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Rethinking support for university teachers in the context of decolonising higher education: The role of academic developers
Full text linkThe diverse histories of each of the 3 formerly different Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) that became North-West University (NWU) continue to encourage Academic Developers to continuously re-think strategically on the effective ways to offer responsive academic development support to students and academic staff. Tasked with a mandate to render academic development support to academic staff, postgraduate, as well as undergraduate students in order to achieve equity (not equality) of outcomes, the Centre for Teaching and Learning’s (CTL) Directorate called Faculty Teaching and Learning Support (FTLS) continued to re-think its strategy and approach in fulfilling its mandate long after the merger of three historically different institutions on 1 January 2004. While FTLS conceded that there were common, fundamental, and core Student Academic Development and Support and Academic Professional Development needs across the three campuses that could be aligned, our engagement have shown repeatedly that ‘support’ is always ‘situational’ and, inadvertently, ‘contextual’. Drawing from New Literacy Studies (NLS) as the theoretical lens to advance its argument, this paper presents the rational for a restructured FTLS work strategy at NWU to better respond to the demands for supporting the academic project in the context of decolonising higher education. 
Chasing shadows: The tacit requirements of visual culture studies in the school curriculum
Full text linkThis paper charts the development of Visual Culture Studies (VCS) in the National Curriculum Statement as an early attempt to sketch out a decolonised curriculum for Art in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase. In the first major revision for FET after Apartheid (2008), Art History was seen as Eurocentric and it was replaced with the more inclusive, interdisciplinary and often elusive practises of Visual Culture Studies.
In the development of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) in 2011, the writers included some practices from Art History to describe some specialised skills of analysis, but they did not overtly refer to Art History. Rather, they described skills of analysis in generic terms. VCS was retained as the name of the topic together with some of the principal features of knowledge stipulation of the 2008 National Curriculum Statement in the form of local knowledge.
In this paper, I will tease out the under-theorised relationship between specialised knowledge of Art History and the subjective, personal and local knowledge prioritised by VCS and I will show the elision of specialised knowledge that results from the curricular expression of analysis in generic skills terms. I propose that ambiguities in the curriculum are the cause of misalignment with National examinations at Grade 12 level and this would disadvantage the very pupils that the curriculum writers hope to include
Assessing the quality of the integrated tutor model for student support in Open Distance Learning
Full text linkThe demand for university education has put pressure on institutions of higher learning to provide access and quality student support because increased access to higher education should not compromise the quality of student support services. Tutorial support in Open Distance Learning (ODL) is one of the support services used by institutions to ensure increasing academic access and participation. An Integrated Tutor Model (ITM) has been used for this purpose at the University of South Africa (Unisa). However, the quality of the ITM-based tutor support services is not yet known. The aim of this qualitative exploratory study was to assess the quality of tutorial support services offered through the ITM at Unisa. The ITM model is the integration of the face-to-face and online tutor systems adopted by Unisa. Students who were involved in the tutorials of the first and second semesters in 2022 were purposively selected to participate in the study. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). We learned that the students hold positive views about the quality of tutorials in terms of time management and the quality of recordings on Microsoft Teams, the tutors who offer the modules and the communication that they receive from the tutors. There were however challenges that the students faced such as load-shedding and network-related and personal issues. The tutors mitigated these challenges by sending the students the recordings of the sessions. The study shares knowledge about the tutors’ skills and creativity in the use of the ITM to provide quality support toward student learning in an ODL higher institutional environment
Telemedicine in French Guiana: Implementation and Emergency Care Perspectives
Full text linkBackground: Telemedicine is practiced in Emergency Departments (ED) and Intensive Care Units (ICU) worldwide. It remains either underutilised or experimental, particularly in areas of advanced practice. French Guiana is a French territory in South America. The population is a mix of several nationalities, with 44% living in a high state of precariousness due to poverty, unemployment and crime.. The density of medical professionals is the lowest in France, and is essentially concentrated on the coastal part of the territory with 20% of the population living in remote areas over 100 km from the nearest ED. Aim: This paper reports the development and effect of equipping remotes health facilities with videoconferencing on emergency care delivery Methods: Recent technical improvements in the country provided the means to set up an efficient IT system and strengthen the emergency care offered. The approach consists of several axes of development to secure first-aid in remote sites and improve our territorial and international medevac organisation. Due to the lack of skills, a specific programme for non-emergency health professionals has been designed to allow this advanced practice. Tele-expertise is used to connect the only ICU team in the country to all ED by video, and maintain a permanent link with long-haul medical evacuation flights. It is an opportunity to build medical and scientific cooperation within the Caribbean area by using block chain technology. Results: For one year, equipment has been deployed into the main remote sites and secondary hospitals facilities. It allowed a better management of medevacs since the beginning of the recent epidemic of COVID-19 it reinforced the links into the hospital network. Conclusion: Even though telemedicine is included in emergency care organisations worldwide, its use depends on the available technical setting, and is still subject to experience that requires scientific validation
