Download or read book Going to University written by Case, Jennifer and published by African Minds. This book was released on 2018-02-09 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Around the world, more young people than ever before are attending university. Student numbers in South Africa have doubled since democracy and for many families, higher education is a route to a better future for their children. But alongside the overwhelming demand for higher education, questions about its purposes have intensified. Deliberations about the curriculum, culture and costing of public higher education abound from student activists, academics, parents, civil society and policy-makers. We know, from macro research, that South African graduates generally have good employment prospects. But little is known at a detailed level about how young people actually make use of their university experiences to craft their life courses. And even less is known about what happens to those who drop out. This accessible book brings together the rich life stories of 73 young people, six years after they began their university studies. It traces how going to university influences not only their employment options, but also nurtures the agency needed to chart their own way and to engage critically with the world around them. The book offers deep insights into the ways in which public higher education is both a private and public good, and it provides significant conclusions pertinent to anyone who works in – and cares about – universities.

Download or read book Going to University The Influence of Higher Education on the Lives of Young South Africans written by Jennifer Case and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2018-02-09 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Around the world, more young people than ever before are attending university. Student numbers in South Africa have doubled since democracy and for many families, higher education is a route to a better future for their children. But alongside the overwhelming demand for higher education, questions about its purposes have intensified. Deliberations about the curriculum, culture and costing of public higher education abound from student activists, academics, parents, civil society and policy-makers. We know, from macro research, that South African graduates generally have good employment prospects. But little is known at a detailed level about how young people actually make use of their university experiences to craft their life courses. And even less is known about what happens to those who drop out. This accessible book brings together the rich life stories of 73 young people, six years after they began their university studies. It traces how going to university influences not only their employment options, but also nurtures the agency needed to chart their own way and to engage critically with the world around them. The book offers deep insights into the ways in which public higher education is both a private and public good, and it provides significant conclusions pertinent to anyone who works in and cares about universities.

Download or read book Higher Education Pathways written by Paul Ashwin and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2018-12-13 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In what ways does access to undergraduate education have a transformative impact on people and societies? What conditions are required for this impact to occur? What are the pathways from an undergraduate education to the public good, including inclusive economic development? These questions have particular resonance in the South African higher education context, which is attempting to tackle the challenges of widening access and improving completion rates in in a system in which the segregations of the apartheid years are still apparent. Higher education is recognised in core legislation as having a distinctive and crucial role in building post-apartheid society. Undergraduate education is seen as central to addressing skills shortages in South Africa. It is also seen to yield significant social returns, including a consistent positive impact on societal institutions and the development of a range of capabilities that have public, as well as private, benefits. This book offers comprehensive contemporary evidence that allows for a fresh engagement with these pressing issues.

Download or read book Open Learning as a Means of Advancing Social Justice written by Tabisa Mayisela and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2024-01-23 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume investigates the uptake of ‘open learning’ in South African Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges and higher education institutions. Comprised of 16 studies focused on activities at a range of colleges and universities across the country, these chapters aim to promote a better understanding of open learning practices across the Post- School Education and Training (PSET) sector, including issues such as: recognition of prior learning, access for students with disabilities, work integrated learning, professional development, novel student funding mechanisms, leadership for open educational practices, institutional culture, student support, blended and online learning, flexible learning, online assessment, open educational resource development models and funding, and micro- credentials. This collection of peer-reviewed chapters contributes to understanding the ways in which South African PSET institutions and educators are interpreting ‘open learning’ as a means of advancing social justice. It includes a historical and contemporary understanding of the economic, cultural and political obstacles facing PSET, drawing on Nancy Fraser’s theory of social justice as ‘participatory parity’ to better understand the ways in which ‘open learning’ may address systemic social injustices in order to allow South African students and educators to thrive. This volume emerges from research conducted by the Cases on Open Learning (COOL) project, an initiative by the Department of Higher Education and Training in partnership with the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT) at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa.

