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This creative conceptual paper expands traditionalised academic approaches through integrated narratives, plays, lyrics, and poetry as decolonial method. Based in first person narratives, informal interviews, artistic expression, and music-integration, the author clarifies tensions in decolonial strategy, including moving beyond racial representation to acknowledge and respond to racialised poverty, racism built into the fabric of higher education, and an overarching denial of racial disparities. The paper begins with a discussion of the student-created and produced play, The Fall, which brings the #RhodesMustFall movement onto the stage. Integrating student discussions and reactions to the play, the paper echoes themes from The Fall, suggesting that strategies which interrupt coloniality, while necessary, are insufficient to transform from formal education's capitalistic and exploitative foundation. In centring USA and South African writers, the paper highlights that the purpose of education remains a White supremacist vision and that to move from such anti-Black infrastructures, transformation must align directly with ongoing, student-led decolonial approaches. The paper then parallels higher education protests to the context of the 2010 World Cup's artistic exploitation of South Africa, warning of the power of appropriation, especially on a global stage. The paper concludes with the affirmation that creative, artistic, and Black-centric voices must be fostered and integrated into decolonial strategies to transform the global Whiteness of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radical economic transformation has come to mean many different things to many different people. In recent political discourse, the concept has been utilised to symbolise the government's commitment to fast-track changes in the structure of the economy, particularly from the perspective of revisiting the ownership of wealth and resources. When loosely used, the term somehow confers upon government the agency to ensure that the ownership structure of the economy should be transformed (radically) in a manner that changes the structure and pace of economic development and fulfils the aspirations of the National Development Plan. This paper argues that the idea of radicalised economic transformation is a contested one, because economic transformation can hardly be radicalised in the sense that is being communicated in the mainstream discourse. The transformation of any economy requires painstaking mechanical and systematic remodelling of certain push pillars within several sectors, of which the higher education sector is key. Radicalising the process of economic transformation in South Africa could hardly be achieved without radical steps to transform the role, contribution and output of the higher education sector. The construction of an economic development project that brings about sustainable, meaningful improvements would require much more than a rhetoric commitment to the romantic notion of radical economic transformation. It will require dealing with built-in weaknesses of the system and picking seed pillars with a potential to inject radical change into the broader economy. It is the key argument of this paper that radicalising the transformation of the higher education sector is the real prerequisite to radical economic transformation, especially when such transformation targets more than the racial profile of university staff to also focus on output, efficiency and global competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the obstacles that prevent young people from accessing higher education. Inadequate and unequal access to higher education internationally and in South Africa, in particular, has undermined young people's potential to contribute to national development. In South Africa, limited access to higher education for the majority remains a major problem. Hence, young people are underdeveloped socially, economically and academically. Thus, lack of educational opportunities relegates young people to the periphery of the mainstream socio-economic development. This paper uses Kenneth Gardens as a case study to interrogate a lack of access to higher education and its implications for youth vulnerability and non-participation in their own development. The research was qualitative in nature. The imperial data were solicited from semi-structured interviews with Kenneth Gardens youth. In addition, participant observation was used as a research instrument. The major findings from the research were the lack of aspirations as one of the major obstacles that hinder youth from accessing higher education, and the research also found that lack of funding, lack of awareness and inability to meet the minimum university entry requirements were underlying factors. Additionally, a lack of career guidance in schools and unemployed graduates were found to be fundamental for poor access to higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ways in which Africanisation and decolonisation in the South African academy have been framed and carried out have been called into question over the past several years, most notably in relation to modes of silencing and epistemic negation, which have been explicitly challenged through the student actions. In a similar vein, Canada's commitments to decolonising its university spaces and pedagogies have been the subject of extensive critique, informed by (still unmet) claims to land, space, knowledge, and identity. Despite extensive critique, policies and practices in both South African and Canadian academic spaces remain largely unchanged, yet continue to stand as evidence that decolonisation is underway. In our paper, we begin to carefully articulate an understanding of decolonisation in the academy as one which continues to carry out historical relations of colonialism and race. Following the work of Eve Tuck and Wayne Yang (2012), we begin the process of "de-mythologising" decolonisation, by first exposing and tracing how decolonising claims both reinforce and recite the racial and colonial terms under which Indigeneity and Blackness are "integrated" in the academy. From our respective contexts, we trace how white, western ownership of space and knowledge in the academy is reaffirmed through processes of invitation, commodification, and erasure of Indigenous/Black bodies and identities. However, we also suggest that the invitation and