South African Journal of Higher Education最新文献

{"title":"Is democracy still relevant in South African higher education?","authors":"Y. Waghid, N. Davids","doi":"10.20853/36-2-5142","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/36-2-5142","url":null,"abstract":"At least, over the past four decades post-colonial African higher education has undergone significant changes in the quest to cultivate democratic educational / pedagogical actions in universities. From its early insistence on deliberative action (Waghid 2001), more recently, it assumed the forms of both ethical pursuits (Davids and Waghid 2016) and caring (Waghid 2019). Yet, as South Africa continues its unprecedented transition into a democracy, it is becoming abundantly evident that what is needed in higher education should surpass deliberative, ethical, and caring encounters. The expectation that a democratic climate would ease the deep inequalities in higher education, would somehow set the scene for a renewal of knowledge, and restore opportunities for historically marginalised communities, lies in limbo. Instead, what we witness is the awakening of renewed resistance – this time, not against an unjust apartheid regime, but against a democracy that seems incapable of yielding to its own ideals. In this article, therefore, we argue that for higher education to enact its democratic imperative – that is, its transformative ideals, necessary not only for its own public thriving, but for its citizenship – it ought to invoke the idea of resistance (Davids and Waghid 2021).","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67714284","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"University lecturers’ preparedness to use technology in teacher training of mathematics during COVID-19: The case of Ethiopia","authors":"F. Machaba, T. Bedada","doi":"10.20853/36-3-4560","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/36-3-4560","url":null,"abstract":"The study aimed to investigate Ethiopian university lecturers’ readiness to use technology for teaching mathematics at the tertiary level during the COVID-19 pandemic when they were compelled to adapt to distant education. Using Google Forms, online questionnaires were distributed to 41 lecturers in three Ethiopian universities, of whom eighteen participated. Before the research, the questionnaire was piloted with eight lecturer participants to categorise questions and validate the instrument using the Rasch measurement model. The questionnaire was locally developed based on guidelines from the literature. It purposed to investigate university lecturers’ individual preparedness for technological instruction in terms of their knowledge, beliefs and current, and historical exposure to this mode of instruction. As a counterbalance, some circumstantial factors influencing their readiness were investigated too. Lecturers’ optimistic beliefs about using educational technologies have been found to contrast with some disabling circumstantial factors. This study revealed that the lecturers were generally able and interested in integrating technology into the teaching process but that barriers, primarily at the institutional level, hindered them from doing so. In addition to the technologies suggested in the questionnaire, participants enriched the research findings by adding more possible technologies that lecturers may use for educational purposes. The data was analysed using WINSTEPS (Student Version of WINSTEPS 4.7.0.0) and SPSS version 20. The results showed the reliability of using the instrument was 0.77 based on Cronbach’s alpha. The PT-measure correlation value determined the construct validity (PMC), ranging from 0.23 to 0.71 except item PUT15’s infit and outfit MNSQ between 0.1 to 1.86 and ZSTD range -1.05 to 1.61, which was acceptable. The fit statistics showed that the person separation index, 1.97, was considered good and that the item separation index, 0.63 was within an acceptable range. Person and item reliability were at 0.8 and 0.28, respectively. The result indicated that the new instrument with five items after eliminating unfit items (such as items FAT19, PTT10, KDT1, PTT8 and PTT 12) was reliable and valid to measure the use of technology in the teaching and learning process of the university lecturers.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67714512","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Academic advising and ethic of care: Enabling belonging to enhance higher education students’ prospects of success","authors":"D. De Klerk","doi":"10.20853/36-6-5485","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/36-6-5485","url":null,"abstract":"The South African (SA) higher education sector continues to battle high attrition rates. Helping students gain a sense of belonging while at university and creating an environment where students feel cared for can enhance their prospects of success. Academic advising is a high-impact practice with the potential to enhance student belonging and success. This article proposes intentionally linking Tronto’s Ethic of Care (EoC) and academic advising for SA higher education contexts. The author argues that the dimensions of Tronto’s EoC (attentiveness, responsibility, competence, and responsiveness) are relevant to the work of SA advisors. These dimensions are used as a framework for analysing interview data collected from 15 academic advisors from one university. The findings suggest that elements of Tronto’s EoC are present in the advisors’ work, though not explicitly. The author argues that integrating EoC and advising more intentionally in SA higher education contexts, could enable a greater sense of belonging for students. Keywords: academic advising, belonging, care, caring, ethic of care, higher education, South Africa, student advising, student success","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67714880","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring the views of academics on an academic leadership program in higher education","authors":"J. Frantz, J. Marais, M. Du Plessis","doi":"10.20853/36-1-4327","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/36-1-4327","url":null,"abstract":"Leadership in higher education institutions has been receiving growing interest, because of the role institutions play in developing students to become leaders in the broader society. However, institutions have to equip staff, adequately, with leadership skills, first, and one way of doing this, is through a leadership development programme for academic staff. The purpose of this current study was to explore and describe the impact of an academic leadership development programme, based on the perceptions of the participants. In this study, a qualitative, exploratory descriptive, research design was employed. Thirteen (13) participants were purposively selected to participate in the study. Data were collected using individual, open-ended, face-to-face interviews. The data were transcribed, verbatim, and analysed, using thematic analysis. Four key themes emerged: (1) emotional responses to the programme; (2) professional application of skills; (3) benefits from the programme; and (4) recommendations. The programme had an impact on both the personal and professional lives of the participants, which is evidence of the truly transformative nature of the programme. The study, however, is limited because the researchers only sought to explore the perceived impact of a leadership development programme. To determine the true impact, it would need to be studied, using multiple sources.