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In the majority of South African schools, maintaining discipline remains a challenge -- a situation which commands the attention of departmental officials both locally and internationally. When negative disciplinary approaches were prohibited in schools in this country, positive disciplinary measures were recommended in the form of a code of conduct for learners. In the study reported on here we examined the challenges that teachers face in using a code of conduct to maintain positive discipline among the learner cohort. The study was guided by positive discipline and democratic theories. These theories imply that discipline must be taught to learners so that they are equipped to behave appropriately and obey the school/classroom rules. Data were gathered from a total of 16 educators in 2 sampled schools in Pinetown, Durban, through semi-structured interviews, observation and document review. The findings reveal that a variety of challenges impeded the use of a learners' code of conduct, including a failure to review the document on a regular basis. The content of those codes was not widely communicated either, which meant that they remained ineffective in addressing each school's specific needs with regard to correcting misbehaviour. Based on the findings, we recommend that the Department of Basic Education raise awareness around democratic governance in schools to enhance positive discipline by means of up-to-date, enforced codes of conduct. Schools also need to encourage parents to be actively involved in their children's schooling, as a means of supporting teachers.

South African society is currently experiencing a breakdown of morals, which is negatively impacting not only communities but also teaching and learning in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). There appears to be a widespread lack of respect for authority, accountability, and good manners among students, who often display rudeness, laziness, dishonesty, and disrespect towards academic staff. These observations indicate a moral crisis in HEIs, which is closely linked to students' reluctance to embrace positive values such as respect, tolerance, obedience, and punctuality. The article aimed to investigate the reasons behind students' display of negative values, focusing on disrespect, dishonesty, and a sense of academic entitlement. Data were gathered through observations and participant interviews, revealing several reasons why students tend to adhere to negative values over positive ones. One recommendation is to introduce values education into university curricula, if not already present. Additionally, universities should explicitly define their values and communicate them to both staff and students, encouraging all parties to work towards restoring moral integrity in HEIs.

This article uses the findings obtained from a study that delves into the perceptions of students on their relationship with their higher education (HE) lecturers and how it affects their academic success, to respond to the issue of decolonisation in South African HE, and to approach the question of decolonising HE in Africa. The article argues that it is essential to prioritise student well-being, amplify their voices, and promote a caring culture towards addressing the issue of decolonisation in African education systems. The study shows that African HE students hold higher expectations of their lecturers beyond being professionals. This expectation includes respect for students' thoughts and incorporation of epistemology that aligns with fostering African development, culture and thoughts (without necessarily conforming to neoliberal norms). The four categories of the teacher's role, which include academic development, respect and trust, social relationships, and ethics of care are highly demanded by HE students. Borrowing the study outcome, this article holds the view that students' high expectations of their lecturers to foster social relationships should be channelled to incorporate the African student as a collaborator in the business of education and as a response to the demands of HE students to decolonise African education system. These four categories are not only institutional strategies for effective teaching and learning but also a way to address the non-inclusive impact of Western epistemology on historically racial institutions in Africa. Contribution: This article proposes that adopting mainstream pedagogical relationships can be a powerful tool in incorporating the African students' thoughts and a step towards liberating the HE system in Africa. It recommends these four cardinal themes as institutional strategies for restricting teaching and learning that relegate students to the receiving end thus systems that refute students as collaborators of knowledge sharing especially at historically racial institutions.

South African research ethics committees (RECs) faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research ethics committees needed to find a balance between careful consideration of scientific validity and ethical merit of protocols, and review with the urgency normally associated with public health emergency research. We aimed to explore the views of South African RECs on their pandemic preparedness and response during COVID-19. We conducted in-depth interviews with 21 participants from RECs that were actively involved in the review of COVID-19 related research, at seven academic institutions across South Africa. Interviews were conducted remotely using an in-depth interview guide that included questions regarding REC preparedness and response to COVID-19. Interviews were conducted until data saturation, and audio-recordings were transcribed verbatim and coded. An inductive approach to thematic analysis was used to organise data into themes and sub-themes. This study focused on three main themes: coping during COVID-19, building REC capacity during pandemic times and a consistently cautious approach to mutual recognition of REC reviews. Despite an initial sense of unpreparedness, RECs were able to adapt and maintain careful ethical oversight of both COVID and non-COVID research, and the rigour of REC reviews. Several important lessons for preparedness and response to future pandemics were identified, including heightened awareness of publication, funding and political pressures, the importance of regular training for RECs and researchers, and strategies to enhance moral resilience of REC members. Incremental steps are needed to build trust and authentic partnerships among RECs in inter-pandemic times, to facilitate collaboration during future public health emergencies.

This study examines the insights and experiences of students about the factors that enhance relational pedagogy in a South African university. To provide empirical explanations as to how these insights could be prioritised to enhance effective teaching and learning, quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 1087 participants using a survey that also required them to complete an open-ended section. The quantitative data was analysed using Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process, while the qualitative data was evaluated using thematic analysis. An analysis of the quantitative data revealed that the most significant factors that enhance relational pedagogy were, ethical care, interpersonal communication, natural care, respect, and mattering. Conversely, factors such as academic achievement support, trust, and teacher responsiveness showed comparatively weak effects on students' perceptions of relational pedagogy. Similarly, the qualitative data analysed revealed that participants perceived teacher-student interaction and communication, mattering and teacher immediacy, and the ethics of care as the most significant themes that serve to enhance relational pedagogy in the learning environment. The study concludes by highlighting the implications of using relational pedagogy as a tool to address the social, cognitive, and cultural gaps in the teaching and learning processes.

