OpenUCT :: Browsing by Author "Ismail, Salma"

Browsing by Author "Ismail, Salma"

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Open Access
A Comparative Study of the Freirean Pedagogical Practices employed by Popular Educators in South Africa and Canada during Facilitator Training
(2018) Steer, Ashleigh; Ismail, Salma
This thesis sets out to explore a comparative study of four Popular Educators using Freirean pedagogical practices in Canada and South Africa and discusses how different country contexts affect their pedagogies. This study explores how critical pedagogy addresses the mobilization of theory and its application into practice in different contexts. In order to analyse and conceptualize the facilitator’s pedagogy and the mobilization of Freire’s theory into their practice; Freire’s critical pedagogical theory was drawn on as well as the theories of other critical and feminist pedagogues, some of who analyse how theory is mobilized into practice. Foley’s theory of ideology is also drawn on alongside Freire’s educational theory. Finally, theories and research examining contextualized pedagogy is employed to analyse how Freire’s critical pedagogy is applied in different social contexts. This is a qualitative comparative study and the research took place in both Cape Town, South Africa and Toronto, Canada and utilized three forms of qualitative data collection tools; interviews, observations and document analysis. The researcher observed two days of workshops for each organisation, conducted interviews with four facilitators and four participants, two facilitators and two participants from each organisation, and carried out document analysis using one organisation information brochure or website from each organisation. Key findings have suggested that the lead facilitators’ pedagogies are greatly influenced by their foundational insurgent, liberating ideologies; ideologies that have been formed over their lifetime through life experiences and engagement with influential theorists and their theories. The lead facilitators’ pedagogies in both contexts pedagogies employ aspects from the Freirean model such as guided student-centred learning. However, availability of access to resources in each context affected facilitators’ ability to engage in different forms of student-centred learning activities. The study confirmed that facilitator’s curriculums were engaging with relevant issues pertaining to students lives, but the delivery of these issues did not align with a Freirean model in both contexts. The divergence from a Freirean delivery was found to be interwoven within the power relations in the classroom. The findings revealed that is seemed difficult for lead facilitators to completely dissolve hierarchies in the classroom, even though an exchange of knowledge was greatly advocated by both facilitators and participants. This study has elucidated how important it is to consider a multitude of factors, including contextual and personal histories when attempting to appropriately contextualize pedagogical models to be conducive to different contexts.
Open Access
An exploration of factors which enabled student learning in the SHAWCO service-learning program at UCT
(2023) Mzizana, Lungisa; Ismail, Salma
My study is situated within the context of the increasing internationalisation of Higher Education (HE) which has become significant in a globalised society. Academic Institutions are required to produce graduates that can fit into different environments across the globe, with cross-cultural awareness and an understanding of the complexity of a globalised world. Global education has become important in promoting and facilitating the acquisition of these graduate attributes. Therefore, understanding student learning experiences in global education programs is vital for university academics, adult educators and organisations involved in the field. This study explores student's learning experiences in a SHAWCO service-learning (SSL) program at the University of Cape Town (UCT) for five international students. The SSL program hosts international students and integrates formal and informal learning. Learning takes place in many different sites such as learning in lectures, educational site visits and in community-based organisations. The program design allows international students to explore South African history, contemporary issues, and the complexities of transitioning into a democratic state. The aim of the study is to understand factors that enhanced learning for five international students who were part of the SSL program at UCT between 2016 and 2018. The study explores mixed pedagogical practices and their influence in the learning process. John Dewey's experiential theory (1938) and David Kolb (1984) who deepened experiential theory by developing a conceptual framework of cycles of learning and reflection are used in the discussion and analysis of the findings. Paulo Freire' s (1970) critical pedagogy is drawn on as his dialogical methods influenced the design of the SSL program and feminist theory which provides a critique to experiential learning. The study makes links with similar research such as Coryell (2011, 2013) and Pipitone (2017, 2018). In addition, South African studies including McMillan's (2011) study on service learning as a boundary between the university and communities, and Gredley's (2013) study on making sense of student's learning through service learning. A qualitative case study design was used to gather data through interviews from five US students who formed part of the SSL program and document analysis. The students were interviewed in their home country. The interviews took place using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). This technology is used to send voice and video in real time. An interpretive approach was used to analyse experiences to give a deeper and an extensive representation of student learning experiences in the program. The findings indicate that students' learning was enhanced by the dialogical and reflective learning methods used which democratised learning and allowed for critical engagements. The study illustrated the value of pedagogical practices which integrate formal and informal learning, in the lecture, education site visits and in incidental experiences. The conclusion is that these pedagogical tools allowed students to learn intensely about South Africa's history and challenges in a new complex democracy.
