“Community Psychology is for Poor,Black People”: Pedagogy and Teaching of Community Psychology in South Africa

The term “community” holds historical connotations of political, economic, and social disadvantage in South Africa. Many South African students tend to interpret the term “community” in ways that suggest that community and community psychology describe the experiences of exclusively poor, black people. Critical pedagogies that position the teaching process as a transformative activity and that challenge student perceptions about the status quo are central in teaching community psychology. This article uses the subdiscipline of community psychology to discuss the importance of pedagogy. It uses a module that was presented at Stellenbosch University (SU) in the Western Cape, South Africa, as an illustrative example. The module was taught collaboratively with the social work department at the University of the Western Cape. Forty-five psychology students from a historically white university (SU) and 50 social work students from a historically black university (UWC) engaged in face-to-face workshops and virtual (e-learning) assignments that interrogated notions of the self, community, and identity. Final student essays were analysed qualitatively for themes illustrating aspects of the human capabilities approach to pedagogy adopted in this project.     

The changing racial profile of academic staff at South African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), 2005–2013

South Africa has undergone transformation since the end of apartheid governance in 1994. Legislatively enforced, this transformation has permeated most sectors of society, including higher education. Questions remain, however, about the extent to which transformation has occurred in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in general, and across the academic staff body in HEIs in particular. In this study, we examine the transformation of academic staff profiles at HEIs throughout the country. Initially, we graph the racial profile of academics across multiple positions (junior lecturer to professor) from 2005 to 2013. We then use correlational analysis to identify which characteristics of universities in South Africa can be used to explain the racial inequities evident in South African HEIs. Our results indicate that world university ranking; percentage black African staff; percentage black African student body; and whether the university is ‘historically disadvantaged’, all influence the racial profile of the academic staff body to varying degrees. The size of the overall staff and study body does not appear to influence the racial profile of universities’ staff component. We conclude that transformation of the academic staff body of HEIs in South Africa is indeed occurring, albeit slowly. Rather than seeing this as a negative, we argue that the pace of ‘academic’ transformation in the country needs to be interpreted within the framework of academic governance.     

International staff contributions to their host institution: a case study in South Africa

The mobility of academic staff to South Africa is expected to benefit higher education institutions through teaching-research collaboration and capacity building. However, South African institutions do not always have the adequate organisational processes to facilitate host and international staff collaboration. Drawing on individual interviews with 16 lecturers from 12 different countries, all of them teaching in one South African university, this article analyses lecturers’ perceived contributions to their host university and the challenges they encountered. Recommendations revolve around the development of appropriate induction programmes and faculty forums to promote cross-cultural collaboration and the cross-fertilisation of ideas.     

Cultivating the next generation of academics in South Africa

Abstract

The academic workplace is experiencing numerous changes in South Africa and around the world, including increasing managerialism, declining governmental funding and massification of university systems. Global trends have impacted South Africa, and additional local contextual factors combine to create a situation in which the pool of prospective academics is limited, particularly with regard to individuals from diverse backgrounds, at the same time as vacancies for academic staff are expected to increase. In order to address the question of who will become the next generation of academics in South Africa, the author investigates potential barriers to developing academics through qualitative research conducted with postgraduate students, academic staff and administrators at two higher education institutions. Two central thematic categories are explored—induction into postgraduate studies and induction into the academic profession. The author posits that systematic socialization, both into postgraduate studies and into the academic profession, is a vital link toward cultivating emerging academics to fill academic positions for an equitable workplace in South African higher education institutions.     

Self-selection and Its Impact on Team Diversity and Performance

ABSTRACT : Increased diversity in the workforce brings several benefits. However, organizations may also face challenges as they seek to embrace diversity within team-based work environments. In this paper, we attempt to gauge the magnitude of this challenge by examining the level of diversity that results when individuals self-select their own team members. We describe a quasi-experimental field study in which we examine the ways individuals select project team members and how the resulting group composition is connected to the success or failure of those teams. We find that teams are most likely to form through prior acquaintance and/or demographic similarities. Linking composition to group process and performance, we find that ethnic diversity decreased similarity of work values but did not affect group performance, which is primarily predicted by satisfaction and conflict. We discuss the results in terms of the challenges and opportunities organizations face with a diverse workforce and a team-based work environment.     