The absence of official codes of ethics and conduct for teaching practice at many traditional South African universities is of great concern. With this sequential explanatory, triangulation, mixed-method study we aimed to provide a valuable framework for universities developing and implementing these codes. In this study, quantitative content analysis, quantitative surveys, and qualitative interviews revealed that many universities did not have codes specific to teaching practice but rather applied codes that were created for the broader university context. Furthermore, where codes for teaching practice do exist, these are often not official university policies, not available to the public, and feature elements that vary across universities. Consequently, ethical dilemmas experienced during teaching practice are not addressed in these codes. Pre-service teachers in this study were found to be unaware of these codes and their content and were thus unprepared for ethical risk that may occur in teaching practice. The lack of codes of ethics and conduct, and awareness thereof, pose potential risks to various stakeholders in teaching practice. This led to the development of guidelines for a policy framework that addressed what should form part of the codes and how to improve awareness thereof. It is recommended that universities include a separate code of ethics and code of conduct in the teaching practice handbook to increase pre-service teachers' awareness of values and morals expected of them and guide their behaviour during teaching practice.

In the research reported on here we explored teachers' understanding of what they perceived as core values of ethical leadership in education. Using qualitative research within an interpretivist design, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with teachers and school management team (SMT) members and analysed using Tesch's coding method. The theoretical underpinnings of the paper are grounded in 3 distinct ethics of care, justice and critique. The findings cannot be generalised since the results highlighted in this article only report on those applicable to this small qualitative sample. The main themes that emerged from the findings included the participants' understanding of 3 core values of ethical leadership. They emphasised trust, respect and transparency as vital components of ethical leadership. Recommendations include more training and research for secondary school teachers who are not well equipped with the knowledge, skills and tools to approach the needs of disenfranchised and disadvantaged learners at their schools. A more nuanced understanding of transparency in schools, policy and practices is needed.

In this article we report on an investigation into developing people and serving the community at faith-based schools through a servant leadership theory lens. Relevant literature was reviewed, and data were collected from school leaders by means of individual semi-structured interviews. Twelve participants were purposively selected from schools classified as top-performing schools in Gauteng, a province in South Africa. The interviews with these participants were audiotaped and transcribed, and the data analysed by using a process of abductive data analysis. The following measures were employed to review the servant leadership practices of faith-based leaders: being a serving leader, fostering people growth, and enhancing community relationships. Overall, principals were found to be effective leaders involved in a hands-on manner in both task-orientated and person-orientated activities. The servant leadership conception whereby "other" interests are regarded as more important than own interests serves as the basis for people development and there is a clear awareness that the enhancement of community relationships is a key facet in the communication that takes place between school principals and community members. The participants also showed concern for school-led development activities. It was evident that participating school staff were personally involved in facilitating learning activities such as collaborative workgroups and workshops and in creating a supporting structure for staff development. Apart from recommending that principals' leadership behaviour in the abovementioned areas is consolidated, we strongly support their involvement in related matters such as coping with contextual realities and enhancing community relationships. The improvement of community relationships is eventually a challenging task to be exercised by principals within the social, political and demographic contexts of faith-based schools.

In the past decade, extra-institutional file-sharing and homework-help websites have gone from being small-scale operations to large corporate businesses. File-sharing and homework-help websites threaten academic integrity when students use assessment work sourced from these sites as if it were their own. However, little is known about how students use these websites, what motivates students' use, and whether students are aware of the risks of using these sites. In an international survey of 1000 students, nearly half had heard of, or used, file-sharing and homework-help websites, and 377 completed a longer follow-up survey. We also undertook qualitative analysis of social media posts related to file-sharing and homework-help websites. Students indicate that they used the websites to obtain material to study for and/or complete assessments, and they exchanged assessment and study materials for altruistic reasons as well as for personal benefit. Students were mostly aware of academic integrity risks in using the websites but were typically unaware of their own institutions' position or policies regarding the use of these sites. It is recommended that higher education institutions develop policies and educate students regarding unaffiliated file-sharing and homework-help websites to promote academic integrity.

This article presents the results of research into teachers' views on power and control as exercised by secondary school principals at the schools where they are employed. In South African schools, many principals' use of their power and control has a negative impact on teachers' motivation, job satisfaction, and overall well-being. The findings indicate firstly that teachers associate principals' exercise of power and control with the latter's leadership competencies. Secondly, they see their principals' personal competencies as influencing the latter's leadership competencies. Thirdly, teachers contend that the principals' actions and interpersonal competencies should be consistent with professional behavior and fair and equitable treatment of all, i.e. a lack of bias. Effective social networks should be developed within a social capital framework that makes provision for the inclusion of internal (learners; teachers; parents) and external partners (Department of Education; community members) to upgrade cooperation and collaborative action. The misuse of power and control as a social force can affect teachers' personal, professional, psychological and physical well-being. When the effects are negative, they could hamper sound relationships, effective teaching-and-learning, growth, productivity, and broader society.

The current article used real data to demonstrate the analysis and synthesis of Mixed Methods Research (MMR) data with generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI). I explore how reliable and valid Gen AI data outputs are and how to improve their use. The current content is geared towards enhancing methodological application regardless of field or discipline and includes access to a prompt library and examples of using outputs. The demonstration data used emanated from a study done in South Africa, with a quantitative sample size of 969 first-year engineering students and, for the qualitative part, 14 first-year students. In the current article, I compare my original analysis to ChatGPT results. Generative AI as a mind tool is best used with human insight, and I found this to be especially true when coding qualitative data. ChatGPT produced generic codes if asked to do inductive coding, and the results improved when training the Gen AI on human examples, which led to moderate and significant correlations between human and machine coding. The quantitative analysis was accurate for the descriptive statistics, but the researcher had to use best judgment to select the correct inferential analysis. Quantitative and qualitative analysis should be conducted separately in generative AI before asking the Chatbot for help with mixed methods results. In the current paper, I give guidelines and a tutorial on how to use chatbots in an ethically responsible and scientifically sound manner for research in social and human sciences.

