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

Higgs, Philip

doi:10.1080/18146627.2016.1186370

Cited by 53 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Dei (2000, cited in Le Grange 2016) points out that bodies of knowledge continually influence one another and that rendering indigenous knowledge as "good" and Western knowledge as "bad" creates a false dichotomy. Therefore, decolonised curricula give indigenous African knowledge systems an equal and valid place among the array of knowledge systems in the world (Higgs 2016). Africa needs knowledge that addresses its needs and challenges (Chirikure 2016).…”

Section: Knowledge Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

#FeesMustFall and decolonising the curriculum: Stellenbosch University students’ and lecturers’ reactions

Costandius

Blackie

Nell

et al. 2018

SAJHE

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In South African higher education institutions, the student protests of 2015-2016 called for the decolonisation of higher education spaces and equal access to these spaces. We collected data from students and lecturers over the period of one year in order to better understand the reactions of students and lecturers and the effects the protests had on their experiences. Perspectives of affective theory, decolonisation and social justice were used. It was discovered that the protests had a great affective impact on participants. Strong emotions and beliefs affected the relationships between students and lecturers and African centrality was suggested as a framework for curriculum change. Some settler perspectives emerged and polarisation was evident. It is our hope that lecturers could use this research to assist them in decolonising their spaces of teaching and learning.

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Section: Knowledge Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

#FeesMustFall and decolonising the curriculum: Stellenbosch University students’ and lecturers’ reactions

Costandius

Blackie

Nell

et al. 2018

SAJHE

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“…Such benefits from exploring hope could be transferred to the classroom setting where student teachers are encouraged to engage in ways that promote the development of their hope and sense of identity, as well as equipping them with a sense of agency to build the hope of those around them. This aligns with Higgs' (2016) view that in the South African context a higher education curriculum concerned with integrating indigenous African epistemologies should be "primarily concerned with empowering educators and learners to gain confidence in their own capabilities and to acquire a sense of pride in their own ways of being in the world" (p. 95).…”

Section: Putting a Practice Of Hope To Work In Teacher Educationmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…They described dialogic practices where multiple voices not only have the right to be expressed and authentically heard, but also where "disruptive questions" are dealt with truthfully (2016, p. 136). The significance of opening dialogue is further supported by Higgs (2016) who asserted that indigenous African voices and indigenous ways of knowing have been negated in educational discourses.…”

Section: Learning To Listen To Multiple Voicesmentioning

confidence: 95%

Positioning a practice of hope in South African teacher education programmes

Cherrington

2017

Educ. res. soc. change.

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Schools are described as ideal settings for nurturing and fostering children's hopes, and the teaching profession as rooted in hopefulness. However, there is a paucity of research linking hope theory and teacher education in the South African context. Using evidence from my own transformative, visual participatory research with rural South African children on hope and well-being, I argue in this position paper that hope theory, in particular an African perspective of hope, should be positioned alongside discussions on practising an engaged pedagogy to enable teaching practices that are more congruent with an Afrocentric worldview. This article argues a need to infuse relational hope in teacher education practices by encouraging collaborative, participatory learning engagements that create safe and creative spaces for critical dialogue, allowing for multiple voices and experiences to be heard. Such practices could in turn foster a sense of collective hope-characterised by the values of connectedness, caring, and collective agency-thereby equipping student teachers with the tools to build communities of hope in their classrooms and schools. The article concludes with implications of mobilising such a practice of hope through an engaged pedagogy in student teacher education in the South African context.

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“…African language and culture influences the knowledge and belief system of the EAL speaker (Lemmer, Meier & Van Wyk, 2006;Metz & Gaie, 2010) and therefore influences their response to the tests, which have been predominantly normed on US or UK populations, societies whose language and culture is different from theirs (Higgs, 2003;Kroes, 2005;Makgoba, 1999;Semali, 1999). Therefore, the background, values and stories of the EAL speaker, such as found in traditional oral African culture manifesting in African signs and symbols (Maathai, 2009;Mutwa, 1998), tend to be disregarded, devalued, ignored or only superficially addressed (D. Miller, 2012) when resources for evaluations do not reflect the African experience.…”

Section: Discussion and Implications Of The Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are South African speech-language therapists adequately equipped to assess English additional language (EAL) speakers who are from an indigenous linguistic and cultural background? A profile and exploration of the current situation

Mdlalo¹

2017

J Speech Pathol Ther

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This article presents an aspect of a larger PhD study, the aim of which was to critically evaluate and interrogate the use of language assessment tools, in their current form, within the South African context and to produce guidelines for adaptations to these tools that will better accommodate English Additional Language (EAL) speakers. These guidelines and principles could be used by language professionals to manage the assessment process and interpretation of findings from EAL speakers in a more accurate, appropriate and equitable manner. The term 'EAL speaker' is used here to specifically refer to South African multilinguals who are non-mother tongue speakers of English and are from indigenous language and cultural backgrounds 1 .The larger study makes use of a specific screening tool as a model, to exemplify and illustrate the argument. In this study, the cultural and linguistic relevance of this commonly used screening tool is interrogated from four different viewpoints: firstly, the perspective of the children, who are the target population of the tool; secondly, that of the parents and community, who play a significant role in the socialisation of the children; thirdly, from the perspective of the academics from an indigenous language and cultural background, who provide an academic perspective of the tool; and, finally, that of Speech-Language Therapist (SLT) practitioners who administer the tool and interpret the findings. As language assessments are conducted on people who exist within a cultural context, the cultural capital is embedded in language (Peltier, 2010;Seidman, 2008;Westby, 2009). Since the larger study focuses on the relationship between language and culture and adopts an ecological approach to the problems addressed in the study, a conceptual model that encompasses a strong ecological and cultural component was selected; that is Taylor's (1986) cultural framework for viewing normal and pathological communication.As part of this larger study, a national survey was conducted with SLTs to establish current practices in assessment and intervention, training and challenges experienced when working with a client who is an EAL speaker. Not a homogenous group there may be inter-and intra-linguistic and cultural variabilityThis article presents the results of a survey conducted on Speech-Language Therapists (SLTs) regarding current practices in the assessment of English Additional Language (EAL) speakers in South Africa. It forms part of the rationale for a broader (PhD) study that critiques the use of assessment instruments on EAL speakers from an indigenous linguistic and cultural background. This article discusses an aspect of the broader research and presents the background, method, findings, discussion and implications of the survey. The results of this survey highlight the challenges of human and material resources to, and the dominance of English in, the profession in South Africa. The findings contribute to understanding critical factors for acquiring reliable and valid assessment results ...

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

Cited by 53 publications

References 10 publications

#FeesMustFall and decolonising the curriculum: Stellenbosch University students’ and lecturers’ reactions

#FeesMustFall and decolonising the curriculum: Stellenbosch University students’ and lecturers’ reactions

Positioning a practice of hope in South African teacher education programmes

Are South African speech-language therapists adequately equipped to assess English additional language (EAL) speakers who are from an indigenous linguistic and cultural background? A profile and exploration of the current situation

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