Open Access
By which tools?: A critical comparative analysis of pedagogic discourse for the creative arts in formal and informal classrooms in a working class post-apartheid context
(2017) Mokou, Goitsione; Luckett, Kathy; Ismail, Salma
This research study was motivated by a research project which observed differences in achievement levels within the creative arts classroom between working class schools and middle class schools. These achievement gaps were largely attributed to inadequate pedagogue skills and content knowledge and the lack of adequate materials in working class schools. The research project sought a way to address this problem by initiating a 2-year pilot extracurricular project at one working class school by introducing a methodology, freespace, which sought to simultaneously bring in facilitators and practitioners who work in the creative arts and also to provide the resources needed. Freespace is described as an informal educational tool which draws its principles from popular education discourse. The purpose of this research study was to conduct a comparative analysis of the transmission of pedagogic discourse between the informal classroom (freespace) and the formal classroom; with a particular emphasis on the regulative discourse inherent to both practices. Furthermore, this research study sought to understand the sort of contribution that informal pedagogic practice might make to the formal creative arts classroom. In order to conduct this study I employed Bernstein's model of the pedagogic device to set out my research design. I also used his methodology of developing an external language of description for coding my data. I conducted interviews with pedagogues and classroom observation to collect my data. The interview data were coded using Maton's development of Bernstein's code theory, namely Legitimation Code Theory (Specialisation) using epistemic and social relations, to allow me to capture the values and intentions of the pedagogues (the intended curriculum). To capture the enacted curriculum, I used Bernstein's framing dimensions to code the data from the classroom observations. The findings of this research study suggest that the pedagogic discourse(s) of both the formal and informal context and their inherent regulative discourses privilege an ideal learner-knower. In conclusion, this research study seeks to suggest that while the cultivated gaze has proven beneficial with respect to inculcating learners into a given dominant discourse, particularly within the creative arts; that an argument can also be made for adopting a social gaze in this particular context (working class school) in order to a) allow learners to be adequately socialised into art practise and b) allow for a plurality of the epistemic in order that both the dominant gaze and notions of achievement and effective pedagogy might be disrupted.
Open Access
'Did I say that?' A follow-up study of the shifts in black and women staff experiences of institutional culture in the health science faculty of the University of Cape Town
(Taylor & Francis, 2007) Ismail, Salma
This paper is a follow-up study of how women and black staff experience the institutional culture in the Health Sciences Faculty at the University of Cape Town. The original study was undertaken in 2001 and a follow-up of the same participants was conducted five years later in 2006. The study explores, through qualitative research methods, how change strategies have influenced the institutional culture and whether they have contributed to positive or negative experiences for black and women staff. The theoretical framework draws on the literature which focuses on institutional barriers to change in particular for black and women staff, as well as the impact of transformation policies, globalisation, and change strategies on institutional change and the work experience. The study demonstrates the complexity of the institutional culture in a Health Sciences Faculty and makes links between change strategies and cultural change. In so doing it demonstrates that there has been a positive shift in black and women's experiences of institutional culture.
Open Access
Diversity intervention for health educators : a detailed description of diversity workshops with health educators at UCT
(2011-12) Ismail, Salma; Steyn, Melissa
This report is of value to scholars of organisational transformation in post-apartheid South African organisations. Also, diversity practitioners who work in the context of higher education will find this report to be of interest. The diversity workshops were held with academic staff who supervise fourth year medical students' research and health promotion projects in the Public and Primary Health Care Department at the University of Cape Town. These include staff who are site facilitators, lecturers and registrars in the Health Science Faculty. Many of them, except for the site facilitators, who mainly supervise the health promotion projects, have had no training in teaching methodology or educational theory. Therefore, the emphasis of the training was on the supervision of the research (Epidemiology) projects. The supervisors were facing complex challenges in establishing new ways of teaching to support the changing learning environment - small group learning in institutional and community settings, and the increasing diversity of the student body. To enable staff to respond to these challenges an Adult Educator from the Centre of Higher Education and Development was asked to run workshops with staff in which diversity is made an explicit presence in the learning process. This report documents the process of the workshop implementation.