The paper contributes to current debates about decolonising curriculum and advancing corresponding 'humanness pedagogies' in South Africa by developing a capabilitarian approach and foregrounding epistemic justice capabilities. This is aligned with and to fostering a shared African ethic for individual transformation-in-context and for building universities which benefit communities and societies. It is proposed that epistemic justice capabilities are foundational to decolonising curriculum and foundational for pedagogies which mediate disciplinary content and the dismantling of comparative inequalities among students in order to foster humanness. The capabilitarian framework seeks to secure the expanded wellbeing, co-flourishing and agency of all, in this case in and through higher education and a quality, decolonising curriculum oriented to an ecology of knowledges and a generous, inclusive humanity. The paper concludes with suggestions regarding a way forward to dismantle an exclusionary 'epistemic line' and associated oppressions.

School psychologists often face complex ethical and legal issues in their work, which become more challenging as the needs of students and school systems evolve. When faced with ethical dilemmas, it can be difficult for school psychologists to determine the best course of action, particularly when there is no clear solution. This study explored the ethical dilemmas experienced by psychologists working in South African schools in the Western Cape. The aim was to understand the ethical landscape in which they operate. The research was conducted through semi-structured telephone interviews with 16 participants, who shared 58 ethical dilemmas they had experienced. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis, identifying six themes: confidentiality, role definition, assessments and reports, workload, consent, and scope of practice. Participants utilized various strategies to manage dilemmas, such as relying on professional codes, setting boundaries, seeking supervision, and prioritizing the child's best interests. The study highlights the complex context in which school psychologists navigate ethical issues and their impact on the types of dilemmas they face. Finally, suggestions are provided for training and practical application.

In this article, we consider the instituting of effective and ethical knowledge management in the arena of public schooling, with reference to a multiple case study involving three schools in Emalahleni Circuit 1, 2 and 3 in South Africa. Teachers, HoDs, administrative clerks, and principals (20 participants altogether) were interviewed in depth concerning their understandings of knowledge management. We explicate Nonaka and colleagues' model of knowledge management, which they developed to apply to business and public organizations and which is considered seminal in the literature on knowledge management. It is tied to (Japanese) principles of ba -- where people recognize their occupation of a shared space with others. We relate this model to a discussion on the applicability of the African concept of Ubuntu to the knowledge management practices in the selected public schools. We use these cases to consider Ubuntu-directed knowledge management as a process of developing sharedness of purpose among the stakeholders within the schools (internal stakeholders) and outside thereof (in the wider community and society). We indicate to what extent and in what ways the participants experienced knowledge management in this way.

The purpose of this study was to examine variation in doctoral students' experiences of ethics in doctoral supervision and how these experiences are related to research engagement, burnout, satisfaction, and intending to discontinue PhD studies. Data were collected from 860 doctoral students in Finland, Estonia, and South Africa. Four distinct profiles of ethics experience in doctoral supervision were identified, namely students puzzled by the supervision relationship, strugglers in the ethical landscape, seekers of ethical allies, and students with ethically trouble-free experiences. The results show that the profiles were related to research engagement, satisfaction with supervision and studies, and burnout. Not experiencing any major ethical problems in supervision was associated with experiencing higher engagement and satisfaction with supervision and doctoral studies and low levels of exhaustion and cynicism. Similar profiles were identified across the countries, yet with different emphases. Both Estonian and South African PhD students were overrepresented in the profile of students with ethically trouble-free experiences, while the Finnish students were underrepresented in this profile. The Finnish PhD students were overrepresented among the seekers of ethical allies. Profiles provide information that can alert supervisors and administrators about the extent of the risk of burnout or discontinuing of PhD studies based on students' negative experiences of the ethics in supervision.

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to illuminate and assess the experiences and feelings of the staff of a center for teaching and learning at one South African university during the early months (April--June 2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns when it switched from face-to-face teaching to emergency remote teaching (ERT). It explores the practical, operational, ethical, cultural, and emotional questions that the staff of this center dealt with as they supported the university in ERT provision. Method: This paper draws on in-depth interviews with 23 staff members of the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT) who revealed not only the logistical, technical, and administrative challenges faced during the ERT rollout period but the efforts they made to ensure that their efforts promoted equity (for students), agility (for the university), and psychological sustainability (for themselves). Findings: Using cultural historical activity theory as a lens to assess CILT staff activities, findings indicate that a number of contradictions and tensions emerged during this period--concerning exacerbated inequities, pedagogical compromises, cultural anxieties, and psychological pressures--that could not be fully resolved but only managed. Implications for Research: CILT staff are interested not only in providing logistical, technical, and practical support to a university but also in dealing effectively with the ethical, cultural, and emotional concerns that arise in times of crisis and transition, such as the current one. Understanding what happened during COVID-19 may offer insights into how other centers for teaching and learning can adjust to what will likely remain an unstable future in higher education. Conclusion: The pandemic ruptured the previously organic change and growth that characterized CILT development, transforming it as the staff responded to this South African university's need to provide support to academics and students engaging with ERT.

