PiE 2017 Volume 35 Issue 2

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http://hdl.handle.net/11660/5720

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Browsing PiE 2017 Volume 35 Issue 2 by Subject "Decolonisation"

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    Creating sustainable physical sciences learning environments: a case for decolonised and transformative learning
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2017) Tlali, Moeketsi Freddie
    There is an urgent need for transformation and decolonisation of teaching and learning of physical sciences. This need is evidenced by, among other factors, the alarming rate at which learner enrolment in physical sciences and science education, in general, is decreasing. Central to these causes is apparent, persistent below-expectation learner performance in science education, which, in turn, causes scepticism about the quality of teaching and learning, and questions about the quality of support given to teachers to sustain the required level of learner performance. Thus, decolonisation and transformation of teaching and learning should persistently pursue meaningful and functional knowledge creation. To this end, service-learning projects for teaching and learning physical sciences hold promise. The main reason for this consideration resides in the empowering capacity and resultant decolonising and transformative nature of the created knowledge. Thus, using service-learning projects to create knowledge that is meaningful and functional is equivalent to creating sustainable physical sciences learning environments. Bricolage’s principles of multiple perspectives and multiple theories served as a useful lens for scrutinising the diverse knowledge of the participants. Van Dijk’s socio-cognitive critical discourse analysis was pivotal for analysing, interpreting and making sense of participants’ prevalent knowledge and experiences. The principles of participatory action research and free attitude interviews were applied as an approach and technique for data generation. The major finding suggests that using service learning projects to create sustainable (physical sciences) learning environments, contributes substantially to decolonising and transforming teaching and learning.
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    Curriculum responsiveness within the context of decolonisation in South African higher education
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2017) Fomunyam, Kehdinga George; Teferra, Damtew
    South African higher education in the past year has seen violent calls for decolonisation of the curriculum, as a way of addressing the passive nature of education. The inability of the curriculum to respond to contextual issues, empower students to come of age, while at the same time remain committed to giving them a plurality of voices has been a cause for concern. Morrison (2007) argues that curriculum discourse should be marked by a multiplicity of voices, articulating a hundred thousand theories thereby creating avenues for a just and caring curriculum. This curriculum is only possible in spaces that are open to construction and reconstruction of responsive knowledge. To enhance the responsiveness of the curriculum, this paper experimented on voices that matter in the decolonisation project in the bid to create sustainable and socially just spaces wherein caring and just curriculum encounters can take place. Designed as a qualitative case study of six universities, the study used open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to generate data. The data generated was analysed using Morrison’s (2007) notion of a hundred thousand theories. The paper reveals three key findings: curriculum encounters are shaped by power dynamics in educational spaces, plurality of voices provokes the creation of disciplinary and interdisciplinary spaces for curriculum engagement and sustainable education experience is powered by plurality, which in itself is shaped by curricular charges. The paper concludes that curriculum encounters is vital for the effectiveness of the decolonisation process and the enhancement of curriculum responsiveness.
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    Decolonising the future in the untransformed present in South African higher education
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2017) Fomunyam, Kehdinga George
    South Africa as a nation became democratic in 1994 because of the end of apartheid. Since 1994, higher education has geared towards transformation and redress of the inequalities created by the inhuman policies of apartheid. While few applaudable steps have been taken towards this direction, South African higher education remains largely untransformed. For the past two years, a wave of student protest swept across the nation, calling for decolonisation of higher education in general and the curriculum in particular. This move brings to mind several questions about decolonisation and transformation. What is the state of South African higher education? Why has it remained untransformed since the advent of democracy? What should be decolonised to ensure transformation of the present and the future? This paper therefore ventures to answer these three questions using the theory of social transformation as a lens. The paper points out that funding structures, research politics, administrative structures and a lack of interest are amongst the reasons for the lack of transformation. The paper concludes that there will be no transformation until higher education institutions have been decolonised. Social transformation is therefore argued as the pathway for decolonisation. The paper recommends that transformation in higher education should go beyond the shelves where they are stored as policy to the classroom and university environment for practice and universities need to revise their understandings of transformation under the guidance of the DHET.
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    English studies: decolonisation, deparochialising knowledge and the null curriculum
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2017) Chaka, Chaka; Lephalala, Mirriam; Ngesi, Nandipha
    This paper reports on a desktop review study of undergraduate and postgraduate English studies (both English literature and English language) module offerings (n = 48) of 24 English departments at 17 South African higher education institutions (HEIs) conducted in 2017. The review focused on the presence and purpose of the term, decolonisation, in these module offerings. Framed within deparochialism and a null curriculum, and employing purposeful sampling and explicit inclusion criteria common in systematic reviews and meta-analyses, the study has the following findings: (a) decolonisation has a presence in only three undergraduate module offerings and it is mentioned in only one honours module offering among the 48 module offerings reviewed. (b) All four modules are English literature modules; (c) decolonisation is a module thematic or topical component and is used for critical analytical purposes in the identified modules in varying degrees. (d) In the three undergraduate modules, decolonisation is restricted to African literature or Africa writings and (e) in the postgraduate module, decolonisation is offered as one of the four optional stand-alone modules. Finally, the paper argues for a decolonisation that deparochialises the disciplines of English studies.