African(a) philosophy of education and deliberative university teaching

Abstract

This article explores the notion of an African(a) philosophy of education and its implications for university teaching in South Africa. African(a) philosophy of education brings into sharper focus the need to reconceptualise university teaching in South Africa, particularly along the lines of deliberative inquiry. This article examines constitutive meanings of African(a) philosophy of education and what it means for teachers both to be deliberative and to cultivate deliberation.     

The African renaissance and the transformation of the higher education curriculum in South Africa

The curriculum is a critical element in the transformation of higher education, and as a result, I argue for the inclusion of what I refer to as an African epistemic in higher education curricula in South Africa. In so doing, attention is directed at the decolonisation of the curriculum in higher education in South Africa, which aims to give indigenous African knowledge systems their rightful place as equally valid ways of knowing among the array of knowledge systems in the world. In developing my argument, I maintain that a critical questioning of the knowledge included in higher education curricula in South Africa should be taken up in what I call transformative education discourses that examine the sources of the knowledge that inform what is imposed on or prescribed for curricula in higher education in South Africa, and how these higher educational curricula are implicated in the universalisation of Western and European experiences.     

Community,self and identity: participatory action research and the creation of a virtual community across two South African universities

Fourth year students in psychology and social work from two South African universities worked together across boundaries of race and class in a course which required them to engage in a personal reflexive way with issues of community and identity. A combination of face-to-face workshops and online tutorial groups was used. The course was demanding of both staff and students, but preliminary analysis suggests that the creation of virtual communities may be of benefit in assisting students in their preparation for the challenges of working in a diverse and unequal society.     

International study in the global south: linking institutional,staff, student and knowledge mobilities

ABSTRACT

The international mobility of institutions, staff, students and knowledge resources such as books and study materials has usually been studied separately. This paper, for the first time, brings these different forms of knowledge mobilities together. Through a historical analysis of South African higher education alongside results from a quantitative survey of academic staff in three international branch campuses in South Africa, the paper suggests three things. First, it points to the importance of regional education hubs in the global South and their role in South–South staff and student mobilities. Second, it points to the importance of reading these mobilities as outcomes of historically attuned policymaking – educational, migratory and political. Finally, the paper points to the theoretical possibilities that arise by bringing institutional, staff, student and knowledge resource mobilities in place and suggests new avenues for further research.     

Educator Perceptions and Use of Technology in South African Schools

ABSTRACT

South African schools experience diverse access to educational technology. Further, South African educators have limited opportunities to attend educator professional development workshops focused on technology integration. These differences can have a tremendous impact on students’ educational experiences and educators’ levels of self-efficacy toward implementing technology in their school settings. To provide further support and training opportunities to educators in South African township schools, administrators are able to partner with nongovernmental organizations and institutions of higher education. This article provides an overview of South African educational contexts and how partnerships can be formed to provide educator support to integrate educational technology in township schools.     

Preparing for new academic roles: An holistic approach to development

Abstract

In recent years there has been sustained emphasis in many countries on preparing academic staff for their teaching role. However, the necessary emphasis on teaching has distracted attention from the fact that university teachers are facing many other complex demands. University teachers are being appointed from a greater range of backgrounds and types of experience and performing an increasingly diverse range of roles. Moreover, while the emphasis has tended to be on the needs of full‐time tenurable staff, the numbers of casual and contract staff have grown. While much has been achieved, staff development provision is not coordinated, resources are not necessarily provided, centralized schemes do not link with departmental activities and responsibilities are often ambiguous.

The paper identifies some of the influences on preparation for academic roles being faced today and argues that new frameworks are needed. It suggests that a holistic view should be adopted: one which places as central the staff members and their roles, and which emphasizes negotiation and flexibility in response to the diversity of academic activities. The paper outlines the dimensions of such an approach.     

