KovsieJournals - University of the Free State (UFS)
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Regular schools as a straitjacket for zone of proximal development: A Vygotskian Perspective of Malawian Inclusive Secondary Education
Get PDFMalawi has a twin-track system of primary and secondary education. In this system, some learners with special educational needs are enrolled in regular schools while others are still in special schools. Research has shown that regular schools receive learners with special educational needs into the system but with the possibility of enabling and constraining their developmental and learning abilities. Put metaphorically, when learners with special educational needs are placed in regular schools, they are dressed in straitjackets that may enable or constrain their development and learning. A straitjacket refers to the freedom and limitations that regular schools give learners with special educational needs. When prisoners and people with mental health conditions are dressed in straitjackets, the foremost reason is to ensure that they can be easily restrained once they turn violent. This situation can be understood through a theoretical frame of what Lev Vygotsky termed the zone of actual development versus the zone of proximal development which was employed in this study. The study conducted in-depth interviews with ten regular teachers from five regular secondary schools in the South West Education Division in Malawi. The results from the interviews show that inclusive education is failing at the point of implementation due to: (1) a lack of capacity development for regular teachers, (2) limited support for learners with special educational needs, (3) inadequate specialist teachers, and (4) lack of parental and community involvement. These challenges originate from an entrenched view on special education that makes the transition to inclusive education cumbersome. I, therefore, argue that special education should be used as a stepping-stone into inclusivity to expand learning rather than as a discriminating tool against learners with special educational needs. The study proposes a third space schooling model in which special education facilitates inclusivity towards the zone of proximal development. The study concludes that the third space model has the potential to help Malawi and other countries to move towards meaningful, inclusive education
Public responses to multiphased fear and pro-social emotional appeals from the South African government’s covid-19 health communication strategies
Get PDFGlobally, using emotional appeals as communication strategies to influence public behavioural change has been popular for containment of the COVID-19 pandemic. Research shows that the uptake of health messaging is often partly influenced by audience responses to emotional appeal strategies employed. This study assessed responses by South African audiences to COVID-19 emotional appeal messages. The Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) was applied. A quantitative survey analysed responses of over 1000 participants. Results indicate that government officials used a tailored and mixed multi-phased communication strategy mirroring fear and pro-social appeal messages to the intensity of recurring multiple COVID-19 waves. The most recurring emotional responses by participants were concern, worry and sadness, conversely gloom and surprise. This study provides insight into effective, audienceresponsive messaging for longstanding health crises by health promotion organisations including governments
Grade R teachers’ perceptions concerning parental participation in early literacy development in a disadvantaged context in the Western Cape
Get PDFParent participation is fundamental to children’s early literacy development and later academic success. This small-scale qualitative study located in the interpretivist paradigm utilised semistructured interviews to collect data from two Grade R teachers’ concerning their perceptions of parent participation in children’s early literacy development. Findings revealed that teachers had a narrow and limiting understanding concerning parental involvement. Teachers attested to parents not being interested in their children’s early literacy due to their socio-economic positions which hurdled their commitments to work. Teachers wanted parents to participate in storytelling but on their terms. These findings have important implications for how policy and practice need to be reconceptualised for a stronger focus on parental participation in children’s early literacy and holistic parental participation
Towards a history of xenophobia in Zimbabwe: Rethinking racism and the culture of ‘othering’ in Zimbabwe, 1890-2020
Get PDFThe article explores Zimbabwe’s history of racism, ethnicity, and other forms of “othering” from 1890 to 2020 and argues that, although scholars of Zimbabwe’s past have, hitherto, shied away from using the term, these pathologies amounted collectively to xenophobia. It calls on scholars of the country’s colonial history to investigate the degree to which the above pathologies were, arguably, xenophobic. The article argues that xenophobic tendencies in colonial and post-colonial Zimbabwe emanate from a number of key historical developments. These include the establishment of artificial colonial borders at the turn of the 19th century and the creation of an artificial nation-state called Southern Rhodesia, which engendered a new colonial identity that eventually crystallised into an exclusivist Zimbabwean nationalism and the divide and rule segregationist racial colonial policies that promoted national disharmony. Also significant was the development of the settler colonial economy and its insatiable hunger for cheap African labour, which led to labour migration from neighbouring countries and the socio-economic tensions this unleashed. Last was the role of an increasingly parochial Shona nationalism, which claimed the Shona as the real owners of the land and whose proponents advanced a particularistic rendition of the past that is known in Zimbabwean historiography as “patriotic history”. The article then concludes by sketching out the various manifestations of xenophobic tendencies in the country in the period under study. The study is essentially a reappraisal of Zimbabwean history and not a product of new research and fieldwork.
