Unisa Press Journals (University of South Africa)
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The Challenges of Implementing a Humanising Pedagogy in Technical Vocational Education and Training Colleges in South Africa
No full textThis article explores the challenges of implementing a humanising pedagogy in South Africa’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges, with a focus on barriers to fostering critical consciousness and student empowerment. While grounded in Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy, the study extends this framework by incorporating the capabilities approach, which emphasises education’s role in expanding freedoms and opportunities for human flourishing. Drawing on data from learning cycle group meetings—used both for data generation and critical reflection—the study identifies key structural, pedagogical, and socio-economic constraints. These include the rigid structure of the National Certificate (Vocational) (NC[V]) curriculum, insufficient teacher preparation for transformative pedagogies, and persistent inequalities that undermine student agency. By integrating Freirean praxis with the capabilities approach, the article calls for pedagogies that move beyond content delivery to support students’ well-being, aspirations, and agency. It argues that fostering epistemic justice and participatory learning in TVET can enhance students’ capabilities, equipping them not only with technical skills but also with the capacity to critically engage with and transform their socio-economic realities. The findings contribute to broader debates on socially just pedagogies and the developmental role of TVET
Indigenous Beliefs and Practices for Promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health among the Tsonga of Chiredzi District, Zimbabwe
No full textSexual and reproductive health is a crucial aspect of human health. This qualitative study sought to find out indigenous beliefs and practices for sexual and reproductive health among Tsonga of Chiredzi District, Zimbabwe. Postcolonialism and Afrocentricity were the theoretical frameworks underpinning the study. The qualitative design adopted was phenomenological because data were collected from people within the Tsonga ethnic group, to get the insiders’ perspectives on their distinctive practices, experiences, and beliefs. The sample was purposively selected. It comprised 24 participants from different parts of Chiredzi District (12 males and 12 females). This sample comprised health practitioners, teachers, businesspeople, and ordinary community members. The conservative sample was due to the scarcity of resource persons as not many people were willing to share information on such a sensitive issue. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data, which was then thematically analysed. The study revealed that indigenous practices and beliefs can be instrumental in promoting sexual and reproductive health among the Tsonga, owing to their availability and affordability in their surrounding environment. Tsonga people still use traditional medicines alongside Western medicines to safeguard sexual and reproductive health. It was concluded that indigenous knowledge systems related to sexual and reproductive health are not antagonistic to Western medicine and science, but complement the same. It is recommended that in the face of challenges associated with resourcing public health institutions, especially in Zimbabwe, integration of indigenous and modern modes of safeguarding sexual and reproductive health would enhance the realisation of sustainable development goals, particularly goal number 3, which focuses on good health and well-being
Creating a Positive Personal Leadership Brand Framework: A Positive Organisational Behaviour Perspective
No full textBackground: There is a clear global need for leadership that positively impacts both the organisation and employees. This study proposes that business leaders with a positive personal brand may influence followers’ perceptions and contribute to a positive organisational brand image. The role of personal leadership branding in development practice requires further research.
Research purpose: To conceptualise a positive personal leadership brand (PPLB) framework for use as a consulting tool in organisational leadership development and coaching practice.
Design/methodology/approach: The qualitative research approach employed a descriptive-exploratory design within an interpretive paradigm. Empirical data were collected through in-depth online interviews with four public and four private sector personal brand leaders. Additionally, four online focus group discussions were conducted with senior and middle managers. Finally, four subject-matter experts in organisational psychology assessed the face validity of the PPLB framework.
Main findings: The emerging themes were categorised into two main dimensions: the Self and the Other. Six subthemes were identified for the PPLB framework: the self-conscious leader, passionate and motivated leader, authentic leader, socially intelligent leader, altruistic leader, and progressive leader.
Practical/managerial implications: The PPLB framework could facilitate personal leadership branding strategies and leadership development programmes in the business industry.
