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Reimagining uses and gratifications: Integrating media adoption theories for the digital age
Full text linkThis 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
Open-school models for crisis-affected adolescents: Findings from a World Bank Feasibility study
Full text linkRecently, the World Bank (2023–2024) conducted a comprehensive feasibility study to assess the potential of implementing open school models for adolescents aged 12 to 16 from nomadic, refugee and internally displaced populations from countries on the Fragility, Conflict and Violence (FCV) list, with particular focus on the following five countries from the Sahel region: Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Chad, Mali and Niger. The study employed a mixedmethods approach combining desktop research and quantitative assessments to gather data from diverse contexts, including remote and conflict-affected areas while exploring appropriate technological solutions and Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications. The findings present a compelling case for adopting and scaling open-school models to provide inclusive educational opportunities for crisis-affected adolescents, highlighting that participatory, learner-centred approaches foster ownership and motivation among learners. At the same time, culturally relevant curricula contribute to increased retention and improved learning outcomes. The study identified key implementation factors, including community engagement, comprehensive teacher training, contextually relevant learning materials and strategies for overcoming logistical and infrastructural barriers in remote areas, demonstrating how these models could help FCV countries progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) by addressing the significant barriers marginal groups face in accessing traditional education systems
Censorship in literature education: Background and guidelines to facilitate the discussion of controversial youth literature
Full text linkYouth literature can be regarded as an important educational tool. However, controversial issues in youth literature become more prominent and the different opinions (internationally and individually) on such issues place the focus more on censorship. This article aims to provide an overview and analysis of the discourse on censorship in literature. Language teachers remain the most dominant role players in schools to make the correct text choices in promoting reading. Our study proposes a critical pedagogical approach to controversial issues in youth literature. We offer guidelines that language teachers can use in the classroom to facilitate the discussion of controversial issues in youth literature in a self-directed manner with learners
On education during a war and displacement and the importance of rebuilding the sector after violent conflict: A personal reflection
Full text linkMany countries around the world have in the past experienced or are currently experiencing violent conflict, war, destruction and displacement. In all these settings, education is often one of the casualties of war and fighting. War in most cases leads to closure of schools and universities. In many settings, educational institutions end up as collateral damage in fighting; in other places schools and universities are deliberately targeted and destroyed. In warzones, pupils, students, teachers, academics and administrators are frequently killed or injured, and many end up being displaced (GCPEA, 2024). All this has a negative impact on societies and educational institutions. The destruction, instability and displacement also negatively impact access to education for millions, preventing them from attending schools or universities for months – and in many cases for years – and making a normal educational progress. Children and young people who are able to continue with education in conflict settings often learn in very difficult circumstances that prevent them from getting the most from education. This can have a lasting negative impact, affecting their life and work prospects for the decades to come.
Towards sustainable urban futures: A process for placemaking in South African townships
Full text linkWhile placemaking has gained global traction, South Africa lacks a locally adapted process to guide planners, policymakers, and communities in harnessing its potential – particularly in historically marginalised township settings. Amidst rapid urbanisation and growing socio-spatial disparities, there is a pressing need for innovative and context-sensitive development approaches. This article explores the potential of placemaking as a strategy for sustainable urban development and community empowerment within South African townships. Adopting a case study approach, the study focuses on Marabastad in Kroonstad (Free State province), a township emblematic of the broader structural and spatial challenges faced by the country. The theoretical foundation draws from placemaking literature in both the Global North and South, mapping a shift from static, product-oriented understandings to more dynamic, iterative, and participatory processes. This shift informs the exploration of placemaking’s four core dimensions, namely physical, social, economic, and psychological, prevalent in South African contexts. Empirical data were collected through qualitative methods, including interviews, observations, and participatory approaches, and analysed thematically. The findings reveal opportunities for community engagement, economic activation, cultural recognition, and spatial transformation. Drawing from these insights, the article proposes a five-phase placemaking process specifically adapted to South African townships: community orientation and grounding; contextual analysis and exploration; identification of placemaking interventions; strategic planning and design, as well as implementation, maintenance and evolution. This process emphasises active community participation, local knowledge, and skills development, offering a scalable and adaptable pathway for co-producing vibrant, inclusive, and resilient urban spaces
Lessons from the birth of the Afrikaner and their urbanisation
Full text linkWorld history has been shaped by two significant powers, namely nationalism and imperialism. Nationalism reflects the desire of peoples to protect their own culture and forms of society. A people (nation) is not the sum of individuals, but the sum of families, clans and tribes. Imperialism is about a policy or ideology of expanding a nation\u27s power over foreign countries, often through military force or by gaining political and economic control over other areas. The power can also be exercised by large companies such as the Dutch East India Company (VOC) which operated in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. They were the first large business to do business internationally and were larger than any current company such as Google or Tesla or Apple. It was independent of the Dutch government and had a navy that once surpassed that of England. Against this background, the emergence of the Afrikaner people and the striving to live freely in their own territory can be better understood. This commentary presents the birth of a people (nation) and their journey from rural farmers to urban dwellers in the twentieth century. Despite facing significant challenges, including poverty, lack of education, struggles with different governments - as people they survived irrespective of the pressure from imperialist powers
