PiE 2010 Volume 28 Issue 3

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http://hdl.handle.net/11660/2654

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    Generic competences in Higher Education: studying their development in undergraduate social science studies by means of a specific methodology
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2010) Gallifa, Josep; Garriga, Jordi
    Research into the acquisition of generic competences was carried out with the undergraduate social science programmes offered by the Ramon Llull University, Barcelona (Spain). For these programmes an innovative methodology called ‘cross-course seminars’ has been developed. Its focus is, amongst others, on developing generic competences. In the first place, generic competences are assessed in terms of whether or not they are perceived as important by final year students, and what the main context of acquisition was. The ‘cross-course seminar’ methodology, characterised in the present study, correlates more closely with the perception of the importance of competences in the professional world than in other contexts – even regular courses or competences acquired outside the university. The research aims to help achieve a better understanding of the best contexts for the acquisition of generic competences in higher education and of their importance in the professional world. A methodology for the study of competence acquisition and for the characterisation of a competence-focused educational model is thus implicitly developed. The aim of the article is to contribute to current reflections on generic competences in higher education.
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    Informing educational psychology training with students' community engagement experiences
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2010) Ebersöhn, Liesel; Bender, C. J. Gerda; Carvalho-Malekane, Wendy M.
    The purpose of this article was to describe students’ experiences of community engagement in an Educational Psychology practicum in order to inform relevant educational psychology training literature with experiences of students’ community engagement. Experiential learning served as our theoretical framework and we employed an instrumental case study design, purposefully selecting eight students in the MEd Educational Psychology programme to participate in a focus group. Other data sources included reflective journals and visual data. The following themes emerged from the thematic analysis: students gained insight into themselves as prospective educational psychologists, the curricular community engagement benefited students’ professional development and the practicum supported students in integrating theory with practice.
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    Diverging on diversity and difference: the mask of inclusion
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2010) Pillay, V.; McLellan, C. E.
    In this paper we argue that the clichéd phrases, ‘dealing with difference’ and ‘dealing with diversity’, despite their commitment to accepting and appreciating difference and diversity, may be used in counterproductive ways to camouflage resistance to change and transformation. In a small sample of interviews conducted at a South African university, the appropriation of these phrases for the purpose of practicing sameness was apparent. While pointing to the possibilities of asserting diversity and difference and simultaneously practicing sameness, the paper also proposes the possibilities for the acknowledgement and embracing of the ambivalence toward diversity and difference as valuable opportunities for transformation.
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    Vulnerability and belonging in the history classroom: a teacher’s positioning in “volatile conversations” on racism and xenophobia
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2010) Geschier, Sofie M. M. A.
    This article is explorative in its attempt to define vulnerability within transformative pedagogy by analysing excerpts from two “volatile conversations” on racism and xenophobia between a teacher and her grade nine class in a well-resourced Jewish school. The two conversations differed in regard to the teacher’s use of vulnerability, even though the underlying rationale remained the same, namely to question and deconstruct prejudiced thinking. During the first interaction, the teacher struggled to invite learners to join in the conversation when she attempted to situate racism solely in their heads. During the second interaction, in contrast, instead of focusing on the learners’ thinking, the teacher placed her own xenophobic thinking in the centre and talked reflectively about what fear might say about one’s society and one’s position in that society. While this second interaction was difficult, the learners felt safe enough to take up the teacher’s attempt to render racism and xenophobia strange. The article argues that more discussion is needed in regard to the potential role of vulnerability in pedagogical interactions, particularly taking into account teachers’ and learners’ complex, ever-changing narratives and positions in a fast changing, and still very much divided, yet hopeful country.
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    Youth self-formation and the ‘capacity to aspire’: the itinerant ‘schooled’ career of Fuzile Ali across post-apartheid space
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2010) Fataar, Aslam
    This article is a narrative analysis of one young boy’s encounter with his schooling across the rural and urban landscape. It is set against the backdrop of the changing social reproductive context of education in South Africa in the democratic period. Based on in-depth qualitative interviews, the analysis probed the subjective basis on which this young boy encountered his various spatial terrains in order to establish his schooled career. The article employs the lenses of ‘aspiration’, ‘space’, and ‘technologies of self’ to present the argument that his ‘capacity to aspire’ has to be understood on the basis of his active self-formation and disciplining, accumulated across the itinerant spaces of his life. The aim of this article is to open a window onto how young people now go about navigating their educational aspirations in the light of their contingent life circumstances.
