Comparing three South African student cohorts on their attitudes to the rights of working women

This study compares three cohorts (1998–1999, 2005–2006 and 2010) of undergraduate psychology students at a South African university on the level of support for working women (women in paid employment) on various issues considered to be feminist. Cohort 1 (n?=?244), cohort 2 (n?=?311) and cohort 3 (n?=?266) completed an adapted version of a questionnaire used by the Research Group on Women and Work (Kitch, S. L. 1994. “‘We're All in this Alone’: Career Women's Attitudes Toward Feminism.” In Women and Careers: Issues and Challenges, edited by C. W. Konek and S. L. Kitch. London: Sage). The expected liberalisation of attitudes over the cohorts was evident for the females but not for the males: the second male cohort had more conservative attitudes than the first and third male cohorts. While there appeared to be strong overall support for gender equality in work and educational fields, there were equally solid endorsements of the importance of marriage and motherhood for working women. Across the cohorts there were somewhat moderate attitudes on the need for structural change in the family and at work. The implications of the findings are considered.     

Reflections on the History of South African Student Counseling Services: Achievements,Challenges, and a Way Forward

Student counseling services are a recognizable feature of higher education institutions locally and abroad. This article reviews the sociohistorical development and evolution of student counseling services in South African institutions of higher learning, with an emphasis on systemic influences, achievements, and contemporary challenges. This article considers the progress that has been made thus far with respect to the development of the service within higher education, while also attending to issues that require continued reflection and investigation. These include the current status and position of the service in South African higher education, the evolving roles of student counselors, as well as their relationship with institutional stakeholders and the broader South African community. In so doing, this article hopes to augment existing historical perspectives on student counseling by encouraging a critical reappraisal of student counseling’s past, its present, and its future in a dynamic South African and global context.     

Building Communities of Peace: The South African Experience

While political conflicts in many countries have resulted in large-scale destruction and loss of life, South Africa has been successful in avoiding a violent conflict following the demise of apartheid. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has been seen as an important mechanism contributing to South Africa's successful management of its political challenges. Yet, the legacy of apartheid continues beyond the work of the TRC, and several social problems such as poverty, unemployment, crime, and substance abuse continue to affect many South African communities. Psychology is uniquely poised to assist in addressing these social problems and in contributing to the development of a community of peace. Academic psychology departments have responded by implementing an undergraduate programme aimed at training professional counsellors to respond to community needs in post-apartheid South Africa. This paper surveys the present political landscape in South Africa, examines the work of the TRC as a psychological change catalyst and peace building mechanism, and calls attention to the role of psychology in contributing to national development.     

Public education and student movements: the Chilean rebellion under a neoliberal experiment

Abstract

Chile is recognized in the educational policy field as one of the first laboratories of neoliberal initiatives. These policies, initiated under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, did not change with the new democratic governments after 1990. This characteristic led international organizations to promote the Chilean policies in different contexts in Latin America and beyond. In 2006, a high school student movement occupied public and private schools, demystifying the outcomes of these policies. A new wave of demonstrations took place in 2011, with a college student leadership that paralyzed a significant amount of universities and schools throughout the country. After both waves of mobilizations, the political system opened the process of policy-making that considered the demands of social movements. In this article, we explore the dynamics between educational policies and social student movements in Chile, and the possibilities of change in favor of public education.     

Reflections from University Students in a South African Gay and Lesbian Society

This exploratory study examines the experiences of 20 gay and lesbian students and their involvement in a gay and lesbian Society at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. This study occurred under the theoretical framework of McCarn and Fassinger’s (1996) model of sexual minority identity formation. Participants ranged in age from 20–31 years old and included 17 men and three women. Eighteen were White, 1 was Colored, and 1 was Euro-Asian. Participants discussed positive and negative effects of belonging to the Society, counseling services available on campus, patterns of victimization, and cultural norms regarding gay men and lesbians in South Africa. Recommendations for counselors, staff, educators, and administrators are provided.     

(De)coloniality and South African academe

ABSTRACT

The colonial nature of South African universities remains a source of debate among students and academics. Decolonization as rethinking academic institutional practices seems less controversial; the specificity of how to decolonize the academia is the core of divergent arguments and contesting ideologies. Consequently, many suggestions and methods for the decolonization of South African universities have been proffered. Although some of these suggestions are pertinent, a critical question about what should South African academe decolonize from needs to be engaged. This requires a critical, theoretical and intellectual discourse of coloniality in order to rethink the academia in South Africa. Drawing from Anibal Quijano’s critical discourse of coloniality of power, this paper (re)visits the nature of coloniality, explores approaches to decolonization and situates these understandings to the academia in postcolonial South Africa. A polycentric approach to decolonization is supported with a goal of decolonization as innovations.     