presence of Indigenous and Black bodies and identities in both academic contexts are necessary to the reproduction and survival of decolonising claims, which allows us to begin to interrogate how, why, and under what terms bodies and identities come to be "included" in the academy. We conclude by proposing that the efficacy of decoloniality lies in paradigmatic and epistemic shifts which begin to unearth and then unsettle white supremacy in both contexts, in order to proceed with aims of reconciliation and reclamation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationally there has been some interest in how critical pedagogies might be enabled in higher education to support transformative social agendas. Few writers, however, have theorised the ethico-political aspects of this effort from a feminist new materialist perspective. By focusing on the analysis of an inter-institutional collaborative course which was constructed across three disciplines and two differently positioned universities in Cape Town, South Africa, this paper examines the design of the course retrospectively from a feminist new materialist theoretical framing. In so doing, it moves beyond more traditional understandings of critical pedagogy to consider the design and student engagement with the course from the perspective of what we call "response-able pedagogies." Response-able pedagogies are not simply examples of the type of learning that can take place when power relations, materiality and entanglement are acknowledged; they also constitute ethicopolitical practices that incorporate a relational ontology into teaching and learning activities. We propose that ethico-political practices such as attentiveness, responsibility, curiosity, and rendering each other capable, constitute reponse-able pedagogies. The paper focuses on the transdisciplinary and interinstitutional course to consider how these ethico-political practices which constitute a response-able pedagogy might (be put to) work and how the students were both enabled and constrained by this design in terms of their responses to such ethico-political practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article critiques the barriers to transformation in South African universities since the beginning of the democratic dispensation in 1994. The critique is informed by the historical background of apartheid policies, which were instrumental in perpetuating the social-economic exclusion of black people in higher education institutions. Moreover, this paper demystifies the meaning of transformation in the context of higher education in South Africa. To this end, a review of scholarly peer-reviewed and non-scholarly articles was undertaken as a method of collecting relevant data. On the basis of reviewed literature, it is argued that transforming an institutional culture is not a once-off process but requires constant reinforcement of the desired behavioural practices. Similarly, the patriarchal social ideology that is instrumental in creating gender disparities needs to be removed or spurned. Furthermore, universities need to take proactive measures to rescind policies that create polarisation between black and white people. The article concludes that solutions to barriers that impede transformation processes in South African universities are not elusive, yet a well-articulated vision on transformation, as well as decisive and responsive leadership at universities, is essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term ‘epistemological access’ has been increasingly used in scholarly publications on higher education learning in South Africa and elsewhere recently. This paper reviews the context and lineaments of the term in the work of philosopher Wally Morrow and its take-up by other scholars, and sets out to elaborate the conceptual underpinnings of the notion, outlining three possible answers to the question, ‘what is epistemological access affording access to?’ and proposing a fourth as a fruitful way to deploy the term in future scholarly work on higher education learning which seeks to stipulate what graduates should learn, know and be able to do. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognising the authoritative de/legitimising power of education systems, this paper contributes to studies concerned with the ways in which new entrants to higher education experience the positioning of their inherited identities as they negotiate their transition to campus life. The findings emerged during a broader psychosocial study of the transitions of seven first-generation students at a technical university in South Africa. The nature of their self-positioning was explored through an analysis of the positioning statements they articulated during photo-elicitation interviews. The university was positioned as a powerful institution, with conditions for both opportunity and alienation. Participants strongly identified with the professional community of practice in Art and Design. However, in relation to the urban campus context, the majority of participants positioned aspects of their home communities as deficit. A case is made for creating conducive conditions that enable self-reflection on students' transitional experiences and develop collective critical consciousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of the South African university, and society in the same breath, is not so much that of governance or politics but ideology. The deepening realisation of the farcicality and impossibility of strategies, attendant ideologies and "master signifiers" of transformation (such as diversity, multiculturalism and rainbow nation) of the South African society and (whatever remains of) its institutions has never been more acute than now, when the insistence at meaningful change and the unanimous rejection, mostly by blacks, of the university (at least in its current form) have gained traction. This paper draws on Žižek's Lacanian theory of ideology to provide a counter-narrative and reading of official transformation consensus and ideologies like diversity, by highlighting their ethical liminalities. The underside of diversity's official claims to equality and justice are unmasked, and the terror and ironies of this liberal ideology are exposed, especially its refusal to recognise that whiteness (as a system) and justice can never coexist or inhabit the same space. Transformation discourse, of our kind, fashioned under diversity's register can never escape being appropriated