Open Access
An exploration of the role of adult literacy in community development : a comparative study of perceptions and experiences in Juaso and Saaman in Ghana
(2016) Nkansah, Theophilus; Ismail, Salma
This study explored the relationship between adult literacy and community development in Ghana from a social practices perspective of literacy and people- centred development. The study adopted an interpretive qualitative case study methodology, using the perceptions and experiences of research participants in two neighbouring communities. Primary data were collected using four ethnographic methods of data collection namely: in-depth interviews, participant observation, informal conversations, and document review. The data was then analysed using the constant comparative method. Consistent with the claims of the social practice theory of literacy, the study found many social uses of literacy, as well as literacy practices among the learners. It also identified many community-wide literacy practices. These included commercial literacy, religious literacy, funeral literacy, and public communications literacy. The study established that in both communities, adult literacy, in terms of participation in adult literacy classes, or the social uses of literacy by learners, did not lead to community development. However, some of the general literacy practices like reading and writing, funeral literacy, and public communications literacy played roles in the implementation of community development. Development committees, for instance, used reading and writing in activities like ii taking minutes at committee meetings, writing letters to donors for support, and collecting levies.
Open Access
Exploring indigenous knowledge practices concerning health and well-being: a case study of isiXhosa-speaking women in the rural Eastern Cape
(2015) Hobongwana-Duley, Helen Yolisa; Cooper, Linda; Ismail, Salma; Soudien, Crain
This thesis explores, analyzes and conceptualizes the indigenous knowledge practices concerning health and well-being held by different generations of women and how they are reproduced cross-generationally in a rural isiXhosa-speaking community. It also explores how the relationship between concepts of self, personhood and Ubuntu informs women's agency. Additionally, this thesis explores how the indigenous knowledge practices might have the potential to augment inclusive and relevant tools for learning for young women, girls and youth. This study adopts a critical, holistic and interpretive approach through an ethnographic case study. Qualitative data was gathered over an 18-month period, through ethnographic observations, informal interactions, semi-structured interviews and one focus group. Observations provided insight into the social structure of the community, women's agency, and indigenous knowledge practices that support well-being. They also brought a greater awareness of the ways in which Ubuntu philosophy is embedded within indigenous practices that support individual and collective wellbeing. Interviews created a deeper understanding of women's agency and the choices women make regarding well-being, and how knowledge practices are reproduced. Evidence from this study is presented and findings are analyzed drawing from Giddensâ€™ critical theory, with emphasis on social structure and agency, the philosophy of Ubuntu, EngestrÃ¶mâ€™s Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), literatures on indigenous knowledge practices and systems, and theories of informal and situated learning, in three chapters, each dealing with "the ecology of the homestead"; "health practices"; and "childbirth and childrearing" respectively. Central findings indicate that indigenous knowledge practices are usually reproduced informally through rituals, ceremonies, and everyday tasks and skills for living within the homestead and are often situated in communities of practice. Other findings indicate that women choose biomedicine for childbirth while also using indigenous practices for health and well-being; NGO outreach workers and mentors often act as â€˜boundary workersâ€™, helping to narrow the boundaries between activity and knowledge systems. However, knowledge that is reproduced in more formal settings such as school often results in gaps in knowledge reproduction, especially among youth. Due to multiple knowledges being harnessed and reproduced simultaneously, this thesis concludes that different knowledges are practised, are valued and are integral to the choices women make around well-being, which illuminates the value of indigenous knowledge practices in facilitating cultural identity and ontological security. This thesis contributes to theories of knowledge and how knowledge and knowledge reproduction may be viewed and understood, particularly with regard to informal learning. These insights can be applied to developing curricula that acknowledge and are inclusive of indigenous knowledge practices, processes of informal knowledge reproduction and multiple knowledge practices or ways of knowing.