This systematic review reports the state-of-the-art and evidence supporting interprofessional problem-based learning (iPBL) as a developmental tool for interprofessional competences. A targeted search strategy deployed across seven electronic databases identified 32 studies which met inclusion criteria following independent double review. All study types were included. Aggregated results identified evidence (quantitative and/or qualitative) that iPBL promotes competences as categorised using the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) framework, in Ethics/Values (n = 7); Roles/Responsibilities (n = 27); Interprofessional Communication (n = 19) and Teams/Teamwork (n = 21). Qualitative research dominated the literature. Limited, high-level quantitative data observed effects on students' attitudes and perceptions of interprofessional competences. Reporting of iPBL context and implementation mechanisms (e.g., trigger design) were largely absent in identified studies. Most iPBL (n = 26), was conducted in university rather than clinical settings.

Mentor teachers are instrumental in teacher preparation programs during the teaching practice of preservice teachers that involves mentor-mentee relationships. This qualitative paper reports on the mentoring experiences of preservice teachers during eight weeks of teaching practice in 2020 using Gibbs? experimental learning as a conceptual framework. Forty-five preservice teachers participated in a reflective exercise, sharing their stories through reflective essays guided by open-ended questions. A thematic approach was used in data analysis. Findings indicated that mentors? experiences and personal characteristics, and abilities to create opportunities for growth influenced the preservice teachers? experiences during teaching practice. The mentees? perceptions toward mentor-mentee relationships also influenced their experience. Based on the findings, it is important to upskill mentors to equip them with professional and mentorship ethics to enable preservice teachers to acquire the requisite skills that will better prepare them as future professional teachers. The findings of this study can be useful in the process of developing professional development of mentors prior to teaching practice.

Simulated standardized patients (SPs) are trained individuals who pose incognito as people seeking treatment in a health care setting. With the method's increasing use and popularity, we propose some standards to adapt the method to contextual considerations of feasibility, and we discuss current issues with the SP method and the experience of consent and ethical research in international SP studies. Since a foundational discussion of the research ethics of the method was published in 2012, a growing number of studies have implemented this method to collect data on the quality of care in a variety of settings around the world. We draw from that experience to provide empirical foundations for a popular approach to ethical approval of such studies in the United States and Canada, which has been to obtain a waiver of informed consent from the health care providers who are the subjects of the research. However, the majority of studies to date have evaluated quality of care outside the U.S., requiring additional ethical consideration when partnering with international institutions. We discuss these considerations in the context of a case study from a completed SP study in South Africa, where informed consent is constitutionally protected.

Most autism research has been conducted in high-income countries, with participants typically from White, upper-middle-income families. Given the disparities experienced by autistic individuals living in underserved communities globally, there is a critical need for research to include individuals from culturally, linguistically, socioeconomically, and geographically diverse backgrounds to understand their unique needs. Qualitative research has the potential to describe the "lived experience" of families historically underrepresented in the autism literature. Here we describe the logistical and methodological challenges of conducting focus group discussions with 22 caregivers of young autistic children living in Cape Town, South Africa. Logistical challenges included (1) recruitment, (2) response rate, and (3) resource access. Methodological challenges included (1) participant background and experiences, (2) interpersonal dynamics, and (3) research ethics. We present recommendations based on lessons learned to reduce these challenges and improve rigorous qualitative research practices in similar low-resource contexts.

School leadership research has provided extensive empirical evidence which shows that women as school leaders face challenges on many fronts. The objective of this study was to provide insight regarding the challenges that female primary school principals face, in the Waterberg Education District, Limpopo Province, South Africa. These challenges were in respect of the perception of staff members towards women as school principals. This study was qualitative and interpretive in nature. The theory of social justice was used as a theoretical framework. Social justice theorists argue that social institutions have the responsibility to dispense justice, fairness, and equity. The researcher used semi-structured in-depth interviews to gain rich descriptive data on the experiences relating to the leadership roles of the principals. Findings indicate that female principals face challenges, such as insubordination by male staff members, frustrations of not progressing beyond the position of principalship and sexual harassment. This study is of great value as it extends the body of knowledge on the challenges that primary school women principals face in their leadership practices.

Indigenous research methodologies articulate how researchers and Aboriginal communities engage in research together. These methodologies are informed by Indigenous cultural and ethical frameworks specific to the Nations with whom the research is being conducted. This study explores how such research relationships were articulated in the dissemination phase of research. We carried out an Indigenous qualitative content analysis of 79 peer-reviewed articles published January 1996 to June 2018, predominantly in the fields of social sciences. Our findings show that most articles were written by Indigenous researchers or a research team composed of Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers. Such collaborations articulated the principles of Indigenous methodology (IM) much clearer than those authored by non-Indigenous scholars or when partnerships with Indigenous communities were less evident with respect to the principles guiding the research process. The principles of IM that were manifest in these research partnerships were relevance, respect for Indigenous knowledges, responsible relationships, wholism, and Indigenous ethics. The findings of this study will help to guide future researchers who work with Indigenous peoples, especially with respect to the need for a deeper understanding of how such research relationships are sustained over time to bring about meaningful change for Indigenous peoples and their communities.