Cross-cultural collaboration through virtual teaming in higher education
Get PDFScholars from three universities in three different parts of the world – North America, Africa, and Eurasia – across differentcultures, disciplines, and contexts, collaborated with the objective of advancing transversal skills and intercultural competences through immersing their students in international virtual teamwork. Students and lecturers represented the Appalachian State University (United States of America), University of the Free State (South Africa), and Novgorod State University (Russia). In this article, we share our lessons learned from the challenges we faced in the hopes of deepening understanding in higher education concerning what can be accomplished through remote learning across continents and cultures. This work allowed us to be ahead of the collapse of traditional teaching on campuses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as we had prior experience of online pedagogies reaching across international borders, cultures, timezones, and languages. Even during hard lockdown, when travelling abroad was impossible, our students experienced internationalised curricula, interacted with international scholars and staff, and were able to continue with the programme as planned. We began this work more than five years prior to the pandemic; therefore, these efforts led to successfully switching to online learning in other courses. We began with engaging staff members as well as students in ongoing, project-based collaboration across cultures from these institutions. This required the use of synchronous and asynchronous digital platforms, which would enable staff members and students to work collaboratively for six to eight weeks to create realistic projects. Staff members began to compile the collaborative co-creating courses that would be taught together, thus combining and adapting various pedagogical approaches. We then shared the responsibility for co-facilitating each course, despite different philosophies of teaching and learning. The result was a balanced blend of pedagogies, allowing students to collaborate successfully with students from the other universities. Students overcame a number of challenges: (a) cultural differences; (b) infrastructure for technology platforms; (c) time zones; (d) languages; (e) age and generational differences; (f) unfamiliarity with various pedagogies; (g) interaction with other cultures and settings; and (h) stereotypes fuelled by popular media. We share our journey and the strategies that addressed these challenges, including the use of technology and results from this continued collaboration.
WOMEN’S RECEPTION OF CYBER CHURCHES DURING THE PANDEMIC AND INDICATIONS FOR THE FUTURE
Get PDFThis article aims to respond to the question: How have women received the shift of religious activities online and what are its implications or challenges, if any, for the future of the church? The study reveals no significant difference in the level of engagement in religious activities prior to and during the pandemic among women respondents in the NCR, Philippines. Women have played crucial roles in maintaining the religious well-being of their household, suggesting exercise of agency and leadership. A correlation/regression analysis of the data also projects a significant increase in level of engagement in 10 online religious activities post-pandemic
WE INTER-ARE: THE PANDEMIC CHALLENGE REDEFINING HUMANS AND COMMUNITIES
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic calls for a critical introspection into our way of being human in relation to other forms of life on this planet. Given that social hierarchies attribute higher and lower status to human beings based on their race, class, caste and gender identity, and legitimise the exploitation of other human beings and the earth, re-thinking our hierarchical positioning as “masters” of this universe becomes imperative. In this context, ecofeminist reconstruction of relationality is projected as a corrective, as it focuses on linking relationships instead of ranking relationships. In addition, the mystical notion “We Inter-Are”, shared by the visionary Buddhist sage Thich Nhat Hanh, is proposed as a key for growing into a consciousness of inter-relationality with other beings on this planet, as it opens us to the infinite mystery of the deeper relatedness of all forms of life. Viewed from this perspective, the pandemic can become a defining momentin the evolutionary story of human beings
#CHOOSETOCHALLENGE: COVID-19, COMMUNITY RESEARCH, AND THE CANAANITE WOMAN
