Cias Tsotetsi - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Cias Tsotetsi
E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, schools in South Africa would have lost a considerable per... more Due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, schools in South Africa would have lost a considerable percentage of the annual school curriculum by the end of the lockdown. The Department of Basic Education had to work out plans for curriculum recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed plan was to gradual reopening schools using the “Phasing in Approach”. This study explored the Self-Efficacy of beginner teachers in Qwaqwa schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Informed by Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, we used the qualitative research approach and generated data through semi-structured interviews. The telephonic interviews were conducted in two different phases; the first (T1) was in January 2021, and the second (T2) was in August 2021. We interviewed 5 participants of beginner teachers in the Qwaqwa town of the Thabo-Mofutsanyane district. The finding showed that beginner teachers had very high levels of self-efficacy, as they were able to face the challenges brought by the CO...
E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, schools in South Africa would have lost a considerable per... more Due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, schools in South Africa would have lost a considerable percentage of the annual school curriculum by the end of the lockdown. The Department of Basic Education had to work out plans for curriculum recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed plan was to gradual reopening schools using the “Phasing in Approach”. This study explored the Self-Efficacy of beginner teachers in Qwaqwa schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Informed by Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, we used the qualitative research approach and generated data through semi-structured interviews. The telephonic interviews were conducted in two different phases; the first (T1) was in January 2021, and the second (T2) was in August 2021. We interviewed 5 participants of beginner teachers in the Qwaqwa town of the Thabo-Mofutsanyane district. The finding showed that beginner teachers had very high levels of self-efficacy, as they were able to face the challenges brought by the CO...
Journal of Culture and Values in Education
The benefits of collaborative learning (CL) in teaching-learning have been well-documented. Accor... more The benefits of collaborative learning (CL) in teaching-learning have been well-documented. According to existing literature, it will help students and teachers learn from one another, develop good communication skills, foster a sense of community, trust and respect, and retain and apply the information in their future studies. Unfortunately, observation coupled with research shows that pre-service teachers’ participation in South Africa's rural universities is at its lowest ebb – a potential source of concern to education stakeholders given its futuristic implications in the light of CL benefits. Less pre-service teachers’ participation has been linked to cultural influence, environmental factors and students’ backgrounds and have negatively impacted students’ academic achievement. This paper seeks to typify CL as a panacea to pre-service teachers' apathy toward learning. In doing this, social constructivism theory (SCT) was adopted to underpin the study. Drawing from the p...
The dwindling of teachers' effectiveness in secondary schools as linked to the behaviour of princ... more The dwindling of teachers' effectiveness in secondary schools as linked to the behaviour of principals necessitates this study. The study was theorised with Ubuntu philosophy to uncover deficiencies relating to principals' organisational behaviour indices such as; communication, participatory decision making and stress management as correlates of teachers' effectiveness in secondary schools in Ekiti State Nigeria. Descriptive research of survey design was used to cover all public secondary schools in Ekiti State. Seven hundred and twenty (720) respondents were sampled; 360 teachers and 360 students were selected using a multi-stage sampling procedure. Principal Behaviours Questionnaire"(PBQ) administered on teachers and "Teacher Effectiveness Questionnaire"(TEQ) administered on students were used to collect data. Face and content validity were used to ascertain the degree of accuracy and appropriateness of the instruments. Test-retest reliability method of the instruments was done with reliability coefficients of 0.77 and 0.94 respectively. Descriptive statistics (frequency counts and percentages) and Inferential Statistics (Pearson Product Moment Correlation PPMC and Regression Analysis) were used to analyse the data. The study found out that the effectiveness of teachers is on average while principals' behaviour variables are highly significant to teachers' effectiveness with the conclusion that communication, participatory decision making and principal stress management are the dimension of teachers' effectiveness in secondary schools.
Professional development of teachers is a cornerstone of the provision of quality of teaching and... more Professional development of teachers is a cornerstone of the provision of quality of teaching and learning in a country’s education system, affirmed by the literature, with programmes central to proposals for improving the quality of teaching and transforming education. Competencies of teachers in South Africa have not improved as envisaged, according to studies conducted, with many professional development programmes not yet implemented or not taking into account teachers’ perspectives. In addressing this challenge, the aim of this article is to determine components of a strategy that could be employed to implement professional development programmes, drawing on a project conducted in two rural secondary schools in the Free State province. Data were generated from school community participants and district-based officials using a Participatory Action Research approach. Findings revealed six distinct components of a strategy, namely establishment of a team comprising all stakeholder...
