Koers (E-Journal)
Not a member yet
2282 research outputs found
Sort by
Ethics as commodity in higher education of South African natural science and engineering students
Get PDFThe fields of the natural sciences are increasingly shying away from purely theoretical approaches to knowledge and are instead looking toward real-world applications and products to be derived from research projects. This phenomenon is seen even in the academic setting, which increasingly seems to mimic the goals of the outcome-driven engineering world. Such developments are deemed necessary in a worldwide economy that is driven more by practical economic results and less by the ideal of contributing to discipline-specific facts and knowledge. This shift in research-perspective means that science and engineering are faced with a host of ethical and social issues which extend beyond the confines of the laboratory. With these changes, the importance of an ethical grounding for graduate students becomes ever more pressing. This article will look at the influence that a purely positivist worldview may have on the ethical and value-related education of university students in the natural sciences and engineering. It will attempt to show how the teaching of ethical approaches need not be seen as an obstacle for the training of a potential scientist or engineer, but rather as an opportunity for growth in the individual as a contributing member of his or her society and immediate community. A solution to this continually growing need for ethical grounding is suggested: educators should look at the underlying worldviews and collateral or hidden curriculum (that which is not taught formally in classes, but which the students learn anyway) and the null curriculum (that which is not taught in classes) to provide their students with ethical guidance, rather than simply focusing on adding extra ethics modules to highly technical university or college courses
The capability of national education systems to address ethnic diversity
Get PDFModern societies have become much more complex in recent decades, also in terms of ethnic identities and differences. The question arose whether education systems were capable of addressing the needs of ethnic and other minorities in countries across the globe. After examining a cross-section of education systems (in Australia, Canada, China, Israel, Malaysia, Rwanda, Russia and South Africa) with the aid of a set of specially developed criteria, it was concluded that these systems seemed to comply with the criteria in various ways, albeit in different measures and in several configurations. It is recommended that policy makers apply such criteria for enhancing the capability of an education system to address the needs of ethnic minorities and to meet the demands of increased social complexity
A connected and plugged-in worldview: Young people and new media
Get PDFConsidering their enthusiastic adoption and utilisation of the latest media technologies, the question whether today’s (2011) youth is critically aware of, and paying due attention to, the multitude of influences and information that technology transmits into their lives, may legitimately be asked. Questions concerning connectivity, community interaction and peer interaction, identity (and loss of identity) and what the author terms ‘space-time discrepancy’ are raised in this article. The methods by which people (students or other young people) acquire and assimilate new knowledge (epistemologically), process and understand information (cognitively) and create or formulate personal meaning and significance (metaphysically), are all modified and informed by their consumption of new technologies. Therefore, in the pursuit of an ’acceptable’ (by their peers and their community) worldview, young people have to grapple with both the objectively perceived, as well as the subjectively experienced manifestations of the networked world; a world ’immersed’ in new media
Flying on the wings of Vollenhoven’s radical Christian worldview: A reconsideration of the usual typology of Christian worldviews
Get PDFThis article investigated the traditional typology of Christian worldviews from the perspective of the Christian philosopher, D.H.Th. Vollenhoven (1892?1978). The usual categorisation started by Niebuhr (in 1951), and adopted by some Reformational scholars afterwards, is questioned as too simplistic, forcing Christian thinkers and schools of thought into five pigeonholes. Worldviews ? including the Christian ones ? are complex phenomena. They should not be considered, for example, as merely logical systems or aesthetic ’stories’. Vollenhoven’s systematic philosophy and historiography of philosophy (his thetical-critical approach) can provide some clues for a new way to describe different Christian worldviews, as well as to arrive at the outlines of a more radical and comprehensive Christian worldview based on God\u27s threefold creational, inscripturated and incarnated revelation
’n Skoolhoof se persepsies van die verwesenliking van Christelike waardes in ’n Suid-Afrikaanse laerskool: ’n Gevallestudie