Get PDFThis study theologises on the Urban Poor Women and children with Academics for Reaching and Delivering on UNSDGs in the Philippines (UPWARD-UP) Project research team’s collaboration with the Alliance of Peoples’ Organisation Along the Manggahan Floodway (Alliance), Philippines. We posit that the theological process of seejudge-act, enhanced with evaluate-celebrate/ritualise, using feminist biblical characterisation in interpreting Matthew 15:21-28, serves as a spiritual resource for Christians working for the urban poor realisation of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The Canaanite woman challenged Jesus’ identity and mission impacting onChristology and ecclesiology. This characterisation makes her a vital example and companion for the Alliance womenleaders in achieving their prioritised SDGs (1 - No Poverty; 3 - Health and Well-being [in relation with the Environment];4 - Quality Education, and 16 - Justice, Peace and Strong Institutions seen from the lens of UNSDG 5 - Gender Equality) during the pandemic and beyond
An academic facilitator’s commentary on teaching in a post-Covid-19 South Africa
Get PDFThe importance of the academic writing facilitator’s role – part of which involves the facilitator’s capacity to master, and to enable students’ confident navigation of increasingly digitised learning platforms1 – has been widely noted in academic circles. Covid-19’s aftermath has provided further impetus for the acceleration of higher education institutions’ research output on the successes and shortcomings of curricular learning designs. The waves of the pandemic have also resulted in educators and students being challenged to craft innovative and creative ways to continue facilitating the learning process for the benefit of their students. The initial ‘teething problems’ accompanying the online migration of course content and sessions meant that the poorest students suffered doubly, for reasons including lack of access to technology, as well as poor signal/connectivity in rural areas. It is against this backdrop that this piece, phenomenological by nature, sets out to explore how and when meaningful relationships between students and facilitators might be forged for the sake of fostering meaningful, productive collaborations between facilitators and students enrolled in tertiary academic literacy courses. The overarching research question is how an educator’s personal investment in, and commitment to the academic writing process might be evidenced by way of positive student feedback, generated and sourced from student evaluations.2 The reader is invited to consider whether or not a correlation exists between the input of an experienced educator who displays genuine interest in her students’ engagement in the course and positive student feedback. It is suggested that display of emotion (including, but not limited to exhibiting a sense of humour) corresponds positively with students’ overall satisfaction with the course material and presentation thereof
Professionalising the Fight Against Police Corruption in South Africa: Towards a Proactive Anti-Corruption Regime
Get PDFThe South African Police Service (SAPS) plays an integral role in maintaining law and order in a country as violent as South Africa. Unfortunately, some members of SAPS have also contributed to this violence physically, such as police brutality, as well as secretly, by way of corrupt practices. Police corruption in South Africa is rife. Police officers involved in large scale bribes, firearm trafficking and other crimes are common. This has inevitably led to the demise of public trust in SAPS. Several governing regimes have attempted to combat the scourge of police corruption since 1994 but have failed. The establishment of Anti-Corruption Agencies that combated police corruption effectively was abolished and replaced with less effective units. This article challenges the current regime and proposes a regime which will not only react to corruption within SAPS but also look at ways to prevent corruption by professionalising the system. This is important because distrust in the police due to corruption negatively affects its citizens on a daily basis. A professional police service requires a firm ethical foundation. Without it, corruption in SAPS will persist. The paper will therefore also look at ways to strengthen ethics within SAPS. First, the article examines conceptual aspects related to corruption and police corruption. Secondly, the causes of police corruption are analysed. It is important to know why police decide to be corrupt in order to act proactively against the problem of police corruption. Then, the former and current anti-corruption units combating police corruption are analysed to identify the strengths and the weaknesses of the fight against police corruption. Next, the paper discusses several measures which will contribute to the professionalisation of SAPS. Finally, the paper concludes by recommending various initiatives aimed at sustaining the fight against police corruption in the long term