KovsieJournals - University of the Free State (UFS)
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The Significance of Calvin’s Theology of Mission and its realization in the sixteenth century for twenty-first century church mission in Indonesia
No full textThis article aims to examine the theological themes of mission in the works of John Calvin and their implementation in the 16th century, as well as their significance to the mission of the present-day church. This purpose contradicts the criticism of modern mission experts who consider Calvin to have made no contribution to the mission movement and even to have weakenedit. However, an in-depth study of Calvin’s works, using a theological-historical method, reveals the meaning of mission, the Bible as a missional book, the mission of the Trinity, the holistic mission of the kingdom of God, the church as the sole agent of mission, the missionary function of the apostles, holistic mission, and inclusive mission to the nations. All of these were implemented by Calvin in Geneva in the 16th century, continued and contextualised by Calvinist mission experts and missionaries in many countries, including Indonesia, in the 21st century
Rethinking rural development research: Gaps, frameworks, and emerging directions (2010-2025)
Get PDFRural human-settlement planning faces persistent theoretical and methodological challenges that weaken policy design and implementation. Despite extensive scholarship, the field remains fragmented by inconsistent definitions of ‘rural’, limited theoretical integration, and methodological heterogeneity, all of which constrain comparative analysis and evidence-based decision-making. This review of literature (2010-2025), based on a qualitative desktop approach and thematic analysis, identifies four critical gaps. First, definitional ambiguity produces widely divergent rural population estimates, complicating programme targeting and evaluation. Secondly, theoretical fragmentation prevents the development of integrated frameworks that address social, economic, and environmental priorities collectively. Thirdly, methodological practice is dominated by single-case studies, limiting cross-context learning and the transferability of findings. Fourthly, environmental and governance dimensions are unevenly incorporated into sustainability research, reducing its relevance for resilience building and institutional reform. These shortcomings have practical consequences, namely unclear classifications risk excluding intended beneficiaries, siloed theory undermines coordination, and narrow methods weaken the evidence base for scaling interventions. Advancing the field requires context-sensitive rural classifications, integrated socio-ecological-governance frameworks, and methodological innovation – particularly comparative, longitudinal, and mixed-methods designs – to enable systematic learning across diverse rural settings and respond effectively to pressures such as climate change, urbanisation, and technological transformation
Reimagining uses and gratifications: Integrating media adoption theories for the digital age
Get PDFThis article reimagines the uses and gratifications theory (U&G) by integrating it with the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the diffusion of innovations theory (DOI) to better understand media adoption in the digital age. While U&G has been a foundational framework for explaining audience motivations for media consumption, its individualistic focus and lack of predictive power limit its applicability in today’s rapidly evolving media landscape. The Media Acceptance Model (MAM) offers a comprehensive framework that combines the strengths of U&G, TAM, and DOI to address these limitations. MAM incorporates individual needs (from U&G), technological perceptions (from TAM), and social diffusion processes (from DOI) to provide a more holistic understanding of media adoption. The model emphasizes external variables such as socioeconomic status, cultural context and demographic differences, making it particularly relevant for diverse societies like South Africa. By integrating concepts such as perceived usefulness, ease of use, relative advantage and compatibility, MAM enhances predictive capabilities and offers a dynamic tool for analysing contemporary media consumption patterns. This article explores the theoretical foundations, limitations, and synergies of U&G, TAM and DOI, ultimately presenting MAM as a robust framework for understanding and predicting audience behaviour in the digital era
Leading and managing an induction programme for first-year students at a higher education institution in South Africa
Get PDFThe transition into higher education represents a pivotal stage in the academic journey of first-year students, marked by significant social and academic changes. These adjustments often expose readiness gaps that can impede student success in this new environment. To address these challenges, higher education institutions frequently implement induction programmes designed to prepare students for their new surroundings. This article critically evaluates the induction programme for first-year students at a private higher education institution through a qualitative case study approach within an interpretivist paradigm. The study scrutinises the influence of distributed, servant, and transformational leadership in fostering an effective, collaborative, and adaptable learning environment. Through interviews with six managerial-level participants, the research delves into the complex dynamics of managing these programmes, underscoring the essential role of leadership in enhancing programme efficacy. Key emerging themes include leadership and management strategies, engagement challenges, feedback mechanisms, and programme structure, all of which are crucial in shaping the induction experience for new students
Beyond decoloniality of educational policy and planning: A review of the transcendental political economy of African higher education in the 21st knowledge-based societies
Get PDFThis paper critically examines the role of transcendental capabilities in the decoloniality of educational policy and planning, to ascertain how trans-coloniality can enable the African political economy to reposition itself through higher education knowledge management best practices. In this paper, I argued that African educational policy and planning must capture the knowledge hierarchies of African intellectual systems because the knowledge hierarchies are fundamental and responsive tools to the strategic political economy of education. Furthermore, the blend of innovative and endogenous knowledge management practices in higher education will have a responsive impact on institutional governance across the continent. Additionally, the valorisation and revaluation of African knowledge systems through recognising and integrating African theories, methodologies, and conceptual frameworks will reshape the African scientific and political landscapes. This paper anchors on the complex adaptive systems theory. The premise here is identifying the complex knowledge foresight of educational policy and planning, asserting intensification of the indigenisation of knowledge management practices as pragmatic responses to the imperialists’ mentality. This study employed a qualitative research approach with a mixed systematic review of current literature in decoloniality studies, educational