, the digital world opens up creative opportunities — engaging elders in intergenerational conversation, or non-university scholars such as musicians and activists — that foster community, care and belonging in the virtual university.