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This paper was motivated by the anecdotal experiences of the lead author on the views of middle-class Black African parents who did their schooling under apartheid and who were parents of high school learners in contemporary post-apartheid South Africa. In this paper narrative inquiry was used to engage with ten purposively selected Black African parents. In the process their narratives of schooling under apartheid and the parental choices they made on the subjects their children studied were constructed. As a theoretical lens Critical Race Theory was used to allow the parents to tell their counter-stories. These parents were adamant that their children should not study history. This was partially rooted in their own apartheid-era schooling experiences. For the most part the Black African parents tried to live their unfulfilled dreams and ambitions through their children by getting them to study science and mathematics as this was directly linked to upward-mobility, middle-classness, prosperity and success. While school history in the post-apartheid context was lauded and appreciated, the prevailing sentiment was that their children should steer clear of it.

Although differentiation and specialism have become hallmarks of the modern economy, the degree and the efficacy of such differentiation, specialisation and the domains of knowledge in curricula offered in universities of technology (UoTs) persist in the context of the changing nature of jobs and occupations. This article examines the domains of specialist knowledge in curricula of selected professional and sectoral fields offered by universities of technology in South Africa. Purposive sampling was used to select the fields of practice. These fields were chosen because of differentiated knowledge bases on which these fields draw. The paper argues that the dual-facing interdisciplinary nature of knowledge of professional and sectoral fields of practice offered in UoTs, relative to their conceptuality, contextuality and professional coherence are central in the curriculum design process to enhance the quality of offerings.

In this paper, I show by means of Yosso's community cultural wealth theoretical framework how equal numbers of early school leavers (ESLs) from the rural and the urban parts of the North-West province cite similar reasons for their early departure from school. The conclusion drawn from this scenario is that, irrespective of their diverse backgrounds and locations, they all seem to be affected in similar ways by conditions in their respective schools and social milieu. The above conclusion indicates that there is nothing intrinsically inferior or backward about rural learners and their settings. What seems to be different though may be how they are excluded with regard to curriculum practices that do not address their specific circumstances directly. On the basis of this conclusion I suggest that these curriculum practices be customised to the needs and conditions in the rural settings towards the creation of sustainable learning environments so as to stem the high rates of learner attrition therein. This must be done with the intention of giving rural learners opportunities similar to those afforded to learners from urban backgrounds. To date, rural learners have been deliberately and/or inadvertently excluded and marginalised; thus, to remedy the situation I propose the creation of sustainable learning environments in rural schools as well. (Contains 1 table.)

South African higher education in the past year has seen violent calls for decolonisation of the curriculum, as a way of addressing the passive nature of education. The inability of the curriculum to respond to contextual issues, empower students to come of age, while at the same time remain committed to giving them a plurality of voices has been a cause for concern. Morrison (2007) argues that curriculum discourse should be marked by a multiplicity of voices, articulating a hundred thousand theories thereby creating avenues for a just and caring curriculum. This curriculum is only possible in spaces that are open to construction and reconstruction of responsive knowledge. To enhance the responsiveness of the curriculum, this paper experimented on voices that matter in the decolonisation project in the bid to create sustainable and socially just spaces wherein caring and just curriculum encounters can take place. Designed as a qualitative case study of six universities, the study used open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to generate data. The data generated was analysed using Morrison's (2007) notion of a hundred thousand theories. The paper reveals three key findings: curriculum encounters are shaped by power dynamics in educational spaces, plurality of voices provokes the creation of disciplinary and interdisciplinary spaces for curriculum engagement and sustainable education experience is powered by plurality, which in itself is shaped by curricular charges. The paper concludes that curriculum encounters is vital for the effectiveness of the decolonisation process and the enhancement of curriculum responsiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a desktop review study of undergraduate and postgraduate English studies (both English literature and English language) module offerings (n = 48) of 24 English departments at 17 South African higher education institutions (HEIs) conducted in 2017. The review focused on the presence and purpose of the term, decolonisation, in these module offerings. Framed within deparochialism and a null curriculum, and employing purposeful sampling and explicit inclusion criteria common in systematic reviews and meta-analyses, the study has the following findings: (a) decolonisation has a presence in only three undergraduate module offerings and it is mentioned in only one honours module offering among the 48 module offerings reviewed. (b) All four modules are English literature modules; (c) decolonisation is a module thematic or topical component and is used for critical analytical purposes in the identified modules in varying degrees. (d) In the three undergraduate modules, decolonisation is restricted to African literature or Africa writings and (e) in the postgraduate module, decolonisation is offered as one of the four optional stand-alone modules. Finally, the paper argues for a decolonisation that deparochialises the disciplines of English studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an argument and commentary about the concomitant