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    Book review - The brave 'new' world of education: creating a unique professionalism
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2010) Nkomo, Mokubung
    Abstract not available
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    Editorial
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2010) Francis, Dennis
    Abstract not available
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    Scholarship in teacher education in South Africa, 1995-2006
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2010) Deacon, Roger; Osman, Ruksana; Buchler, Michelle
    This article reports on findings pertaining to scholarship in teacher education drawn from a wider study on all education research in South Africa from 1995 to 2006. The study, which defined education research as broadly pertaining to teaching and/or learning, obtained extensive data from a wide range of sources: universities, non-government organisations (NGOs), education and training authorities and electronic databases. The levels, scale, educational sectors and disciplinary areas of each entry in the resulting 10 315-strong database were identified, and on the basis of a random sample of 600 texts seven primary research themes in teacher education were identified and are detailed here: the re-conceptualisation of teachers as facilitators, the problems and possibilities of cooperative learning or group work, the use of educational support materials and resources, the idea of ‘teaching for learning’, the importance of context, the nature of continuous assessment, and debates on teacher evaluation.
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    Locating the doctoral study in the ‘paradigm skirmishes’: challenges and prospects for adopting a paradigm cradle
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2010) Ruto-Korir, Rose; Lubbe, Carien
    It is important to understand the thought patterns of students and supervisors that underlie the choice of paradigm and determine the progression of doctoral studies as an integral part of articulating scholarship at the doctoral level and subsequently, to completing the research. This paper traces a student’s and a supervisor’s thought patterns in the contested space of paradigms by adopting Bryman’s (2007) phrase ‘paradigm skirmishes’ to explore their experiences of a doctoral research study. It analyses some of the contested issues in paradigm proliferation and juxtaposes the doctoral research journey within it. We observe that engaging within the paradigm ‘skirmish arena’ is a tricky process, but an inevitable part of the doctoral student’s academic discourse. The use of the term ‘cradle’ in this paper is a metaphor to imply the ‘nurturance’ and ‘upbringing’ that doctoral students might require to develop intellectual maturity in academic authority and voice. As a ‘written conversation of minds’ of supervisor and supervisee, this paper not only traces some of the tensions that doctoral students undergo, but also illustrates how some university structures and supervision are critical to nurturing originality and critical engagement with discourse, particularly during moments of uncertainty and intellectual exhilaration.
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    An analysis of family-school collaboration in preventing adolescent violence in urban secondary schools
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2010) Bender, C. J. Gerda; Emslie, Annemarie
    The purpose of this article is to describe how school staff members, learners and parents collaborate to prevent adolescent learner violence in two different urban secondary schools. The increase in acts of interpersonal learner violence has a destructive effect on the safe and positive development of young people. Empirical evidence indicates that successfully addressing the issues that can contribute to the development of interpersonal violence requires taking into account the developmental stages of the learners as well as exploring the impact of the learner’s immediate social environment. A qualitative descriptive and exploratory case study, rooted in the sociological interpretive research paradigm, was conducted to explore how school staff members, learners and parents collaborate to prevent learner violence at two urban secondary schools. Contrary to current belief, the participating learners explicitly expressed their need for the support and guidance of their parents and also the school staff members in withstanding the peer and societal pressures that can result in their acting in aggressive or violent ways at school.
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    Using cultural capital as a resource for negotiating participation in a teacher community of practice: a case study
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2010) Maistry, Suriamurthee
    Continuing professional development (CPD) initiatives for teachers in South Africa take on various forms, ranging from formalised, structured, credit-bearing certification programmes to informal, relatively unstructured, situated learning programmes. While many formal programmes can claim success by measuring throughput rates, there is still much to learn about how and why teachers participate in CPD programmes in the way they do. In fact, CPD planners seldom take into consideration teacher biographies and the socio-economic contexts within which teachers work. This article examines the influence of biography and context on the nature of participation and learning in a teacher community of practice. It uses data from the Teaching Economic and Management Sciences (TEMS) teacher development programme and focuses on the experiences of a novice EMS teacher as he engages with the challenge of curriculum development. Drawing on the work of Wenger (1998), Bourdieu (1992) and Yosso (2005), it is argued that cultural capital has a significant influence on a teacher’s ability to negotiate participation in a community of practice. This interpretative case study draws on tenets of symbolic interactionist ethnography (Woods, 1996) to guide the research process.