by liberal ideology and practice, as yet another means to reaffirm its priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how students' resources can be drawn on in curriculum design in tertiary education to develop a pedagogy of diversity. It asks what kinds of resources are privileged through existing academic practices, and how certain traditionally unused resources can be included in teaching, learning and meaning-making. With reference to a case study in engineering in South Africa, an argument is made for a 'reciprocal curriculum', an exchange of cultural practices and not just bridges to established norms. In this conception of curriculum, students' practices and resources can be utilised, whilst the discourses and knowledge of the discipline can also be made accessible. The parameters of 'science' and scientific discourse are explored by analysing students' texts from a multimodal social semiotic perspective. The paper ends by proposing that students' resources be harnessed through using metalanguages to describe and reflect on their own practices as well as on academic practices, and the need to create less regulated spaces in the curriculum in order to enable this reflection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we focus on the narratives of black women early career academics (ECAs) who are confronting and negotiating the “publish or perish” discourse in their professional lives in the university. Through a qualitative interpretivist case study, we purposively recruited and interviewed 10 education academics in one research-intensive university in South Africa. We relied on Nancy Fraser’s social justice framework to think through and to theorise the complex positionality of black women academics in a South African university. The findings reveal that black women ECAs often have challenges when it comes to research and publication, with some of the participants rejecting the publish or perish mantra, questioning the usefulness of publishing, and to what extent their own research will make a societal impact. The findings also reveal the deeply embedded patriarchal and gendered nature of the publish or perish discourse in how it disregards the role of wife/motherly/societal care work that women academics often perform. We end the article with broader reflections on the emergence of the publish and perish discourse in the South African higher education system and its implications for the attraction, retention, and wellbeing of black women ECAs in the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reflects on the successes and failures of student protests in transforming higher education in South Africa through a Marxist lens. The slow pace of change by the government in addressing structural and systemic inequalities has led to disgruntlement within the student body. In their quest to hasten the process, students engaged in protests across the country, inspired by the #RhodesMustFall movement. This article outlines the problematic areas that have led to the unrest and reflects on the #FeesMustFall movement: the lessons learnt and its impact on contemporary higher education. The reflection further unpacks what it means to be a student in South Africa and how the learning process shapes and is shaped by the student movements within universities. The study reviewed existing literature on the #FeesMustFall movement to better understand the influence of student protests on government policy and to evaluate whether any protest-based changes have occurred in higher education in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education institutions (HEIs) in Africa are seemingly staggering under the burden of digital division and exclusion. Due to its perceived flexibility and affordability for students in remote areas, distance education is a popular option for many students at HEIs. One of the e-learning tools introduced is a modular object-oriented dynamic learning environment (Moodle) learning management system (LMS), which is designed using web-based applications and provides online learning services to students. The key question remains: how do firstyear students experience Moodle? Do they view it as a building block to their learning? Or is it a stumbling block? This article reports on a study that was conducted in a South African open distance e-learning (ODeL) institution with students who speak English as an additional language, in an Academic Writing module. The study used a qualitative case study approach and drew on the theory of transactional distance to understand how Moodle encourages student interaction and autonomy. Although the study findings cannot be generalised on a broader scale, the findings are in line with similar studies, amplifying the critical role of student experiences, interaction, and autonomy in HEIs to bring about the required change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Higher education and its academic support services, including academic library and information services (LIS), have continuously been challenged by new technological developments, as well as the quest for transformation toward more inclusive education. The rapid and disruptive technological changes imposed by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) heralded a new entry-level student, coined the "phygital generation." This new generation of library users is characterised by an ever-expanding digital imprint and a preference for using mobile technology to navigate all aspects of their daily lives, including how they approach their tertiary studies. Focus: The study interrogates the readiness of information specialists to understand the nature of the phygital generation within a higher education group in South Africa. The changes in information-seeking behaviour are explored with due cognisance of the existing digital exclusions experienced by many South African students. Methodology: Through the lens of the critical theory paradigm and guided by the conceptualisations of post-digital frameworks, critical digital approaches and metacognitive frameworks, qualitative data were collected during a focus group interview. The non-probability sample was purposively selected, consisting of information specialists of a school within a higher education institution. The transcribed data were coded and thematically analysed. Key findings: Key findings show a shift in the information-seeking behaviour of new entry-level students. There is a propensity towards using mobile