Search

Funding has become an established means of promoting the professionalisation of teaching and learning. Various funding schemes in Higher Education have incentivised innovation and research aimed at developing a scholarship of teaching. However, a causal relationship is impossible to prove and the underlying subjective processes of scholarly development are contested. It has been suggested that funding might become another instrument to achieve a neoliberal agenda of increased performativity. This paper explores the affordances generated at a particular institution in South Africa from the perspective of recipients of relatively small awards. Qualitative data were generated in face-to-face individual interviews and analysed thematically. Insight generated included how funding acted as a catalyst for further scholarly development of individuals, disciplines and project teams. A culture of flexibility, nurture and care-full operational management were considered enablers. Using 'slow scholarship' as a lens allowed understandings of developmental pathways and multiple contextual influences on scholarly trajectories.

When embarking on our journey of learning in mathematics, we may envision a linear path of modules for acquiring mathematical knowledge and understanding to reach a predetermined outcome. However, this is a partial representation since the outcome and path are developing and adapting and our learning is continuously emerging. In this paper, our journey of learning in mathematics is re-envisioned as a complex adaptive system with agents, internal diversity, internal redundancy, decentralised control, sources of disruption and sources of coherence. As will be illustrated through the adaptive cycle of a complex adaptive system, learning may emerge between phases of destabilisation and development. For this emergence there needs to be openness to embrace a disruption, reflection to interpret the disruption, connection to respond to the disruption and inspiration to grow and adapt in response to the disruption. There also needs to be a balance between individual and collective learning. Through navigating these cycles along our journey of learning there may be emergence of learning experiences within and beyond mathematics.

This paper presents the results of a systematic review of literature, reported in research journals, on the experiences of higher educational institutions regarding teaching, learning, and assessment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Different studies related to the COVID-19 pandemic have been conducted within the South African context, but there has not been a systematic review of these studies highlighting the lessons learned, how these lessons have affected education in higher education institutions (HEIs), and how these lessons can inform future planning. This study aims to summarise literature on teaching, learning and assessment in higher education institutions and to conceptualise possible guidelines for future planning. An analysis of 52 research articles revealed 7 implications for the lessons learnt from the pandemic for future teaching, learning and assessment (TLA) in South African HEIs (realisation of the affordances of technology for TLA, institutional changes related to online TLA during the pandemic, students' experiences related to TLA, lecturer's experiences related to TLA, the need for care, assessment related matters, approaches to teaching, learning and assessment) and several recommendations for how these lessons can be leveraged to help HEIs to prepare effectively for future catastrophic disruptions to education in South African HEIs. The discussion shows the digital divide that exists within the South African population and other contextual challenges faced by higher education institutions during the pandemic, and the different sacrifices by both institutions and students to survive the pandemic. Overall, the findings of this review provide valuable guidance for HEIs and stakeholders involved in TLA, offering insights on how to integrate the lessons learned from the pandemic into their future planning and strategies.

While a number of studies report on how a scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) has been implemented in particular disciplines or faculties, arguably much less is known about how this can be achieved university-wide. This paper brings the lens of SoTL retrospectively, from the vantage position of a university leader, to a range of teaching and learning initiatives that were introduced in one South African university. Institutional evidence is provided on the multiple teaching and learning activities and their outcomes, which are analysed through an engagement with the literature on SoTL in four broad areas of teaching and learning: research and innovation; recognition, rewards and academic promotions; professional development and practice; and policy review and development. This is followed by a discussion on institutionalising SoTL through an "organic approach." It is concluded that SoTL can be grown institutionally, especially when conceptualised more inclusively and as multidimensional.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to give practical insights into the systemic approach to organizational learning "triple loop learning" (TLL; introduced in Part I) by reflecting on a facilitated research-and-intervention undertaken in South Africa as part of the "500 Schools Project". Design/methodology/approach: The authors reflect on one of the many researcher-assisted interventions in the "500 Schools Project" by retrospectively reflecting on the case through the principles of TLL. Findings: The authors show that researcher-assisted intervention can be genuinely transformative given two conditions: The principles of TLL are embraced, and researchers are committed to such principles and passionate about social transformation. In particular, the case study illustrates how we might address processes of power in processes of design and in processes of debate. The focus on power arguably helped to shift "power over" (power as domination) to "power to" enact empowering designs, "power to" co-develop responsible decision-making and "power to" transform relations with each other and with life on Earth. Originality/value: The authors introduce an original approach to TLL that directly addresses issues relating to processes of power. The value of the TLL is that it encourages researchers, learning facilitators and practitioners of the learning organization to engage with processes of power without neglecting other important organizational and environmental issues. [To view the first part of the series, "A Systemic Approach to Processes of Power in Learning Organizations: Part I - Literature, Theory, and Methodology of Triple Loop Learning," see EJ1196364.]