This study aims at designing a strategy to effectively implement Continuing Professional Developm... more This study aims at designing a strategy to effectively implement Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes for teachers at two schools in the Thabo Mofutsanyana District. In order to achieve this, the following specific objectives were devised to guide the study, namely: 1. To demonstrate and justify that there is need to design such a strategy for the effective implementation of CPD programmes for teachers, 2. To identify and discuss the components and aspects of such a strategy, 3. To determine the conditions under which such a strategy could be successfully implemented, 4. To anticipate possible threats that may hamper the operationalisation of the strategy so that mechanisms are put in place to circumvent them and 5. To monitor the implementation of the strategy so as to find out whether it was effective in achieving its aim. Critical Emancipatory Research (CER) as the theoretical framework was chosen to couch the study towards the operationalisation of the above ment...
Qualitative Research, 2021
Theoretically, community participation decolonises research ethics in settings where a ‘coloniali... more Theoretically, community participation decolonises research ethics in settings where a ‘coloniality of power’ persists. We used ethnographic methods to document our experiences of ‘ethics in practice’, and interrogate the (de)colonising outcomes, of community participation in voluntary informed assent and consent (VIAC) procedures with 16–17-year-old Black South African youth and parents. Community participation decolonised by: (1) disrupting and problematising the power dynamics of written VIAC procedures and (2) minimally shifting power to youth and parents. However, community participation sometimes reinforced existing power hierarchies. In postcolonial qualitative research settings, community participation has potential to, but will not necessarily, decolonise ethics in practice.
The Anthropologist, 2017
Researchers have stressed the importance of civic education in finding solutions to civic problem... more Researchers have stressed the importance of civic education in finding solutions to civic problems. This paper examined the upshots of computer-aided and blended teaching strategies on students' civic attitudes, as well as the confounding effects of cognitive ability and gender. The study adopted the pretest-posttest, control group, quasi-experimental design using 3 x 2 x 3 factorial matrix. Seventy-eight students were selected in six intact classes in rural learning ecologies and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The research instruments utilized were: Students' Civic Attitudes Questionnaire (r=0.88), Cognitive Ability Test (r=0.72), Computer-aided and Blended Teaching Instructional Programme in Civic Education for experimental groups and Teachers Instructional Guide on Conventional (Class) Lecture Method for the control group. Three research questions were answered. Data was subjected to Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), Estimated Marginal Means, and Scheffe's Pairwise Comparison. There was a significant effect of treatment on students' civic attitudes (F (2; 61) = 3.82, p < 0.05; η 2 =.10). The students' taught with computer-aided teaching strategy had higher adjusted attitude mean score (χ= 106.02), than the control group (105.61), and the blended teaching strategy group (= 75.73). It was, therefore, recommended that teachers in rural learning ecologies in South Korea should explore the utilities inherent in Information and Communication Technology based strategies to teach civic education concepts.
Professional development of teachers is a cornerstone for the provision of quality teaching and l... more Professional development of teachers is a cornerstone for the provision of quality teaching and learning in an education system in a country. Studies affirm that effective professional development programmes of teachers stand at the centre of proposals for improving the quality of teaching and the transformation of education. The Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) has been put in place to develop the competencies of teachers in South Africa. A major problem in professional development programmes of teachers offered is that teacher competencies seem not to be improving as envisaged, mainly because of problems experienced in implementation. For example, challenges to the IQMS include a tendency to lose sight of the objectives of its processes. The focal point in implementation becomes securing awards rather than improving the quality of teaching and learning, because the same instrument is used for development and performance management. Another challenge is that the IQMS policy does not directly encourage and motivate teachers or improve their morale as it focuses mainly on monitoring school effectiveness. Shortage of adequately qualified staff and large learner-teacher ratios exacerbate the problem in the implementation of this policy. In order to obtain the empirical data, we employed Participatory Action Research in two secondary schools in the Free State province. The focal point of the research was to demonstrate if there was a need to enhance teacher development programmes in the two schools. Findings revealed a lack of a coordinated plan and the non-involvement of practitioners and beneficiaries in the design and implementation of CPD programmes, to name a few.
A crucial element to ensure the success of a project is the community’s engagement in it: in othe... more A crucial element to ensure the success of a project is the community’s engagement in it: in other words, the participation of individuals, communitybased organisations and institutions that would be affected by the endeavour is vital to its success. Studies suggest that strong community participation during a programme’s development and implementation is more likely to assure its long-term viability. There has been a proliferation of academic programmes that embrace community involvement, service-learning and volunteerism flowing from the understanding that community engagement constitutes one of the core functions in South African higher education. Universities attempt in their own ways to engage students in various projects and programmes to make them aware of the role that a university has to play in the social and economic development of the surrounding community. This paper reports on the lessons and prospects emanating from free attitude interviews (FAI) with five mathematics...
Progressio: South African Journal for Open and Distance Learning Practice
The rural-urban migration syndrome has eaten deep into the fabric of rural development in South A... more The rural-urban migration syndrome has eaten deep into the fabric of rural development in South Africa, thereby denying rural dwellers equitable access to social and economic amenities and social empowerment. This study, therefore, seeks to emancipate rural communities through an asset-based community development approach by forming university-community synergies for the purpose of decolonising these rural communities. The study attempted to provide a solution to the question of inequalities between rural and urban communities with a focus on how university engagement can be used to enhance community development in QwaQwa/Harismith Township and its environments. The study adopted a participatory action research design and the free attitude interview technique was used to collect data. The research participants consisted of one research assistant and 10 ordinary community members, members of NGOs and community leaders in QwaQwa/Harrismith Township in the Free State province of South ...
