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.     

南非“首席科学家计划”的实施及其启示

2005年,南非实施的首席科学家计划对提高南非的国际竞争力起到了重要作用。本文从首席科学家计划的实施背景、战略目标、实施方式、实施范围,首席科学家的评选、管理、评估等方面入手,介绍了首席科学家计划的具体内容和实施方法,总结了其有益经验,提出了加大对人才的资助力度、注重国家科研规划、重视高层次后备人才培养、加快开放步伐以吸引国际人才等建议来实施我国人才计划。     

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.     

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。     

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.     

Executivism and deanship in selected South African universities

It has been argued that traditional governance practices and decision making associated with the collegial model are no longer effective in universities, and business-like management techniques should be adopted. Dwindling resources, external demands for accountability, and increased competition for market share, have resulted in efficiency measures and increased demand for performativity. Executive leadership techniques that crept into universities during the early 1980s, referred to as ‘managerialism’ or ‘executivism’, are now widely practised. The increased focus on managerialism in the last decade has resulted in collegial crises and heightened conflicts between academics and administrators. The emergence of ‘executive deanship’ in South African higher education about a decade ago was in keeping with international trends and local demands for efficiency and performativity. With specific reference to the universities in the Gauteng province, this paper argues that the blanket introduction of executive deanship (referred to as executivism) appears not to have contributed to the envisaged operational efficiency, performance, and effectiveness, as initially claimed. Rather than fostering an enabling and empowering environment, it has added new layers of complexity to deanship pointing to a potential crisis in the advancement of the academic project. The position of dean is now more management oriented and allows little or no room for strategic intellectual and academic leadership.     

South African universities and human development: Towards a theorisation and operationalisation of professional capabilities for poverty reduction

This paper reports on a research project investigating the role of universities in South Africa in contributing to poverty reduction through the quality of their professional education programmes. The focus here is on theorising and the early operationalisation of multi-layered, multi-dimensional transformation based on ideas from Amartya Sen's capability approach. Key features of a professionalism oriented to public service, which in South Africa must mean the needs and lives of the poor, are outlined. These features include: the demand from justice; the expansion of the comprehensive capabilities both of the poor and professional capability formation to be able to act in ‘pro-poor’ ways; and, praxis pedagogies which shape this connected process. This theorisation is then tentatively operationalised in a process of selecting transformation dimensions.     

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。     

南非斯坦陵布什大学汉语推广概况

南非斯坦陵布什大学的汉语教学始于2000年,是目前为止南非唯一所进行正规中文面授教学的高等院校,中文部设在该校的文学院现代外语系。根据中南双方签署的双边教育合作协议,中国国家汉办于2005年首次向该校派遣汉语教师。南非与中国相距遥远,建交时间短,中国语言文化对于大多数南非人来说比较陌生,所以汉语推广在南非还存在若干的问题需要各方不断努力。     

近二十年来中国的南非教师教育研究热点述评

目前,教师教育已是国际教育领域的一个热点话题。自从1998年我国与非洲建交以来,南非教师教育引起了国内学者的广泛关注,主要表现在南非教师教育历史发展、制度建设、政策变革、课程改革、培养路径、信息化发展以及质量保障等方面,并取得了一定的成果。文章对20世纪90年代以来国内南非教师教育研究加以梳理和分析,以期揭示国内南非教师教育研究的核心内容及基本现状。     

南非农村基础教育变革新动向探析

近年,南非政府开始关注并重视农村基础教育,成立了若干促进农村基础教育变革的专门机构。这些机构陆续出台的文本,显示出南非农村基础教育变革的新动向。本文在梳理这些文本的基础上,从学校布局调整、课程内容改革和师资力量加强三个侧面来探析南非政府在推进城乡基础教育均衡发展方面所作出的努力。     

Social justice implications of South African school assessment practices

Abstract

Central to the pursuit of education and its functions like assessment, is social justice. Given the (still) existing inequalities brought about by years of neglect, it is clear that the building of a just society is indeed fraught with challenges. This article explores the extent to which all learners in South Africa are afforded fair treatment and an impartial share of what the education system through assessment practices can offer them. In attempting to illuminate this issue, we will start by providing a brief overview of assessment policy initiatives and the current assessment system in South Africa. This will be followed by a conceptual analysis of assessment practices and their social justice implications for learners by using Cribb and Gerwitz's (2003) key dimensions of social justice, namely the distribution of educational resources, recognition and respect for cultural differences and participation. Through this analysis we conclude that, while acknowledging the massive impact of family/community circumstances and poor educational provision, unfair assessment practices as discussed remain an important dimension of the degradation of social justice in the South African education system. Many learners, despite efforts to ensure more just assessment practices, are still marginalised and do not reap the benefits that can support them in developing their full potential.     

