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This paper aims to explore student experiences resulting from collaborative teaching and learning of academic literacy and content knowledge, for multiple objectives at a South African University of Technology. Using the qualitative research approach, undergraduate students who attended the Communication Skills course were randomly selected. Data were collected using in-depth interviews and questionnaires. The data were thematically coded to make sense of the experiences shared by the participants. The results indicated that academic literacy courses in the Faculty of Applied Sciences at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) were often regarded as peripheral, until we the lecturers in the present study collaborated to align disciplinary or content knowledge with academic literacy. Our alignment included the practice of decolonising the language and academic literacy curriculum, collaborative teaching, integrating content and language teaching and learning, and implementing a range of blended pedagogies, along with social media. Based on the student reflection and feedback, we are inclined to conclude that this pedagogy enhanced the overall teaching and learning experience. We further found that student learning experiences improved as the literacy course was moved from the periphery to the mainstream of the academic project by adopting various approaches in teaching and learning, guided by student needs, the language context of the class, and the learning outcomes or needs of the discipline.

This study was designed to investigate the perceptions of teachers and subject advisers regarding the curriculum development processes in Fort Beaufort District in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The sample consisted of twenty-two respondents: four principals, twelve teachers and six subject advisers. Data were collected through structured face-to-face interviews, focus group discussions and document analysis. The findings revealed that both teachers and subject advisers were concerned about the quality of teachers and learners as well as delivery of the curriculum. They also expressed concern about the quality of workshops; pointing to how much participation from teachers and subject advisers occurs in these workshops. Their responses create space for the researcher to engage with the question, does their involvement in these workshops help them to understand the curriculum and implement it better? Hence, this study recommends that the quality of teachers, learners and subject advisers should be considered while carrying out curriculum development processes.