Get PDFA principal’s perceptions of the realisation of Christian values at a South African Primary School: A case study.Many South African schools are facing the challenge of establishing a school culture that is conducive to teaching and learning. The school culture has a far greater impact on living and learning than any other factor in the life of a school. The research question in this study is: How did a primary school principal view the actualisation of Christian values in the school culture? An investigative, qualitative research design, and more particularly a case study, was considered to be the most appropriate approach to the research question. In a number of previous investigations in the school, the author has shown that the school principal treasured the inculcation of Christian values in the school. Data in this study were collected by means of various semi-structured interviews with the principal; paragraphs written by the principal; documents about school activities; a DVD of the school; and field notes taken during the interviews. The findings show the role of the principal in inculcating values in a school and the effect of a vision and mission to realise these values. Inculcating values in a school is best actualised in a positive, inviting school culture that focuses on continuing growth conducive to human development
Another look at education from a Christian stewardship perspective
Get PDFDespite the current postmodern aversion to large-scale philosophies, another look at Christian stewardship education has become necessary. Christian educators need a reminder in the prevailing socio-political conditions in South Africa about the intricacies of their calling and duties towards the upcoming generation. The article commences with a discussion of education in general and then goes on to argue that the ‘thin’, minimalist and universalist language of modern day secular pedagogical theory should be augmented, or preferably replaced, by the ‘thick’, maximalist and particularist language of education theory rooted in the Bible. The article highlights a number of key concepts associated with Christian stewardship education and concludes by observing that, whilst an entire book (once again) could have been written on the subject, the discussion of a few key issues with regard to Christian stewardship education can serve as a reminder to Christian educators about their pedagogical responsibilities
How student teachers understand African philosophy
Get PDFThe question ‘What constitutes African philosophy?’ was first raised with the publication of Placide Tempels’s seminal work Bantu philosophy in 1959. Tempels’s book inevitably elicited considerable critical response from African philosophers, which culminated in a wide range of publications such as Wiredu’s (1980) Philosophy and an African culture, Hountondji’s (1983) African philosophy: Myth and reality, Oruka’s (1990) Sage philosophy: Indigenous thinkers and modern debate on African philosophy, Shutte’s (1993) Philosophy for Africa, Masolo’s (1994) African philosophy in search of identity and Gyekye’s (1995) An essay of African philosophical thought: The Akan conceptual scheme. It has been over 60 years since the publication of Temples’s book and there continues to be serious debate about African philosophy. This article sought to contribute to the debate on the various conceptions of African philosophy, but with a focus on the challenges of teaching African philosophy to Philosophy of Education students at an open distance learning institution in South Africa. This article discussed the tendency amongst undergraduate Philosophy of Education students to conflate and reduce African philosophy to African cultures and traditions, and to the notion of ubuntu, and sought to understand the reasons for students’ inclination to treat African philosophy in this way. It examined students’ background knowledge of African philosophy, their critical thinking skills and whether their official study materials are selected and packaged in a manner that, in fact, adds to the challenges they face. Finally, the article explored the ways in which Philosophy of Education lecturers can adapt their pedagogy to provide students with a better understanding of African philosophy
Christian attitudes in scholarship: The role of worldviews
Get PDFThis article starts from the realisation that a few different approaches to science and scholarship are implemented within different Christian traditions. In an attempt at identifying the reasons behind such differences, it is argued that the approach to science and scholarship adopted in each Christian tradition corresponds to a considerable extent to the worldview accepted in that tradition. In this article, several versions of the main Christian worldviews are identified and related to the work of authors (e.g. Murphy, the Theonomic movement, Barbour, Van Huyssteen, Wolterstorff) who were not discussed in previous works on this topic. The possibility of ‘mixing’ the worldviews (thus adopting an eclectic approach) is also discussed. The proposed taxonomy may be used to understand at a deeper level both individual authors and trends, and also to sketch a ‘map’ of the different movements, contributors and available options. It is argued that the different worldviews are not equally valuable and that the reformational worldview should be regarded as more integrally and originally biblical. The article ends with a call to consistency for the sake of sound Christian scholarship