When a black 2nd-year student educator gets chased away from a school whilst doing his teaching practice for hair 'not setting an appropriate example to learners', the incident elicits questions about the rights of student educators during teaching practice, as well as the extent to which universities and schools care for, support and prepare student educators for the realities of schooling in South Africa. I situate the article in Transformation in Higher Education and the discourses of moral education concerning universities' preparation of student educators in conjunction with schools in South Africa. The purpose in this article is to critically evaluate the neoliberal regulatory environment that frames education in general and how this has led to 'uncaring' environments in which student educators must operate during the execution of their teaching practice. I applied an ethics-of-care- approach to conceptually discuss the central role that care should play in the professional development of student educators. A decline in the level of care for student educators during teaching practice by universities and schools has an increasingly negative impact on their professional preparation which might lead to increased teacher attrition and discourage new entrants to the profession. To achieve the kind of care among teachers we envisage through education, universities and schools will have to re-examine the role of care for student educators during teaching practice.

In view of the serious moral decay in South African society, this article reports on our research regarding the role of the school in the inculcation of citizenship values (as part of the brief of South African education). We regard a set of citizenship values consonant with a democratic dispensation to be a core component of a moral order essential for South Africa. Using a combination of interpretive-constructivist and comparative approaches, we examine and evaluate the experiences of other post-conflict societies in using education to inculcate citizenship values. We conclude that schools can be successful with respect to the inculcation of citizenship values, provided that the curriculum itself does not discriminate against any group or category of people. Desegregation can only be beneficial in the absence of negative depiction (including criminalisation) or the unequal treatment of any particular societal grouping. Our research suggests that active citizenship education is needed in schools. For this reason, we contend that teacher education has to form an integral part of a moral revival project. Lastly, we highlight the importance of finding democratically agreed-upon ways to continually engage with parents, legal caregivers and other stakeholders and role-players before and during the execution of any such project.

In this article, we problematise the practice of appointing principals on the basis of comradeship instead of excellence, qualifications and competency. The appointment of principals in South Africa has, over the years, become politicised and unionised to the extent that it is contextualised within comradeship narratives, thereby negating the competency and qualifications that are required to champion quality education -- education that is essential to empower people. To cement its arguments, the article is couched in decoloniality, a framework that evokes the need to challenge coloniality, which has displaced professionalism and competency as criteria for appointing principals. The data for the study were generated through questionnaires completed by, and interviews with, 19 participants in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province. The article reports that most schools with comrade principals face challenges related to competency, learner performance and indiscipline. The article recommends that the Department of Basic Education revisit its appointment policy for principals to ensure that competent principals are appointed, regardless of whether they are comrades or not.

Universities should conduct research and provide services to the society in their environment. In this article, the relational leadership model was used to evaluate a University-Community partnership in a semi-rural context in South Africa. The relational leadership model is an aspirational model supporting a healthy, ethical, and effective group. It comprises five components necessary for sustainable positive change in an organization. The model advocates for five components of which four were used to evaluate the project which the article is based on. Data were produced through interviews with two main university leaders of the project and the results show that the partnership has lost momentum in recent years based on non-conformity to some of the principles of the components suggested by the relational leadership. Through the rich experiences from participants, the article reflects on methods and recommendations in which the threads facing the partnership can be circumvented.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt the teaching and learning in international higher education. Those of us in the global South have particularly been hard hit, struggling to balance working/ functioning economies, a struggling healthcare system, education, commerce, trade, transport, and the community spread of what was later found to be a very infectious disease (Porter et al., 2021; Rogerson & Rogerson, 2020; Shamasunder et al., 2020). In this paper, we explored and theorised the experiences of academics who taught large classes at a research-intensive university in South Africa. We purposely recruited and interviewed eight academics for this case study. We drew on Chela Sandoval's (2013) philosophical notion of "decolonial love" to theorise what an inclusive, democratic and ubuntu-orientated teaching of large classes could look like for us in the global South, beyond the pandemic. The findings revealed that academics continue to be frustrated/challenged/made anxious with teaching large classes due to inadequate infrastructure (digital), lack of resources, and general unpreparedness with the virtual/online teaching and learning. The findings also revealed that large classes were problematic as academics struggled to provide critical engagements and discussions during the hard COVID-19 lockdown, and with some lamenting the frustrations of "teaching to themselves" due to the lack of student engagement. We conclude this paper by proposing a decolonial love approach to the online teaching and learning of large classes, underpinned by the ethics of care, compassion and understanding in curriculum imaginations.

Many reviewers of applications for ethical approval of research at universities struggle to understand what is considered ethical conduct in community-based research (CBR). Their difficulty in understanding CBR and the ethics embedded within it is, in part, due to the exclusion of CBR from researchers' mandatory research ethics training. After all, CBR challenges both pedagogically and epistemologically the dominant paradigm/s whose worldviews, values and inherent structures of power help sustain the status quo within academic institutions at large. Consequently, CBR ethics applications are often prolonged due to back-and-forth rebuttals. In this article, we analyse our experiences in a South African institution of the ethics approval process for our various CBR projects over the past couple of years. Data for this purpose was generated from analysis of our reflexive dialogues as well as our responses to feedback from the ethics review boards. To help support the trustworthiness of the study, we invited critical friends to a workshop to engage with our findings. We identified three main themes all associated with how the values, worldviews and approaches of CBR differ from those of the dominant research paradigm/s, that impeded on the progress of our applications through the ethics approval process. On the basis of our analysis, we offer guidelines and a participatory research checklist for university ethics review panels to help inform their evaluation of applications concerning CBR. While universities now actively promote community engagement initiatives, and since CBR is an efficacious approach to that end, we advocate for inclusion of CBR ethics in universities' mandatory ethics training, to help address ethical concerns that impede CBR research.