International Journal of Research In Business and Social Science, Apr 30, 2022
In the process of socioeconomic development, the rural environment has witnessed various setbacks... more In the process of socioeconomic development, the rural environment has witnessed various setbacks, mostly in agro-social and the socioeconomic sustainability of the QwaQwa community of South Africa. Evidence exists from the literature, our observations and experience that sustainability in the rural economic development of the QwaQwa community is not equal and stable, which has exposed the youths of the community to crime and various antisocial activities such as drugging, drinking, gangsterism, raping, among others. Therefore, the asset-based community development approach was adopted to instigate stakeholders' intention towards community emancipation. This was done within the lens of the transformative paradigm designed with the community-based participatory action research process. The research comprised key stakeholders such as community leaders, NGOs, and youths. A structured interview was used to elicit information from the selected participants. We used socio-thematic analysis to make sense of the data in order to understand the sociality of the people living within the spotted problem. The study revealed that the community is endowed with arable farming land and team spirit, but criminalities were found to challenge their development. In its quest for rural emancipation, the study also found out that the QwaQwa community needs empowerment programmes in social and agricultural skill development.
Presently, there is limited or no incorporation of indigenous knowledge (IK) in the Mathematics c... more Presently, there is limited or no incorporation of indigenous knowledge (IK) in the Mathematics curriculum in Technical Vocational and Educational Training (TVET) Colleges at NQF Level 4 National Certificate Vocational (NVC). This is due to many constraints faced in the Department of Higher Education. These include high failure rate in Mathematics level 4, which consequently affects the College throughput and Certification rate at level 4, not only this but the comprehension of real issues, that is, TVET College education is exam-oriented, very often lecturers relay on teacher centered approach to disseminate concepts such as Mathematical Geometry (MG) to student in an abstract manner. Consequently, this led to the deterioration of educational standards in the subject as student tend to opt to enroll in Mathematical Literacy as Mathematics is thought of to be difficult and confined to nonindigenous students only Hence, the study aims at exploring IK as an alternative pedagogical tool to Mathematics Lecturers' classroom teaching to support their pedagogical practices in a TVET College. Having Social Constructivism Theory (SCT) as the Theoretical Framework that guided the study, the research extended its investigation by adopting Participatory Research (PR) as the methodology that guided the discussions amongst 10 co-researchers through Focus Group discussions on how to adapt the current classroom teachings into IK-integrated lessons. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis and the results thereof indicated that indeed, IK can be utilized as an alternative. Thus, this approach would provide for a more relevant inclusion of knowledge that would cater for indigenous students from all cultural groupings in the diverse South African society.
Educational institutions, such as public universities, are lucid miniature of micro-societies whe... more Educational institutions, such as public universities, are lucid miniature of micro-societies where the roles and influences of the administrators and managers can be investigated whether as an agent of development or otherwise. One of the most difficult activities of mankind all over the world is management (Sheldreke, 2000). This is so because it has to do with the use of both human and material resources to actualise the goals and objectives of the organisation, especially in an academic community that comprises intellectuals such as teaching and non-teaching staff, as well as administrators and even students whose need and aspirations as individuals are dynamic in nature. These aspirations are directed at refining the society through the social and corporate efficiency of its members and products. To this end, it is pertinent to say that the essential roles being played by university education as an apparatus of social engineering cannot be under-rated. This, therefore, requires...
Previous studies demonstrated positives and challenges related to assessment, including peer asse... more Previous studies demonstrated positives and challenges related to assessment, including peer assessment. On a positive note, various authors perceive peer assessment as being more reliable as compared to self-assessment. While peer assessment has positive benefits, markers tend to either under-or over-score their peers. A dearth of literature that explores using peer assessment as a vehicle to decolonise the teacher education system exists. Informed by decolonisation, we generated data from one module presented at a rural university in South Africa. The module consisted of 90 students. We gave students who were doing the module online open-ended questions for them to comment. Of the 90 students, 59 students participated. Students had mixed feelings about peer assessment. Positive findings included peers being in accord of thinking as the assignments' authors and enabling pre-service teachers for the school environment. Peers under-and over-scored one another because of carelessness, not reading with an understanding and poor class attendance. The paper concludes by challenging peer assessment implementers to put mechanisms in place to curb peers from either under-or over-scoring themselves.