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67714161","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"From pandemic disruption to post-pandemic transformation: New possibilities for teaching in South African higher education","authors":"K. Brodie, A. Joffe, S. Dukhan, S. Godsell, D. De Klerk, K. Padayachee","doi":"10.20853/36-4-5180","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/36-4-5180","url":null,"abstract":"The COVID-19 pandemic has had previously unimaginable and far-reaching effects on higher education globally (Baker et al. 2022; Cranfield et al. 2021; Kara 2021; Le Grange 2020). On top of the widespread loss felt by students and teachers across the world, we have had to make rapid changes to previously taken-for-granted ways of doing, being, learning and teaching (Baker et al. 2022; Cranfield et al. 2021). Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning (ERTL) brought constraints and opportunities, challenges and innovations. This article gives form to the statement: “there is an opportunity in the moment for genuine equity-focused innovation in policy-making, provision and pedagogy” (Czerniewicz et al. 2020). We use a theoretical framework of structure, culture and agency through which to view possibilities for transformation of pedagogy, and a form of semi-autoethnography as methodology. Two lecturers, one in the Humanities (Education) and one in the Life Sciences, wrote extended narratives of their experiences of ERTL and the other authors then posed a series of questions to the story authors, which elicited a set of analytic descriptions and explanations. Through iterations of this analysis, we identified two important themes: attending to students’ socio-emotional needs and developing students’ engagement, self-regulation and reflexivity. The analysis identifies key opportunities and challenges that these required and how they were addressed by the lecturers concerned. Based on the analysis and drawing on Case’s (2015b) argument for an expanded sense of agency for students, we argue that the lecture is a key structural and cultural element of the university space that was disrupted during the pandemic and can be transformed going forward. We thus argue for decentering the lecture. Furthermore, we argue that care and concern for students has not been a primary cultural element of teaching and learning in higher education, for structural reasons, and that it should be an integral part of pedagogies going forward.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67714355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Work-Integrated Learning for lecturers at a TVET college in the Western Cape","authors":"Oosthuizen L. J., S. J., Chigano A.","doi":"10.20853/36-3-4689","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/36-3-4689","url":null,"abstract":"TVET colleges in South Africa are primarily tasked with preparing students for the workplace. However, employers noted dissatisfaction in the skills and abilities of students entering the workplace. A possible reason for the poor preparation of students may have been found in past research. The curriculum at TVET colleges, as elsewhere in higher education, is very Eurocentric and theoretical in nature. The need for decolonisation of the curriculum thus arises. A decolonized curriculum prepares students to work in a variety of social contexts and considers issues like poverty, inequality and unemployment. A decolonized curriculum needs to include content and context derived from local sources, and need to connect theory with practice. It is thus expected of TVET lecturers to interpret and link theoretical content from the curriculum to the needs of local sources, workplaces and industry. TVET lecturers thus need to have knowledge and experiences from a variety of backgrounds. Past research indicated certain lecturers lack workplace experience and qualifications. It was found that intermediate and FET (grade 10‒11) qualified teachers and graduates from universities who lack workplace experience are employed at TVET colleges. Lecturers who lack workplace experience may find it difficult to link content with the needs of the industry for which they have to prepare their students and may not know how to link theory with practice during lessons. Teaching and learning at TVET colleges require concrete experiences and deliberate encounters. Actual, concrete experiences change the perspectives of students and lecturers and affects them profoundly, which can be seen as a pedagogic piligrimage (Davids and Waghid 2019, 7). To address the latter, SSACI, a Swiss-South African initiative launched a work-integrated learning (WIL) project to identify lecturers that are only equipped with a teaching qualification and lack workplace experience. The work-integrated learning program flared up lecturer’s experience of work-integrated learning and increased motivation and enthusiasm, as they were able to integrate the examples learned from the workplace, to make lessons and lesson preparation more interesting. In addition, lecturers were able to tell students what to expect after graduation when they enter the workplace. A factor that negatively influences the effectiveness of work-integrated learning is the lack of policy supporting the program.