In this article, I reflect on my use of collage-making as an arts-based method in self-study doctoral research. My self-study was guided by sociocultural learning theories that assume education is an individual activity and a social phenomenon. I ask, "How did collage-making allow me to refine my teaching and learning?" I utilized collage-making has an evocative tool that profoundly contributes to qualitative research. I expressed what had been said and unsaid using pictures and word phrases using this method. I illustrate the evocative power of collage-making as a means to express what had been said and unsaid using pictures and word phrases. I demonstrate how collage-making aided me in reflecting upon my lived experiences and teaching. The collage data generation and analysis helped me realize an overarching understanding of self-study research in exploring arts-based research. In short, this process provided a framework for portraying and communicating my emotions and understanding. Collages inspired me to present my thoughts creatively and authentically and collage-making allowed me to find my personal and social voice and recollect thoughts and memories related to social and emotional learning. Collage-making can offer teachers and teacher educators an opportunity to question their teaching practice through self-inquiry and richer perspectives on their teaching and classroom practices.

This article is based on research into the phenomenon referred to as the "colonization of the mind." It commences with a discussion of four different backgrounds and concomitant experiences regarding this persistent form of colonization: two with reference to the authors of this article, and two with reference to distinguishable categories of Indigenous people who still feel the enduring effects of the colonization of the mind. After theorizing about the "living in two worlds" that seems to be typical of the colonization of the mind, the authors propose a number of biblically justifiable measures that can be implemented by those still feeling themselves suffering from this lingering form of colonization. These measures include the adoption of a reformed ontology, anthropology, ethics, and education. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of an adapted Citizenship Education school program that may contribute to the eradication of the colonization of the mind issue.

This study employed a concurrent embedded design to compare the accounting curricula of selected universities in Africa, America, Asia, and Europe, guided by International Education Standards (IES) 2, 3, 4, and 5. Fourteen universities from different continents were conveniently selected, and a descriptive content analysis was conducted to analyse the undergraduate accounting program contents. The findings reveal that the accounting education in selected African universities aligns with IES 2, 3, 4 and other universities, countering claims of inferiority. However, the universities' curricula in Africa lack practical job-related competencies (IES 5) due to limited opportunities for experiential learning. Disparities exist in the emphasis on IES competencies, potentially leading to imbalanced development among graduates. African universities prioritise employment-oriented education, while those in America, Asia, and Europe emphasise professional progression. Recommendations include enhancing ethics and professional values, allocating more curriculum space for ethical behaviour promotion, and creating room for practical skills acquisition to facilitate students' application of learned concepts and facilitate potential remediation.

Background: Since the beginning of the new democratic era of 1994 in South Africa, human rights and values concerns have been placed on the forefront of educational research to respond to the needs of the South Africa's Constitution as well as the intentions of public school curricula. It is believed that qualified physical education teachers can address the fading of values and recession of morals in schools by promoting value-based education into their physical education lessons to provide a holistic approach to learning. Aim: This article aims to identify the values that pre-service teachers deem are important to be taught at school. Setting: The study was conducted in the Gauteng Province. Methods: A questionnaire was employed to collect quantitative data (close-ended questions) and qualitative data (open-ended questions) from all final year BEd physical education students (n = 68). Results: Sixty-eight values were identified: respect (n = 47), honesty/integrity (n = 23) and courage/perseverance/determination (n = 25) were ranked as the three values these teachers considered as important for inclusion in a physical education curriculum. Conclusion: These pre-service physical education teachers indicated that learners could learn core values and basic human rights in a conducive and safe learning environment by employing role-play, games and modelling as the main strategies to infuse values in their physical education lessons.

South African Higher ]Education Institutions are diverse, highly debated by academia as well as the portfolio committee on higher education and structured with a strong focus on the customer being students, with a negligible concern for the academic and professional employees. The revolutionary changes at Higher Education Institution have gestured the importance of both leadership and employees to support the transformational strategy at these institutions. Higher Education transformation has a lot to do with leadership - not the leadership of the Vice-chancellor, but the leadership of a collective of people, executive management leadership, line management leadership, academics and administration, and other stakeholders (MacGregor, 2015:28; 2012). The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between the ethical leadership style of line management leadership, and academic and administrative at a South African Higher Education Institution in KwaZulu-Natal. Data analysis utilized a quantitative method with an academic sample size of 165 (52.9%) and administrative sample size of 147 (47.1%). The study used descriptive and linear regression analysis to examine the two variables. The descriptive findings revealed that ethical leadership style was not present at the line management leadership level. The inferential analysis findings exhibited a significant strong linear relationship of 74.7% between line management leadership and employee items. Data analysis revealed that line management leadership style had an impact on employees' performance and behavior at the institution. Thus, it is imperative to have a fully engaged workforce in order for an institution to achieve greater levels of innovation, intrapreneurship, design thinking and financial management.

This study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis of the articles about values education in the Web of Science database. To this end, analyzes were provided of 254 articles deemed suitable for the analysis from the articles collected from the database. Bibliometric analysis was performed for the most used keywords, the most used words in the abstract, the most cited authors, the most cited countries, the most cited journals about values education via the VOSviewer program. Furthermore, the articles' publication years and languages were identified. Values education, values, education, moral education are the most used keywords. Data, level, and program are the most commonly used words in the abstract. The most cited writers (cocitation) in values education are Lovat, Thornberg and Kohlberg. According to both co-citation and citation analysis of the most cited journal, it is the Journal of Moral Education. The countries that are most cited are the United States, Australia, and England. Even though the first study in this field was conducted in 1970, the majority of researches were performed in 2019. The publication language of the articles has been discovered to be predominantly English. It is assumed that the findings obtained would provide the researchers with a general framework in this field. Suggestions for further studies are brought in as a result of the study.

