International journal of educational sciences, Apr 1, 2016
Abstract Difficult DialoguesTM, an initiative that seeks to cultivate democratic discourse in hig... more Abstract Difficult DialoguesTM, an initiative that seeks to cultivate democratic discourse in higher education, was offered as a teaching approach to lecturers at a historically white Higher Education Institution in South Africa(SA), which, similar to other higher education institutions, bears the brunt of the residual effects of apartheid andits concomitant challenges in the 21-year old democracy. An argument is made that Difficult DialoguesTM needs tobe located theoretically within the academic landscape of higher education, positioning it within the nature ofuniversities in SA, grounded by a critical theoretical approach that seeks to promote social justice and responsiblecitizenship in higher education and moreover; as a pedagogical tool. This contextualisation of Difficult DialoguesTMand overt communication thereof to lecturers, are put forward as essential for its entrenchment as daily practicein lecture rooms, as well as countering the zeitgeist ideology within Higher Education of the instrumentalization of knowledge.
African Journal of Inter/Multidisciplinary Studies
Undergraduate programmes should provide students with meaningful learning opportunities to acquir... more Undergraduate programmes should provide students with meaningful learning opportunities to acquire a range of knowledge, skills, and attributes. Within the current, fast, and ever-changing environments of learning, a student’s acquisition of self-reflection, problem-solving and critical thinking skills – and ultimately the ability to undertake an independent academic inquiry – is more evident than ever before. In this article, the authors imagine a shift in the traditional notion of the classroom as a space of knowledge dissemination, to the classroom becoming a space of knowledge creation It is within this space that differences intersect, influence each other, and hybridize in pursuit of inquiry-minded (and meaningful) learning experiences. The authors argue that adopting a reflexive pedagogic approach, underscored by the notion of inquiry-based learning, best aids the development of a student’s required skill set. In the reflexive context, lecturers and students are collaborators...
The declaration of Covid-19 as a global pandemic on 11 March, 2020, and the disaster management r... more The declaration of Covid-19 as a global pandemic on 11 March, 2020, and the disaster management regulations implemented in reply to it had enormous ramifications on ethnographic fieldwork. This situation presented an opportunity to reconsider the methodology used in a research project on lived experiences of childhood health and well-being in Free State province, South Africa. This study explores the argument that technology can establish a virtual space that fieldworker and research participant can treat as “real.” It uses fieldwork diaries and insights to evaluate the benefits and disadvantages of telephonic virtual conversations as a replacement for conventional face-to-face fieldwork to access inaccessible fieldwork sites. It adopts a reflexive qualitative case-study approach to document the experiences of two fieldworkers moving from on-site fieldwork to telephone voice calls to conduct their research. By offering a reflexive account of these technology-mediated fieldwork exper...
Difficult Dialogues TM , an initiative that seeks to cultivate democratic discourse in higher edu... more Difficult Dialogues TM , an initiative that seeks to cultivate democratic discourse in higher education, was offered as a teaching approach to lecturers at a historically white Higher Education Institution in South Africa (SA), which, similar to other higher education institutions, bears the brunt of the residual effects of apartheid and its concomitant challenges in the 21-year old democracy. An argument is made that Difficult Dialogues TM needs to be located theoretically within the academic landscape of higher education, positioning it within the nature of universities in SA, grounded by a critical theoretical approach that seeks to promote social justice and responsible citizenship in higher education and moreover; as a pedagogical tool. This contextualisation of Difficult Dialogues TM and overt communication thereof to lecturers, are put forward as essential for its entrenchment as daily practice in lecture rooms, as well as countering the zeitgeist ideology within Higher Education of the instrumentalization of knowledge.
The principle of dialogue is the innovative teaching and learning practices with a transformative... more The principle of dialogue is the innovative teaching and learning practices with a transformative agenda. This paper argues that through dialogue lecturers can stimulate students to think and argue for themselves, rather than defer to tradition and authority. However, the context that is conducive for dialogic education, especially in a country such as South Africa that needs to come to grips with the presence of people who differ by ethnicity, class, gender, age and religion, is not known. The paper aims to share the teaching experience emanating from a lecture hall engaging in difficult topics to talk about, followed by reflection on its implication for transformative educational agenda. Emerging from the analysis of the case study is the competing dichotomy of "us" and "them". I therefore argue for a nuanced context specific process facilitation model to help participants rise above the default codes of "us" versus 'them' and look at issues in broad social contexts, irrespective of who is talking.