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67714677","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Belonging, wellbeing and stress with online learning during COVID-19","authors":"S. Blignaut, G. Pheiffer, A. Visser, L. le Grange, S. Maistry, L. Ramrathan, S. Simmonds","doi":"10.20853/36-6-5525","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/36-6-5525","url":null,"abstract":"Sense of belonging, perceived stress and wellbeing are reported factors that influence students’ university experience and learning. The COVID-19 pandemic and shift to online emergency remote teaching were likely to exacerbate these affective dimensions of student experience. This article employed a quantitative survey research design to determine how students’ sense of belonging, perceived stress and wellbeing were influenced during the pandemic. An online questionnaire was administered to 537 South African students at one residential university. Data analysis was performed using multiple regression analysis. The results indicated that platform pedagogy was a significant predictor of belonging, perceived stress, and wellbeing, while lecturers’ pedagogical competence was not. Lived learning experience of online learning was a significant predictor of perceived stress, and communication was a significant predictor of belonging. The importance of the learning environment in student belonging and wellbeing is key to student success and this study provides insights for developing targeted interventions. Keywords: university students, sense of belonging, perceived stress, wellbeing, platform pedagogy","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67715529","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring the developmental trajectory of becoming a student leader: Developmental, transformational and transactional approaches to leadership","authors":"N. C. Sokhela, P. B. B. Murhula","doi":"10.20853/36-5-4533","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/36-5-4533","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this research is to examine the developmental trajectory of students’ leadership. The developmental trajectory of student leadership is dependent upon several interacting theoretical foundations such as developmental, transformational and transactional approaches to leadership. All these approaches are specific and interactional which makes them feasible choices for the theoretical foundation about students’ leadership. Using a qualitative research approach and drawing on interviews conducted with students’ leaders of the University College Cork in Ireland, the results indicated that students’ leaders are very much influenced in their choices and actions by considerations for their future, and the development of skills and experiences that will provide personal and organisational benefit to those involved. Whilst leadership styles at this stage of their development seemed to be in a state of flux and had not been fully honed within students’ leaders, there were notable findings relating to the importance of them to be mentored by experienced leaders from their institution. Keywords: students, leadership, students' leadership, higher education","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67715212","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Self-identity discrepancy theory: Exploring returning South African Cuban-trained medical students sense of belonging","authors":"B. Donda, V. Singaram, R. Hift","doi":"10.20853/36-6-5526","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/36-6-5526","url":null,"abstract":"Background: The Nelson Mandela-Fidel Castro Collaboration programme (NMFCMC) between South Africa and Cuba was established in 1996. South African students, undergo five years of medical training in Cuba and finish the final eighteen months of training in South Africa. These students experience academic difficulties on their return. Methods: All twelve NMFCMC students enrolled at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2015 participated in this study. Data were elicited using focus group interviews, narrative interviews, found photovoice and the Collage Life Story Elicitation Technique. Results: Challenges faced by participants resulted in identity discrepancy, which in turn promoted unfavourable attitudes, affect, psychological and physical behaviours towards participants’ belongingness. Conclusion: Returning NMFCMC students experienced difficulties in assimilation due to identity discrepancies and frustrated sense of belonging. Focusing on reinforcing positive aspects of identity, and interpersonal relationships through moderating the tendency of local teachers and students to emphasise the “otherness” of the NMFCMC student is crucial. Keywords: medical education, discrepancy theory, consequences of identity incongruence, sense of belonging, Nelson Mandela Fidel Castro Medical Collaboration Programme, South Africa","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67715617","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Why Read (Diffractively)?","authors":"P. Du Preez, J. du Toit","doi":"10.20853/36-1-4837","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/36-1-4837","url":null,"abstract":"Academics should produce quality scholarly research. However, the demands of the marketised, neoliberal higher education institution and the increase in the academic’s bureaucratic and administrative tasks do not allow for adequate engagement with the deep work and slow forms of scholarship that are needed to produce cutting-edge and insightful research. Many academics find it challenging to think critically and creatively under such conditions, yet they are unwilling to fill their time with shallow work instead. Thus, they are torn between producing an institutionally-determined number of research outputs, and striving towards producing quality scholarly work that advances knowledge in the academic’s discipline. Reading groups serve to rework this tension by providing a communal and scheduled place and mind-space for reading major academic works. Reading takes time and persistence. We find that setting aside time and creating creative spaces for reading groups offer an opportunity for silent revolt against the pressures of the higher education institution. In this (post)qualitative inquiry we diffractively read – “through one another” – two autoethnographical accounts to experiment with our experiences of various reading groups over a period of three years while positioning ourselves in relation to Barad’s notion of diffraction. This speculative experimentation entails a myriad of ideas and methods that serve to decentre hegemonic, monolithic knowledge systems through seeking alternative ways of knowing, and recognises the importance of the entanglement of matter and meaning in tracing (and countering) the social relations produced in neoliberalist contexts. Such (re)thinking is thus a vital counterpoint to the neoliberal obsessions of the higher education context, (re)directing the scholar to new non-autonomous and mutable landscapes.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67713791","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}