Education,citizenship and difference in the South African transition: policy,politics and practice

The article looks at three approaches to analysing the relationship between education, citizenship and difference that have been evident in the transition to democracy in South Africa. First, it examines the position that education moulds good citizens and overcomes discriminatory differences, which is evident in the South African Education Policy Act. (This position is similar to that expounded in the Crick Report.) Second, it looks at the view that education is an enactment of citizenship and a celebration of difference. This is articulated in the new South African Curriculum 2005, which celebrates the school as just one of a number of learning spaces, but which is only slowly being implemented with considerable difficulty in overcoming deeply entrenched and multifaceted discriminatory views. Third, it looks at the view, articulated in the South African Constitution of 1996, that education is a relatively autonomous space and that in this particular institutional space education, difference and citizenship are in tension. While there is potential for a creative dialogue to emerge in this historically formed space, preliminary research findings indicate how difficult and diffuse the process of transformation is likely to be.     

South African teachers’ ability to argue: The emergence of inclusive argumentation

This paper explores the argumentation ability of ten science teachers in two South African schools on opposite ends of the resource spectrum. Toulmin's model is used to analyse individual contributions in six group discussions. The findings show that levels of argumentation improve with teachers’ involvement in the development of teaching resources and the closeness of the argumentation task. The nature of the arguments is permeated by inclusiveness, thus precluding the use of rebuttals, traditionally a requirement for high-quality arguments. Based on the ubuntu worldview, a model of inclusive argumentation is proposed with implication for teaching and a scheme of assessable levels of argumentation.     

Education and skills for development in South Africa: Reflections on the accelerated and shared growth initiative for South Africa

In July 2005, President Mbeki announced the launch of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA), a new development strategy designed to help the South African state meet the ANC's 2004 election pledges, namely:

•

halve unemployment;     

Mediation effects of problem drinking and marijuana use on HIV sexual risk behaviors among childhood sexually abused South African heterosexual men

HIV/AIDS prevalence in South Africa is one of the highest in the world with heterosexual, transmission predominantly promoting the epidemic. The goal of this study is to examine whether, marijuana use and problem drinking mediate the relationship between histories of childhood sexual, abuse (CSA) and HIV risk behaviors among heterosexual men. Participants were 1181 Black men aged, 18–45 from randomly selected neighborhoods in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Audio computer assisted, self-interviewing was used to assess self-reported childhood sexual abuse, problem drinking, and marijuana (dagga) use, and HIV sexual transmission behavior with steady and casual partners. Data were analyzed using multiple meditational modeling. There was more support for problem, drinking than marijuana use as a mediator. Findings suggest that problem drinking and marijuana use, mediate HIV sexual risk behaviors in men with histories of CSA. Focusing on men with histories of CSA, and their use of marijuana and alcohol may be particularly useful for designing strategies to reduce, HIV sexual transmission in South Africa.     

“Girls are not free”—In and out of the South African school

Interviews conducted with township girls in South Africa show enduring experiences of sexual violence both in and out of the school. Fear of boys and men were articulated in relation to boyfriends, male teachers, men in the township neighbourhood and men in the home. While the girls attempted to exercise agency in arresting their fears, these appeared to be too limited in the context of great structural and social inequalities and the pervasiveness of gender norms through which male sexual violence is asserted. The implication for increasing girls’ exercise of agency is raised as a human rights issue.     

南非教师教育的历史演进与改革发展

南非教师教育制度根植于南非的种族隔离制度。南非教师教育从萌芽发端、逐渐发展乃至日益完善走过了漫长的历程,尤其是南非恢复民主制度以来,南非政府就把教师教育工作的重点放在教育政策体制的改进与完善上,其间的变化与革新无不推动着南非教师教育的发展。新政府不仅采取了多种有力的措施为南非教师教育的改革和实践保驾护航,而且陆续颁布了各种政策法令,这对现代南非教师教育体系的发展具有深远而重要的影响。     

The development and application of progressive education in the Netherlands and some implications for South Africa

Abstract

The charge that schooling is poorly adapted to modern conditions in South Africa and abroad has been debated since the beginning of the twentieth century, with the result that two strands of competing paradigms - traditional and progressive - crystallised from the discussion. This article delineates the salient features of progressive education to prepare the ground for a comparison of outcomes-based education (OBE) in South Africa with education in the Netherlands and thereby determine the influence, if any, of progressive education on OBE and Dutch education respectively. The data gathered to determine the progressive influence on Dutch education showed that some elements of progressive education had been combined with traditional (tried-and-tested) practices to create an effective primary educational system. The implication for South Africa is that teachers should be allowed to adapt their teaching styles and curriculum development to accommodate learners who cannot benefit optimally from progressive teaching, and that progressive principles can be implemented in South Africa, provided it is done as in the Netherlands without trying to force everybody into the same mould (i.e., on the crude principle that ‘one size fits all’),