ABSTRACT The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is an internationally recognized tool... more ABSTRACT The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is an internationally recognized tool. This study aims to evaluate the cultural and contextual acceptability, and potential uses of the SDQ amongst Sesotho learners in South Africa. This paper uses reports from ten teachers based on their experience of using the SDQ. Teachers found the SDQ contextually relevant and easy to administer. They felt it assisted them in understanding the challenges learners were facing and to develop better relationships with them. Very few concerns were raised. The lack of referral options for affected learners and their own lack of appropriate skills generated frustration.
This paper investigates the relationship between socio-economic status and emotional well-being o... more This paper investigates the relationship between socio-economic status and emotional well-being of orphans in Mangaung, South Africa. Five hundred orphans aged 7-11 years participated in the cross-sectional study between 2009 and 2012. Data was collected by trained fieldworkers, who conducted face-to-face interviews and questionnaires with the orphans, their teachers and caregivers, and the heads of the households where the orphans resided. The caregivers, children and teachers all completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in order to measure the orphans' mental health, while heads of household provided information about socio-economic indicators. STATA version 12 was used to perform multivariate data analyses to identify socio-economic factors associated with the mental health of orphans. Food security, access to medical services and a male caregiver were factors associated with better emotional well-being of orphans, whereas other variables such as household asset index and monthly household expenditure were not linked with the orphans' mental health. Two of the three variables (food security and access to medical services) associated with better emotional well-being of orphans are also government interventions to assist orphans. Further research is needed to determine whether other government programs also impact the emotional well-being of orphans.
Difficult Dialogues TM , an initiative that seeks to cultivate democratic discourse in higher edu... more Difficult Dialogues TM , an initiative that seeks to cultivate democratic discourse in higher education, was offered as a teaching approach to lecturers at a historically white Higher Education Institution in South Africa (SA), which, similar to other higher education institutions, bears the brunt of the residual effects of apartheid and its concomitant challenges in the 21-year old democracy. An argument is made that Difficult Dialogues TM needs to be located theoretically within the academic landscape of higher education, positioning it within the nature of universities in SA, grounded by a critical theoretical approach that seeks to promote social justice and responsible citizenship in higher education and moreover; as a pedagogical tool. This contextualisation of Difficult Dialogues TM and overt communication thereof to lecturers, are put forward as essential for its entrenchment as daily practice in lecture rooms, as well as countering the zeitgeist ideology within Higher Education of the instrumentalization of knowledge.
International journal of educational sciences, Apr 1, 2016
Abstract Difficult DialoguesTM, an initiative that seeks to cultivate democratic discourse in hig... more Abstract Difficult DialoguesTM, an initiative that seeks to cultivate democratic discourse in higher education, was offered as a teaching approach to lecturers at a historically white Higher Education Institution in South Africa(SA), which, similar to other higher education institutions, bears the brunt of the residual effects of apartheid andits concomitant challenges in the 21-year old democracy. An argument is made that Difficult DialoguesTM needs tobe located theoretically within the academic landscape of higher education, positioning it within the nature ofuniversities in SA, grounded by a critical theoretical approach that seeks to promote social justice and responsiblecitizenship in higher education and moreover; as a pedagogical tool. This contextualisation of Difficult DialoguesTMand overt communication thereof to lecturers, are put forward as essential for its entrenchment as daily practicein lecture rooms, as well as countering the zeitgeist ideology within Higher Education of the instrumentalization of knowledge.
African Journal of Inter/Multidisciplinary Studies
Undergraduate programmes should provide students with meaningful learning opportunities to acquir... more Undergraduate programmes should provide students with meaningful learning opportunities to acquire a range of knowledge, skills, and attributes. Within the current, fast, and ever-changing environments of learning, a student’s acquisition of self-reflection, problem-solving and critical thinking skills – and ultimately the ability to undertake an independent academic inquiry – is more evident than ever before. In this article, the authors imagine a shift in the traditional notion of the classroom as a space of knowledge dissemination, to the classroom becoming a space of knowledge creation It is within this space that differences intersect, influence each other, and hybridize in pursuit of inquiry-minded (and meaningful) learning experiences. The authors argue that adopting a reflexive pedagogic approach, underscored by the notion of inquiry-based learning, best aids the development of a student’s required skill set. In the reflexive context, lecturers and students are collaborators...