South African contributions to LGBTI education issues

ABSTRACT

South Africa stands out in the African region for its protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights. This article examines South Africa’s contributions to local policy for LGBTIs and to work on LGBTI issues in education policy and education rights progress internationally. It also considers broader South African contributions to the theorisation of gender and sexuality. Data derive from an analysis of 102 interviews with key informants participating in high-level global networking for LGBTI students’ rights, and documentary analysis showing how stakeholders characterise South African contributions to transnational LGBTI education work. Informants identified how such contributions have a strong human rights emphasis, furthering post-colonial resistance to simplistic gender and sexuality classification schema imposed via imperial colonising dynamics. While South African work in this area has also promoted and facilitated research, it has at times been limited by ambivalence from its leadership. The nation’s early adoption of constitutional rights, relationship rights and educational equity provisions as acts of decolonisation contribute valuable African LGBTI work examples to the region. Their success encourages further funding for South-South transnational LGBTI education work.     

Respect and responsibility: Teaching citizenship in South African high schools

Respect is a core concept in citizenship debates. South African high school educators often draw upon respect as a key value within citizenship education. Their teaching of this value is often conflated with promotion of the practice of responsible citizenship. The constructions of respect and responsibility in these situations are imbued with assumptions around authority and power relations, such that learners’ are expected to take responsibility for demonstrating respect for in an unequal rather than reciprocal understanding of respect. Thus, negotiations of different kinds of respect are highlighted. The need for schools to embody a culture or ethos of respect is noted if learners are to be expected to recognise and adopt respect as a key element to citizenship in theory and in practice.     

南非教育中的评价和资格认证体制

南非教育存在的突出问题是各种族群体间受教育机会的极大不平等，建立在种族隔离和歧视基础上的教育评价体系更是加强了各个种族间受教育机会和职业选择的不平等性。1994年，一个由民主选举产生的，象征民族抱负的新政府开始上台执政，并试图改变这种不平等的教育体制，作为改革的一部分，政府实行了与过去不同的评价政策和资格认证体制。     

South African Counsellors' Attitudes Towards Cognitive Behavioural Techniques to Ameliorate Trauma: Effects of a Training Workshop

Despite its successes in the United States and Europe, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has a short history in South Africa. Local cultural realities and social conditions have been cited as obstacles to the implementation of CBT at community health centres. Yet, CBT's successes in ameliorating a variety of psychological conditions, including symptoms of PTSD, necessitate examination of its relevance and applicability in South African communities. The present study reports on counsellors' attitudes and opinions to CBT for the treatment of psychological trauma. We presented a two-day workshop on CBT and assessed counsellors' opinions and attitudes prior to and following the workshop. Results are discussed in the context of the high rate of traumatic events that occur in South African communities.     

南非国家资格框架的发展与改革

1995年南非颁布了《南非资格署法》,目的是成立南非资格署和实施国家资格框架。南非国家资格框架的突出特点是建立了完善的标准制定体系、质量保障体系和资格管理信息系统。2009年南非颁布《国家资格框架法》,调整框架等级水平和部际分工,建立质量委员会。南非建立了一个比较完善的国家资格框架,其经验引起了国际社会的关注。     

Relative efficiency among South African universities: A data envelopment analysis

Based on a sample of ten of the country's 21public universities, this article examines therelative efficiency of South Africanuniversities between 1994 and 1997 using DataEnvelopment Analysis. After outlining thenature and limitations of the technique, aseries of seven models were tested. Each used aconsolidation of the annual output of graduatesand research as the output variable and testedthis against various input variables. A highdegree of consistency and stability was found.Differences in efficiency during the four yearperiod were studied and the article concludeswith a discussion of four factors which appearcentral in explaining differences in efficiencybetween universities.     

Evaluating postgraduate preparation in the South African context

Little work is being undertaken in South Africa to systematically and intentionally prepare undergraduate students to pursue postgraduate studies. This is concerning given the shortage of postgraduate students and the small scale of postgraduate studies. The few programmes and endeavours that exist to prepare students for postgraduate studies are not necessarily evaluated to assess their achievements and shortcomings. This paper provides an evaluation of an academic year-long postgraduate preparation programme, and is specifically concerned with examining subsequent postgraduate enrolment and improvement of participants’ marks. The study draws on both quantitative and qualitative data. The findings indicate that the majority of programme participants proceeded to subsequently enrol in postgraduate studies immediately after completing the programme and that the programme played a role in the pursuit of postgraduate studies. However, the findings also indicate that overall participants’ marks did not improve after participating in the programme. The study brings to light that, while some achievements are possible, the limits of the programme must also be acknowledged.     

