KovsieJournals - University of the Free State (UFS)
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The role of the life orientation curriculum in curbing learner behaviour that triggers school violence
Get PDFViolence in South African schools has various negative effects on learners. These effects include loss of concentration, poor academic performance, playing truant, and depression. School violence also affects the psychological well-being of learners, leading to absenteeism and difficulty in paying attention in class. Furthermore, school violence has been linked to substance abuse and sexual violence. The increasing prevalence of violence in South African schools has raised concerns about the safety and security of these educational environments and their impact on the overall development and well-being of learners. The Life Orientation (LO) curriculum plays a crucial role in curbing learner behaviour that triggers school violence through the development of unhealthy social and emotional skills in learners. Preventing and responding to violence in schools can improve educational outcomes and help to achieve educational targets.
This study aims to answer the following question:How effective is the LO curriculum in reducing school violence?
Ubuntu was adopted as the theory in this study. Ubuntu is a Southern African philosophy that places emphasis on the community rather than the individual. A qualitative systematic literature review through thematic analysis revealed that the Life Orientation curriculum teaches life skills such as communication, managing emotions, and conflict resolution, which are essential for the prevention of violence. Furthermore, by enhancing educational possibilities and offering life skills instruction, the school-based Life Orientation curriculum can contribute to the prevention of school violence. Life Orientation curriculum practice may provide a safe and encouraging environment for learners to express their emotions, learn conflict-resolution techniques, and develop healthy relationships. The study concludes that school violence harms the future of learners, as they may be potential future criminals if their behaviour is not corrected
Decrying violence in South African schools and higher institutions of learning
No full textIn recent years, the South African basic and higher education departments have been besieged by egregious forms of violence. Although this has been a worrisome phenomenon dating back to time immemorial, of late, violence is at a very concerning and alarming level. The profusion of violence serves as an indictment to various stakeholders including the sitting government, which seems to have done very little, if not nothing, to mitigate the issue. Several media houses and numerous media platforms have, on a daily basis, tracked bullying which has advanced to the gruesome murder of learners and teachers alike. Very often, societies wake up to new and traumatising experiences that have since endorsed schools and higher education institutions as war zones where bloodbaths have become commonplace. This article drew its data from extensive reviews of news items, scholarly articles, and social media news. The study sought to highlight how much violence has ravaged schools, colleges, and universities. After tracing different versions of violence experienced in the aforementioned institutions, the study established that institutions had experienced a deluge of violent incidents. Several institutions have lost educators, principals, ancillary staff, and students through violent death. The study further suggested ways through which violence may be mitigated in the institutions. Active stakeholder involvement, re-skilling of teachers in handling 21st-century learners/students and introduction of modules on teachers’ soft skills in dealing with recalcitrant learners are some of the recommendations that resulted from the findings of this study.
 
Students experience stories as lenses for sense-making of the transition to higher education
Get PDFThis study explored the experiences of seven first-year university students in Johannesburg, South Africa. Recognising storytelling as a lens to reveal identity, this study focused on student experience narratives as a tool to better understand their transition from school to university. It examined the narrated experiences of these students as a means to reveal their student identities. The qualitative study utilised a case study design type to address the research question: “What do first-year students’ transition narratives reveal about their emerging student identities?” This paper focuses on athematic analysis that was used as a tool to analyse participants’ narrated experiences. The analysis resulted in five broad themes, namely that student identities in their first-year journeys were formed and influenced by interpersonal experiences, intrapersonal experiences, pre-commencement institutional experiences, experiences of formal learning, and learning experiences beyond the classroom. Despite encountering multiple challenges in their new environment, the students derived benefit through capitalising on their personal strengths as tools to adjust to the demands of their new institution. These tools were crucial resources used by participants to adjust to and ultimately flourish in their first year
Interfacial tensile bond strength between precast rib and cast-in-situ concrete for beam and block slab systems