African Renaissance, 2020
Experience and observation from bodies of existing literature have shown that the menace of socia... more Experience and observation from bodies of existing literature have shown that the menace of social crises has eaten deep into the core of the university system in Nigeria. This borders closely on the persistence of social unrest and problems between university authorities and the student populace. This study seeks to deconstruct the mirage of politics of process allegedly responsible for the social crises in Nigerian universities through decolonial propositions. Decoloniality, as a transformative theory, was used as a theoretical lens, while Participatory Action Research design was adopted to enable the researchers to get into the research collaboratively. For the purpose of change. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was used to collect data in response to objectives 1 and 2. Also, ten participants were evenly selected using Convenient Sampling Technique at the same time; Socio-thematic Analysis (StA) was used to interpret the data. The findings revealed that cultism and external and political interferences were significant challenges and causes of social unrest in universities. In contrast, the implementation of Threat Assessment Plan, university autonomy and adequate funding have been discovered to be possible solutions to these challenges. This study, therefore, recommends the performance of the proposed solutions as tools for managing social crises in the university system.
African Journal of Gender, Society and Development (formerly Journal of Gender, Information and Development in Africa), 2020
The space of university pedagogy recently has been linked to the unholy space of subjective teach... more The space of university pedagogy recently has been linked to the unholy space of subjective teaching and learning process, which has been likened to the colonial legacy. The fact, therefore, remains that the possibility of classroom transformation lies mainly in the teaching and learning and scholastic classroom methodology, perceived to have been altered by Eurocentric power dominance. The study, therefore, missioned to respond to classroom coloniality through collaborative knowledge construction. Social constructivism was used to lens the study. In a bid to transform classroom pedagogy, the study falls under the transformative paradigm and adopted Participatory Action Research (PAR) as a research design. Practical action group work was used to sort for information from participants and the data generated was analyzed using Conversational Analysis (CA). The findings showed that time differentials among group members and lack of members/students’ commitment to group work were major impediments to classroom constructivism. On the other hand, the study also revealed that effective use of time among group members (time management) and team spirit towards productivity are the dimension of group performance towards decoloniality with recommendations that intensive time management and teamwork lectures or workshops should be organised often to enhance students’ productivity in the university system.
Ubuntu : Journal of Conflict and Social Transformation, 2020
Supervision is a process that has inherited power differentials between the supervisor and studen... more Supervision is a process that has inherited power differentials between the supervisor and students in higher education. The inherited power puts students in a situation where they are viewed as neophytes while the supervisors are viewed as experts. Literature demonstrates that supervisors are usually unempathetic. This paper framed supervision through Ubuntu to bridge the gap between the supervisor and the student. In this regard, we began by discussing power differentials included in supervision. Ideas from Habermas, Freire and Gramsci are discussed in this paper to bring to the fore voices that are less heard. The article contributes to the supervision debate by arguing that supervision framed within Ubuntu can provide robust mentorship and an enabling environment for postgraduate students to complete their studies as and when due.
South African Journal of Education, 2020
In this article, we problematise the practice of appointing principals on the basis of comradeshi... more In this article, we problematise the practice of appointing principals on the basis of comradeship instead of excellence, qualifications and competency. The appointment of principals in South Africa has, over the years, become politicised and unionised to the extent that it is contextualised within comradeship narratives, thereby negating the competency and qualifications that are required to champion quality education – education that is essential to empower people. To cement its arguments, the article is couched in decoloniality, a framework that evokes the need to challenge coloniality, which has displaced professionalism and competency as criteria for appointing principals. The data for the study were generated through questionnaires completed by, and interviews with, 19 participants in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province. The article reports that most schools with comrade principals face challenges related to competency, learner performance and indiscipline. The article recommends tha...
South African Journal of Education, 2020
In this article, we problematise the practice of appointing principals on the basis of comradeshi... more In this article, we problematise the practice of appointing principals on the basis of comradeship instead of excellence, qualifications and competency. The appointment of principals in South Africa has, over the years, become politicised and unionised to the extent that it is contextualised within comradeship narratives, thereby negating the competency and qualifications that are required to champion quality education – education that is essential to empower people. To cement its arguments, the article is couched in decoloniality, a framework that evokes the need to challenge coloniality, which has displaced professionalism and competency as criteria for appointing principals. The data for the study were generated through questionnaires completed by, and interviews with, 19 participants in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province. The article reports that most schools with comrade principals face challenges related to competency, learner performance and indiscipline. The article recommends tha...
E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, schools in South Africa would have lost a considerable per... more Due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, schools in South Africa would have lost a considerable percentage of the annual school curriculum by the end of the lockdown. The Department of Basic Education had to work out plans for curriculum recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed plan was to gradual reopening schools using the “Phasing in Approach”. This study explored the Self-Efficacy of beginner teachers in Qwaqwa schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Informed by Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, we used the qualitative research approach and generated data through semi-structured interviews. The telephonic interviews were conducted in two different phases; the first (T1) was in January 2021, and the second (T2) was in August 2021. We interviewed 5 participants of beginner teachers in the Qwaqwa town of the Thabo-Mofutsanyane district. The finding showed that beginner teachers had very high levels of self-efficacy, as they were able to face the challenges brought by the CO...