Background: Digital storytelling (DST) has been embraced in classrooms around the world as a way to unpack issues of identity and positionality which are critical for any pedagogy concerned with social justice. However, adopting this process-orientated practice into higher education raises ethical concerns especially in relation to the normative approach to traditional research. Objectives: The objective of this article was to explore the ethical concerns surrounding DST when used as a pedagogy and to determine if an 'ethics of care' approach could help to mitigate the ethical dilemmas experienced by teachers and researchers alike. Method: A single case study, narratives, illustrations and reflections from a final-year arts education project were used to explore some of the ethical issues we encountered when employing DST as a pedagogy and in educational research. Results: The results of this reflection show that special attention needs to be paid to the following issues: the collection and interpretation of data, how anonymity and confidentiality are ensured in DST, who owns the stories, how sampling is conducted and how consent is sought and, finally, how the tenant of 'do no harm' is adhered to in DST. Conclusion: We argue that traditional deontological approaches to ethics are not able to fully respond to the complex, nuanced and ongoing concerns posed by DST projects. We adopt Joan Tronto's Ethic of Care to argue that ethical practice cannot be contained in codes of conduct alone and cannot simply be signed off on by institutional review boards, but is rather a matter of a daily personal, professional and political caring practice.

Background: The reconfiguration of the contemporary university as a consequence of the (re)ascendency of neoliberal politics has not escaped South African universities. The higher education landscape in the country is characterised by performativity regimes -- discourses on quality assurance, efficiency and accountability abound and so too modes of regulation based on rewards, sanctions and censorship. Aim: The article explores the extent to which these two conflicting ethical discourses (principlism and rational self-interest) have a bearing on a South African case that resulted in an investigation into research misconduct at a South African university. Setting: The broader setting is the neoliberal university. The specific setting is Stellenbosch University. As is the case with many western(ised) universities, this higher education institution has not escaped neoliberal influences. Methods: The methods used combine conceptual exploration supported by a case study. The usage of case in this study does not refer to how it is typically used in qualitative research. The focus is not on a bounded system but on the narrative essence of the case, more akin to the usage of 'case' in law and medicine. Results: The philosophical tensions between the two discourses on ethics might be overcome by refocusing the university on the public good, instead of valorising the individual. Conclusion: Overcoming the philosophical tensions between the two discourses might only be possible through recognising the value of an immanent rather than a transcendent ethics.

In this paper, we present the findings of a qualitative study conducted in 2018 in five schools (three primary and two secondary schools) in a rural community in the south of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (SA). It adopted a case study methodology and explored principals' understandings and practices of servant leadership (SL), which is assumed to be part of principals' leadership approaches. A review of literature suggested a dearth of empirical studies in this area in SA despite its importance. The findings indicate that close to three decades since SA became a democratic country, research suggests that the notion and values of putting people first has not taken root. The findings also suggest that principals have a limited understanding of the concept of accountability as an inextricable component of SL. Consequently, accountability to external bodies is prioritized.

As the most stigmatised epidemic in history -- the human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) have proven to be a fierce challenge to humanity. The stigmatisation associated with the HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to destroy societies worldwide. The present study was designed to explain the challenges faced by teachers living with HIV. Transformational and ethics of care theories framed this research study. A narrative research design rooted in social constructivism was used to gather qualitative data. The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis, where descriptive, process, and emotion codes were used to interpret the data. Key findings speak to affected teachers' social exclusion, stigmatisation and discrimination, inadequate care and support, physical debilitation as well as psychological stress and depression. All these conditions resulted in teachers being unable to perform their tasks at optimal level in South African schools.

The paper reflects whether it is too much to ask for a 'compassionate' university. It is an opinion piece as a response about how to make a shift against narratives that oppress, and how to respond positively to the 'compelling need for compassionate academic leadership in our universities' (Waddington, 2018, p.87). The authors draw on writers from more demanding educational circumstances -- from the socially charged environments of late twentieth century Brazil and the emergence of post-apartheid South Africa -- to provide inspiration that demonstrates change is possible in the academy.

Background: Post-positivist critics of the linear-rational understanding of the role of knowledge in decision making have long argued the need for the construction of socially robust knowledge to illuminate policy problems from a variety of perspectives, including lived experiences. Aims and objectives: This article charts the attempts of researchers to employ a creative method, digital storytelling, alongside more traditional scientific data in stakeholder deliberations to inform local food governance in South Africa. Methods: Four storytellers from a marginalised group created and introduced their digital story about a 'time when they had to make a difficult choice about what food to purchase or get' to a public governance forum and the reactions of the audience self-reported. Findings: The digital stories were emotionally compelling and gave granular detail to the more top-down perspective of the scientific data. There were concerns, however, for the welfare of the storytellers when introducing their stories in the forum. Discussion and conclusion: Our findings highlight the multi-functionality of digital storytelling as a method of creativity within the process of co-production, not just as a technique to make visible knowledge from marginalised groups, but also as a mechanism (when used and viewed in a wider governance context) to promote knowledge mobilisation and alternative ways of knowing. The use of digital storytelling in these wider governance contexts, or social learning spaces, however, also surfaces ethical and other risks.

