5 research outputs found
Response article: Concepts and in/express-ability in posthuman scholarship: A shared response-ability
No full textThis response article is an attempt to theorise together and become ethically in touch with posthumanism and the posthuman text/s and author/s in the article, “A posthumanist re-reading of teacher agency in times of curriculum reform” written by Wedsha Appadoo-Ramsamy. The ability to respond (response-ability) through theorising entails a radical openness to think otherwise, and for thinking thinking otherwise. Such thinking matters and thinking along the concepts we use and the limits of expressibility when thinking otherwise, matters a great deal. The becoming of Wedsha Appadoo-Ramsamy’s article revealed some insights into the ticklish nature of (posthuman, philosophical) concepts and the difficulty and limitations of expression in frontier debates. This article will, firstly, respond to the production and workings of posthuman concepts, and secondly, comment on the limits of expressibility when writing about frontier debates such as those concerning posthumanism and related feminist materialism/s
CHATGPT AS A SOCRATIC ASSISTANT: DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ REFLECTIVE AND CRITICAL THINKING
No full textThe introduction of ChatGPT and its use in the education sector has received varying responses. Termed as ‘apocalyptic’, ChatGPT presents an ethical dilemma with the possibility of leading students towards plagiarism, lack of criticality and passivity. However, if used properly, this tool, similar to other technological pedagogical tools that have initially been feared or criticised, may contribute to the development of STEM skills such as critical analysis, communication, independent thinking and reflection. Within this perspective and building on the principles of the Socratic Method with an emphasis on critical thinking, intellectual engagement and reflection, this paper explores the use of ChatGPT as a Socratic assistant. ChatGPT is, therefore, presented as a collaborative tool that enriches the learning environment whereby students can develop their critical skills, question assumptions, develop intellectual curiosity through prompting and eventually produce reflective and critical responses. This research adopts a posthumanist innovative methodology where data is produced through the intra-action between the researcher (human) and ChatGPT (non-human). The chosen methodology reflects the entanglement of the human (students, teachers) and non-human (AI) in an educational space dominated by chatbots and other technological assistance. Through generated examples, this paper shows how ChatGPT can be integrated into teaching and learning contexts, fostering deeper inquiry and self-reflection aligning with the Socratic Method. This research contributes to discourses on AI and its ethical use in transforming teaching and learning through innovative methods and may assist teachers in the development of innovative teaching practices assisted by AI
CHATGPT AS A SOCRATIC ASSISTANT: DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ REFLECTIVE AND CRITICAL THINKING: Received: 26th November 2025, Revised: 2nd December 2025 & 04th December 2025, Accepted: 05th December 2025, Date of Publication: 10th December 2025
No full textThe introduction of ChatGPT and its use in the education sector has received varying responses. Termed as ‘apocalyptic’, ChatGPT presents an ethical dilemma with the possibility of leading students towards plagiarism, lack of criticality and passivity. However, if used properly, this tool, similar to other technological pedagogical tools that have initially been feared or criticised, may contribute to the development of STEM skills such as critical analysis, communication, independent thinking and reflection. Within this perspective and building on the principles of the Socratic Method with an emphasis on critical thinking, intellectual engagement and reflection, this paper explores the use of ChatGPT as a Socratic assistant. ChatGPT is, therefore, presented as a collaborative tool that enriches the learning environment whereby students can develop their critical skills, question assumptions, develop intellectual curiosity through prompting and eventually produce reflective and critical responses. This research adopts a posthumanist innovative methodology where data is produced through the intra-action between the researcher (human) and ChatGPT (non-human). The chosen methodology reflects the entanglement of the human (students, teachers) and non-human (AI) in an educational space dominated by chatbots and other technological assistance. Through generated examples, this paper shows how ChatGPT can be integrated into teaching and learning contexts, fostering deeper inquiry and self-reflection aligning with the Socratic Method. This research contributes to discourses on AI and its ethical use in transforming teaching and learning through innovative methods and may assist teachers in the development of innovative teaching practices assisted by AI
Teacher agency: a case study of Mauritius.
No full textDoctoral degrees. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.This study explores the phenomenon of teacher agency within a dynamic socio-cultural space
where a landmark national schooling curriculum policy reform was introduced by Mauritian
educational authorities. It contributes to an understanding of teachers' experiences, their
interpretations of their experiences and the ways in which they exercised agency as they
revisited pedagogies and personal beliefs in relation to a changing macro-policy and micro institutional environment.
A narrative inquiry methodology within an interpretivist paradigm was adopted to immerse in
teachers’ multi-layered experiences. Data was produced through various methods: interviews,
classroom observations, informal conversations and artefact construction activities that
triggered responses and provided insights into teachers’ biographical experiences, beliefs and
practices. The data was re-presented through an ethnodrama of interlocuting participants. This
creative form enabled me to co-construct three-dimensional characters inhabiting complex
temporal and spatial dimensions.
The fieldwork revealed that teachers' personal and professional experiences could not be
isolated from an evolving broader global space grappling with digital pedagogical evolution.
Furthermore, unique nationalistic strategies to enhance the country's small island developing
state socioeconomic landscape exerted additional pressure on teachers’ choices of
representation of their actions. Teachers' career experiences reflect divergent agencies and
agendas characterised by fluid, complex and complementary contradictions and stabilities. An
assessment and performativity regime of outputs of the schooling system featured prominently
as a backdrop.
The thesis developed a model of diffracted and entangled agencies that emphasise a
kaleidoscope of possibilities of understanding teacher agency. Rather than being
conceptualised as a stable characteristic trait of teachers, teacher agency was seen as constantly
adapting to temporal and spatial changes, adopting new beliefs, revisiting past experiences and
reconstructing their professional roles. Teacher agency was further considered as dialogical
choices of representations amongst varied audiences, co-participants and role-players, with
varied agendas.
This study’s unique contextual policy reform parameters are potentially representative of any
significant change that causes diffraction of a relational teacher agency. The thesis emphasises
agentic responsiveness to space and time specificities that intersect with teachers’ personal and
professional experiences. Teacher agency is not simply a singular identity and political
construction, but also a strategic negotiated shifting set of performances of responsiveness to
situational contexts that in themselves are not stable, or coherent. The report concludes with
the theoretical, methodological and contextual implications of the proposed reconceptualised
notion of teacher agency, discusses the study's limitations, and highlights the possibilities for
future research
Representing teachers’ voices: An ethnodrama of Mauritian teachers under times of curriculum reform
No full textThis article emphasises the motivation for a methodological representation choice that captures teachers’ voices in a small island developing state context during the introduction of a curriculum reform. The diverse voices of teachers, as they inhabit a context that gears towards compliance and managed intimacy demands, are explored through the representational choice of an ethnodrama. A narrative inquiry methodology led to an ethnodrama representation which protected the anonymity and confidentiality of participants and simultaneously revealed multiple forms of agencies in entangled spatial and temporal dimensions. The findings foreground teachers’ choice of agencies and representations serve different interests which are influenced by whom they dialogue with in specific spaces. Ending with a fictionalised future enactment of the ethnodrama, this article closes with teachers negotiating their agency and opening reflections for future research in new normal COVID-19 spaces