E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, schools in South Africa would have lost a considerable per... more Due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, schools in South Africa would have lost a considerable percentage of the annual school curriculum by the end of the lockdown. The Department of Basic Education had to work out plans for curriculum recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed plan was to gradual reopening schools using the “Phasing in Approach”. This study explored the Self-Efficacy of beginner teachers in Qwaqwa schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Informed by Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, we used the qualitative research approach and generated data through semi-structured interviews. The telephonic interviews were conducted in two different phases; the first (T1) was in January 2021, and the second (T2) was in August 2021. We interviewed 5 participants of beginner teachers in the Qwaqwa town of the Thabo-Mofutsanyane district. The finding showed that beginner teachers had very high levels of self-efficacy, as they were able to face the challenges brought by the CO...
Journal of Culture and Values in Education
The benefits of collaborative learning (CL) in teaching-learning have been well-documented. Accor... more The benefits of collaborative learning (CL) in teaching-learning have been well-documented. According to existing literature, it will help students and teachers learn from one another, develop good communication skills, foster a sense of community, trust and respect, and retain and apply the information in their future studies. Unfortunately, observation coupled with research shows that pre-service teachers’ participation in South Africa's rural universities is at its lowest ebb – a potential source of concern to education stakeholders given its futuristic implications in the light of CL benefits. Less pre-service teachers’ participation has been linked to cultural influence, environmental factors and students’ backgrounds and have negatively impacted students’ academic achievement. This paper seeks to typify CL as a panacea to pre-service teachers' apathy toward learning. In doing this, social constructivism theory (SCT) was adopted to underpin the study. Drawing from the p...
The dwindling of teachers' effectiveness in secondary schools as linked to the behaviour of princ... more The dwindling of teachers' effectiveness in secondary schools as linked to the behaviour of principals necessitates this study. The study was theorised with Ubuntu philosophy to uncover deficiencies relating to principals' organisational behaviour indices such as; communication, participatory decision making and stress management as correlates of teachers' effectiveness in secondary schools in Ekiti State Nigeria. Descriptive research of survey design was used to cover all public secondary schools in Ekiti State. Seven hundred and twenty (720) respondents were sampled; 360 teachers and 360 students were selected using a multi-stage sampling procedure. Principal Behaviours Questionnaire"(PBQ) administered on teachers and "Teacher Effectiveness Questionnaire"(TEQ) administered on students were used to collect data. Face and content validity were used to ascertain the degree of accuracy and appropriateness of the instruments. Test-retest reliability method of the instruments was done with reliability coefficients of 0.77 and 0.94 respectively. Descriptive statistics (frequency counts and percentages) and Inferential Statistics (Pearson Product Moment Correlation PPMC and Regression Analysis) were used to analyse the data. The study found out that the effectiveness of teachers is on average while principals' behaviour variables are highly significant to teachers' effectiveness with the conclusion that communication, participatory decision making and principal stress management are the dimension of teachers' effectiveness in secondary schools.
Professional development of teachers is a cornerstone of the provision of quality of teaching and... more Professional development of teachers is a cornerstone of the provision of quality of teaching and learning in a country’s education system, affirmed by the literature, with programmes central to proposals for improving the quality of teaching and transforming education. Competencies of teachers in South Africa have not improved as envisaged, according to studies conducted, with many professional development programmes not yet implemented or not taking into account teachers’ perspectives. In addressing this challenge, the aim of this article is to determine components of a strategy that could be employed to implement professional development programmes, drawing on a project conducted in two rural secondary schools in the Free State province. Data were generated from school community participants and district-based officials using a Participatory Action Research approach. Findings revealed six distinct components of a strategy, namely establishment of a team comprising all stakeholder...
This study aims at designing a strategy to effectively implement Continuing Professional Developm... more This study aims at designing a strategy to effectively implement Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes for teachers at two schools in the Thabo Mofutsanyana District. In order to achieve this, the following specific objectives were devised to guide the study, namely: 1. To demonstrate and justify that there is need to design such a strategy for the effective implementation of CPD programmes for teachers, 2. To identify and discuss the components and aspects of such a strategy, 3. To determine the conditions under which such a strategy could be successfully implemented, 4. To anticipate possible threats that may hamper the operationalisation of the strategy so that mechanisms are put in place to circumvent them and 5. To monitor the implementation of the strategy so as to find out whether it was effective in achieving its aim. Critical Emancipatory Research (CER) as the theoretical framework was chosen to couch the study towards the operationalisation of the above ment...