In 1994, the African National Congress (ANC)-ledgovernment implemented a Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) program that entailed providing South Africans with stable and regular electricity supplies. Government through the state president declared COVID-19 a pandemic in 2019. Institutions of higher education resorted to introduce online teaching and learning as a method of ensuring that section 27(1) (a) (b) of the Constitution of the republic of South Africa was executed. Load shedding brought numerous challenges in the education settings in the institutions of higher learning. The crisis led to institutional economy and disrupted academic performance at institutions of higher learning. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether load shedding can be regarded as a pandemic post COVID-19. Access the impact of load shedding at institutions of higher learning. Therefore, this is a conceptual paper and it relied on existing data for analysis and interpretation. The paper recommends that institution of higher learning should invest in alternative sources of energy, and develop an effective communication strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: There is a growing call both globally and nationally for integrated multisectoral and multidisciplinary systems of care to be implemented for children's needs in the foundation stages of their growth to be met. Extant literature shows that historical, structural, epidemiological, political and social factors create many adversities for South African children both in the short and in the long term. South Africa's fragmented and weak service delivery compounds the situation. In this paper, the authors describe the lessons learnt from a multisectoral and multidisciplinary community of practice established to strengthen social systems to ensure child wellbeing outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative research design was used, drawing on data collected over a two-year period. Data included meeting minutes, focus group discussions, and email communications between project partners. Focus group discussions were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data was analysed thematically. Findings: Findings show that having a shared goal, establishing supportive, mutually beneficial relationships and contributing to services that enhance child wellbeing outcomes enabled the community of practice, while differing organizational mandates and heavy workloads constrained the partnership. Research limitations/implications: The study shows the effectiveness of a Community of Practice (CoP) in integrating services across sectors for children's well-being and promoting collaborative learning and intersectoral work. However, this success also depends on the presence of strong leadership and efficient coordination.Limitation: Despite its benefits, the CoP model presents challenges, including securing active participation and buy-in from stakeholders, managing time and resource constraints, and dealing with issues in the existing service delivery system. Questions about long-term sustainability and the practicalities of scaling and institutionalizing the model need to be addressed. Originality/value: Through this paper, the authors contribute to a nascent area of research in the Global South, critically reflecting on the lessons the authors learnt from implementing an integrated community of practice approach to strengthen social sector systems toward the enhancement of children's wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the evolution of environmental assessment (EA) debates over the last decade within the South African context as reflected in the proceedings of the annual International Association for Impact Assessment, South African chapter (IAIAsa) conferences between 1997 and 2008. Retrospective analysis is important to ensure that the profession avoids unlearning key lessons, keeps and gains perspective, builds the knowledge base and plans for the future. The analysis involved a review of 472 papers presented at these conferences. The results suggest that debates have shifted away from concerns with quality and application of environmental assessment towards serious questions about effectiveness and the value that environmental assessment is adding. It is clear that the profession is currently going through a period of intense introspection, questioning the need for and contribution of EA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment is a powerful mechanism to leverage student learning and develop skills and practices that prepare students for the world of work. By extension, assessment can also play a critical role in creating learning contexts that are inclusive, responsive, and transformative. This paper draws on findings from a student survey, lecturer interviews, and student focus groups, conducted in an engineering school in South Africa, that provide a rich picture of the interaction between lecturer intentions, assessment practices, student experiences, and how these influence student intentions, actions, and ultimately learning. The findings presented in this paper focus on the social themes that emerged, highlighting the social nature of assessment practices and the role that these play in student identity, confidence, and engagement. The importance of a purposeful and holistically aligned assessment strategy is highlighted through several social themes, including the fairness and relevance of assessment tasks, feedback and relationships between lecturers and students, group work, the formation of social networks and community, and opportunities for including students as partners in assessment practices. The study reveals that a more collaborative and collectivist approach to assessment is needed. This is a significant finding that provides valuable insights that can be used to transform assessment practices, enhance student success, and facilitate social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues arising from relationships between academic departments in universities and external stakeholders are numerous and complex. The matter is illustrated in this paper by focusing on a dispute in the theology department at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, which came to a head from 2004 to 2007. The dispute itself is detailed and developments influencing it at the local, national and global (worldwide theological education) levels are considered. A number of education issues that were at stake in the dispute are then examined in relation to models of leadership, models of teaching, student learning, equity, and the place of stakeholders.

In recent years there have been calls both for building the knowledge base of academic development (AD) and for systematic induction of newcomers to the field if AD is to advance as a professional and an academic field. Despite the importance and complexity of AD, induction of novice academic developers remains mostly informal and predominantly focuses on the practices of the field. We argue that more-experienced academic developers have an obligation to provide formal and systematic routes into the field and its knowledge base than is currently the case. One way of doing this is through offering a formal course for growing the next generation of academic developers. Such a course could equip newcomers with a more solid and shared knowledge base, thus contributing to shaping the epistemic spine of AD. In this paper, using Maton's Legitimation Code Theory, we offer an analysis of an existing course aimed at equipping novices with the theoretical and practical knowledge to enable them to solve some of the problems in higher education. From this analysis have emerged general principles that could inform the selection, sequencing and pacing of knowledge in a formal course for academic developers.