Contribution/value add: The PPLB framework integrates leadership and positive organisational behaviour (POB) theory, focusing on positive leadership traits. These traits are vital in the current decentralisation of work as embedded in leadership in the gig economy
Reclaiming Islamic Ethical and Epistemic Traditions: Online Calligraphy Education through the Deen Arts Foundation in South Africa
No full textThis article examines how online Islamic calligraphy education, as offered by the Deen Arts Foundation South Africa (DAFSA), functions as a pluriversal and ethically grounded practice of epistemic recovery and self-formation in post-apartheid South Africa. It argues that by integrating Islamic pedagogical traditions, centred on adab, ikhlāṣ, and iḥsān, with contemporary digital platforms, DAFSA enables students to reconnect with their Islamic heritage, recover marginalised knowledge traditions, and cultivate moral and spiritual dispositions. Conceptually, the article draws on the notion of field, is guided by a normative ethics of beauty and excellence and applies the Community of Inquiry framework, with attention to its theory of educational presences. It situates DAFSA’s calligraphy courses within a broader historical context marked by colonial epistemic disruption, arguing that the recovery of Islamic calligraphy traditions represents a form of resistance to hegemonic knowledge structures. Drawing on student perspectives and an analysis of the courses’ pedagogical design, the article demonstrates how Islamic calligraphy serves as a transformative educational experience that engenders ethical self-formation, sustains cultural continuity, and cultivates transregional community in a digitally mediated age
A Community-Based Approach to Improving the Quality of Life of Child-Headed Households
No full textThe increasing prevalence of child-headed households in South Africa presents a significant social challenge that calls for sustainable, community-driven solutions. Based on a successful pilot project in Zastron, South Africa, this research proposes a community-based intervention programme to enable children living in a child-headed household to live a quality life that will contribute to their well-being, enhance their capabilities, and allow them to achieve functionings they reasonably value. Children and the broader community are affected by the phenomenon of child-headed households. Hence, their contribution to developing an intervention programme is necessary. Participatory action research was employed as research design, with those affected by the phenomenon participating in all phases of the design, ultimately leading to the development of the community-based intervention programme. The study found that such a programme is a promising way to protect and enhance the capabilities of children living in these households by focusing on aspects related to their academic performance, career guidance, sustainable gardening, access to nutritious food, the maintenance of family relationships, prevention of diseases, emotional support, mentoring, and funding
Revisiting the Historical Presence of Inculturation Liturgies and Moving Towards Liberative Africanist Liturgies
No full textAncestors play a critical role in African life and traditions. They are critical to how morality in Africa is conceptualised. Ramose and others have exposed that life in Africa is lived holistically, and ancestors play a significant role in guiding the living. Among the key aspects of becoming an ancestor is dying a natural death, having played an upstanding role in the community and having an offspring. Recognising these key parts of the criteria, this paper seeks to explore what natural death means in the face of coloniality and conquest. This paper argues that coloniality has not only killed the flesh but the living-dead. This being the case, I advance the argument that the history and presence of inculturation liturgies do not address the issue of double death. This causes a problem with the way morality is conceptualised using the African ancestral framework. Unnatural death in this paper refers to deaths that occur as a result of sickness, murder, and accidents, for instance. I argue, therefore, that ontic and epistemic death is unnatural. Addressing Christians who embrace African spirituality and Christianity, this paper advocates for the adoption of a liberative-liturgical praxis. In such a liberative-liturgical praxis, recognising the wounds and deaths of our ancestors epistemically and ontically becomes a critical part of our worship. This paper concludes by avowing that the integration of epistemic and ontic reflections of the wounds of those who have passed can play a critical liberative-reconstructive role liturgically, in the manner in which morality is framed for the African Christian society. Methodologically, this paper uses the desk research method, which is literature-based and requires no empirical research methods
Transformative Practices in ODeL: Advancing Higher Education Teaching and Learning
No full textThe landscape of education is experiencing significant transformation with the rise of open distance and e-learning (ODeL), which offers unprecedented opportunities to redefine teaching and learning practices. This study aims to explore transformative practices in ODeL environments, focusing on their influence on educational outcomes and pedagogical approaches across diverse contexts and disciplines. Central to this investigation is the role of technology-mediated environments in facilitating transformative practices. Through the integration of digital tools, interactive multimedia, and collaborative platforms, educators can design dynamic and engaging learning experiences tailored to the needs of diverse learners. Employing a narrative review methodology, the study synthesises empirical evidence, case studies, and theoretical frameworks from existing literature to highlight the transformative potential of ODeL practices. The review suggests that the flexibility and accessibility of ODeL modalities empower students to engage with content at their convenience, thereby fostering a personalised and student-centred approach to educational access and success. We also found that strategies such as inquiry-based learning, project-based learning, and personalised pathways leverage ODeL platforms to create inclusive and participatory experiences. These approaches, grounded in Nancy Fraser’s social justice theory, could enhance critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills while addressing educational inequalities especially in the context of South Africa. The study thus contributes to the ongoing discourse on advancing practices in the use of technology to enhance educational outcomes in an increasingly digital and unequal society. Continuous professional development for educators ensures sustainability and adaptability in advancing these practices
Key Themes in the African Environmental Social Work Literature
No full textThis paper critically examines the growing discourse on environmental social work in South Africa and Africa more broadly. It highlights distinctive features of African values and traditions, on the one hand, and persistent social problems threatening human and environmental well-being on the other. The discussion begins with a brief overview of the theoretical development of environmental social work that has influenced its development in Africa, noting the extant empirically based literature on this topic and the emergence of African research often overlooked in international reviews and analyses. Thereafter, attention turns to key aspects of African environmentalism, noting the influence of African values and cultural traditions that are both enriching and challenging social and environmental interventions seeking to address inter alia problems of poverty and social development, natural resource use, climate change, food insecurity, and industrial pollution. Finally, the paper presents a typology suggesting possible intervention strategies social workers might use to respond to socio-environmental problems
Biographic and Institutional Entanglements: Reframing Differences through a Diffraction Lens
No full textDespite the inability of the higher education sector to address colonial apartheid, relegating the associated indigenous cultures and traditions to a submissive space, the fight for a more legitimate and transformed higher education system continues. The study examines how biography and institutional context deepen how co-authors engage pragmatically in a collective project and secondly theorises “thinking differently about difference”. Through a triadic lens of reflection, diffraction, and decoloniality, we address the research question: How can an understanding of each other’s lived experiences and institutional contexts guide us towards engaging differently with one another and with differences? We employed autobiographical narrative inquiry as the most appropriate methodology. Our argument is that collaborative constructions of “self” unfolding through time and across space must centre difference as a driver of transformation in a collaborative partnership and scholarship. We offer a number of guidelines and questions for collective reflection and reflective practice that can be adapted for various social work and educational settings. The study concludes that by engaging with difference differently, and through deepened individual/contextual awareness, socially just co-authorship and cross-institutional partnerships could be nurtured