technology. It is evident that LIS staff in this study are not yet mobilised to accommodate this new trend by adapting existing services to be more open to accommodating mobile technology seamlessly. The participants reported that academic writing skills are affected by short messaging styles used in social media. Understanding the nature of the new phygital student and capitalising on the affordances of mobile learning will support student success. Value: Mobile LIS urgently needs to be formalised and implemented strategically with the needs of the new generation in mind. The need for further institutional reform and innovation is evident. Further research is required on plagiarism trends, copyright infringement and privacy compliance that emerged from the findings of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The public university in the global South continues to be trapped in an existential slumber, struggling to self-define/self-diagnose its purposes, rationales, goals and agenda(s). Despite the emergence of the #FeesMustfall, #RhodesMustFall, and more recently the #Asinamali student protests, South African higher education continues to adopt neoliberal and colonial conceptions of institutional reforms, seen through the emergence and enactment of performance management instruments, demographic understandings of transformation, incoherent/illogical policy prescriptions, and the use of technology as pedagogic replacement. In this article, I attempt to do two things. Firstly, I critique the South African higher education policy and legislative framework as largely inadequate and neoliberal in nature and designed to reinforce market-orientated logics and discourses. Secondly, and in thinking beyond the neoliberal university, I propose what an inclusive curriculum could look like through a decolonial lens. I end the article with some parting thoughts on the future of the neoliberal university in South Africa, and the potential implications for what I see as the emergence of decolonial and transformative curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment policy reform has led to the adoption of a "participatory" framework of assessment in South African higher education. Using a Foucauldian theoretical lens, this article explores the relation between participatory assessment practices in higher education and social control. Empirical evidence is drawn from assessment practices observed in certain lectures in a South African university and interviews with lecturers. Data is analysed through a Foucauldian lens that forges a connection between disciplinary power, control and regulation. The article then describes the technologies of disciplinary power that play out within the participatory assessment practices and demonstrates what these technologies of power do to assessors and students when they become involved in them. The article argues that participatory assessment in some respects epitomises progressive educational themes, yet, when studied with an eye towards power, it reveals deep contradictions and paradoxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The information and communication technology revolution is broadly recognised for its fundamental role in the effective operation of higher education institutions. There is a need to understand the way in which wireless local area networks at universities are viewed by registered users, the people that develop, implement and maintain these networks, and those planning on adopting these networks. The study's objective is to unravel the usefulness of these networks in a higher education environment to promote effective learning engagements at campuses of the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. Universities provide Wi-Fi network initiatives on campuses to create an effective learning environment, and wireless local area network connections at universities mean that Wi-Fi-enabled devices can be leveraged for educational purposes. The provision of Wi-Fi-enabled computers, mobile devices and electronic gadgets has revolutionised the realm and methods of communication, which is channelled towards improving and enhancing internet coverage on campuses and at student residences. This study explores the effectiveness of Wi-Fi networks and hotspots on campuses and at student residences to improve students' learning engagement. The study used mixed-research methods, including a document analysis to gather information from information and communication systems and a survey to gather responses from the respondents. The findings suggest that Wi-Fi availability at universities is perceived as useful and effective since students benefit from a range of improved learning experiences, easy access to educational content, enhanced performance, and quality and education delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The organisational governance of further education and training colleges in South Africa has been cited as an obstacle to the institutions' ability to contribute to the developmental needs of the country. In response, the government has instituted major policy reforms since 1996, including a move towards granting greater organisational autonomy to these colleges, with limited success. The purpose of the study was to gain an understanding of the causes of these governance issues by examining the effect of the organisational environment, with specific focus on the power dynamics that characterised that environment between 2010 and 2012. A qualitative research approach was adopted to answer two research questions: (i) How did the concentration of power in the external environment affect the expression of autonomy of further education and training colleges between 2010 and 2012? and (ii) How did the colleges respond to the power dynamics in the external environment? The analysis of data from case studies of two further education and training colleges revealed that the government had applied external control over the institutions, thereby constraining the overt expression of autonomy. However, the colleges were not without agency and were able to respond strategically to demands from the policy environment. Thus, this study offers a counter-narrative in South African literature on governance in vocational colleges, and the authors of this article assert that the failing governance in respect of the case studies was a result of external forces (power dynamics) rather than the internal characteristics of the colleges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's