The Covid-19 pandemic catapulted higher education institutions to shifting their teaching, learning and assessment practices. Universities globally were abruptly forced to close their doors and adapt to digital learning platforms with the intention of meeting students' learning needs. In a University of Technology (UoT) context such as the Durban University of Technology (DUT) in South Africa, the university had to relook the way it interacted and engaged with students. Writing centres at universities in South Africa have evolved and have led to the development of opportunities for collaborative learning underpinned by humanistic principles and interconnectivity in teaching, thinking and learning. Traditionally in the writing centre, students grow and develop in an informal way by face-to-face interactions in a physical space with tutors, peers and writing practitioners. However, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the writing centre has shifted to virtual learning platforms in order to continue creating inclusive and flexible learning spaces to foster criticality and academic and social resiliency in students. This paper explored how the writing centre as a vibrant community of practice (CoP), with the use of digital platforms initiated innovative tutoring techniques to contribute to creating a safe, enabling learning environment for students during these uncertainties. Paulo Freire's idea of a Humanising Pedagogy (1970) and Lave and Wenger's (1991) concept of communities of practice were used to gain insights into the contextual dynamics that shape a writing centre's practice as the centre conceptualises how to respond to the 'new normal' in higher education. This paper asked a fundamental question about learning approaches and what is most valuable, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic. Data collection included written reflections from eight writing centre tutors from one writing centre site and surveys with 20 student users. This enabled an understanding of their perceptions and experiences of using the writing centre remotely, within a qualitative, exploratory inquiry. The findings revealed that the writing centre acknowledges the socio-economic difficulties faced by students and sees the value of CoP and a humanistic approach in its work in assisting students in coping with challenges and the realities that currently confront them. It found that tutors are central to contributing to transformative, multi-modal learning, and the writing centre can serve as a vehicle for promoting and sustaining inclusive learning environments and new ways of supporting students during uncertain times such as the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: As higher education institutions (HEIs) moved from in-person to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, various challenges were presented. Using a large online survey conducted during the pandemic, this paper investigates the impact of COVID-19 on learning and institutional support offered to students in HEIs in South Africa. Methods: The study utilized a closed-ended questionnaire on a data-free online platform. The study sample included South African youth aged 18-35 years who were enrolled for some type of educational training or in higher education institutions (including private colleges). Data was benchmarked to the 2019 estimates of the youth population in educational institutions. Descriptive statistics are presented. Results: Among the 7011 student participants, the main challenges experienced during lockdown were loss of study time (57.9%), insufficient money for essential personal items for studying (55.8%), loss of social contact (42.2%) and insufficient money for food (40.1%). Overall, 47.0% of students reported having free access to the internet, 49.5% used personal internet or paid for internet access and 3.5% indicated having no access to internet. The majority rated their institution's eLearning portal as good or excellent, and 23.4% thought their eLearning portal was of poor quality. Significantly fewer (38.1%) technical and vocational education and training (TVET) college students indicated that their institution provided the capacity to conduct virtual learning compared to those enrolled at other types of institutions. Almost two thirds of students (66.2%) from TVET colleges experienced difficulty in communicating with their institutions. Half of the students (49.9%) reported that they had a suitable place to study during lockdown, while 78.6% had regular access to electricity during lockdown. Significantly more TVET and University of Technology students received transport to return home and fee refunds. Conclusion: While it was encouraging that most HEIs had capacity for online learning and made provision of internet access for students, it was concerning that students who are enrolled at TVET colleges faced more learning challenges during the lockdown. This highlights the inequality in learning support at different types of institutions, and that effective support from HEIs to students during the COVID-19 pandemic was not fully implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning in higher education settings requires that students can acquire high level abstract concepts in meaningful ways. This paper proposes a model of teaching that relies on causing cognitive conflict in educational setting to engage students' learning. Drawing on the work of Vygotsky, Feuerstein, and Piaget, the model developed in this paper illustrates how pedagogy can be used to facilitate students' acquisition of abstract concepts. The paper introduces the background to the model before presenting a single case study of its use in a large university in South Africa. Forty-eight students registered for an honors course in education participated in this study. Findings indicated that students reported that this model of teaching opens interaction and makes work more easily accessible, and, further, analysis of student talk indicates the presence of exploratory talk, which is illustrative of reasoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a qualitative study that explored the challenges experienced by nine emerging scholars of teaching at a research-intensive university in South Africa. It details three problem areas encountered during the process of becoming scholars of teaching: (1) negative perceptions about the work and related reward concerns, (2) concerns about mastering this form of enquiry, and (3) identity issues. Whilst the first two have been described in SoTL literature, the third--identity issues--has not received attention in the literature in this area. These concerns are discussed using the constructs of Discourse, academic cultures and communities of practice.

Strategic and well-planned use of feedback in the assessment process is key to promoting learning. This paper evaluates the role a two-stage test process played in guiding and assisting student learning in a second-year module at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Having been provided with verbal and written feedback without grades from the first test, students were given the opportunity to write a different, second test, and each was required to choose which one was graded. Students were generally very positive about the assessment process, most participated willingly and fully, many learned differently for the second test, and there was evidence of meta-cognitive awareness and understanding. Despite this, a number of students experienced difficulty and frustration in judging the quality of their work. The discussion focuses on process and learning issues, on the utility of feedback and on formative test assessment procedures. (Contains 1 table.)

Postgraduate student supervision at the level of doctoral and masters studies can be enjoyable, frustrating and demanding. In this article I identify some of the challenging moments in postgraduate student supervision I have encountered over the past few years, focusing on the notion of learning as understood by some students. My contention, based on my interactions with doctoral and masters candidates, is that learning is understood by students as something that can at best be associated with a consumer and market-oriented "logic", but that this conception of learning works against what ought to constitute "authentic" learning. Hence, I argue for higher levels of freedom and friendship to become more prevalent in postgraduate student supervision in order to cultivate a culture of "authentic" learning different from one that advocates a consumer, market-driven "logic". (Contains 16 notes.)

Background: There has been a steady increase in the number of students with disabilities (SWD) in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in South Africa, with a significant number of students having visual disabilities. Equal access remains a key challenge in the classroom setting, thus emphasising a significant gap. Objectives: This paper capitalised on the significance of this gap and examined the potential of Universal Design of Instruction (UDI) to promote equal access for students with visual disabilities (SWVDs) in the classroom within a university setting in order to maximise learning outcomes. Method: The study was conducted at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), which had approximately 204 SWVDs. This paper draws primarily on the quantitative component of the study. Data collection entailed distributing a questionnaire to all SWVDs. Analysis was conducted using SPSS 21, which produced descriptive and inferential statistics. The theoretical framework of Sen's Capability Approach in line with the Social Model of Disability was applied. Results: Findings indicated a lack of UDI in the classroom with very little compliance to all principles, resulting in increased challenges in teaching and learning for SWVDs. The incorporation of UDI in the classroom does have a positive correlation with learning outcomes. Conclusion: The incorporation of UDI principles can offer a potential design for easier access to teaching and learning to enhance and maximise learning outcomes; alleviate access challenges in the classroom; and address the negative experiences thereof for SWVDs. Contribution: The study adds value to the scarce body of knowledge on UDI in the classroom for university SWVDs from a learning enhancement perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a systematic review of literature, reported in research journals, on the experiences of higher educational institutions regarding teaching, learning, and assessment during the Covid-19 pandemic. Different studies related to the Covid-19 pandemic have been conducted within the South African context, but there has not been a systematic review of these studies highlighting the lessons learned, how these lessons have affected education in higher education institutions (HEIs), and how these lessons can inform future planning. This study aims to summarise literature on teaching, learning and assessment in higher education institutions and to conceptualise possible guidelines for future planning. An analysis of 52 research articles revealed 7 implications for the lessons learnt from the pandemic for future teaching, learning and assessment (TLA) in South African HEIs (realisation of the affordances of technology for TLA, institutional changes related to online TLA during the pandemic, students' experiences related to TLA, lecturer's experiences related to TLA, the need for care, assessment related matters, approaches to teaching, learning and assessment) and several recommendations for how these lessons can be leveraged to help HEIs to prepare effectively for future catastrophic disruptions to education in South African HEIs. The discussion shows the digital divide that exists within the South African population and other contextual challenges faced by higher education institutions during the pandemic, and the different sacrifices by both institutions and students to survive the pandemic. Overall, the findings of this review provide valuable guidance for HEIs and stakeholders involved in TLA, offering insights on how to integrate the lessons learned from the pandemic into their future planning and strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects on a collaborative intervention implemented by an Education lecturer and Writing Centre staff at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) before and during the COVID-19 lockdown. The migration to emergency remote teaching was destabilising and exposed and exacerbated existing student inequalities. This collaborative intervention involved formative feedback being provided by writing tutors to students in Honours modules as part of a strategy of embedding academic literacies development within the modules. We used a Design Based Research (DBR) approach combined with collaborative action research. Key elements of a response-able pedagogy (Bozalek & Zembylas, 2017) and Tronto's political ethics of care (Tronto, 1993, 2013) were drawn on to explore our curriculum design principles. We argue that online and hybrid curriculum design needs to consider affective dimensions of learning such as trust and care. Building webs of support into curriculum and assessment design constitutes a necessary element of a just pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the use of technology as enabler for sustaining teaching and learning by reviewing various local and international publications. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus (Covid-19) in 2020, the Departments of Basic and Higher Education in South Africa ordered all institutions of learning to shut down and start using online education as a substitute for face-to-face teaching and learning processes. This sudden transition has without doubt caused an incredible amount of harm and disruption in our education system. In view of this, I am interested in exploring how a traditional, face-to-face university used technology effectively as a delivery tool to sustain teaching and learning during the Covid-19 crisis. The review conducted was aimed at answering the research questions: How can continuity of teaching and learning be strengthened during emergency situations such as that posed by the Covid-19 pandemic? Secondly, what were educators’ and students’ experiences and attitudes towards the use of technology as enabler for sustaining teaching and learning during the Covid-19 pandemic? To answer the research questions, I conducted data searches with the help of librarians and other international primary search source indexes such as ProQuest, EBSCOhost, Educational Resource Information Centre (ERIC), Google Scholar, SAGE and Academic Search Premier. A total of 85 empirical papers were reviewed and analysed so that an aggregated understanding of using technology as enabler could be established. The results of this systematic document review revealed that technology has the potential to provide immediate feedback, improve workloads and access to education, thus making it an agent of sustainability. In addition, the review conducted revealed that Covid-19 reinforced the importance of technology and virtual learning in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether there is or should be a relation between 'occupation' and 'qualification' is a contested issue in vocational education and training (VET). The privileged shelter of structured occupational labour markets stands pitted against the near impossibility of access by those at the margins of employment opportunities. This paper investigates the relation between occupation and qualification, conceptually and empirically. The key finding is that the relation manifests in labour-market specific ways in relation to two types of occupational qualification. One qualification type references 'whole' occupations and the other dilutes occupation into an ideology of occupationalism, while drawing on the discursive resources of 'occupation' to mask the segmentalist logic of 'unitised' or part-qualifications. For those desperately seeking to become employable, 'occupation' may well have greater appeal than 'competence' as labour market currency but it is the nature of the qualification to which 'occupation' is linked that ultimately determines its labour market efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the contributions of undergraduate university education to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)' goals and development outcomes, proposing a normative capability-based approach oriented to human development. The approach is aligned with a developmental model of the university and development policy in sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa, where the study is located. It draws empirically from a four and a half year mixed-methods research project conducted with low-income, mostly rural students at five historically diverse universities in South Africa. The paper presents a justification for using the capability approach, and outlines the rationale and methodology for synthesising a specific capability set generated by theorising and empirical data. A set of corresponding functioning indicators offers an expansive approach to understanding 'learning outcomes' in contrast to dominant neoliberal approaches that seek quantification and efficiency, overlooking what cannot be easily measured. An indicative sketch of university arrangements required to advance and evaluate each functioning for development outcomes is then outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Service–learning has, arguably, gained significant currency as a pedagogical and engagement mechanism within the broader discourse of universities and their role in community development. However, less emphasis has been placed on the human development dimensions of service–learning for community members, with the focus largely being on students' experiential learning and other academic outcomes for the university. Though usually conceived as an integral part in university–community partnerships, community members' role in the conception and implementation of service–learning initiatives is from a peripheral position. In this paper, we interrogate this lacuna by applying core tenets of the human development approach to document the experiences and perceptions of community members within a university–community service learning partnerships. From the analysis of qualitative data n = 22, we demonstrate that while service–learning enhances agency, it continues to operate within a historical context and contemporary political economy of South Africa, which obscure community members' active participation and empowerment towards inclusive and sustainable valued outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, teaching and learning in contact face-to-face universities had to transition to online learning during 2020, following the disruptions caused by COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns imposed in many countries around the world. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights from preliminary results of ongoing research focusing on students' personal concerns raised about online learning during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. Data were collected using a web-based survey in 2020, sampling one group of second-year university students. Internationally, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an acceleration in digital transformation for teaching and learning in many face-to-face contact universities. The key findings from the survey reported in this paper are twofold: firstly, it was found that COVID-19 has fundamentally changed both teaching and learning space geographies with large proportions of university students having to study from their homes during the lockdown; secondly, students recognised that access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure and the unaffordability of internet connections were significant concerns for most respondents who took part in the study. The study seeks to highlight that even though the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an acceleration in the digital transformation underway in tertiary education and has drawn university teaching and learning more comprehensively into the digital era, the uneven distribution of ICT infrastructure accentuates the barriers to and inequalities that exist for students and for practical home studying. The study makes initial policy suggestions for assisting this acceleration into the digital world. Future research can build on this platform by analysing the post-COVID-19 effects in the university teaching and learning environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers facilitated a participatory action learning action research process with second year Social Sciences students at a University in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. This paper focusses on the facilitation of a participatory action learning action research process and the contribution of this to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning of the researchers. A social constructivist theoretical framework was employed. The significance of this research is that it adds to the understanding and implementation of participatory action learning action research, the evolving perception of participation as well as ownership within a participatory action learning action research process within the relatively less studied context of sub-Saharan African and South Africa more specifically. This paper demonstrates how utilising participatory action learning action research contributed to the researchers own "lifelong learning", particularly with regard to scholarship and collaborations in the process of knowledge production. The researchers' critical reflections and learning throughout this process could be of assistance to other researchers who are interested in embarking upon similar participatory research projects in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses whether dialogical, online teaching and learning platforms in higher education can be framed as socially just and decolonized pedagogies at all universities in South Africa (Africa). It is suggested that inclusive pedagogies like dialogue and care on online teaching and learning platforms such as Blackboard, if effectively used by lecturers, can contribute to students from diverse backgrounds feeling acknowledged and recognized as humans in general but Africans in particular. It is therefore the argument of this paper that socially just and decolonized pedagogies are particularly necessary in a post-colonial South African higher education system, where historically only certain individuals had input in the curriculum and the dialogical relationships of student and lecturer when it came to teaching and learning. In order for this to happen, lecturers ought to teach effectively in order to foster success in a decolonial classroom environment that is safe and friendly, with a curriculum where previously disadvantaged students can deliver dialogical input. In doing so, by implication, students grow wholly and communally as Africans, but are also provided the opportunity to critically interact with lecturers in their online higher education learning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents some theoretical tools to help understand the meaning of mathematics education as socio-political practices and the implications of these for researching mathematics education. Taking two cases of schools and students in Denmark and South Africa, the paper illustrates how the theoretical and methodological ideas come into operation when illuminating issues of equity. It is contended that the disadvantaged positioning of some students for participating in mathematics teaching and learning is the result of the routines, ideas, shared meanings, and ways of talking and conceiving mathematics education among the actors in the school organization, inside as well as outside the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: There is a growing interest in exploring the interface between international marketing and entrepreneurial opportunities. This paper contributes by defining and elucidating entrepreneurial action in early internationalising software firms and the corresponding emergent international marketing activities. Entrepreneurial action in early internationalising software firms is explored through the operationalisation of a reconceptualised entrepreneurial opportunity construct and the associated entrepreneurial learning processes. Design/methodology/approach: The paper adopts an inductive approach, which traces the evolution of five early internationalising propriety software South African firms; from the new venture idea to the establishment of the international entrepreneurial opportunity. Findings: The findings provide support for entrepreneurial action guided by: prior industry experience, entrepreneurial alertness, opportunity confidence and two levels of entrepreneurial learning; experiential and double-loop learning. Learning by doing allows for the continuous evaluation of the new venture idea leading to the international entrepreneurial opportunity. Market responsiveness and continuous product development resulting in the emergence of the firm's inward international marketing activities constitute the key outcomes of entrepreneurial action. Research limitations/implications: The study is limited to a specific technology context, which is young software firms whose inward directed internationalisation activities coalesce around the development of their proprietary software technology. Originality/value: Based on an original dataset of early internationalising software firms from South Africa, this paper inductively operationalises and conceptualises entrepreneurial action as the combined interaction of four key constructs: contingent effects, attitudes to opportunities, learning by doing and entrepreneurial activities leading to the firm's inward international marketing activities and a diversified international client and end-user base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to relevant information particularly to Visually Impaired (VI) students learning English language has long been fundamental issue underpinning effective English language learning in higher education. The need to provide effective and adequate assistance to this category of students cannot be over emphasised. However, support and provision of adequate and relevant technological resources is often overlooked when prioritising student success. This paper explains challenges associated with VI students learning English language through texts that contain pictorial illustrations in a South African (SA) university context. The study adopted a qualitative exploratory research design to find and identify challenges faced by VI students when dealing with pictorial illustrations in texts, teaching and learning materials in English courses. Data was gathered from ten VI students who were doing English language courses at the University of Limpopo in Limpopo province, South Africa and five English language lecturers who taught VI students English language courses in the Department of Languages at the University of Limpopo in South Africa. In addition, two BraiIlists responsible for compiling braille learning materials at the Reakgona Disability Centre (RDC) at the University Of Limpopo in South Africa also provided data. The study used telephone interviews with the participants and as well as focus group conversations and hanging out approaches to gather data. This study is grounded on the (Social Model of Disability Theory) SMDT by Oliver (2013). The findings highlight a number of challenges related to pictorial illustrations in texts that VI students. The study found that students who use JAWS and Braille find it difficult to access information contained in a pictorial illustration. The study also found that some lecturers are not trained to explain pictorial illustrations to VI students. A surprising results is that the university Teaching and Learning policy is silent on how abled lecturers should lecture to VI students. The paper contributes to understanding the challenges VI students face when they learn English language. Universities are encouraged to strengthen academic staff development through initiatives that support lecturers in how to deal with teaching materials that contain pictorial illustrations. Technological advanced equipment's should also be made available to VI students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the extent to which