Qualitative Research, 2021
Theoretically, community participation decolonises research ethics in settings where a ‘coloniali... more Theoretically, community participation decolonises research ethics in settings where a ‘coloniality of power’ persists. We used ethnographic methods to document our experiences of ‘ethics in practice’, and interrogate the (de)colonising outcomes, of community participation in voluntary informed assent and consent (VIAC) procedures with 16–17-year-old Black South African youth and parents. Community participation decolonised by: (1) disrupting and problematising the power dynamics of written VIAC procedures and (2) minimally shifting power to youth and parents. However, community participation sometimes reinforced existing power hierarchies. In postcolonial qualitative research settings, community participation has potential to, but will not necessarily, decolonise ethics in practice.
The Anthropologist, 2017
Researchers have stressed the importance of civic education in finding solutions to civic problem... more Researchers have stressed the importance of civic education in finding solutions to civic problems. This paper examined the upshots of computer-aided and blended teaching strategies on students' civic attitudes, as well as the confounding effects of cognitive ability and gender. The study adopted the pretest-posttest, control group, quasi-experimental design using 3 x 2 x 3 factorial matrix. Seventy-eight students were selected in six intact classes in rural learning ecologies and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The research instruments utilized were: Students' Civic Attitudes Questionnaire (r=0.88), Cognitive Ability Test (r=0.72), Computer-aided and Blended Teaching Instructional Programme in Civic Education for experimental groups and Teachers Instructional Guide on Conventional (Class) Lecture Method for the control group. Three research questions were answered. Data was subjected to Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), Estimated Marginal Means, and Scheffe's Pairwise Comparison. There was a significant effect of treatment on students' civic attitudes (F (2; 61) = 3.82, p < 0.05; η 2 =.10). The students' taught with computer-aided teaching strategy had higher adjusted attitude mean score (χ= 106.02), than the control group (105.61), and the blended teaching strategy group (= 75.73). It was, therefore, recommended that teachers in rural learning ecologies in South Korea should explore the utilities inherent in Information and Communication Technology based strategies to teach civic education concepts.
Professional development of teachers is a cornerstone for the provision of quality teaching and l... more Professional development of teachers is a cornerstone for the provision of quality teaching and learning in an education system in a country. Studies affirm that effective professional development programmes of teachers stand at the centre of proposals for improving the quality of teaching and the transformation of education. The Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) has been put in place to develop the competencies of teachers in South Africa. A major problem in professional development programmes of teachers offered is that teacher competencies seem not to be improving as envisaged, mainly because of problems experienced in implementation. For example, challenges to the IQMS include a tendency to lose sight of the objectives of its processes. The focal point in implementation becomes securing awards rather than improving the quality of teaching and learning, because the same instrument is used for development and performance management. Another challenge is that the IQMS policy does not directly encourage and motivate teachers or improve their morale as it focuses mainly on monitoring school effectiveness. Shortage of adequately qualified staff and large learner-teacher ratios exacerbate the problem in the implementation of this policy. In order to obtain the empirical data, we employed Participatory Action Research in two secondary schools in the Free State province. The focal point of the research was to demonstrate if there was a need to enhance teacher development programmes in the two schools. Findings revealed a lack of a coordinated plan and the non-involvement of practitioners and beneficiaries in the design and implementation of CPD programmes, to name a few.
A crucial element to ensure the success of a project is the community’s engagement in it: in othe... more A crucial element to ensure the success of a project is the community’s engagement in it: in other words, the participation of individuals, communitybased organisations and institutions that would be affected by the endeavour is vital to its success. Studies suggest that strong community participation during a programme’s development and implementation is more likely to assure its long-term viability. There has been a proliferation of academic programmes that embrace community involvement, service-learning and volunteerism flowing from the understanding that community engagement constitutes one of the core functions in South African higher education. Universities attempt in their own ways to engage students in various projects and programmes to make them aware of the role that a university has to play in the social and economic development of the surrounding community. This paper reports on the lessons and prospects emanating from free attitude interviews (FAI) with five mathematics...
Progressio: South African Journal for Open and Distance Learning Practice
The rural-urban migration syndrome has eaten deep into the fabric of rural development in South A... more The rural-urban migration syndrome has eaten deep into the fabric of rural development in South Africa, thereby denying rural dwellers equitable access to social and economic amenities and social empowerment. This study, therefore, seeks to emancipate rural communities through an asset-based community development approach by forming university-community synergies for the purpose of decolonising these rural communities. The study attempted to provide a solution to the question of inequalities between rural and urban communities with a focus on how university engagement can be used to enhance community development in QwaQwa/Harismith Township and its environments. The study adopted a participatory action research design and the free attitude interview technique was used to collect data. The research participants consisted of one research assistant and 10 ordinary community members, members of NGOs and community leaders in QwaQwa/Harrismith Township in the Free State province of South ...