Get PDFThe beam and block slab systems, also referred to as rib and block slab, are widely used in South Africa as a preferred suspended flooring system owing to their structural efficacy and economic viability. According to SANS 1879:2021 guidelines for precast concrete suspended slabs, it is recommended to remove temporary propping for beams and block slabs once the cast-in-situ concrete’s compressive strength surpasses 17 MPa. Notwithstanding the limited availability of literature on the matter, certain manufacturers and structural engineers have raised apprehensions regarding the structural soundness of the interfacial tensile bond strength that exists between precast rib and cast-in-situ concrete, particularly when the compressive strength of concrete is 17 MPa, hence the study. In order to measure the structural soundness of interfacial tensile bond strength, pull-out tests were conducted on precast roughened concrete ribs and cast-in-situ concrete. The study determined that, when the surface roughness was 3 mm, the delamination experiments exhibited a tensile stress of 0.15 MPa, which equates to a compressive strength of 17 MPa for cast-in-situ concrete. Furthermore, the study revealed that the tensile strength attains a value of 0.21 MPa upon attainment of a compressive strength of 25 MPa for concrete, given a surface roughness of 3 mm. The study suggests that an independent mechanism should be devised and implemented to guarantee the structural soundness of the interfacial tensile bond strength between precast ribs and cast-in-situ concrete topping, owing to the low bond strengths
“Philosophical suicide” during the climate crisis: how belief influences the response to climate change
Get PDFWhen approaching the climate crisis, there appears to be a universal tendency towards philosophical suicide. When faced with the sheer scale of the problem at hand, falling for the façade of easy solutions seems to be an expected response. However, this tendency towards philosophical suicide may complicate the fight against the climate crisis by drawing attention away from the problem at hand. To approach this problem, the overarching purpose of this article is to determine how the change in the philosophical approach to the absurd may assist in framing the fight against climate change. During the investigation into this problem, it was found that philosophical suicide is a real problem that may be chosen when easy solutions are offered for a problem that sufficiently threatens the individual’s state of existence. Furthermore, this philosophical suicide threatens the fight against climate change due to it leading individuals to believe lies perpetrated through strategies like greenwashing. This is of crucial importance since philosophical suicide threatens the fight against the climate crisis by not allowing individuals to consciously approach the problem. However, there does appear to be some hope. If the newer generations are sufficiently educated on the topic, there may be a chance that philosophical suicide, as well as the prevailing sense of dread that appears to be rampant in the younger generations, can be countered. In this way, educating individuals may enable them to consciously approach the absurdity of the climate crisis and, in doing so, revolt against it
A Text-centred rhetorical analysis of 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16
Get PDFThis article analyses 1 Thessalonians 2:13–16 from a rhetorical perspective. Unlike previous attempts by scholars to analyse the letter in terms of ancient rhetorical theory, this article illustrates how the rhetorical strategy can be reconstructed from the text itself; therefore, it is identified as a text-centred rhetorical analysis, which follows a minimum theoretical approach. In practical terms, the overall rhetorical strategy needs to be identified and followed by an outline of dominant and supportive arguments, which includes an overview of the rhetorical techniques employed. This article illustrates how Paul utilised a second thanksgiving for the believers\u27 actions to benefit his cause and to vilify his opponents. The integrity of Paul’s gospel is confirmed by including the believers’ collective experience of suffering in the history of persecution and by pointing to the immanent judgement that awaits their opponents
Introduction to the Festschrift for Prof. D.F. (Francois) Tolmie: “God, people, and persuasion in Scripture and theology”
Get PDFThe articles in this Supplementum are dedicated to our colleague Professor Francois Tolmie to mark the occasion of his retirement in 2024. In the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of the Free State, Prof. Tolmie is regarded as the historical memory of the Faculty as he dedicated his life to this institution – both as a student and as a professor. In later years of his career, he also led the Faculty as Dean. He is notorious for being an excellent editor, focusing on detail and precision. Internationally, he is acclaimed as both a Johannine scholar and a Pauline scholar, a feat few scholars can claim. Those who know him will testify that he treats people with the utmost respect, and that it is hard to find a humbler person
Resilient religion: Resilience and heartbreaking adversity
Get PDFResilient religion: Resilience and heartbreaking adversit
A decolonial reading of Bernstein’s sociology of education in transforming the university in South Africa
Get PDFIn this paper, I reclaim Bernstein’s pedagogic device to think through and theorise higher education transformation and decolonisation in the global South. I am especially persuaded by Bernstein’s work on the pedagogic device and the endless possibilities it provides in re-thinking the public university and what it could be. Using South Africa as a case study, I focus on the decolonial calls sparked by the #FeesMustFall and #RhodesMustFall protests in 2015/2016 around the need to critique, evaluate and dismantle the neoliberal university in South Africa. I suggest that Bernstein’s ideas of the field of production, the field of recontextualisation as well as the field of reproduction offer an intersectional, and dialectically useful, lens in making epistemic, ontological and methodological intervention(s) in transforming the university in South Africa. I end the paper with some concluding remarks on the discursive usefulness of Bernstein’s work in transforming the public university in the global South