Unisa Press Journals (University of South Africa)
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Interrogating the Rationale behind the Deportation of Missionaries from Rhodesia: A Case of Colonial Paranoia (1964–1979): 2023 CONFERENCE OF THE CHURCH HISTORY SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
No full textThe study focuses on the complex interplay between colonial powers, religious actors, and the struggle for social justice and racial equality in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) under the government of Ian Douglas Smith (1964-79). The study uses a postcolonial lens to explore the influence, motivation, and responses of colonial administrators towards missionary actors towards African nationalism and African political struggles. This historical narrative shapes church interactions in politics and economics in view of missionary advocacy and the legacy of African nationalism and its transition beyond that time. This fulfils the study objective, which is to investigate the contribution and impact of the targeted missionaries in creating a just, multi-racial and democratic Zimbabwe. The study examines five prominent missionaries who were targeted by the colonial government and deported out of Rhodesia. They include Bishop Ralph Edward Dodge (1907–2008) and Arthur Guy Clutton-Brock (1906–1995). Fr Michael Traber (SMB) (1929–2006), Sr. Janice McLaughlin (1941–2020), and Bishop Donal Raymond Lamont (O. Carm) (1911–2003). This study showcases the impact of missionaries on Zimbabwe’s ecclesiastical historiography.
The Dutch Reformed Church (1974–2024): From Dancing with the Devil to Waltzing to Heavenly Music
No full textThe jubilee celebration of Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae (SHE) reminds church historians of important events that have taken place during the past 50 years. This article gives an overview of important events that took place in the history of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC). Being the largest white Afrikaans-speaking church and the church which biblically supported the political policy of apartheid, the history of Christianity in South Africa cannot be understood without taking note of the DRC’s journey. For the DRC, 1974 was an important turning point in its history as the policy document Ras, Volk en Nasie en Volkereverhoudinge in die Lig van die Skrif (hereinafter Ras, Volk en Nasie) was approved by the General Synod of the DRC. This document explained how the church motivated apartheid from a biblical point of view. It was – metaphorically speaking – the official start of the DRC’s dance with the devil. During the past 50 years, the DRC has taken important decisions that ended its dance with the devil and started a new dance, waltzing to heavenly music. This happened when the church decided to take a new road to reconciliation which was the primary goal. The article revisits Ras, Volk en Nasie, but also some of the important milestones along the road to reconciliation. It concludes with an example of how a congregation of the former apartheid church succeeded in making a difference in the local community. This confirms the fact that the dance with the devil has indeed ended and that many congregations of the church are now waltzing to heavenly music
Experiences and Impact of Domestic Violence on Children: A Qualitative Study in the City of Tshwane, South Africa
No full textSouth Africa has a high prevalence of domestic violence, and its impact is commonly limited to the partner, and not adequate attention is paid to its consequences on the children who experience such violence in their home. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of children who are raised in homes where there is domestic violence. The participants were 23 male and female children aged 12 to 16 years who were referred to one of the centres of Families South Africa (FAMSA) in the City of Tshwane because of domestic violence in their homes. A descriptive qualitative design, using in-depth interviews, was employed to collect data and NVivo version 12 was used to analyse the data. Three (3) major themes emerged from the data, these being the impact of domestic violence on children, the long-term social impacts of domestic violence, and coping strategies used by the participants to survive domestic violence. Additionally, seven (7) sub-themes emerged from the three major themes. The findings imply the need to acknowledge that children are direct victims of domestic violence that occurs between their parents. It is recommended that the school health programme in South Africa integrate screening for children who witness domestic violence
From Teacher Beliefs to Practices: Unpacking the Benefits and Barriers of Extensive Reading Programmes in Macau Secondary Schools
No full textExtensive reading entails language learners’ independent reading of abundant materials suitable for their proficiency levels. Previous studies have revealed extensive reading as effective for improving various aspects of second language (L2) proficiency. However, many Macau secondary schools have cancelled or reduced their extensive reading programmes (ERPs), prompting the need for a qualitative study to comprehend these modifications. In this case study, five L2 English teachers from different Macau secondary schools shared their beliefs and practices during semi-structured interviews. Qualitative content analysis of the interview transcripts revealed all teachers supported incorporating extensive reading in their respective English curriculums; they believed students’ engagement in ERPs enhanced reading fluency and comprehension, vocabulary knowledge, and L2 learning motivation and confidence. However, the teachers also believed restricted time and unengaged students hindered the ERPs. The schools’ possible misinterpretations of extensive reading and their potentially unrealistic expectations regarding short-term returns against limited investment in extensive reading may have contributed to the abandonment or reduction of ERPs. To engage students in ERPs, schools should allow students to choose their own reading materials, reduce the emphasis on extensive reading tests, incorporate more intrinsic and extrinsic motivators, and consider combining extensive reading with reading strategy instruction
Bibliometric Coloniality in South Africa: Critical Review of the Indexes of Accredited Journals
