South African Journal of Higher Education最新文献

{"title":"Promoting access to, and success in postgraduate education in South Africa: A synthesis of emerging issues","authors":"A. Saidi","doi":"10.20853/38-1-6304","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/38-1-6304","url":null,"abstract":"This article evinces that policies and plans at the national level in South Africa recognise the importance of postgraduate education within the broader national education and training system, and that they place particular emphasis on promoting access to, and success in postgraduate education as one of the priorities on the country’s development agenda. It identifies and discusses ten issues that have a bearing on the national policies, plans, programmes and initiatives aimed at promoting access to, and success in postgraduate education. These issues emerge from the analysis, triangulation, and interpretation of sets of information and data obtained from multiple projects focusing on postgraduate education, that the Council on Higher Education has implemented since 2018. They are therefore referred to as “emerging issues”. They include the relatively small size of the postgraduate component of higher education, the pyramidal structure of the distribution of students across the different levels of postgraduate education, and the offsetting of the increase in the numbers of graduates produced at all levels of postgraduate education, by a corresponding increase in the numbers of students taking longer to complete their studies than the periods stipulated by the institutions, and by relatively high dropout rates. Other issues are about transformation, student funding, inadequate supervisory capacity, under-preparedness of students, and lack of adequate support services for postgraduate students. The article sets the scene for, and context of the other articles contained in this special issue of the South African Journal of Higher Education, and prepares the readers to understand and appreciate the contents of those articles.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140255957","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":"Promoting student success in online post-graduate studies at a South African University: The role of professional and administrative support","authors":"E. Johannes, L. Lalendle","doi":"10.20853/38-1-6277","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/38-1-6277","url":null,"abstract":"Post-graduate online students studying in cohorts are expected to collaborate effectively with their peers and instructors in the virtual environment and are presumed to have the necessary skills needed for self-directed online learning. However, studies have shown that the low retention and success rates in online learning could be attributed to individual students experiencing a sense of isolation in a community of online students. Providing various non-academic support is as crucial for ensuring success as academic support services. More importantly, the support should acknowledge and address the unique set of skills, experiences, and expectations of the individual student in the community of online learners. This study aimed to ascertain whether professional and administrative student support that focused on the individual needs of the post-graduate student promotes retention and success in online studies. A qualitative case study at a business school at a South African higher education institution evaluated the professional and administrative support types, range and timing in promoting success in online post-graduate studies. This included the content analysis of key documents such as the self-evaluation report and the survey report on evaluation, impact and lifelong learning of a post-graduate qualification, followed by a focus-group session to ascertain staff perceptions of the professional and administrative services and resources in promoting success in online post-graduate studies. Using Simpson’s Proactive Motivational Support model (PaMS) as a lens, the study revealed a lack of motivational aspects of student support for online post-graduate students. Furthermore, the results affirmed the presumption of post-graduate students as a homogenous group prepared to succeed in online learning communities. Moreover, that limited provision was made to support online post-graduate students from remote areas and for those with disabilities. The study concludes that a more personalised approach to student support will motivate post-graduate students to become successful self-directed students in a community of online learners. Moreover, a focused school, college and institutional approach and an integrated inter- and intra-institutional collaboration are needed to enhance self-directed learning, foster a sense of belonging, and promote success in online post-graduate studies.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140256085","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":"Balanced-integration: A dimension of supervision to support students navigating parenthood in pursuit of a PhD","authors":"S. Nkoala","doi":"10.20853/38-1-6270","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/38-1-6270","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the experiences of doctoral students juggling parental and professional roles. It proposes a balanced-integration approach in the reflective supervisor framework to tailor support. The research focuses on identifying challenges and evaluating the approach’s effectiveness, suggesting supervisors should serve as advocates for well-being and motivation. With the South African government’s National Development Plan aiming for a higher education sector that can produce more than 100 doctoral graduates per one million of the population by 2030, it is imperative to understand PhD student’s simultaneous identities as parents and professionals who must balance the demands of their studies, families and careers. The study advances a balanced-integration approach for supervising this demographic, with supervisors serving as advocates for the holistic well-being of these students, architects of personalised academic pathways, and catalysts for motivation inspired by family commitments. This approach adds a fifth dimension to Pearson and Kayrooz’s four factors of facilitative supervisory practice. The methodology is a descriptive quantitative study research design and a cross-sectional approach based on online surveys completed by 47 respondents from 13 South African higher education institutions and eight from abroad (n = 55).","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140256329","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":"Research and postgraduate supervision during the Coronavirus-19 