This article is written with the recognition that, as higher education studies evolve as a multidisciplinary area of inquiry, there is a need to reflect on the theoretical and practical concerns emerging from conducting higher education research. This is especially the case for early-career researchers who enter this relatively new field of study. This article attempts to explore the fieldwork component of the research process considering our experiences as early-career researchers conducting PhD studies in four universities in southern and eastern Africa. The article focuses on issues related to ethics, gaining and negotiating access to the field, and dealing with positionality during fieldwork. While reflecting on these experiences, we also attempted to explore if there are any fieldwork dynamics that are peculiar to the African higher education context that may be considered during data collection. Reflecting on our experiences, we have argued that, in some institutions, necessary procedures for researching higher education need to be in place, while with the ones that have institutionalised mechanisms the procedures adopted need to be aligned with contextual realities and should focus on ethical considerations rather than protecting the reputation of universities. Our fieldwork experience has also made us realise that the advice given to early-career researchers both in the literature, seminars and courses they attend may not adequately prepare them for the unpredictable fieldwork dynamics. In that regard, we have suggested that there is a need to prepare emerging researchers to be open-minded, flexible, reflexive, innovative and adaptable when going out to the field.

Public education is not just a way to organise and fund education. It is also the expression of a particular ideal about education and of a particular way to conceive of the relationship between education and society. The ideal of public education sees education as an important dimension of the common good and as an important institution in securing the common good. The common good is never what individuals or particular groups want or desire, but always reaches beyond such particular desires towards that which societies as a whole should consider as desirable. This does, of course, put the common good in tension with the desires of individuals and groups. Neo-liberal modes of governance have, over the past decades, put this particular educational set up under pressure and have, according to some, eroded the very idea of the common good. This set of contributions reflects on this state of affairs, partly through an exploration of the idea of publicness itself -- how it can be rearticulated and regained -- and partly through reflections on the current state of education in the 'north' and the 'south.'

Are social science, cross-border research projects, where recruitment and data collection are carried out remotely (e.g. through social media and online platforms), required to follow similar ethical and data-sharing procedures as 'on-the-ground' studies that use traditional means of recruitment and participant engagement? This article reflects on our experience of dealing with this question when we (multi-national but UK based researchers) had to switch to online data collection due to the restrictions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the inability to travel or work in person with local communities and collaborators. Using social media platforms and online data collection when conducting research brings many advantages, such as being able to communicate remotely but directly with gatekeepers and collaborators, and in reaching potential participants on a global scale. However, neither the guidelines and advice for conducting ethically sound internet-based research, nor the academic literature focussed on building equitable research partnerships between the Global North and the Global South, offer much information regarding the ethical concerns, or address the grey areas, posed by this type of digital and distanced transnational research. In our experience, conducting research remotely made negotiations of access very challenging due to the politics of positionality between Global North and South researchers, lack of clarity on ethical processes and (mis)perceptions of gatekeepers who we could not meet in person. We hope the reflections on, and discussion of, our experience encourage deliberation on the present ethical challenges posed by online and social-media-disseminated data collection, particularly in cross-border circumstances.

Unethical behaviour has become an increasingly controversial issue in Higher Education institutes. There have been debates about the reasons for the increase in unethical behaviour. But many of those debates contain problems. A key problem has been the lack of empirical results about faculty members' perceptions of their role in the phenomenon, how cultural contexts influence the perception of university teachers about their role in the academic integrity field and whether conflicts exist between what they believe their role should be and the types of roles they actually play. The aim of the study is to explore this aspect using a qualitative research design to facilitate comprehensive access to faculty members' beliefs and practices. The findings suggest that professors believe the teaching role extends beyond encouraging the learning of the subject matter being studied and includes offering education and information to students about the importance of avoiding academic misconduct such as cheating and plagiarism. Implications for university across different countries are also discussed.

In this article we argue for the need to take the moral voices of children and youth seriously particularly in times of the Anthropocene. Drawing on theories in ethics by John Wall, moral development according to Mark B. Tappan, and education in line with the works by Vygotsky, we construct a conceptual framework where the notions 'narrative,' 'moral authorship' and 'free will' can open new creative understandings of human ethical competence; a competence based in a relational, contextual and societal-cultural understanding of human existence. The use of our framework is illustrated in interpretations of empirical research with children demonstrating concerns of theirs in relation to climate change. The article concludes with reflections on the kind of education that can be inspired by this framework and the taking of children's voices seriously, as well as pointing to challenges also to the grown-up world.

The call for the decolonisation of universities and curricula in South Africa was at the centre of the 2015 Fallist protests. The protests, which left a trail of destruction and many universities closed for periods of time, had as one of their positive outcomes the precipitation of a renewed interest in the decolonisation of university education debate. The debate on decolonisation at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) in South Africa is long overdue, given that the Western model of academic organisation on which it, like most South African universities, is based, remains largely Eurocentric. This paper adds to the debate by discussing what decolonisation might mean to the DUT's students, staff and the greater community. It explores the importance of decolonisation and how this process can be taken forward at DUT. The purpose is not to prescribe how decolonisation is to be done but to open up ways of (re)thinking university curricula and opportunities for further discussion and action.

In this article, bullying in South African schools is conceptualised regarding both the phenomenon and the leadership style using a relational framework. An instrumental case study nested in social constructivism was applied. I employed semistructured interviews, including some open-ended questionnaires, based on the same interview questions. Research participants were sampled purposively, after selecting a few schools that were part of a larger research project investigating bullying with the aim of countering this problem. To this end, I sourced data from 12 principals in these schools to inquire into their leadership style, and the possible ways in which a relational stance might assist in combatting this social and educational dilemma in schools. Empirical data revealed that in many cases where the school principals honed values such as care and relational attributes in their daily leadership practices, learners were more likely to respond to the relational and caring practices that they witnessed and experienced. A relational leadership style could assist in countering bullying, setting caring and supportive examples for both teachers and learners, adding much worth to a favourable educational landscape.