Download or read book Understanding Higher Education written by Chrissie Bowie and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2021-08-23 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on the South African case, this book looks at shifts in higher education around the world in the last two decades. In South Africa, calls for transformation have been heard in the university since the last days of apartheid. Similar claims for quality higher education to be made available to all have been made across the African continent. In spite of this, inequalities remain and many would argue that these have been exacerbated during the Covid pandemic. Understanding Higher Education responds to these calls by arguing for a social account of teaching and learning by contesting dominant understandings of students as decontextualised learners premised on the idea that the university is a meritocracy. This book tackles the issue of teaching and learning by looking both within and beyond the classroom. It looks at how higher education policies emerged from the notion of the knowledge economy in the newly democratic South Africa, and how national qualification frameworks and other processes brought the country more closely into conversation with the global order. The effects of this on staffing and curriculum structures are considered alongside a proposition for alternative ways of understanding the role of higher education in society.

Download or read book Students participation in university governance in South Africa written by Vuyo Mthethwa and published by AOSIS. This book was released on 2023-03-01 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this book is to examine the academic experiences of students who participated in university governance at South African universities. Scrutiny is placed on the alignment of student representative council constitutions and university statutes with the actual experiences students had in discharging their roles in governance and in the way this impacted their academic progress. Through a multi-site case study design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of the student representative council who participated in university governance and supported by document analysis and observations to generate the data. The study adopted Tinto’s Integration Theory and Astin’s Theory of Involvement as the two frameworks are based on the relationship between students’ extra-curricular activity and their academic experiences. The study invokes a greater awareness of students as major stakeholder in governance and informs policies and practices that may better serve students’ academic experiences. The study will contribute to the understanding of cooperative governance principles while drawing from the perspective of the students on their understanding, limitations and challenges in discharging their roles in university governance.

Download or read book Theory and Method in Higher Education Research written by Jeroen Huisman and published by Emerald Group Publishing. This book was released on 2021-11-12 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume presents international perspectives on the application and development of theory and methodology in researching higher education. Topics discussed include critical race theory; the use of communities of practice theory; participant ethnography; and decolonization using indigenous principles.

Download or read book Higher Education for and beyond the Sustainable Development Goals written by Tristan McCowan and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-08-29 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyses the role of the university in working towards the Sustainable Development Goals. In contrast to the previous Millennium Development Goals, higher education is seen to have a crucial role in this new agenda. Yet how can the university fulfil these weighty expectations, and are the dominant trends in higher education supporting or undermining this vision? This book draws on the idea of the ‘developmental university’, a model characterised by its porous boundaries with society and commitment to teaching, research and community engagement in the public interest. The author examines case studies from Latin America, Africa and other regions to analyse how this model can be revived, countering recent trends of marketisation, status competition and unbundling. The book also considers alternatives to the developmental model drawing on indigenous knowledge systems, looking beyond the SDG framework to the creation of a new form of society. This timely volume will be of interest and value to those working in the field of sustainable development, and to students and scholars of comparative education, international development and higher education studies.

Download or read book Higher Education Pathways written by Ashwin, Paul and published by African Minds. This book was released on 2018-12-14 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In what ways does access to undergraduate education have a transformative impact on people and societies? What conditions are required for this impact to occur? What are the pathways from an undergraduate education to the public good, including inclusive economic development? These questions have particular resonance in the South African higher education context, which is attempting to tackle the challenges of widening access and improving completion rates in in a system in which the segregations of the apartheid years are still apparent. Higher education is recognised in core legislation as having a distinctive and crucial role in building post-apartheid society. Undergraduate education is seen as central to addressing skills shortages in South Africa. It is also seen to yield significant social returns, including a consistent positive impact on societal institutions and the development of a range of capabilities that have public, as well as private, benefits. This book offers comprehensive contemporary evidence that allows for a fresh engagement with these pressing issues.

