1,720,963 research outputs found
An analysis of higher education funding: consideration towards a viable model for South Africa.
Get PDFDoctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The funding framework for Higher Education has always been a contentious issue in South Africa, and more so in recent years. For some time now, it has continued to adopt a predominantly performance-based model within a shared costs system, continuously developing and enhancing its funding framework, with individual Higher Education institutions adapting this as needed, depending on their contexts. The #FeesMustFall movement and other challenges in higher education financing have entrenched the view, despite the dismantling of apartheid; South Africa still remains one of the world’s most unequal countries from a socio-economic standpoint.
Given the disparities that existed in its apartheid system coupled with challenges in post-apartheid South Africa, this research asks key questions around higher education funding, and specifically: to what extent were resources allocated to universities, promoting the principals of satisficing, justice and fairness, and critical capacity? These notions emanate from the theories of Simon (1959); Rawls (1982) and Boltanski (2011) respectively, which form the theoretical basis of this qualitative study.
All public universities in South Africa are heavily dependent on state resources to meet their mandate of providing post-school education to qualifying students. The purpose of this research was thus to analyse resource allocation models in public universities within the Higher Education sector in South Africa. It also focuses on the variables that are considered by the government in determining the subsidy or block grant allocated to universities. By engaging the literature on resource allocation, taking cognisance of the history of the country, its higher education systems and funding frameworks, and its challenges, the research reflects on the experiences of financing higher education from a global, continental and national perspective. Particular focus is placed on the presentation then analysis of the South African Higher Education funding framework, and considerations that could be offered towards a viable funding model for South Africa.
The methodology employed in this qualitative research surveys global literature on the financing of higher education, South African government policy documents and related reports as well as inputs from a sample of key financial personnel of seven (of ten) nationally sampled universities. The sampled universities whose geographical locations spread across South Africa were selected on the basis of their block grant received from the state. The unstructured face ix
to face interviews focused on budget frameworks specifically in relation to the main financial operations at sampled institutions. Findings emerging from these interviews related to issues around timelines, top-slicing, cross-subsidisation, wish lists, communication, levels of transparency and treatment of surplus budget funds with a few unique models that centred around benchmarks. A further finding confirmed that budget frameworks remain within the confines of the respective university with each university believing that their framework is the most appropriate for their organisation. From this range of findings, the study synthesises the mechanisms that drive the allocation of resources from governments to universities and the onward dissemination to faculty and support services. A series of recommendations for both State and University consideration is made based on universities radical transformative nature. These are discussed then fused into a ‘Roadmap’ for consideration in the future funding models devised for Higher Education in South Africa. The research concludes with a challenge to University leaders, particularly it's Chief Finance Officers, to critically engage and refine their leadership stance and communication capabilities in line with the principals of satisficing, justice and fairness.Dedication by author on page v
Music composition in the 21st Century: exploring concertgoers’ aesthetic response to AI-generated music.
Get PDFMasters degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.We live in the information age where digitisation and computational technology have become integral
and indispensable to our daily activities. Artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and other such
technologies increasingly impact and disrupt our lives as we connect with our world. Within the arts, a
field once dominated by human creation, we now experience a penetration of AI and deep learning
technologies. The researcher, a practising musician, became interested in how our ubiquitous
interaction with AI technology affects our decision-making and how it relates specifically to the field of
music composition. The manifestation of AI’s impact on music-making was met with the researcher’s
excitement and trepidation. Given the researcher’s apprehension, he proposed investigating (1) the
quality of AI creativity in the field of music composition and (2) how transparency of this AI creative
employment affects aesthetic judgement. He designed his research using a mixed methods approach,
comprising a quantitative phase in the form of an online questionnaire (based on the original
AESTHEMOS instrument), followed by a qualitative phase of in-depth interviews. The researcher’s
objectives were twofold: (1) to establish if a sample of concertgoers could discern aesthetically between
compositions generated by humans and AI and (2) how knowledge of AI use during the compositional
process affects our aesthetic appreciation of the artefacts. The researcher partly hypothesised that
participants could not discern aesthetically between human and AI-generated compositions because of
current available AI technology (through machine and deep learning). However, when AI employment is
disclosed, aesthetic responses to compositions yield a negative response. To test his hypothesis, the
researcher engaged thirty concertgoers in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, to evaluate aesthetically five
symphonic works via an online questionnaire. During the follow-up interview process, the AI generation
of two of the five compositions was disclosed, and general attitudes toward AI creativity was probed.