pandemic: Lessons learned","authors":"A. Chigona, L. Sosibo","doi":"10.20853/38-1-6281","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/38-1-6281","url":null,"abstract":"The Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic imposed new demands for conducting research and postgraduate supervision online. Face-to-face interactions between supervisors and research participants were limited. Consequently, there was heightened attention to the use of information communications technology (ICTs) to mitigate the disruptions. There is not much research on postgraduate supervision during COVID-19. This interpretative-phenomenological qualitative case study analysed innovative strategies that nine purposely selected supervisors reported to have used to manage postgraduate research and supervision during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected through online open-ended questionnaires sent to the supervisors. The constructivist theory underpinned this study. Results showed that while the pandemic was devastating, academic institutions learnt many good lessons regarding leveraging digital technologies for postgraduate students’ supervision. Innovative online supervision pedagogies were invaluable for both supervisors and students. Therefore, during the post COVID-19 era, supervisors must continue leveraging the use of digital technologies in postgraduate supervision to reduce costs and increase master’s and doctoral students’ throughputs and outputs.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140256282","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":"Decentralised systemising of Scholarship of Engagement in higher education towards societal impact","authors":"P. September-Brown, P. Daniels, C. Hart","doi":"10.20853/37-4-5307","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/37-4-5307","url":null,"abstract":"In this article, a case study is presented for the development of a Scholarship of Engagement (SoE) engagement database, to map the engagement footprint of the university, and develop a Knowledge Management System (KMS) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), in order to facilitate the process of knowledge sharing. The aim of this article is to discuss a process of creating baseline data, to explore and profile the institution’s SoE landscape, and facilitate a decentralised system of the SoE, based on an integrated approach to the institutionalisation of the SoE. The sharing of exemplars are important; consequently, in this article the context and role of the Community Engagement Unit (CEU), as well as the motivation for embarking on the project are explained. Additionally, the process from conceptualization, through implementation, to reflections on lessons learnt, and the future path of decentralisation, are plotted and documented. All partners pilot an integrative approach to implementation, to facilitate acceptance and uptake, while enablers that facilitate the process are identified, and decentralisation for the protection of academic freedom is highlighted. This case study is relevant to other universities, especially those on the African continent, as we attend to the broader decolonialisation agenda, which presents an exemplar for the duplication, adaptation, and creation of a SoE database, for universities to profile and present their anchoring in communities, following the principles of engagement that are aligned to transformation and social justice.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134997229","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":"Pedagogical dilemma in teacher education: Bridging the theory practice gap","authors":"H. Phillips, J. Condy","doi":"10.20853/37-2-4610","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/37-2-4610","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how teacher educators are preparing pre-service teachers to “learn from practice” which the policy on the minimum requirements for teacher education aspires to and which has its focus on campus-based teaching with the aim of narrowing the practice-theory divide. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative approach through a phenomenological lens, provided opportunities for teacher educators, pre-service final year students and in-service teachers to share personal perspectives of their training experiences. Semi-structured and focus group interviews were specifically structured to solicit perceptions of the practical component of the course. Findings: Pre-service teachers feel that teacher educators are “out of touch” with what happens in classrooms and are not adequately trained to prepare them for the world of teaching. There is evidence that a misalignment exists between how training occurs on campus and what students are facing in the school classroom and this needs to be bridged. Campus courses should be carefully constructed and coordinated with field experiences to effectively guide and support student teacher learning. Originality: Empirical evidence is provided by the most eligible stakeholders i.e., teacher educators, pre-service teachers and in-service teachers, who were able to present their objective and practical views on the realities of their experiences with pre-service teachers’ preparedness to merge theory and practice successfully in a classroom.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67715390","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":"An auto ethnographic reflection of service learning: A higher education perspective","authors":"J. Ramdhani","doi":"10.20853/37-2-4803","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/37-2-4803","url":null,"abstract":"Higher education institutions recognize the importance of committing, assimilating, and applying education for sustainable development (ESD) into their curriculum to realize the Sustainable Development Goals. The intention of such a commitment assists in creating a culture of students who are actively engaged. Committed to the notion of teaching and teacher education for social change, in this article, I discuss my conceptualization of service-learning through my experience in higher education. Service-learning has been defined as a mode of “experiential education that integrates meaningful community service into the curriculum” (Nives 2015, 1). My perception is that by adopting service-learning for pre-service commerce teachers, there will be a shift in how social justice issues (Frederick, Cave, and Perencevich 2010) can be infused as a meaningful community service approach within the curriculum. In undertaking such steps, I highlight the nuances of power in these programs in this article. Service-learning is adopted through constructive and cooperative strategies to address the engagement questions that underpin the modules. In the academic and method module, these approaches allow pre-service students to be aware and reflect on their prior encounters and experiences of social justice issues, such as poverty, to mention but one. Drawing on both Dewey and Gwele, this article highlights the lecturer’s experience of assisting students to deliberate service-learning and participate as democratic citizens. In this article, I unpack my notions of service-learning as a subjective experience of the processes and product of service-learning as a didactic approach. This article introduces a platform to re-think and reconnoitre service-learning in higher education through this complex story. The discussion and recommendations of engineering and reengineering the concept, process, and urgency of incorporating service-learning in Higher Education curricula are discussed, and recommendations for future research are made.