effects of codification, meritocracy and performativity in the academic performance of a cohort of black African Foundation Phase Bachelor of Education degree students at a previously predominantly white institution of higher learning. The objective of this paper is to illustrate the point that the combination of codification, meritocracy and performativity has potentially debilitating ramifications for the performance of this cohort of pre-service teachers. In this instance, language is a codification mechanism and a means towards epistemological access. This paper posits the viewpoint that the sociocultural backgrounds of the cohort predispose them to the resultant negative effects of the combination of the three factors. The study that forms the basis of this article used the qualitative theoretical orientation of the transformative paradigm to pursue a critical emancipatory and transformative theoretical agenda. This agenda is embodied in the recommendations that are informed by an infusion of the literature, the participants' observations, as accrued from the data, and the researcher's reflections. The intention of this social-justice-oriented support strategy is to make an implied decolonial contribution towards counteracting and diffusing the potentially debilitating effects of the combination of codification, meritocracy and performativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa as a nation became democratic in 1994 because of the end of apartheid. Since 1994, higher education has geared towards transformation and redress of the inequalities created by the inhuman policies of apartheid. While few applaudable steps have been taken towards this direction, South African higher education remains largely untransformed. For the past two years, a wave of student protest swept across the nation, calling for decolonisation of higher education in general and the curriculum in particular. This move brings to mind several questions about decolonisation and transformation. What is the state of South African higher education? Why has it remained untransformed since the advent of democracy? What should be decolonised to ensure transformation of the present and the future? This paper therefore ventures to answer these three questions using the theory of social transformation as a lens. The paper points out that funding structures, research politics, administrative structures and a lack of interest are amongst the reasons for the lack of transformation. The paper concludes that there will be no transformation until higher education institutions have been decolonised. Social transformation is therefore argued as the pathway for decolonisation. The paper recommends that transformation in higher education should go beyond the shelves where they are stored as policy to the classroom and university environment for practice and universities need to revise their understandings of transformation under the guidance of the DHET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although differentiation and specialism have become hallmarks of the modern economy, the degree and the efficacy of such differentiation, specialisation and the domains of knowledge in curricula offered in universities of technology (UoTs) persist in the context of the changing nature of jobs and occupations. This article examines the domains of specialist knowledge in curricula of selected professional and sectoral fields offered by universities of technology in South Africa. Purposive sampling was used to select the fields of practice. These fields were chosen because of differentiated knowledge bases on which these fields draw. The paper argues that the dual-facing interdisciplinary nature of knowledge of professional and sectoral fields of practice offered in UoTs, relative to their conceptuality, contextuality and professional coherence are central in the curriculum design process to enhance the quality of offerings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study sought to investigate teachers' perspectives on how the teacher education curriculum could be transformed to be relevant for basic schooling and contribute to sustainable development. The objective was to understand the views of the university lecturers, teachers in schools and teacher trainees on the relevance of the curriculum offered at a university to the school curriculum. The school curriculum reform from the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) to the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) in South Africa (SA) brought about changes in the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and teaching approaches and teachers are obliged to keep up with these changes, understand the PCK and change their teaching approaches to fit the new curriculum. In addition, teacher trainees (university graduates) are expected to teach the same curriculum when allocated to schools for teaching practice. Based on this expectation, I argue that there seems to be an assumption that changes in the school curriculum find their way to the universities and influence the content of teacher education curriculum whereas this may not be the case. The teacher education curriculum does not focus on the content offered in schools but academic content and engages students in theories that would enable them to see the world differently. A qualitative interpretive approach to generate data through semi-structured interviews from teacher trainees, schoolteachers and university lecturers who were purposively selected was used. The approach was used in order to understand the views of the participants on how the teacher education curriculum could be transformed in order to be relevant to basic schooling. Findings revealed that the teacher education curriculum is not relevant for basic schooling in that teacher trainees are not exposed to the curriculum offered in schools; traditional teaching approaches are still used at the university whereas schools use outcomes- based approaches. As a result, teacher trainees find it difficult to navigate the system. The paper recommends that there is a need to transform the teacher education curriculum so that it becomes relevant and contributes to sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the worldwide interest in transforming curricula, there have been limited case study examinations of what really happens within an open distance and e-learning (ODeL) South African university context. By using the psychosocial and social identity theories, we highlight the complexities involved in transforming decades of