The use of assistive technology to minimise educational learning barriers for learners with cerebral palsy
No full textLearners with Cerebral palsy (CP) experience many barriers to learning in classrooms. Due to these barriers, learners are often deprived of quality education. This study aimed to explore how Assistive Technologies (ATs) can be used to minimise the barriers to learning that learners with CP experience in the classroom. Semi-structured interviews and classroom observations were conducted with educators teaching at a CP school and learners that have been diagnosed with CP. The findings illustrated that learners with CP experience many barriers to learning but with the use of ATs by learners and educators, these barriers can be minimised. Recommendations include more training for learners and educators on the use of ATs and a more supportive environment. More research is also needed on the training programs needed to educate learners and educators on ATs and how educators can use ATs to bring about transformation in their lessons
Achieving socio-cultural student engagement through curriculum responsiveness
Full text linkWith democracy came political pressure to promote both academic access and success in higher education in South Africa. However, increased formal access has not necessarily provided meaningful access to previously disadvantaged learners, resulting in high attrition and dropout rates. In response to this, this research proposes that life-world knowledge can enable meaningful engagement through pedagogical incorporation of real-world experiences. Therefore, this study set out to determine if curriculum responsiveness is addressed in a selected business subject to achieve epistemological access. The Autonomy concept was used as a lens to empirically show whether content can be related to a students’ socio-cultural context to bring about curriculum responsiveness for better student engagement. Thus, the epistemological stance of this research is qualitative, drawing on data collected from curriculum documentation for a selected business subject at a University of Technology as the case study, serving as a guiding principle for considering the appropriate pathways for enabling epistemological access
Enhancing pedagogy for teaching visual arts in the South African Foundation Phase classroom: A collaborative endeavor
Full text linkThis article reports on the pedagogy of a cohort of South African Foundation Phase teachers in the praxis of visual arts. Participatory action and action research (PALAR) was used as paradigm and methodology and data was generated collaboratively, through arts-based strategies such as photovoice, visual journaling, and reflexive group conversations. The data were analyzed using an inductive analysis approach. The data indicated a set of extrinsic and intrinsic barriers experienced by the participants in the praxis and pedagogy of visual arts in a South African context. Recommendations are provided for Foundation Phase teachers, school management teams, and governmental Departments of Education. This study contributes to the field of arts education by highlighting the plight of generalist teachers having to teach visual arts without sufficient training or support. Opportunities are created for arts educators to contribute to the experiences of these teachers
An empirical analysis of the impact of mobile instant messaging for collaborative learning during the Covid-19 lockdown in a rural-based university
Full text linkThe outbreak of COVID-19 in the world was a game changer in most institutions of higher learning. These institutions were forced to adopt any technologies at their disposal to continue with teaching and learning. During this period students and lecturers at rural-based universities adopted mobile instant messaging for collaborative learning. This study investigates the impact of mobile instant messaging for collaborative learning during a COVID-19 lockdown in rural-based universities. In this study, data was collected using a close-ended questionnaire from both students and lecturers. The collected data were analysed using IBM SPSS statistical tool. This study found that mobile instant messaging had a positive impact on collaborative learning during a Covid-19 lockdown in rural-based universities
A literature review of South African schools for the blind and their use of educational sexual models in comprehensive sexuality education
Full text linkInternationally, educational sexual models (ESMs) have been gradually incorporated within comprehensive sex education (CSE) in schools for the blind (SFB). However, there is limited evidence that this has been taking place in South African SFB. The review sought to establish how these models are perceived by teachers and whether South African teachers receive any training or exposure to use these models during their teacher education. The review not only established that limited training and exposure is taking place, but that teachers state that they need these models but feel constrained by parental censorship. This meant that crucial information was lacking from these lessons (e.g., a real-life demonstration of the difference between an erect versus a flaccid penis). The review suggests that teachers need to be capacitated with appropriate pedagogy, competencies, and resources to respond to controversial areas of teaching and learning, such as the place of ESMs in CSE lessons.