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67715406","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":"The extent of coaching behaviour and practices in supervision processes of PhD students","authors":"E. Myezwa, H. Geber","doi":"10.20853/37-3-4591","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/37-3-4591","url":null,"abstract":"The extent to which coaching behaviour is practiced in PhD supervision is unknown. Supervision and elements of supervision have been studied extensively but not coaching and supervision. The aim of this study was to assess the extent to which coaching behaviours were practiced by supervisors while engaging with PhD students during supervision. A cross sectional survey using a self-administered structured questionnaire was used on an online platform (REDCap). Descriptive and correlational statistics were used to determine the extent to which each coaching and supervision phenomenon were practiced. Three hundred and eighty students registered for a PhD for longer than six months in a Faculty of Health Sciences were invited to participate in the study and 76 participated. Low to moderate levels in coaching behaviour and practice, personal support, supervisor availability and research academic support are reported. Personal support and the level of satisfaction with supervision were significant predictors of coaching behaviour and practice. This study established the extent of different supervisory behaviours and coaching behaviour and practice among supervisors. Coaching in this study was not practised largely with a third of the students interviewed experiencing coaching behaviour and practice.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67715696","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":"Decolonising theorising on children: Moving towards African-centred childhood studies pedadogy of sexual violence and trauma","authors":"N. Titi","doi":"10.20853/37-3-4857","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/37-3-4857","url":null,"abstract":"Background : In Africa, remnants of colonisation and the effects of coloniality have influenced childhood in ways dissimilar to those in other parts of the world. Objectives : This article contests against universalised theorising of children, advocates for Afrocentric approaches to childhood studies on African children, and makes a case for Afrocentric pedagogy in the psychology of child sexual violence and childhood trauma. Methodology : The arguments in this article are informed by a rapid review of doctoral research on the history of violence in South Africa and developmental theory to understand how children make meaning of the experience of sexual violence-related trauma. Results : South Africa’s history of colonisation and Apartheid significantly contributes to child outcomes. Decolonial thought and African-centered theorising must be applied to childhood studies in Africa for a contextual understanding of African childhoods. They must centre on the needs and worldviews of Africans. Conclusion : Education is an instrument of enculturation; therefore, pedagogy should reflect the people it studies. The methods and practice in teaching childhood studies in psychology in Africa must humanise both children and professionals. Contribution : The article addresses the questions of relevance in childhood studies in Africa and advances recommendations for how academics and practitioners in childhood sexual violence and psychology should work with complex knowledge in childhood studies pedagogy.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67716412","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":"Voicing curriculum: Exploring embodied entanglements of arts-based inquiry and refrain","authors":"Z Venter, M Müller, F Kruger","doi":"10.20853/37-5-5978","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20853/37-5-5978","url":null,"abstract":"In this article, we share our understanding of a “more than” (Ulmer 2017, 10) critical curriculum inquiry and how this type of inquiry can help us collapse the subject‒object binary by attentively responding to embodied experiences in curriculum studies. Our focus is specifically on the affective dimension of curriculum inquiry as we work with what St. Pierre (2018, 604) refers to as the “history of the present”. We use education memory to tap into the nuanced intra-actions between post-humanism, curriculum studies and how these are extended into the post-schooling context. We understand education memory as the sensory, affective and embodied experiences of education that emerge as we pause in awareness of our present moment of becoming. We draw on Pinar’s currere as folding memory into the present to continuously give voice to multidimensional layers of imagined futures. We draw on the concept of refrain (Deleuze and Guattari 1988, 300), which we understand as complex lived experiences informative in our becoming as educators. In using arts-based methods such as poetry, object inquiry, drawing and drumming, we explore lived experiences to tangibly integrate memory and imagination on pedagogical refrains that shape our becoming. Arts-based methods and materials afford tactile engagement with materiality and attentive responsiveness. Thus, we ask: How might the concept of refrain, as manifest in an arts-based research approach, allow us to give voice to curriculum entanglements as a “more-than-critical” curriculum? Through this question, we pay attention to relational occurrences as refrains, for memory and improvisation becoming integrated to inform curriculum entanglements between humans and the more-than-human.","PeriodicalId":44786,"journal":{"name":"South African Journal of Higher Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135561100","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}