DOSSIER: REFRAMING AFRICAN MONETARY HISTORY: A SOUTHERN AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE
Full text linkThe articles presented in this dossier of the Southern Journal for Contemporary History result from a workshop held at the University of the Free State on 13 and 14 September 2022 themed “Money and Monetary Institutions in Africa”.1 The workshop aimed to bring together early career scholars in Africa with an interest in the monetary history of the continent. Three mentors — Lyla Latif, Tinashe Nyamunda, and Ayodeji Olukoju —gave feedback on the research papers presented and sparked a lively and thought-provoking two-day discussion.2 Our workshop also aimed to enrich the contemporary debates regarding money in Africa, moving the first steps towards an analytical framework for studying money in Africa developed by scholars based on the continent. The objective of the workshop was ambitious, as it placed itself in the tradition of studies originating from the seminal book edited by Jane E. Guyer, Money Matters, which laid new approaches for the study of money in Africa and its specificities, overcoming the narration of a “primitive” African monetary system that had been forcibly replaced with the introduction of “modern” money. Before Money Matters, the history of money in Africa was polarised around the debate among those embracing a formalist approach (extending the principles of neoclassical economics to African societies) and the advocates of a substantivist approach, according to whom the study of economic exchange in societies without “the market” required the development of different tools, closer to the cultural specificities of the societies to which they were applied.3
Editorial
Full text linkThis issue of the Southern Journal for Contemporary History comprises two parts. The first is a Dossier entitled “Reframing African Monetary History: A Southern African Perspective”. This collection of new and innovative research on African monetary history results from a workshop, themed “Money and Monetary Institutions in Africa”, that took place at the University of the Free State on 13 and 14 September 2022. The workshop was financially supported by the Young Scholars Initiative (YSI) and the International Studies Group (ISG) of the University of the Free State. The dossier comprises an introduction and three papers, each exploring an exciting aspect of Zimbabwe’s economic and financial history. Tinashe Takuva and Bernard Kusena present a detailed history of the Land and Agricultural Bank of Southern Rhodesia, which became, “a useful tool to promote settler hegemony in Southern Rhodesia” between 1924 and 1963. Geraldine Sibanda’s paper describes monetary developments in Zimbabwe since its independence in 1980 to 2022, detailing the “Economics of Mistrust” in the country. Finally, Jabulani Shaba’s article is set in a more recent period of Zimbabwe’s history, between c.1990 and 2019. In his article, Shaba explores the role of women in the artisanal gold mining industry in Zimbabwe’s Mazowe District, “focusing on the everyday lives of women and value exchanges in artisanal gold mining spaces”
Bridging the gap between child and adult criminal justice systems in South Africa: Encouraging adult offender accountability via legislated diversion procedures.
Full text linkGlobally, juvenile offender diversion and rehabilitation, as opposed to retribution, are the norm. It is rooted within restorative justice approaches, which strive to ensure their responsibility and accountability for crimes committed. In 1997, the South African Law Reform Commission highlighted that a restorative justice approach was of great importance to restore legitimacy to the criminal justice system and to assist in the fight against crime. Three years later it was proposed that, in addition to traditional punitive measures, restorative justice measures should be considered in all criminal cases. Yet, little progress ensued outside the child justice system. In this paper we argue that the gap existing between the child and adult justice systems could not be justified and should be narrowed, and that the taking of responsibility, via a diversion option, should also be encouraged amongst adult offenders. The benefits and challenges of such practice for both offenders and victims are explored, whereafter national and selected international (e.g. Victoria and Queensland in Australia) procedural avenues towards adult offender accountability are investigated. It is proposed that adult diversion should be actively promoted and that legislation in this regard be considered. Extending legislated diversion mechanisms to adult offenders will not only broaden the use of restorative justice principles within the South African criminal justice landscape, but will, when offenders participate, contribute to their dignity and well-being and thereby underscores a core constitutional value. Finally, by showing accountability, they will demonstrate respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of others. This aspect of restorative justice targeting adult diversion will serve to strengthen existing focus on rehabilitation during incarceration and Throughcare programming on release into the community
Professional development of tertiary mathematics educators: A landscapes of practice approach
Full text linkStudent retention and success in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in higher education is affected by many factors. Amongst these is that mathematics courses often serve as a gatekeeper, rather than a gateway, to STEM programmes. Because of this, improving the retention and success of students, on a national scale, is important and relies on the professional development of tertiary educators within the mathematics discipline. The Diagnostic Mathematics Information for Student Retention and Success (DMISRS) project attempts to engage tertiary South African mathematics educators to improve students’ performance in STEM programmes. In the project, workshops and symposia develop a community of South African mathematic educators who can learn from each other to better serve their particular needs. The paper posits landscapes of practice as a useful tool to show how the DMISRS project participants move from ‘islands of practice’ towards landscapes of practice through processes of legitimation and participation. These processes enabled knowledge hierarchies to be dismantled over the project’s lifespan. The paper shows how the lens of landscapes of practice further enabled reconsideration of the practices underpinning the broader project