The declaration of Covid-19 as a global pandemic on 11 March, 2020, and the disaster management r... more The declaration of Covid-19 as a global pandemic on 11 March, 2020, and the disaster management regulations implemented in reply to it had enormous ramifications on ethnographic fieldwork. This situation presented an opportunity to reconsider the methodology used in a research project on lived experiences of childhood health and well-being in Free State province, South Africa. This study explores the argument that technology can establish a virtual space that fieldworker and research participant can treat as “real.” It uses fieldwork diaries and insights to evaluate the benefits and disadvantages of telephonic virtual conversations as a replacement for conventional face-to-face fieldwork to access inaccessible fieldwork sites. It adopts a reflexive qualitative case-study approach to document the experiences of two fieldworkers moving from on-site fieldwork to telephone voice calls to conduct their research. By offering a reflexive account of these technology-mediated fieldwork exper...
Difficult Dialogues TM , an initiative that seeks to cultivate democratic discourse in higher edu... more Difficult Dialogues TM , an initiative that seeks to cultivate democratic discourse in higher education, was offered as a teaching approach to lecturers at a historically white Higher Education Institution in South Africa (SA), which, similar to other higher education institutions, bears the brunt of the residual effects of apartheid and its concomitant challenges in the 21-year old democracy. An argument is made that Difficult Dialogues TM needs to be located theoretically within the academic landscape of higher education, positioning it within the nature of universities in SA, grounded by a critical theoretical approach that seeks to promote social justice and responsible citizenship in higher education and moreover; as a pedagogical tool. This contextualisation of Difficult Dialogues TM and overt communication thereof to lecturers, are put forward as essential for its entrenchment as daily practice in lecture rooms, as well as countering the zeitgeist ideology within Higher Education of the instrumentalization of knowledge.
The principle of dialogue is the innovative teaching and learning practices with a transformative... more The principle of dialogue is the innovative teaching and learning practices with a transformative agenda. This paper argues that through dialogue lecturers can stimulate students to think and argue for themselves, rather than defer to tradition and authority. However, the context that is conducive for dialogic education, especially in a country such as South Africa that needs to come to grips with the presence of people who differ by ethnicity, class, gender, age and religion, is not known. The paper aims to share the teaching experience emanating from a lecture hall engaging in difficult topics to talk about, followed by reflection on its implication for transformative educational agenda. Emerging from the analysis of the case study is the competing dichotomy of "us" and "them". I therefore argue for a nuanced context specific process facilitation model to help participants rise above the default codes of "us" versus 'them' and look at issues in broad social contexts, irrespective of who is talking.
ABSTRACT The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is an internationally recognized tool... more ABSTRACT The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is an internationally recognized tool. This study aims to evaluate the cultural and contextual acceptability, and potential uses of the SDQ amongst Sesotho learners in South Africa. This paper uses reports from ten teachers based on their experience of using the SDQ. Teachers found the SDQ contextually relevant and easy to administer. They felt it assisted them in understanding the challenges learners were facing and to develop better relationships with them. Very few concerns were raised. The lack of referral options for affected learners and their own lack of appropriate skills generated frustration.
This paper investigates the relationship between socio-economic status and emotional well-being o... more This paper investigates the relationship between socio-economic status and emotional well-being of orphans in Mangaung, South Africa. Five hundred orphans aged 7-11 years participated in the cross-sectional study between 2009 and 2012. Data was collected by trained fieldworkers, who conducted face-to-face interviews and questionnaires with the orphans, their teachers and caregivers, and the heads of the households where the orphans resided. The caregivers, children and teachers all completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in order to measure the orphans' mental health, while heads of household provided information about socio-economic indicators. STATA version 12 was used to perform multivariate data analyses to identify socio-economic factors associated with the mental health of orphans. Food security, access to medical services and a male caregiver were factors associated with better emotional well-being of orphans, whereas other variables such as household asset index and monthly household expenditure were not linked with the orphans' mental health. Two of the three variables (food security and access to medical services) associated with better emotional well-being of orphans are also government interventions to assist orphans. Further research is needed to determine whether other government programs also impact the emotional well-being of orphans.
Difficult Dialogues TM , an initiative that seeks to cultivate democratic discourse in higher edu... more Difficult Dialogues TM , an initiative that seeks to cultivate democratic discourse in higher education, was offered as a teaching approach to lecturers at a historically white Higher Education Institution in South Africa (SA), which, similar to other higher education institutions, bears the brunt of the residual effects of apartheid and its concomitant challenges in the 21-year old democracy. An argument is made that Difficult Dialogues TM needs to be located theoretically within the academic landscape of higher education, positioning it within the nature of universities in SA, grounded by a critical theoretical approach that seeks to promote social justice and responsible citizenship in higher education and moreover; as a pedagogical tool. This contextualisation of Difficult Dialogues TM and overt communication thereof to lecturers, are put forward as essential for its entrenchment as daily practice in lecture rooms, as well as countering the zeitgeist ideology within Higher Education of the instrumentalization of knowledge.
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