knowledge-based economy, the role of universities in preparing students to be information literate and independent thinkers and researchers is crucial. Information literacy (IL) skills enable students to become researchoriented, hold critical approaches to knowledge, be critical thinkers, consider things from different perspectives, develop their own ideas and defend and share these in an ethical manner. University students are often expected to access, process, evaluate and synthesise information from a number of sources in order to complete their assessment tasks. To do this efficiently, they need to possess good IL skills. This article postulates that students' IL skills can be successfully fostered and enhanced if academics and academic librarians enter into a partnership to collaboratively develop students' IL skills. The article discusses an intervention at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa that entailed embedding IL skills in an academic literacies (AL) course offered to first-year students in the Faculty of Community and Health Sciences. This intervention involved a partnership between academic librarians and an AL lecturer in adopting a team-teaching approach to collaboratively develop students' IL skills. Overall, students showed great enthusiasm for the IL sessions, and their responses to the different tasks given to them were positive. The partnership between the team members was found to be successful. Although the researchers concluded that a collaborative partnership between academics and academic librarians was feasible and sustainable, they acknowledged that the available resources within an institution, for example, library computer laboratories, might well impact on the decision to pursue such an initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of instructional web technology tools and applications in higher education systems (HES) has gained prominence in the education sector in recent decades. There is a realisation that traditional teaching and learning methods are not adequate to support students' interactive learning engagements, which indirectly influences their academic performance. It is thus envisaged that incorporating and encouraging the use of instructional information and communication technologies (ICTs) in education may serve as an extra tool to support students' academic goals as these technologies offer them platforms for diverse learning experiences and a better way to engage with their studies. The aim of this study was, therefore, to explore the usefulness of instructional web technologies in South Africa's higher education system to support students' academic success. The objectives were to explore how web technologies could play key roles in supporting students' learning engagements, enhancing quality education delivery and improving students' academic success. A quantitative method was appropriate for this research, and a questionnaire was employed to gather data from respondents at three selected South African universities. In total, 969 questionnaires were completed and returned. The findings revealed that instructional web technologies were useful and could have a positive impact in pedagogical settings, and that its use should be encouraged. The study indicated that human factors, security issues and a lack of ICT infrastructure hindered the use of instructional web technologies in HES, and that it was essential to consider these issues. The researchers concluded that instructional web technologies offered HES approaches to teaching and learning that were better than traditional methods and that the use of these technologies enhanced students' academic success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The voice of students has been lacking in the majority of research regarding HIV/AIDS. This study investigated students' voice regarding HIV/AIDS and its impact on their communities in South Africa. Participants were 20 education students from a South African technology education university (female 60%, black 85%; age range from 18 to 24). The participants completed a semistructured interview on their voice regarding HIV/AIDS and its impact on their communities in South Africa within the context of treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS. Data were thematically analysed. Findings revealed that church leadership was not informed and as a result, could not address the issues of HIV/AIDS regarding their members. The study indicated that people living with HIV/AIDS needed love, support and care and, further, that belief and culture are contributory factors which need to be addressed with the different stakeholders. As a result of these beliefs and culture, individuals with HIV/AIDS experienced discrimination, lack of support and unfair treatment from their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the South African higher education context, which is fraught with inequities and where many feel uncomfortable, the focus on socially just pedagogies and the positioning of teachers in relation to this is not just timeous and relevant, but crucial. In this article we share what we believe a posthumanist view has to offer researchers and educationists. The article revisits data from a scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) research project, in which 23 audio-recorded interviews were conducted with academics from a variety of faculties and units for academic development. We discuss two discourses which emerged from our reading of the data: the first concerns lecturers and students having fixed racial identities that influence how learning does or does not take place and the second concerns students learning in a developmental and teleological manner. We discuss ideas culled from the literature on posthumanist ontologies that helped us to respond to these discourses, and which we believe, could be shared with academics and researchers who wish to advance a socially just pedagogy in higher education. We reflect briefly by way of conclusion on what, as researchers, our responses and responsibility towards the data and the complexities of our time could or should be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wave of student-led protests that have taken place across the South African higher education landscape over the last two years provides us, as teacher educators, with the opportune time to reflect on how our pedagogical practices relate to larger societal transformative