disaggregated training variables are related to technological upgrading, in the context of a middle-income developing country trying to manage its integration into the global economy. For a developing country, successful integration into the global economy requires that local manufacturing firms are able to competitively restructure, as a precondition for survival and long-term growth. Consequently, skills and technological upgrading are crucial in raising the international competitive advantage of local firms. Enterprise-provided training is one means that can be used by local firms to continuously upgrade their knowledge bases, increase their international competitiveness, and enhance employment growth over time. This paper uses South Africa as a case study, to demonstrate how economic reform measures can expose skills deficiencies in the manufacturing sector and lead to an increase in capital intensity of the sector. Exposure of skills deficiencies, in turn, raises the importance of skill-upgrading through schooling and training of existing workforce. Despite a couple of studies on the evolution of the labour market in South Africa, no previous research has explicitly examined the relationship between technological upgrading and disaggregated training/learning variables at the firm level. This paper aims to fill that gap by focusing on disaggregated enterprise-based training efforts. The study uses the Human Capital theoretical framework to answer the main research question: Which disaggregated learning variables (i.e., on-the-job or off-the-job training offered to different occupational groups) are significantly associated with technological upgrading? The study raises possible issues of heterogeneity in returns to training offered to different occupational groups in the context of technological-upgrading. On the other hand, technological upgrading may not necessarily always disadvantage all unskilled workers. Possible policy implications of research findings are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Brazilian Journal of Occupational Therapy / Cadernos Brasileiros de Terapia Ocupacional is the property of Cadernos de Terapia Ocupacional da UFSCar and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of European Journal of Language Policy is the property of Liverpool University Press / Journals and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In South Africa, adolescents and young adults (ages 15-24) are at risk of HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and unintended pregnancies. Recently, the Department of Basic Education has revised its sexuality education content and teaching strategies (using scripted lessons plans) as part of its life orientation curriculum. This paper presents the methodology and baseline results from the evaluation of the scripted lesson plans and supporting activities. A rigorous cluster-level randomized design with random assignment of schools as clusters is used for the evaluation. Baseline results from grade 8 female and male learners and grade 10 female learners demonstrate that learners are at risk of HIV and early and unintended pregnancies. Multivariable analyses demonstrate that household-level food insecurity and living with an HIV-positive person are associated with sexual experience and pregnancy experience. Implications are discussed for strengthening the current life orientation program for future scale-up by the government of South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voluntary medical male circumcision is an integral part of the South African government’s response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Following circumcision, it is recommended that patients abstain from sexual activity for six weeks, as sex may increase the risk of female-to-male HIV transmission and prolong the healing period. This paper investigates the resumption of sexual activity during the healing period among a cohort of school-going males in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The analysis for this paper compares two groups of sexually active school-going males: the first group reported having sex during the healing period (n = 40) and the second group (n = 98) reported no sex during the healing period (mean age: 17.7, SD: 1.7).The results show that 29% (n = 40) of young males (mean age: 17.9, SD: 1.8) who were previously sexually active, resumed sexual activity during the healing period, had on average two partners and used condoms inconsistently. In addition, those males that engage in sexual activity during the healing period were less inclined to practice safe sex in the future (AOR = 0.055, p = 0.002) than the group of males who reported no sex during the healing period. These findings suggest that a significant proportion of young males may currently and in the future, subject themselves to high levels of risk for contracting HIV post circumcision. Education, as part of a VMMC campaign, must emphasize the high risk of HIV transmission for both the males their partners during the healing period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education is understood to play a critical role in ongoing processes of social transformation in post-apartheid South Africa through the production of graduates who are critical and engaged citizens. A key challenge is that institutions of higher education are themselves implicated in reproducing the very hierarchies they hope to transform. In this paper, I reflect critically on my experiences of a course aimed at transforming teaching through transforming teachers. In this paper, I foreground my own positionality as a white female educator as I draw on feminist theorising to reflect on my experiences as a learner in the Community, Self and Identity course. I suggest that we need to teach in ways that are more cognisant of the complexities of the constraints on personal freedom in the past if we are to contribute to the development of social justice in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although there is an increasing use of emerging technologies ( ETs) in higher education internationally and in South Africa in particular, there is little evidence that their use is transforming teaching and learning practice. Anecdotal evidence shows that there is a dichotomy between the technologies supported and used in higher education institutions ( HEIs) on one hand, and technologies owned and predominately in use among students. Thus, the gulf between technologies supported and used for teaching and the technologies used by students for learning has created pressure for educators to 'play catch-up,' resulting in a continuum of pedagogically ineffective to effective uses of ETs. This paper argues that pedagogically sound uses of ETs leverage the broader context of existing practices (cultural-historical context) to design learning activities that transform both the teaching and learning practices. The paper draws data from a national survey on uses of ETs among educators in higher education to propose a pedagogical model of use that has the potential to transform practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research into South African students' digitally mediated learning and social practices revealed a subgroup termed 'digital strangers,' students lacking both experience and opportunities, who had barely used a computer and who did not have easy access to technology off campus. Using a Bourdieun framework, this group's technological habitus and access to capital were considered within the field of higher education. There was a focus on two forms of cultural capital: embodied cultural capital, specifically disposition and values; and objectified cultural capital especially computers and cell phones. Social capital-in terms of personal connections and the values of those close to the students-was also considered. The investigation showed a complex technological habitus, with a paucity of access and limited practices in relation to computers, while computers and their associated practices are highly valued within higher education Simultaneously, diverse practices and widespread indications of astute use of cell phones were described even though these remained under-acknowledged both by the students and the institutions in which they operated. Students recognised what the field of higher education valued, but they also used what they had available in order to best operate within the field. The findings point to a contradiction between students' practices and the field of higher education yet also show how student practices with an alternative form of objectified capital are pushing the boundaries of the field itself. Practitioner Notes What is already known about this topic There is increasing agreement in the literature that the concept of students as 'digital natives' with good access to and 'innate' understanding of technology is a myth. Students across a range of contexts have varied skills, experience and interest in using technology., There is some research on the non-use of computers, but it does not tend to relate to mobile use., There is a great deal of recent literature