Student teachers’ understanding of multicultural education in public schools

Abstract

As schools in South Africa become increasingly multicultural, pressure is being put on them to meet the needs of all learners. The South African Schools Act, No 84 of 1996, affirms the recognition of all forms of diversity in public schools. It seems clear from media reports, however, that diversity in schools is not readily accepted and that teachers are largely held accountable for racial prejudice in schools. This raises the question whether teachers fully understand multicultural education as a means to adequately manage diversity in schools. Against this background, a project was undertaken to establish what student teachers’ understanding of multicultural education is, and what they regard as the most important aims of multicultural education. Data were obtained by the use of semi-structured questions serving as a self-report instrument. The data collected were consolidated and categorised into themes. It became clear from the data that most respondents showed a seriously deficient conception of the nature, aims and material manifestations of multicultural education. It is therefore recommended that teacher education programmes should be scrutinised to ascertain whether they are providing the right kind of knowledge content to prepare student teachers to function competently in multicultural schools.     

Institutional transformation at South African universities: Implications for academic staff

In South Africa the restructuring of the higher education system and the transformation of higher education institutions are located within the country's broad political and socio-economic transition to democracy. This paper focuses particularly on institutional transformation, and pays attention to the implications of the process of transformation for academic staff.The following five interlinked and interdependent issues characterizing institutional transformation in South African higher education are identified:democratising the governance structures of institutionsincreasing access for educationally and financially disadvantaged studentsrestructuring the curriculumfocusing on developmental needs in research and community serviceredressing inequalities in terms of race and gender.Although the overall effect of institutional transformation is experienced rather negatively by many academic staff members, the paper concludes that academics have to be empowered by means of staff development to remain active partners in the transformation process.     

Private higher education in Africa: The case of Monash South Africa

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to review the contribution of private institutions to higher education in Africa and use Monash South Africa as a case study. A literature search was conducted to gain perspective on the current situation with respect to private higher education institutions in Africa and how they are perceived in relation to public higher education institutions.

In comparison with public higher education institutions, private higher education institutions in Africa were successful in four areas: ? Widening access to higher education in the continent

? Improving the quality of education

? Improving student experience

? Increasing the recognition and marketability of their degrees

However, private higher education institutions in Africa have failed in two areas: ? Reducing the costs of higher education in Africa

? Assisting with retention of skilled human capital in African countries.

In fact, private higher education institutions in Africa, have exacerbated the two situations above.

Monash South Africa was the first foreign university to be established in South Africa and one of over 100 private universities in the continent. As a campus of Monash University in Africa, it has seen a steady growth with over 3,500 students in the past 10 years of its existence. Like other private institutions, the campus was successful in the four areas above and also fails in the area of costs and assisting in retention of skilled staff in Africa. The campus has been successful in blending its private provider status with a public purpose mandate by offering degrees in social science, business and economics, information technology and health sciences.     

A Theoretical Framework for Professional Development in a South African University

The changing context of higher education both internationally and in South Africa has presented challenges to lecturers that have led in some institutions to the introduction of accredited professional development courses for academics. Such courses for university lecturers are relatively new in South Africa. This paper reports on research in progress on a Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education and Training course offered at Rhodes University in South Africa. It highlights some important questions that have arisen on the ways in which the theoretical framework of the course has or has not met the needs of diverse groups of lecturers within the specific South African context. A central theme of the course is that of the critically reflective practitioner. Lecturers are encouraged to explore the ontological and epistemological underpinnings of their disciplines and to examine the philosophical assumptions of their espoused theories about teaching and learning as well as their teaching practice. The theoretical framework has been found to be most successful for more experienced academics. However, the author raises some important questions regarding the suitability of this framework in relation to the specific post‐apartheid context in which the course operates, specifically whether the course prepares lecturers to open up both “actual” and “epistemological” access to all the students at the university.     