International Journal of Research In Business and Social Science, Apr 30, 2022
In the process of socioeconomic development, the rural environment has witnessed various setbacks... more In the process of socioeconomic development, the rural environment has witnessed various setbacks, mostly in agro-social and the socioeconomic sustainability of the QwaQwa community of South Africa. Evidence exists from the literature, our observations and experience that sustainability in the rural economic development of the QwaQwa community is not equal and stable, which has exposed the youths of the community to crime and various antisocial activities such as drugging, drinking, gangsterism, raping, among others. Therefore, the asset-based community development approach was adopted to instigate stakeholders' intention towards community emancipation. This was done within the lens of the transformative paradigm designed with the community-based participatory action research process. The research comprised key stakeholders such as community leaders, NGOs, and youths. A structured interview was used to elicit information from the selected participants. We used socio-thematic analysis to make sense of the data in order to understand the sociality of the people living within the spotted problem. The study revealed that the community is endowed with arable farming land and team spirit, but criminalities were found to challenge their development. In its quest for rural emancipation, the study also found out that the QwaQwa community needs empowerment programmes in social and agricultural skill development.
Presently, there is limited or no incorporation of indigenous knowledge (IK) in the Mathematics c... more Presently, there is limited or no incorporation of indigenous knowledge (IK) in the Mathematics curriculum in Technical Vocational and Educational Training (TVET) Colleges at NQF Level 4 National Certificate Vocational (NVC). This is due to many constraints faced in the Department of Higher Education. These include high failure rate in Mathematics level 4, which consequently affects the College throughput and Certification rate at level 4, not only this but the comprehension of real issues, that is, TVET College education is exam-oriented, very often lecturers relay on teacher centered approach to disseminate concepts such as Mathematical Geometry (MG) to student in an abstract manner. Consequently, this led to the deterioration of educational standards in the subject as student tend to opt to enroll in Mathematical Literacy as Mathematics is thought of to be difficult and confined to nonindigenous students only Hence, the study aims at exploring IK as an alternative pedagogical tool to Mathematics Lecturers' classroom teaching to support their pedagogical practices in a TVET College. Having Social Constructivism Theory (SCT) as the Theoretical Framework that guided the study, the research extended its investigation by adopting Participatory Research (PR) as the methodology that guided the discussions amongst 10 co-researchers through Focus Group discussions on how to adapt the current classroom teachings into IK-integrated lessons. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis and the results thereof indicated that indeed, IK can be utilized as an alternative. Thus, this approach would provide for a more relevant inclusion of knowledge that would cater for indigenous students from all cultural groupings in the diverse South African society.
Educational institutions, such as public universities, are lucid miniature of micro-societies whe... more Educational institutions, such as public universities, are lucid miniature of micro-societies where the roles and influences of the administrators and managers can be investigated whether as an agent of development or otherwise. One of the most difficult activities of mankind all over the world is management (Sheldreke, 2000). This is so because it has to do with the use of both human and material resources to actualise the goals and objectives of the organisation, especially in an academic community that comprises intellectuals such as teaching and non-teaching staff, as well as administrators and even students whose need and aspirations as individuals are dynamic in nature. These aspirations are directed at refining the society through the social and corporate efficiency of its members and products. To this end, it is pertinent to say that the essential roles being played by university education as an apparatus of social engineering cannot be under-rated. This, therefore, requires...
Previous studies demonstrated positives and challenges related to assessment, including peer asse... more Previous studies demonstrated positives and challenges related to assessment, including peer assessment. On a positive note, various authors perceive peer assessment as being more reliable as compared to self-assessment. While peer assessment has positive benefits, markers tend to either under-or over-score their peers. A dearth of literature that explores using peer assessment as a vehicle to decolonise the teacher education system exists. Informed by decolonisation, we generated data from one module presented at a rural university in South Africa. The module consisted of 90 students. We gave students who were doing the module online open-ended questions for them to comment. Of the 90 students, 59 students participated. Students had mixed feelings about peer assessment. Positive findings included peers being in accord of thinking as the assignments' authors and enabling pre-service teachers for the school environment. Peers under-and over-scored one another because of carelessness, not reading with an understanding and poor class attendance. The paper concludes by challenging peer assessment implementers to put mechanisms in place to curb peers from either under-or over-scoring themselves.
African Renaissance, 2020
Experience and observation from bodies of existing literature have shown that the menace of socia... more Experience and observation from bodies of existing literature have shown that the menace of social crises has eaten deep into the core of the university system in Nigeria. This borders closely on the persistence of social unrest and problems between university authorities and the student populace. This study seeks to deconstruct the mirage of politics of process allegedly responsible for the social crises in Nigerian universities through decolonial propositions. Decoloniality, as a transformative theory, was used as a theoretical lens, while Participatory Action Research design was adopted to enable the researchers to get into the research collaboratively. For the purpose of change. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was used to collect data in response to objectives 1 and 2. Also, ten participants were evenly selected using Convenient Sampling Technique at the same time; Socio-thematic Analysis (StA) was used to interpret the data. The findings revealed that cultism and external and political interferences were significant challenges and causes of social unrest in universities. In contrast, the implementation of Threat Assessment Plan, university autonomy and adequate funding have been discovered to be possible solutions to these challenges. This study, therefore, recommends the performance of the proposed solutions as tools for managing social crises in the university system.