Download or read book Proceedings of the 10th Focus Conference TFC 2023 written by Manyane Makua and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-12-05 with total page 540 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an open access book. The 2023 Focus Conference will focus on Goal Four (Quality Education) of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SGD). Goal Four is seized with providing “equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education including university.” Quality education, in this context, means the ability to function, provide and derive value in society. The theme of the conference is therefore coined as “The Role of Higher Education in the Attainment of Sustainable Quality Education.” Through this theme, the conference will provide a space for participants to share practical knowledge, experiences, and possible solutions to the myriad of problems that confront the higher education sector. Universities are often thought of as ivory towers far removed from the realities that confront global societies. To compound this, higher education is increasingly being questioned for its relevance in providing practical and innovative solutions to existing societal problems. Such questions often navigate around the relevance of the academic programmes being offered, curriculum, the capacity of staff, employability of graduates, and generally the ability of these institutions to understand why they exist. Indeed, higher education’s role in creating a sustainable future will presumably take on greater importance as the world continues to become increasingly globalised and interdependent.

Download or read book Academic Activism in Higher Education written by Nuraan Davids and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-03-24 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues for renewed understandings of academic activism, understandings that conceive of the ideas, arguments and scholarship of the academe as embedded within the practices of what the academy does. It examines why and how a renewed notion of academic activism informs a philosophy of higher education specifically in relation to teaching and learning. The book focuses on the theories and practices of teaching and learning, in particular how such pedagogical actions are guided by social, political and cultural influences outside of the university as a higher education institution. The authors advocate for a living philosophy of higher education that is commensurate with real actions and imaginary fictions of what constitutes higher education and what remains in becoming for the discourse. With a focus on South African social justice education, the book imagines pathways for academic activism to manifest in revolutionised pedagogical actions or actions that bring into contestation what already exists with the possibility for the cultivation of renewal.

Download or read book Creating Conditions for Student Success written by Magda Fourie-Malherbe and published by African Sun Media. This book was released on 2021-12-15 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The various chapters of this book have brilliantly provided perspectives on creating conditions for success in higher education from a wide variety of stakeholders within a university environment. The rich content comes from varying fields of study as well as academic development and student affairs directorates within the institution. This is what is exciting about the book. The diversity of focus in chapters makes the book relevant to anyone with interest in higher education matters. From the opening to the closing chapter, students are making a contribution on what the university has done or is doing for them to succeed or what it should consider doing to improve its service to students. This touches on every environment that students find themselves in a university setting, from residences, to the classroom to commuter or off-campus students. The book’s extended use of the capabilities approach and critical social theories has enabled it to provide nuances on not only the success of students, but, more importantly, about how the higher education environment can transform itself to practices relevant for the sector today. The various research studies in this book can benefit similar university contexts nationally and internationally.

Download or read book Reflective Teaching in Higher Education written by Paul Ashwin and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-02-20 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reflective Teaching in Higher Education is the definitive textbook for those wanting to excel at teaching in the sector. Informed by the latest research in this area, the book offers extensive support for those at the start of an academic career and career-long professionalism for those teaching in higher education. Written by an international collaborative author team of experts led by Paul Ashwin, Reflective Teaching in Higher Education offers two levels of support: - practical guidance for day-to-day teaching, covering key issues such as strategies for improving learning, teaching and assessment, curriculum design, relationships, communication, and inclusion - evidence-informed 'principle's to aid understanding of how theories can effectively inform teaching practices, offering ways to develop a deeper understanding of teaching and learning in higher education In addition to new case studies from a wider variety of countries than ever before, this new edition includes discussion of: - What is meant by 'agency' - Gender, ethnicity, disability and university teaching - Digital learning spaces and social media - Teaching career development for academics - Decolonising the curriculum - Assessment and feedback practices - Teaching excellence and 'learning gain' - 2015 UN General Assembly 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development reflectiveteaching.co.uk provides a treasure trove of additional support. It includes supplementary sector specific material to support for considering questions around society's educational aims, and much more besides.

Download or read book The Thinking University Expanded written by Yusef Waghid and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-11-27 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Thinking University Expanded considers how the university can be extended and developed to an institution of play that becomes a gateway to new compositions and enactments of opportunities and happiness for university academics and students alike. A university of and in continuous play can shape the public sphere in ways that reimagine both the epistemological and political, and the metaphysical and the ethical. Without abandoning the university’s emphasis on thinking, the book examines the prospects of opening the university to ‘a new, possible use’. The singular outcomes-based lens of seeing higher education distorts the humane and ethical nuance of what a university can potentially do and aspire towards. For this reason, the book intends to find a new use for the idea of a university – one that is responsible and responsive in both its pursuit of the truth and being open to different kinds of truth, as made manifest in diverse contexts and life-worlds. This book will be of great interest for academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the field of higher education.