Using data analytic tools such as the Mann-Whitney U test, the researcher confirmed his hypothesis
and concluded that participants interact aesthetically with AI-generated compositions if they appear to
be human-composed. Transparency of AI involvement, however, affects the aesthetic value of AIgenerated
compositions. As AI weaves itself deeper into the human story, the familiarity of AI creativity
will profoundly affect our notion of creativity, meaning and art creation of the future
An investigation into Historically Informed Performance Practice among South African flute pedagogues and players
Get PDFDissertation (MMus)--University of Pretoria, 2008.This study investigates the status of Historically Informed Performance Practice among the South African flute-playing fraternity. Consequently, grounds are established on which to claim a lack of the implementation of Historically Informed Performance Practice in South African flute pedagogy and playing. The main research question that underpins this study is: Why is there a lack of integration of Historically Informed Performance Practice into the mainstream of current flute performance practice among South African flute pedagogues and players? This research question is addressed through three sub-questions: Is there an awareness of Historically Informed Performance Practice in South Africa as outlined by performance and pedagogy internationally? How is Historically Informed Performance Practice incorporated into the South African flute examinations system? Does the knowledge of Historically Informed Performance Practice prepare one to be a balanced musician or flautist? The findings that emerge from the investigation of the research questions are: South African flute pedagogues fail to differentiate between Historically Informed Performance Practice and ‘authenticity’. This could be attributed to the fact that relatively little research and discourse into Historically Informed Performance Practice has been conducted by South African scholars and musicologists. While Historically Informed Performance Practice is thought to enhance students’ performances of Early Music, resulting in better-balanced musicians, it has not been significantly exploited by South African flute players. South African flute students are superficially aware of some elements of performance practice, but are generally not historically informed with regard to the performance of Early Music. There is no clear indication of Historically Informed Performance Practice being incorporated into the South African independent flute examination system. While there are numerous specialists in Early Music locally, flute pedagogues and players perceive them to be scarce, perhaps due to a lack of discernable demand for historically informed performances by South African audiences. The research synthesises questionnaire and interview data from local flute pedagogues, Early Music specialists and both national and international flute students in an attempt to discover the reason for the lack of Historically Informed Performance Practice in South Africa. Additionally, a survey of websites detailing South African Early Music activity is performed using the Internet, in order to ascertain if the basis for a future in Historically Informed Performance Practice exists nationally. Lastly, content analyses of the three primary South African independent examination boards’ syllabi and of the former flute periodical, Flufsa News, elucidate the status of Historically Informed Performance Practice nationally.Musicunrestricte
Unsung : South African jazz musicians under apartheid
Get PDFCITATION: Devroop, C. & Walton, C. (eds). 2007. Unsung : South African jazz musicians under apartheid. Stellenbosch: SUN PReSS. doi:10.18820/9781920109677.The original publication is available from AFRICAN SUNMeDIA - www.sun-e-shop.co.zaBOOK BLURB: South African jazz under apartheid has in recent years been the subject of numerous studies. The main focus, however, has hitherto been on the musicians who went into exile. Here, for the first time, those who stayed behind are allowed to tell their stories: the stories of musicians from across the colour spectrum who helped to keep their art alive in South Africa during the years of state oppression.Publishers' versio
Phenomenology : where Is It and what Is in It for us?