A review of challenges in South African education and possible ways to improve educational outcome as suggested by decades of research

Despite many positive developments in South Africa (SA), the education system and educational outcome face many challenges and require further improvement. This is reflected by elevated school dropout rates and suboptimal annual pass rates in various grades (Grades 7–12). Over the years, a plethora of studies has identified methods through which academic performance/educational outcome can be improved. However, from a practical point of view it might be difficult to implement these methods in for example a classroom or school, particularly because these methods are mainly discovered upon thorough online literature searches, and therefore published methods to improve educational outcomes are not always within reach of schools or teachers. Our aim is thus to provide a review paper that contains a collation and overview of the possible methods that can be used by various education stakeholders in order to contribute to better educational outcome. Essentially, we are attempting to answer the questions, “What does decades of research tell us about possible ways in which educational outcome can be improved in SA? Can we use these methods in the classroom or school?” This review therefore demonstrates (1) demonstrates various ways education stakeholders/influencers (teachers, learners, parents, government, non-governmental organisations and school governing bodies) can contribute to improved educational outcome, and (2) provides a useful overview of these methods that can be used within or without the classroom.     

A Bourdieusian approach to academic reading: reflections on a South African teaching experience

As in many other parts of the world, ‘academic literacy’ has emerged as both a concern and a contested concept in South African universities. In this article we focus specifically on academic reading, which we argue is a relatively underemphasized aspect of academic literacy. This article is the product of reflections on academic reading during and subsequent to the development and presentation of a postgraduate module presented at Stellenbosch University. It briefly explores the literature on academic literacy; develops the Bourdieusian perspective on academic reading that we used to develop the module; and concludes with a discussion of the module. Our intention was to make ‘reading as social practice’ more visible to students. Bourdieu's concepts of ‘competence’, ‘habitus’ and ‘field’ set the scene for a discussion of the role of reading in different disciples and more generally within the social sciences and humanities.     

To be or not to be an academic: South African graduate students’ vocational choices

In the post-apartheid era, South African universities are striving to attract and retain diverse faculty, as mandated by the 1998 Employment Equity Act (EEA). While the focus on faculty is critical to the transformation agenda, it is informative to step back and consider the factors that influence graduate students’ decisions regarding joining the academy. This qualitative study explores the educational experiences and vocational decisions of 50 masters and doctoral students from the EEA's “designated groups,” who are poised to become academics. Factors influencing graduate students’ vocational choices should be taken into consideration as universities strive to attract more diverse faculty.     

Passing through professionalism: South African Black male teachers and same-sex desire

ABSTRACT

Framed using queer theory and intersectionality theory, this paper unpacks the various ways in which Black South African male teachers who engage in same-sex relations negotiate and manage their identities in a context deeply riddled by the history of apartheid. Eight male teachers were interviewed using a life history methodology. Consistent with many international studies on the work experiences same-sex identifying teachers, the paper argues that the interviewed male teachers draw on a passing act in order to manage their identities in school contexts characterised by a culture of heteronormativity. This adopted passing act mainly draws upon the enactment of hyperprofessionalism, a localised form which safeguards same-sex ‘desiring’ teachers against possible homophobia. While this form of passing grants teachers significant respect and power, leading at times to the disruption of homophobia, not all teachers enjoy this power. Some teachers are forced out of their schools by threatened managers. The paper calls for more interventionist work at both basic education and higher education levels in South Africa in order to make schools more inclusive and welcoming for all students and teachers.     

南非学校环境教育政策与策略评析

南非是一个环境问题较严重的国家。结束了种族隔离制度后，南非开始关注环境教育，以此作为解决环境问题的关键策略，并取得了较好的成绩。本文就南非环境教育政策的发展、学校环境教育课程目标、基本策略和途径等方面对南非环境教育的政策与策略作一全面的分析与评价。     

Institutionalising racial segregation in the South African school: the School Board Act, 1905

ABSTRACT

This essay attempts to show how the Social Darwinist thinking of white racial superiority, and so, ultimately, white supremacy, came to be institutionalised in law in South Africa. It looks specifically at the making and institutionalisation of the School Board Act (SBA) of 1905 of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. It argues that the SBA contains one of the first constitutive moves that are made in the South Africa that is to emerge with the Act of Union in 1910 with respect to classification, ranking, and ordering in the country’s long history of race-making. It precedes better-known pieces of legislation such as the Population Registration Act of 1950 which the apartheid government institutes almost 50 years later. Through the SBA, “race” as a social fact is entrenched in legal and juridical terms. The essay examines how this process is institutionalised through legal judgements provided by the courts of the Cape Colony.