policy and planning, political economy and knowledge management in African higher education. The data was categorised into themes, theories, concepts, subregions, journals, articles, book chapters, policy documents, books and methodologies to determine the current body of knowledge and debates on decoloniality as an epistemic object in educational policy and planning research in African higher education. From the critical analysis I propose a “Transcendental Afrocentric knowledge governance model (TAKGM).” The transcendental perspective intends to provide indicators for developing a competitive African knowledge-based economy. Therefore, the decoloniality of educational policy and planning through endogenous knowledge systems represents a strategic approach to building a competitive and responsive higher education in Africa. Emphasising, the transcoloniality of higher education policies and planning will foster endogenous socio-economic development, effective institutional knowledge sovereignty, innovation and knowledge resources mobilisation. These will ultimately promote inclusive growth, robust industrialisation, human capital development, practical institutional assessment, structural transformation, continuous improvement, and efficiency and effectiveness of institutional governance across the continent
Nurse educators’ role in fostering self-leadership amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: A scoping review
Get PDFGlobal disruptions, notably the COVID-19 pandemic, have challenged nursing education by necessitating rapid shifts to online learning and requiring educators to support students’ emotional and academic needs. In this context, nurse educators’ self-leadership has become essential for maintaining educational quality and student well-being during periods of crisis. The review utilised the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) scoping review methodology to investigate how nurse educators applied self-leadership to modify student support strategies during educational disruption, particularly amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 194 records focusing on nurse educators during the COVID-19 pandemic and published between 2020 and 2024, were identified. After screening and duplicate removal, nine articles met the inclusion criteria. The review identifies practices that foster self-leadership and resilience, informing future approaches to support nurse educators in dynamic environments. Five themes described nurse educators’ adaptive strategies: cognitive, emotional, proactive, connected, and committed engagement. Self-leadership empowered educators to adjust teaching methods, provide psychological support, foster resilience, and innovate with digital tools and flexible assessment. Key practices included clear communication, enhanced digital literacy, flexible deadlines, and integrating self-care into teaching. Collegial and student connections and ongoing self-reflection were central to sustaining educational continuity and quality. The unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the significance of self-leadership for nurse educators, enabling them to modify their teaching methods and student support practices in rapidly changing circumstances. Fostering self-leadership and resilience is essential for preparing nurse educators for future disruptions, institutional support for self-leadership development and integration of resilience-building into nursing curricula
Gender disparities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM): A review of challenges and inclusion strategies in South Africa
Get PDFThe underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) remains a persistent challenge, influenced by socio-cultural norms, educational barriers, workplace inequalities, and limited participation at various levels. The review examines the challenges contributing to gender disparities in STEM and explores interventions to foster inclusion in South Africa, including key factors affecting gender representation. Studies were selected using structured screening and data extraction processes. The review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and included literature published between 2010 and 2025. A comprehensive search was conducted across multiple databases, including Elsevier, Google Scholar, Sabinet, Sage, Science Direct, Taylor & Francis, and institutional repositories. The findings highlight the importance of multifaceted interventions to bridge the gender gap, emphasising the promotion of role models, mentorship programmes, STEM education improvements at the high school level, professional development for educators, handson experiential learning, and parental involvement. This review provides insights into effective strategies that policymakers, educators, and industry stakeholders can implement to create a more inclusive and equitable STEM landscape
(Dis)empowering school management teams of non-fee-paying schools to collaborate with school governing bodies to manage school finances effectively
Get PDFNumerous research studies have examined the efficiency and efficacy of school governing bodies (SGBs) in managing finances in South African public schools. Findings show that in many non-fee schools, SGB members lack the financial expertise to find solutions to practical problems. The South African Schools Act No. 84 of 1996 does not make provision for school management teams (SMTs) as agencies to be represented on SGBs. Principals, by virtue of their authority, are members of SGBs, while other SMT members may be elected to serve on SGBs as teacher representatives. Using a qualitative approach within a phenomenological design, this study investigated the perceptions and experiences of stakeholders about the role of SMTs of non-fee schools in financial management. Semi-structured interviews with 16 participants were used to gather data, which were then inductively analysed to identify themes and sub-themes. The findings revealed that many non-fee schools have not made tangible efforts to promote collaboration between SMTs and SGBs. As a structure, SMTs are not permitted to attend SGB meetings and are thus denied addressing pertinent financial issues to govern schools effectively
Avoiding potholes in translation: A practical perspective on translation between English and isiZulu by Phindile Dlamini (University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2021)
Get PDFThis book is compact with about 154 pages in size, and with a gloss cover finish (hardcopy), that makes it convenient to use and handle for the students. It is available as a hardcopy (ISBN: 978 1 86914 472 2) at a price of about R210.00, as well as on softcopy (ISBN: 978 1 86914 473 9) at R978.55. The peritext comprises a comprehensive title and subtitle that talks to what the author seeks to achieve, table of contents with six chapters, preface and acknowledgements, abbreviations, references, and a captivating blurb. The overarching theme of the book is the curtailment of translation gaps such as the grammar, culture and context between the source language and target language in order to achieve maximum translation accuracy
The spiritual practices of South African clergy: State of the clergy
Get PDFTeh book "The spiritual practices of South African clergy: State of the clergy" by Joynt, S. (Ed.), (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2024), pp. 193, ISBN 9781666922387, is reviewed