African Journal of Gender, Society and Development (formerly Journal of Gender, Information and Development in Africa), 2020
The space of university pedagogy recently has been linked to the unholy space of subjective teach... more The space of university pedagogy recently has been linked to the unholy space of subjective teaching and learning process, which has been likened to the colonial legacy. The fact, therefore, remains that the possibility of classroom transformation lies mainly in the teaching and learning and scholastic classroom methodology, perceived to have been altered by Eurocentric power dominance. The study, therefore, missioned to respond to classroom coloniality through collaborative knowledge construction. Social constructivism was used to lens the study. In a bid to transform classroom pedagogy, the study falls under the transformative paradigm and adopted Participatory Action Research (PAR) as a research design. Practical action group work was used to sort for information from participants and the data generated was analyzed using Conversational Analysis (CA). The findings showed that time differentials among group members and lack of members/students’ commitment to group work were major impediments to classroom constructivism. On the other hand, the study also revealed that effective use of time among group members (time management) and team spirit towards productivity are the dimension of group performance towards decoloniality with recommendations that intensive time management and teamwork lectures or workshops should be organised often to enhance students’ productivity in the university system.
Ubuntu : Journal of Conflict and Social Transformation, 2020
Supervision is a process that has inherited power differentials between the supervisor and studen... more Supervision is a process that has inherited power differentials between the supervisor and students in higher education. The inherited power puts students in a situation where they are viewed as neophytes while the supervisors are viewed as experts. Literature demonstrates that supervisors are usually unempathetic. This paper framed supervision through Ubuntu to bridge the gap between the supervisor and the student. In this regard, we began by discussing power differentials included in supervision. Ideas from Habermas, Freire and Gramsci are discussed in this paper to bring to the fore voices that are less heard. The article contributes to the supervision debate by arguing that supervision framed within Ubuntu can provide robust mentorship and an enabling environment for postgraduate students to complete their studies as and when due.
South African Journal of Education, 2020
In this article, we problematise the practice of appointing principals on the basis of comradeshi... more In this article, we problematise the practice of appointing principals on the basis of comradeship instead of excellence, qualifications and competency. The appointment of principals in South Africa has, over the years, become politicised and unionised to the extent that it is contextualised within comradeship narratives, thereby negating the competency and qualifications that are required to champion quality education – education that is essential to empower people. To cement its arguments, the article is couched in decoloniality, a framework that evokes the need to challenge coloniality, which has displaced professionalism and competency as criteria for appointing principals. The data for the study were generated through questionnaires completed by, and interviews with, 19 participants in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province. The article reports that most schools with comrade principals face challenges related to competency, learner performance and indiscipline. The article recommends tha...
South African Journal of Education, 2020
In this article, we problematise the practice of appointing principals on the basis of comradeshi... more In this article, we problematise the practice of appointing principals on the basis of comradeship instead of excellence, qualifications and competency. The appointment of principals in South Africa has, over the years, become politicised and unionised to the extent that it is contextualised within comradeship narratives, thereby negating the competency and qualifications that are required to champion quality education – education that is essential to empower people. To cement its arguments, the article is couched in decoloniality, a framework that evokes the need to challenge coloniality, which has displaced professionalism and competency as criteria for appointing principals. The data for the study were generated through questionnaires completed by, and interviews with, 19 participants in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province. The article reports that most schools with comrade principals face challenges related to competency, learner performance and indiscipline. The article recommends tha...
The study examined collaborative governance in correlation with the management of students’ orien... more The study examined collaborative governance in correlation with the management of students’ oriented crisis in Nigeria universities. The study adopted a descriptive research of survey design. The population is delimited to the public universities in Nigeria. Multi-Stage sampling procedure was adopted to select the sample, first stage include the selection of two states in each of the geo-political zones using simple random sampling, the second stage involved the selection of two universities from each zones using simple random sampling, and the third stage involved the selection of 120 participants. 10 participants comprises of both student leaders and members of universities management were selected from each of the selected universities using convenient sampling. The instruments used for data collection was questionnaire tagged Collaborative Governance and Management of Students’ Crisis Questionnaire (CGMSCQ) designed to collect information from management staff and student leaders. The instrument was validated for necessary modification and test-retest method was used to determine the reliability of the instrument. The research question was answered using frequency count and percentage. Hypotheses 1 to 3 were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation while hypothesis 4 was analyzed using regression analysis. All hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that the level of collaborative governance in managing crisis in Universities was moderate, the study also found out that there is a significant relationship between the variables of collaborative governance and management of crisis where consensus building stands the best predictor of crisis management. Collaborative governance (Consensus Building and Facilitative leadership) is therefore recommended to be encouraged among universities to enable them to reduce the tension of student crisis in the system.