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    Re-imagining higher education leadership – in conversation with South African female deputy vice-chancellors
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2017) Moodly, Adele L.; Toni, Noluthando M.
    Part of the decolonisation and transformation of higher education institutions is the re-construction of its leadership. This requires not only a review but also a dissolution of traditions, conventions and organisational forms that universities have inherited, including a re-imagining of leadership in higher education. Equity in representation of women in leadership has been acknowledged locally and internationally as part of the transformation agenda towards sustainable leadership. The authors argue that decolonisation and transformation are not mutually exclusive processes in the South African context, but that transformational leadership is part of the decolonisation process. This should embrace women’s ways of leadership in reconstructing leadership. The paper reflects on empirical data from personal interviews with three deputy-vice-chancellors on their journeys to leadership, with a focus on psychological and cultural factors (at the micro and meso levels), their career-pathing, personal characteristics and their experiences. These experiences are considered in the context of literature on women and leadership, using critical discourse analysis. It gives insight into the pathways that women often follow and provokes us to re-imagine the construct of “leadership”. The paper concludes with recommendations on the impact of psychological and cultural factors and the importance of the implementation of transformative policies, affirming male and female role models, institutional support structures and career planning which should form part of the decolonisation and transformation of conventions in capacity-building towards equity and sustainable leadership.
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    A socially inclusive teaching strategy for transforming the teaching of English first additional language
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2017) Malebese, M. L.
    This paper explores ways of including indigenous knowledge systems in the teaching of English First Additional Language (EFAL). The aim is to use a socially inclusive teaching strategy in such a manner that the imbalances that past oppressive regimes brought into the teaching and learning of a second language, EFAL in this case, is challenged and possibly reversed. A desperate need for basic educational resources understandably warrants the promotion of a culture that is conducive to learning. Lacking resources are not limited to teacher knowledge, as can be gleaned from schools situated in rural settings. Undesirable cultures and conditions not conducive to learning prevail at the expense of hope and socially just educational practices. Indigenous knowledge systems and community cultural wealth, embedded in rural settings, are often underplayed and ignored. However, if incorporated in the teaching and learning process, they can create a familiar learning environment. In this paper, a socially inclusive teaching strategy was found to be helpful in ensuring the sustenance of transformation of learning while simultaneously contributing to the transformation of teaching English first additional language. This transformative charter of the paper warrants the framing of critical emancipatory research (CER) while adapting participatory action research principles to engage those affected by the problem and to determine solutions captured through meetings, workshops, document analysis, focus groups discussions and observations. The conversations were audio- and videotaped for the purpose of data analysis at the later stage. The reflections that permeate the analytic, interpretive and educative phases of CER, discourses that were subjected to van Dijk’s socio-cognitive critical discourse analysis, were found to be very helpful. Research findings confirm the two-way relationship between the availability of educational resources and learner attainment.
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    Unmasking the ramifications of the fees-must-fall-conundrum in higher education institutions in South Africa: a critical perspective
    (Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2017) Mutekwe, Edmore
    The purpose of this study was to explore the ramifications of the fees-must-fall-protests that rocked South Africa’s universities for a couple of months in the years 2015 and 2016. Using a critical perspective, the thesis of the study is that the shutting down of universities in the context of student protests was neither unique nor original to South Africa for it has been a preferred weapon of repression by dictators all over the world. Several post-independence African governments invoke this weapon many times to silence dissenting voices. The data to embellish arguments in this study were gathered through focus group discussion interview sessions (FGDIS) from 40 participants purposefully sampled from 26 South African universities. The analysis of data followed a thematic approach with themes emerging from the FGDIS forming the basis of the discussion of the findings. Chief among the findings was that despite the salutary role of student protests as a force for social change well-established and never being gainsaid, higher education fees needs to fall, albeit cautiously. The fees-must-fall protests raised an important consciousness of how challenging a colonised education system can lead to academic disruptions. The key conclusion drawn was that if tuition fees dry up as would be the case if a fee-free decolonised education policy were to be adopted prematurely, the country could suffer severe consequences such as inevitable budget cuts, compromised research standards, demoralised academics and curtailed university offerings. The recommendations made included a need for governmental commitment to calm the students’ temper tantrums before they spiral out of control and for curriculum decolonisation advocates to denounce the government’s repressive tendencies if a truly decolonised education system is to be realised.