Download or read book Turning Access into Success written by Sherran Clarence and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-03-29 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Teaching is crucial for supporting students’ chances of success in higher education, yet often makes limited use of theory to foster contextualized, systemic understandings of access and success. Theorized yet practical ways of empowering university educators are needed to develop their practices and turn access into success for their students. This book harnesses Legitimation Code Theory ‘LCT’ to inspire university educators to understand, reimagine and create socially just teaching and learning practices. Chapters bring this powerful theory to bear on real-world examples of curriculum design, inclusive practices, cumulative learning, assessment practices, and reflection. Each chapter guides the reader through these cutting-edge ideas, illustrates how they can make real differences in practice, and sets out ways of thinking that educators integrate those ideas into practice. The outcomes will help students access the powerful knowledge and ways of knowing they need for success in higher education.

Download or read book Transformation in Higher Education written by Nico Cloete and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2006 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents the most comprehensive and most thorough study of the developments in South African higher education and research after the first democratic elections of 1994 – that is of post-Apartheid South African higher education. This volume will provide its readers with a detailed insight into the new (i.e. post-1994) South African higher education system. The large number of experienced authors and editors involved in the book guarantees that the reader will be introduced in the new SA higher education system from a large number of perspectives that are presented in a consistent and coherent way. This book will be of interest to scholars, students, administrators, policymakers and politicians interested in South Africa, higher education and research, and policy analysis. "Publications on higher education are not new. But this volume, which is the first of its kind as a collective effort of tracing and examining the twists and turns taken by processes of change in the South African higher education system in a context of profound societal and global transformation, adds a fresh dimension to the debate. In its examination of the extent to which the changes were in line with policy intentions, particularly with regard to equity, democratisation, responsiveness and efficiency, and how a new institutional landscape started emerging, it makes a momentous contribution to the current debate about higher education restructuring." Njabulo Ndebele, Vice-chancellor, University of Cape Town and Chair of the South African Association of University Vice-chancellors "This book addresses a rich variety of issues on South African higher education. It puts these in the relevant context of the process of globalization and it shows that the South African experiences offer us a lot to learn. Highly recommended for those who are intrigued by the innovations taking place in South African higher education as well as for those who intend to grasp the effects of globalization." Frans van Vught, Rector Magnificus and founding Director of the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies, University of Twente, The Netherlands "Reflection is a crucial ingredient to learning. In this book on higher education we have reflections on a unique period in the history of a country that managed its transition to democracy in a way that was unique, but from which we can all learn. Higher education in South Africa played a vital role in that transition and was part of the many tensions, choices and influences. They have been thoughtfully captured." Brenda Gourley, Vice-chancellor, The Open University, UK and board member, Centre for Higher Education Transformation. "No contemporary higher education system has changed as dramatically as that in South Africa. This book, rich in data, examines the changes that took place and offers insights into how change frequently cannot be predicted. The analysis captures the excitement, high expectations, remarkable successes, and failures in the transformation of the apartheid system of higher education. This excellent study provides rich fare for comparative analysis." Fred M. Hayward, American Council on Education Pilot Project, Executive Vice President, Council for Higher Education Accreditation, US.

Download or read book Feeling lives An intersectional exploration of past experiences and present living written by Lindsay Clowes and published by UWC Press. This book was released on 2023-09-28 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We each make sense of the world through our embodied, feeling lives. We do it through the social groupings, contexts and processes which history (rather than biology) presents and assigns to us. In this collection, we aim to illustrate how these embodied feelings and emotions underpin contemporary theorising by sharing reflective autobiographical writing by individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and contexts. This somewhat unruly collection unsettles conventional academic writing precisely because authors have grounded themselves in the tangible and the personal rather than in abstract theory. We hope that readers might see aspects of their own lives in some of these stories, develop better understandings of lives that are experienced very differently, and start (or continue) to theorise their own lives.