Get PDFJournal article published in African Perspectives of Research in Teaching & Learning Journal (APORTAL) Vol 6 (3) (2022) Special IssueThe new research interest in phenomenology brings with it the challenges it has faced in the
past, especially phenomenology itself. This essay-styled paper is about the availability of
phenomenology to education specialists. Phenomenology is approached here through a survey
and then pursued as an approach to education. It does so by asking two questions: Where does
phenomenology stand today and what does it bring to educators? Phenomenology as an activity
is presented in an undistorted way, showing its availability, and is illustrated with examples of
the thinking of important 20th century figures. The tools that phenomenology provides are
explicated. The essay includes my own experiences of phenomenology as a musician-
musicologist and concludes with a brief characterisation of education as a situation rather thana body of knowledge or a technique. It suggests, finally, that the most fruitful relationship between phenomenology and education would be a tool to orient and possibly change what defines the current situation
The Shifting Sands of Music Leadership: Searching for Disciplinary Space in a Research-led University
Get PDFFrom the perspective of an arts-based discipline in need of curricular transformation, this paper examines certain fragilities within the university systems and calls for a transformational style of leadership. Recent events in higher education in South Africa have brought to light the crisis in leadership at its public universities, with critical focus on curriculum leadership. While universities may conceive of themselves as being under attack, with their legitimacy, traditions and values being called into question, current student opinion is that the issue of leadership in universities fails to be sufficiently transparent when compared to the public or private sectors. This research is located within an autoethnographic context and highlights the experience and challenges of an academic leader in the arts, and specifically, the music discipline. The experiential data affords insight into problems existing between leadership, management and more especially the academic leadership of the discipline. While arguing for a different role for curriculum leadership within the contemporary university, this paper goes further, contending that it is imperative for the music discipline to engage with its new media challenges in order to ensure its contemporary relevance
The burden of cyberbullying on teachers
Get PDFJournal article published in African Perspectives of Research in Teaching & Learning Journal (APORTAL) Vol 7 (2) (2023)This article explores the challenges teachers face in dealing with cyberbullying from the
perspective of behavior management theory. We argue that dealing with cyberbullying places an additional burden on teachers. The research is based on narrative inquiry and focuses on the experiences of a participant named Amanda who works in a primary school. Amanda embodies the complexity of everyday life for teachers in a South African school. The analysis shows that teachers like Amanda are exposed to high levels of stress and burnout due to the administrative demands of dealing with bullying on social media, which distracts them from their actual pedagogical tasks. The inadequate institutional support has a negative impact on both their professional efficiency and their personal lives. The findings show that a holistic approach, including policy reforms, psychological support, and specialized training is needed to mitigate these effects
Crises, Contestations, Contemplations and Futures in Higher Education
Get PDFThe theme of this special edition once again derives from the Annual Teaching and Learning Conference hosted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2017.For ten years (2007 - 2016), the conference has engaged a cauldron of issues that emerged in Higher Education, South Africa. During that decade, the academy charted a path of what it deemed to be relevant concerns around curriculum transformation and innovation, African perspectives and paradigms, reconstruction, internationalisation, policy analyses, research and teaching excellence, and professional development, all of which were suggestive of deep engagement with issues that mattered to higher education. The student uprisings (#RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall) disturbed the reverie that had lulled the academy’s senses to student concerns and aspirations. In fact, higher education students made explicit the ways in which the academy was complicit in the reproduction of inequalities and the marginalisation of local values and contexts. The outcome of academia’s lethargy to action and its propensity to ‘talk’ rather than ‘act’ to enable relevant and appropriate transformation, has had devastating consequences, culmina-ting in violent uprisings in South Africa. Simultaneously, though, it has also created new opportunities and improved access to higher education for those marginalised by race and class
The burden of cyberbullying on teachers
Get PDFJournal article published in African Perspectives of Research in Teaching & Learning (APORTAL) Vol 7 (2) (2023)This article explores the challenges teachers face in dealing with cyberbullying from the perspective of behavior management theory. We argue that dealing with cyberbullying places an additional burden on teachers. The research is based on narrative inquiry and focuses on the experiences of a participant named Amanda who works in a primary school. Amanda embodies the complexity of everyday life for teachers in a South African school. The analysis shows that teachers like Amanda are exposed to high levels of stress and burnout due to the administrative demands of dealing with bullying on social media, which distracts them from their actual pedagogical tasks. The inadequate institutional support has a negative impact on both their professional efficiency and their personal lives. The findings show that a holistic approach, including policy reforms, psychological support, and specialized training is needed to mitigate these effects
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