teaching and learning practices. The reports from five colleges highlighted three key themes, namely curriculum responsiveness, decolonisation and identity issues. From these we developed a framework to help capture some of the complexities, identified implications and charted a new direction for future studies within the South African post-colonial and post-apartheid arena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the ongoing study to develop a Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) curriculum for visually impaired learners in South Africa, teachers reported hesitance from parents/guardians to inform their visually impaired children about sex. As such, this study sought to explore parents/guardians' involvement in their children's psychosexual education. Five parents/guardians were engaged in a focus-group discussion. Data were analysed thematically, while home-school partnership theory underpinned this study. Parents felt confident that they had prepared their children with enough psychosexual education to make healthy sexual choices, and therefore blamed teachers, security guards, and hostel caretakers for their children's early sexual debut. However, no blame or accountability was assigned to the learners for their own sexual behaviour and decision-making. Interrogating the complexities within these socio-educational spaces suggested that there was confusion in the roles and responsibilities assumed for the capacitation of visually impaired learners with CSE. More importantly, the problem was not that parents were worried that these learners were not having safe sex, but that they should not be having sex at all now or in the future. The study suggests that a supportive, non-judgemental, and collaborative home-school partnership is necessary to recognise and guide the sexual agency of visually impaired learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community engagement (CE) has been identified as an important pillar alongside teaching and research in higher education. Despite this it has emerged slowly within the South African landscape due to a lack of understanding regarding engagement. Drawing on in-depth interviews, this study sought to explore how academics (N=14), at a University of Technology in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa understood CE and the processes involved in engagement. The study found that CE was a symbiotic relationship that involved collaboration with communities in order to understand community needs, nurture community partnerships, and ensure sustainable engagement initiatives. Finally, the data reflected that in order to enable social change, the community should be honoured as a source of knowledge and the university should recognise the benefits of engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer-assisted learning (PAL) has numerous benefits in medical curricula. In the extended curriculum programme (ECP) at a university in South Africa, remedial interventions, such as same year/level PAL, were implemented to improve academic success. This article focuses on the measures to ensure the quality of PAL as an intervention for the academic under-preparedness of ECP students. After the midterm assessment results had been verified, the academically strongest ECP students were appointed as tutors (n=10) for the remainder of the student cohort (n=31). Structured, informal PAL activities were implemented as an academic intervention between consecutive assessments. Analysis of the pre- and post-intervention results showed a statistically significant difference for the whole study population as an increase of 6.1% was recorded in post-intervention results. Nine of the ten PAL groups showed an increase in the combined group results, the highest increase being 15.1%. Although the tutor group did not show a statistically significant difference between pre- and postintervention results, 80% of the tutors experienced a positive effect on their academic progress by scoring higher post-intervention results. The results showed that same year/level PAL interventions can assist under-prepared ECP students to be academically successful with advantages for the tutors and tutees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to explore the ramifications of the fees-must-fall-protests that rocked South Africa's universities for a couple of months in the years 2015 and 2016. Using a critical perspective, the thesis of the study is that the shutting down of universities in the context of student protests was neither unique nor original to South Africa for it has been a preferred weapon of repression by dictators all over the world. Several post-independence African governments invoke this weapon many times to silence dissenting voices. The data to embellish arguments in this study were gathered through focus group discussion interview sessions (FGDIS) from 40 participants purposefully sampled from 26 South African universities. The analysis of data followed a thematic approach with themes emerging from the FGDIS forming the basis of the discussion of the findings. Chief among the findings was that despite the salutary role of student protests as a force for social change well-established and never being gainsaid, higher education fees needs to fall, albeit cautiously. The fees-must-fall protests raised an important consciousness of how challenging a colonised education system can lead to academic disruptions. The key conclusion drawn was that if tuition fees dry up as would be the case if a fee-free decolonised education policy were to be adopted prematurely, the country could suffer severe consequences such as inevitable budget cuts, compromised research standards, demoralised academics and curtailed university offerings. The recommendations made included a need for governmental commitment to calm the students' temper tantrums before they spiral out of control and for curriculum decolonisation advocates to denounce the government's repressive tendencies if a truly decolonised education system is to be realised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the challenges of effective teaching of sexuality education in rural schools in South Africa in the age of HIV and AIDS. Particular focus is given to the experiences of women teachers in rural villages. It cites the use of thematic inductive analysis in identifying the problems within sexuality education classrooms, such as societal constructions of childhood. The need for a curriculum that integrates traditional ways of knowing into formal teaching is highlighted.