on mobile use in education both in the UK and in South Africa. This is of special interest in developing country contexts where access to computers is still limited but access to the cell phone is widespread., What the paper adds The paper makes the link between computer use and mobile use. By unpacking the complexities of technological habitus. it shows how students who lack computer experience and opportunities navigate the complexities of using information and communication technologies (ICTs) at university., The paper shows how Bourdieu's theory of capital and habitus provides a useful lens for examining the challenges of ICT practices within the field of higher education. Through the concepts of cultural capital and social capital, the paper shows how students who would traditionally be considered non-users have access to forms of capital which they leverage, thus demonstrating student agency., The findings point to a contradiction between students' practices and the field of higher education in that cell phones are widely used as a core ICT resource yet under-acknowledged as a medium of learning by universities. The paper does this by providing empirical examples of cases of complex access and use rarely studied., Implications for practice and/or policy The findings for institutions imply that universities should take student access to and use of cell phones much more seriously, exploiting the cultural and social capitals student are able to draw on. This provides a way of focusing on existing literacies which is preferable to the deficit model which currently prevails., There are implications for curriculum, courses and resource designers in terms of designing learning interventions which utilise mobile technology affordances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the lessons learnt from the COVID-19-induced emergency remote (online) teaching and learning of a one-year teacher education course. The final-year course, within a four-year Bachelor of Education programme, aimed at developing pre-service teachers' knowledge of the nature and process of learning and how to guide and support learning in diverse school contexts. The course was planned before the COVID-19 pandemic, and teaching and learning would have taken place on campus, with limited online activities. The ensuing lockdown in South Africa resulted in university teaching and learning moving abruptly online. We investigated lessons learnt from the transition to emergency remote (online) teaching. Data were generated by conducting semi-structured interviews with 20 student teachers about their experiences of the course. The data were analysed using the constant comparative method. Analysing the data highlighted the benefits of remote (online) teaching that should be considered when using a blended approach to harness online teaching affordances. As we advance, we will implement a fully blended approach, harnessing the affordances of both online and contact-based teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews demographic shifts in access to higher education in South Africa from the late 1980s onwards before going on to look at the extent to which black South Africans have benefitted from those shifts. In the context of analyses which show that black South Africans experience less success in the higher education system than their white peers, the paper argues that dominant understandings of what is needed to succeed are inadequate in explaining the data. In opposition to dominant understandings, the paper goes on to propose that only 'social' accounts of learning allow us to make sense of black students' experiences. At the same time, however, resilience of dominant accounts is acknowledged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an era of unprecedented curriculum change it is not surprising that many South African teachers have begun to question their ability to affect learner performance. Teachers have to engage with a changing learner culture, with new curriculum content and are under pressure to embrace different teaching strategies without fully understanding the theoretical principles on which they are based. In this paper the authors explore high-school Economics teachers' beliefs about their capacities to influence learning. This paper is based on a quantitative empirical investigation into Economics teachers' efficacy beliefs about the teaching of Economics. Economics teachers from each of the 45 Department of Education delineated districts in KwaZulu-Natal province were selected to be participants in the study. We argue that while Economics teachers perceive their role as important in the learning process, male teachers in particular see the teacher as the dominant influence on learner performance, and are more confident than female teachers of their knowledge and teaching abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the use made of the Research Commons during its first year of operation in an attempt to establish whether it actually provides a genuinely new and different service from the point of view of the end-users, and whether a facility such as this could indeed be presumed to support research and enhance research output at the university. Design/methodology/approach – Using Lippincott's assessment grid, an attempt was made to assess activities in the Research Commons according to the dimensions of extensiveness, efficiency, effectiveness, service quality and usefulness. Methodology was mixed, with quantitative and qualitative components that logged the extent and nature of the use of the various facilities in the Research Commons and sought to establish from stakeholder perceptions whether the services on offer are regarded as substantially different from those in the undergraduate Knowledge Commons and whether they are indeed seen to be supporting research activities. Findings – It was found that a combination of numerical and qualitative measurements has yielded sufficient evidence for the drawing of preliminary conclusions. The evidence gathered demonstrates that the Research Commons, designed primarily as a site for the creation of new knowledge in the form of original writing by researchers at postgraduate and academic level, is indeed an advance on the well-established "library commons" concept, and that its creation represents an instance of "parallel invention" – the "new creature" that the title refers to. Originality/value – This paper provides a multifaceted perspective on the activities taking place in a new library facility and should provide librarians and researchers with evidence-based insight into how meaningful research support may be provided to young researchers from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds as part of an academic library service in a middle income country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to identify and analyse the needs and challenges of the new generation of first-year students in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. The objective of the paper is to establish what these needs and challenges are, and how lecturers in this faculty could support and guide the students in order to enhance student learning and in so doing, improve the students' chances at success in their study careers. The theoretical framework of this paper draws on the views of Maslow (1954 & 1970), Rogers (1970, 1983, 2003) and Monteith (1996). These theorists maintain that students need a number of different knowledge bases that they can access and integrate to help them reach their educational goals. They need to know about themselves as learners, about the nature and requirements of different learning or educational tasks, and about a variety of study skills and learning strategies. It is hoped that the analysis and the findings from the research presented in this paper will contribute to a better understanding of the needs that the new generation of students have, and that the recommendations made will provide new ways in which the students could be assisted and guided in the learning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The learning process is a challenging and complex one with many different role players and a variety of different factors that need to be taken into account. Successful learning for students at higher education institutions requires that all the role players must bring their part. The objective in this paper is to discuss the role of one such role player, that of the lecturer in the learning process, and to arrive at a possible learning-centred approach that views the learning process as a partnership between the student as the learner, and the lecturer as mediator and facilitator of the learning process. The theoretical framework of the paper is based on the learning theories of Dewey, Bandura and Vygotsky (among others) that view the learning process as a socially constructed one. An analysis is presented on how some lecturers at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa view their role in the learning process, and on how they facilitate learning in the classroom. It is hoped that this paper will contribute to