Social climate in diverse university departments: the role of internal knowledge sharing

Background:?A good social climate is a precondition for developing a well functioning staff in university departments. However, as universities are becoming increasingly diverse in their staff composition, new problems for the social climate may develop. Organisations where members are open to diversity are known to be better integrated and to perform better. While the relation between a positive social climate and group functioning is well documented, we know much less about antecedents for such a climate.

Purpose:?The aim of this study is to examine the effect of internal learning and knowledge sharing engagement (sharing informal knowledge of a personal nature and the staff's application of each other's knowledge to task relevant problems) on diversity climate (openness to linguistic, visual, value and informational diversity) among university teachers.

Sample:?The study used questionnaire responses from 489 teachers in multicultural Danish university departments.

Design and methods:?To study antecedents for a good diversity climate, statistical analysis including hierarchical multiple regressions was applied.

Conclusions:?Results showed that group members' engagement in: (1) sharing informal knowledge of a personal nature; and (2) their application of each other's knowledge to task relevant problems had strong positive associations with openness to linguistic, visible, value and informational diversity. We conclude that interaction and knowledge sharing among teachers in multicultural departments is likely to have a favourable effect on the social working climate.     

Writing groups as transformative spaces

Curriculum transformation is a central concern for higher education in response to rapidly expanding technologies, globalisation and the widening diversity of the student and staff body. This is particularly true for South Africa, which is still grappling with inequalities and pressure for social redress in its universities. Early responses to supporting students took the form of add-on, ‘deficit-model’ approaches which understood poor student retention and success rates as emerging from students’ lack of neutral literacy ‘skills’. Recent initiatives have begun to adopt more socio-cultural understandings of literacy that seek to challenge traditional power structures and cultivate horizontal peer-orientated spaces for learning with a focus on practice rather than on product. Writing groups, as spaces for academic writing development, embrace this orientation and are argued to provide a transformative framework that foregrounds proactive student learning and experience, while still accommodating disciplinary learning through peer engagement. Drawing on the successful implementation of such forms of support at a research-intensive university, this paper argues that writing groups can play a critical role in both personal (student) transformation and broader curriculum transformation. Data include anonymous questionnaires and surveys with participants and coordinators of the writing groups. An inductive, constant comparative analysis indicated that students feel empowered in this space to develop not only their writing practices but also their transforming identities as scholars. Writing groups were found to provide ‘safe spaces’ where academic practices can be made explicit and where they can be challenged. The paper therefore argues that writing groups can play a small but key role in broader transformation efforts.     

The Value of Being Included: An Examination of Diversity Change Initiatives in Organizations

ABSTRACT : In recent decades, many organizations have undertaken initiatives aimed at managing a more diverse workforce. Many of these initiatives have been limited in effectiveness because they focused solely on managing or preventing human-resource-related crises, rather than reconceptualizing how the work of the business is accomplished. More effective diversity change initiatives can be implemented if change agents take an overarching perspective of the business and the workforce that considers the importance of engaging both the oppressed and priviledged members of the organization. Such a perspective necessarily requires considering the impact of oppression and privilege in the organization. Common diversity change interventions are discussed and critiqued, and suggestions for formulating optimally effective diversity change initiatives are suggested.     

Career plans of final-year South African student teachers: migration to ‘greener pastures’?

Teacher loss due to migration is a global phenomenon that impacts both developed and developing nations the world over. The aim of this study was to find out about the career plans of final-year South African student teachers. A group of final-year Bachelor of Education student teachers from a South African university responded to a questionnaire on intra- and intercontinental migration. The responses were analysed quantitatively and/or qualitatively. The findings showed that 79% of the students indicated that they would be teaching in South Africa, 8% were planning to teach in another country, while 8% were undecided. More than a third of the students (38%) said that they would like to teach in another country in five years’ time. Just more than a quarter of the students (27%) preferred Australia as a destination country. The student teachers’ most important motive to teach in a foreign country was the opportunity to travel, followed by earning a higher salary, and professional development. The student teachers indicated that their most important migration needs before leaving South Africa were information about health care, accommodation, and banking assistance.