imperatives. We engage with the relationship between pedagogical practices and social transformation by attending to questions concerning identity, intersubjectivity, and group relations. We argue that conventional pedagogical practices that work towards social justice are entangled with and regulated by identity politics, and that such a position equates these pedagogical practices with a politics of negation and ressentiment. By drawing on Deleuze's interpretation of the concept of fabulation and Deleuze and Guattari's argument that desire is a positive social force that enables experimentation to occur, we re-imagine the idea of a pedagogy as a politics of affirmation. Such politics, we argue, makes possible the constitution of new social collectivities that are able to escape the gravitational pull of identity politics and ressentiment. We posit that, in the midst of student protests, this is an important first step in generating the conditions to experiment with the creation of a different, more socially just future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the political, social, cultural and economic context of South Africa, higher education spaces provide fertile ground for social research. This case study explored "othered" identities in the Department of Visual Arts of Stellenbosch University. Interviews with students and lecturers revealed interesting and controversial aspects in terms of their experiences in the Department of Visual Arts. Theoretical perspectives such as "othering", symbolic racism, the racialised body and visual art theory were used to interpret these experiences. It was found that "othering" because of indirect racism and language or economic circumstances affects students' creative expression. Causes of "othering" experiences should be investigated in order to promote necessary transformation within the visual arts and within higher education institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the cornerstones of transformation at the Durban University of Technology (DUT), the curriculum renewal project (CRP) identifies desired graduate attributes that serve to inform the revitalising of the university's academic programmes. A critical component of the renewal process is the introduction of General Education (GE) modules that are designed to address the deficiencies of poor schooling, enshrine the values of the university and complement programme content so that DUT graduates leave the university with the life skills and attributes needed to function successfully in society. As such, GE aims to provide a holistic education that goes beyond disciplinespecific knowledge. One of the premises of the CRP therefore is that some DUT graduates leave university without achieving those 'graduate attributes' to the extent desirable. But how has DUT fared in terms of developing the desired graduate attributes in so far as students are concerned? This study uses the 2010 South African Survey on Student Engagement (SASSE) to examine student perceptions of their growth in career-related and general life skills, prior to the formal implementation of the CRP. As such, it could serve as a benchmark for assessing the efficacy of GE, subsequent to its formal integration into the academic programme across all faculties in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The researchers construct the identity of participants by analysing online and offline identity performances in a virtual forum of a higher education institution in South Africa. The study identifies several interactional and cyclic elements that inform the articulation of discursive identity. Being directed by Iris Marion Young's theory of communicative action, the interactional character of the different elements of identity formation are valued to be enhancing or debilitating moral discourse. As the research concludes that embodied identities facilitate moral discourse, design elements for the online forum are proposed to enhance a critical understanding of own (un)emancipatory positions and the appreciation of others. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Emotions are central to social justice work in education but receive scant research attention in South Africa. Our study explores the role of emotions in teachers’ approaches to teaching about sexual and gender diversity in schools in the Free State. Using in-depth interviews, we found that teachers experienced discomfort with the topic, had inherited bitter knowledge about non-normative sexual and gender identities, and experienced strong negative affect when discussing the topic. In many ways, participants unconsciously and unreflexively perpetuated heterosexism and homophobia in their classroom teaching and school settings. We conclude that the growing emphasis in educational policy in South Africa on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) learners requires a greater awareness among educators of the role of emotions in enabling or hindering this form of social justice work in education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article explores the history of the University of South Africa (Unisa) library from 1976 to 1990. It situates the growth of information services in distance education in South Africa within the context of political protest associated with the Soweto uprising of the mid 1970s and the states of emergency of the mid 1980s. It traces the vicissitudes of the library as it charted a course through educational instability, rising student expectations, the declining value of the South African currency, and increased bureaucratisation and computerisation to offer an efficient and comprehensive service to a wider, more racially mixed, constitutency than the apartheid government ever anticipated. This naturally earned Unisa considerable state approval because it could be paraded as a national, ‘non-racial’ university at a time when apartheid aroused universal opprobrium. An attempt is also made in the article to reassert the importance of library history as a credible field of research through a case study of South Africa's largest academic library. Its alleged political complicity and ambivalent reputation are examined on the basis of archival and published sources and assessed against the critical debates of the apartheid state which permeated historical, educational and information discourses from the 1970s to the unbanning of the liberation movements in 1990. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]