No full textBibliometric coloniality refers to the system of domination of global academic publishing by bibliometric indexes based in the Global North, which serve as gatekeepers of academic relevance, credibility, and quality. These indexes are dominated by journals from Europe and North America. Due to bibliometric coloniality, scholarly platforms and academic research from the African continent and much of the Global South are largely invisible on the global stage. In this article, we analyse the geographic coverage of five international indexes that are part of the Department of Higher Education and Training’s (DHET) lists of accredited journals in South Africa, and unpack systemic and structural factors behind the DHET’s choices. Our analysis shows that the DHET’s lists of accredited journals propagate and value academic journals based in the Global North as credible platforms for dissemination of knowledge, while erasing the African continent and Global South. This way, the DHET is directly reinforcing global bibliometric coloniality and contributing to the maintenance of Euro-American epistemic hegemony. We argue that South Africa, as Africa’s top producer of scholarly output, should lead the process of dismantling bibliometric coloniality and promoting African knowledge platforms. Working closely with other African countries and the African Union on the creation of an African scholarly index would be the first step in this process. However, neoliberalisation of higher education and the lack of political will to tackle coloniality of knowledge are preventing this from happening
Interpretation and Translation: How an Education Policy Is Distorted and Reoriented by Official Education Systems
No full textFrom the Bernsteinian perspective, education policy interpretation and translation, as a process of recontextualising policy discourse into proposed pedagogic modes, follow certain regulative discourses and rules of social orders. This study illustrates this argument by investigating 15 discipline heads’ experiences concerning their exposure to the interpretation and translation of the higher vocational education curriculum reform policy in China. The policy emphasised industry-led curricula, which is opposite to the general regulative discourse of state dominance in the Chinese education system. Given this contradiction, the government and its vocational colleges attempted to find a compromise, and thus their agents interpreted and translated the policy discourse into regionalised modes where the official education system could still control knowledge selection with limited influence from employers. It is argued that the regulative discourse in an education policy originating in realistic and economic considerations might be contrary to the general regulative discourse in official education systems, so that the policy could not be faithfully interpreted based on its own regulative discourse but had to be interpreted by largely following the general regulative discourse that is opposed to that of the policy. Thus, the policy was distorted and reoriented into a pedagogic mode that diverges from the aim of the policy
Decoding Figurative Folklore: A Case of Xitsonga Proverbs
No full textThis article examines the nature, use, and meanings of proverbs as tools of discourse and philosophical expressions among Vatsonga. Within the Vatsonga traditions, proverbs, as a form of folklore, are verbally expressed and transmitted from one generation to another. Inherent in these elements are the cultural and philosophical traits that are supposed to be easily identified by both the native speakers and listeners of the Xitsonga language. However, presently, there appears to be a limited understanding of Xitsonga proverbs and their interpretations, especially among Vatsonga youths. Hence, this article analyses seven selected Xitsonga proverbs that were acquired from Vutlhari bya Vatsonga by Junod (2017) and Tihlungu ta rixaka by Marhanele and Bila (2016) and the analysis undergirded by Afrocentricity as a theoretical framework. The proverbs were selected and analysed based on a set of themes, namely, enforcing discipline, restoration, warning, confidentiality, gratitude, and relationship. Xitsonga proverbs were found to be both direct and indirect tools that are used to bring out the Vatsonga’s cultural selfhood and the inherent traits of their philosophies. It is recommended that Xitsonga paremiology be considered in various spheres of “formal” and “informal” African epistemologies and pedagogies such as basic and tertiary institutions of learning as well as in circles of indigenous knowledge production such as initiation schools
Ethnocultural Foods and Contextual Embeddedness: An Appraisal of an Indigenous Optimal Diet for Pregnant and Lactating Ndau Women in Zimbabwe
No full textDietary intake plays a quintessential role in the health and well-being of pregnant and lactating women. Commonly, maternal dietary deficiencies result in negative health outcomes for the mother, the foetus, and the infant. Within indigenous communities, socio-cultural beliefs and practices have a direct influence on the dietary intake of pregnant and lactating women. These dictate the dietary uptake as well as behaviours and taboos associated with pregnancy and lactation. Through the adoption of a qualitative digitally mediated research method, the study sought to explore Ndau ethnocultural food practices recommended for pregnant and lactating women. The research sample comprised 39 Ndau women between the ages of 24 and 77. The study’s findings revealed the importance of the adoption and observance of a recommended ethnocultural diet for pregnant and lactating women. Such a diet is inclusive of indigenous leafy vegetables and cereals, which command a high level of micronutrients required for the health and well-being of pregnant and lactating women. Additionally, within Ndau culture, elderly women within the family are tasked with being family dieticians whose duty is to ensure adherence to an optimal indigenous diet as well as observance of beliefs and practices associated with pregnancy and lactation
The Poetics of Pluriversality and Animist Realism in two Zimbabwean Short Stories
No full textThis article uses the prisms of pluriversality and animist realism in the critical exegesis of two Zimbabwean short stories, namely, Charles Mungoshi’s “The Mountain” in his short story collection,Coming of the DrySeason ([1972] 1981) and Petina Gappah’s “The Death of Wonder” in her short story collection, Rotten Row (2016). It argues that each of the short stories is informed by, and is a response to its specific context in the manner in which it deploys an animist realist lens to advance pluriversal praxis. Mungoshi’s short story, in a colonial context, tries to recover African indigenous animist epistemologies against the background of their extreme Othering by colonial modernist discourses. It does this via a quasi-cultural nationalist paradigm that, though, is fractured by the choice of narrative voice as well as the mode of narration. On the other hand, “The Death of Wonder,” in a manner that shows the endurance of the coloniality of knowledge, recovers similar marginalised discourses in the 21st century post-colonial context against the background of the cultural nationalism and anti-imperialism rhetoric of the Zimbabwean ruling elite. Through its animist aesthetics, it similarly fractures the essentialist perceptions of this cultural nationalism. Both texts ultimately advance pluriversality that recognises the symbiosis and complementariness of different knowledges in dealing with contemporary realities and challenges in the Zimbabwean context and beyond