a better and for some (renewed) understanding of the important role that academics fulfill in the learning process, and the responsibility that higher education institutions have towards all students that they admit into their respective degree programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The views of peer facilitators on the strategies used to promote reflective learning on the first-year students were explored in this study. Purposive sampling was used to select the participants, which is a qualitative inquiry situated in the interpretive paradigm. The researcher also used in-depth interviews to collect data and analysed data using the thematic analysis. The study found that the peer facilitators used group work, group discussion, spider diagrams and limited technology. However, it emerged that besides the limited technological strategies crippled by the disenabling conditions within the institution, the lack of support from both students and lecturers is a demotivating factor for some of these peer facilitators and thus this affects their efforts to assist students. The paper recommends the implementation of the multi-sectoral approach, training and continuous professional development of peer facilitators on reflective practices using both conventional methods and digital technologies, the inclusion of reflective learning in the facilitation methods within the module learning guides/course outlines to promote reflective learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the ways learners respond to and express themselves while interacting with cultural artifacts or cultural realia, beads and beadwork, used to mediate the teaching and learning of life science concepts in a science classroom. South African policies, enacted in the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) and the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), mandate that a culturally responsive pedagogy be used to teach indigenous learners in order to assist them in learning science concepts. Hence, the choice of beads and beadwork, which are cultural artifacts found in learners lived world as realia, creating an enabling context accessible to teachers and learners. This study was conducted in periurban Black township schools near a metropolitan city in South Africa. In order to achieve a thick description (Geertz in The interpretation of cultures, Basic Books Publishers, New York, 1973) of class interactions between the teacher and her learners in using cultural artifacts, beads and beadwork, as instructional models to mediate the teaching and learning of abstract structures of organic compounds, such as glucose, fructose, lipids and proteins, were enacted and video-recorded. Video analysis of class interactions and teachers' professional development was employed. We also engaged open-ended questionnaires to extract learners' basic views of the use of beads and beadwork as instructional models. Findings indicated that the use of beads and beadwork as instructional models afforded learners a context that enabled them to express and expand their cognitive constructs of what learning science from cultural perspectives looks and feels like. It also showed that learners' capitals, namely cultural, social and symbolic capitals, enhance the development of cognitive capital leading to the emergence of more knowledgeable other(s) within indigenous science classrooms. Findings also showed that cultural artifacts enabled the restructuring of the teachers' pedagogical practices toward enhancing learner's know-how of science concepts in the classroom. Recommendations necessitate the use of cultural artifacts or cultural realia as culturally related instructional models—CRIMs—to teach and learn abstract science concepts. This approach tends to bring science closer to the indigenous learners' consciousness, thereby enabling more familiarity with concrete or abstract science concepts. Eventually, the goal of helping learners to learn science concepts effectively stems from the standpoint of learners being active rather than being passive participants in the teaching and learning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically-disadvantaged schools in South Africa are faced with enormous challenges of providing quality education to often financially-disadvantaged learners thus improving their chances of accessing higher learning and the prospects of a better life. Given the fiscal austerity that the South African Government self-imposed since 1996 and the noschool fees policy to mostly disadvantaged schools, there never was going to be sufficient resources to meet the challenges of providing quality education. This paper explores, through a quantitative survey instrument, the prospects of stimulating the growth and development of entrepreneurial custom in more than 270 historically-disadvantaged schools within the Gauteng Provincial Education in South Africa with a view of cushioning these schools against this enduring disadvantage. The disadvantage is exacerbated by the parental perception that historically-advantaged schools offer better prospects of their children making it to higher learning by virtue of being better resourced. This scenario thus results in high migration of township learners to these schools that are, by dint of apartheid status quo ante, better resourced, located within urban areas and continues to charge exorbitant schools fees which the parents of these learners barely afford to pay. In addition, these schools reflect the known educational axiom that education is largely a middle class enterprise. This paper attempted to measure the level of entrepreneurial custom within the historically-disadvantaged schools as a basis of building their entrepreneurial self-efficacy that would offset the setback of being disadvantaged and losing learners to historically-advantaged schools. Areas that were specifically measured were risk-taking, proactiveness and innovativeness. Six hundred educators from more than 270 schools were randomly sampled and completed a questionnaire that addressed risk-taking, proactiveness and innovativeness. The findings point to less risk-taking but high levels of proactiveness and innovativeness. It is not unreasonable to suggest that with some explicit entrepreneurship training, these schools can offset the disadvantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South African Higher Educational Institutions has a priority to serve postgraduate students and promotion of research and development especially in broadband technologies and their applications since Information Communication Technology indeed is the future and the key to 21st Century teaching and learning. However, to ensure that Higher Educational Institutions do make a significant impact in the South African economy, they need to reassess their strategies in addressing the imbalance of black South African students in the Universities. To this end, the paper outlines factors influencing South African black student's lack of academic aspirations and further proposes recommendations that need to be followed by Higher Educational Institutions in order to mitigate outlined factors. The research follows a systems approach to system development. However, this is not to imply that the paper produces a software artifact, but the result is a theoretical framework that outlines and curbs factors influencing South African black students not to continue with postgraduate studies. The adopted systems approach offers a step-by-step technique to developing Higher Educational Institutions social responsibility in bridging the imbalance in numbers of South African and International students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the globalising trajectory of modernism, conservation, then environmental (EE) and now sustainability education (ESD) have each emerged as developing responses to risk produced by and in the modern state. Through adopting a long term process perspective, this paper narrates the emergence of situated learning perspectives and a developing re-orientation of EE at the start of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD). We identified the need to examine ESD practice in responses to recent ESD consultations in 14 southern African countries, where a rhetorical marking was noted in discussions on ESD practices, particularly with regard to changing teaching and learning processes. The paper narrates how an interplay of review, research and practical engagement activities have all contributed to an extended critical review of learning interactions in environmental education in an attempt to provide useful perspective for educational activities within the UNDESD. We found that EE and ESD initiatives only acquired more substantive meaning and coherent orientation when examined within ongoing inquiries into situated learning, agency and risk reduction in contexts of poverty, vulnerability and risk, the key concern to us in this paper and the primary focus of the WEHAB (Water, Energy, Health, Agriculture and Biodiversity) sustainable development agenda in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]