Open Access
Exploring the access and influence of Edu TV and radio programs on the learners' self-directed learning among the grade 12 learners enrolled on distance mode at Namibian College of Open Learning (NAMCOL )
(2020) Nenghwanya, Erestine; Ismail, Salma
This research study focused on the issue of access to flexible learning and the use of technology (radio and TV) to assist in the learning process. The study was aimed at measuring the influence of these technology services among grade 12 learners enrolled on distance mode at Namibia College of Open Learning (NAMCOL). The majority of distance education systems around the world have the same general structure of guiding students, which are based primarily on student-centered learning that demands a learner to work independently. Regular lecturing facilities for distance learners are only possible in scheduled workshops at study centers. These provisions are however, inconvenient since most distance learners are working people, as well as inadequate to provide the necessary educational guidance to distance learners. In situations where regular interaction between teacher and student is limited or not possible, the media plays a vital role in providing educational assistance to these learners. NAMCOL, as an institution, has embraced the concept of utilizing media to assist distance learners with programs such as Edu TV and Radio Programmes as well as Online resources. Self-directed learning theories and Malcolm Knowles's theory of Andragogy were used as the theoretical frameworks for the study. In exploring access and influence of Edu TV and radio program on the learner's self-directed learning among the grade 12 learners enrolled at distance mode at Namibian College of Open Learning (NAMCOL), the researcher employed several research strategies to measure the influence that flexible programs have on learners. The research strategies employed in the study included questionnaires and interviews, which were used to yield both qualitative and quantitative research data. The main findings of the study were that the flexible learning policy implemented by NAMCOL is proving successful in affording distance learners access to Edu TV and radio program services. All participants indicated that the lessons were informative. Furthermore, it helps learners to assume responsibility for their learning. However, additional efforts from all stakeholders are required to keep up with the ever-expanding demand for ODL platforms. The study further revealed that implementing appropriate Andragogy fostered self-directed learning. In light of the findings of the research and the Andragogy applied, even though learners have access to the Edu programs, the lack of physical and appropriate technologies can impact negatively. For example, you can be self-directed, but if there are physical constraints and challenges in the pedagogy, the learners are demotivated to be self-directed.
Open Access
Exploring whether learning can contribute towards sustainable development : a case study of a social enterprise in the clothing and textile industry in the Western Cape
(2013) Morison, Wendy; Ismail, Salma
This study explores whether learning can contribute towards Sustainable Development by focusing on a Fairtrade registered social enterprise, named Shanti (pseudonym). Shanti was founded to provide unemployed and marginalised women with an opportunity to earn a living through establishing sewing cooperatives. The cooperatives are womenâ€™s worker cooperatives that are located in several townships in the Western Cape, South Africa. Through training it was intended for the women in the cooperatives and by association Shanti, to achieve Sustainable Development. The development strategy pursued by Shanti and the broad spectrum of the womenâ€™s learning was revealed. The study is inter-disciplinary and the conceptual framework therefore centered on two primary themes, namely development and learning. The development theme was divided into two sub-themes that considered mainstream and alternative development strategies. Mainstream development and the macro factors that related to it, namely globalization and neoliberalism were elucidated by theorists such as Stiglitz (2002) and Castells (1999). Of specific relevance to my study was the impact of neoliberalism on SA government policy that affected the Clothing and Textile (C&T) Industry, elaborated on by Ramdass (et al 2011) and Barnes (2005) among others. Alternatives to the mainstream, namely Sustainable Development, Fairtrade and cooperative development were proposed. The research differentiated between the general use of the term sustainable development and the holistic concept of Sustainable Development as informed by Dresner (2002). The learning theme primarily covered Prior and Experiential Learning (Fenwick 2001, Fischer 2005), as well as Womenâ€™s Learning which argues that women learn differently as a gendered group (Gallos 2000; Shrewsbury (1993). Finally the study explored issues that are particular to worker cooperatives, which were elaborated on by Philip (2003) and Lima (2007) among others.
Open Access
Investigating the tripartite aspects of transactional distance in a blended multimedia adult literacy programme
(2020) Okkers, Muhammad; Ismail, Salma
This study investigates the role of transactional distance in an Adult Basic Education and Training Level One (ABET L1) multimedia, blended learning programme. While empirical research acknowledges that dialogue assumes an important role in mediating the communicative chasm between adult learner and facilitator, how this is mediated through a blended multimedia methodology at ABET L1 , is not clear. This study attempts to investigate some of the complexities in this mediation. The study focused primarily on the interplay of dialogue in relation to programme structure, learner autonomy, and how these variables influenced adult learning. The study consisted of a cohort sample of 20 ABET Level 1 learners on a blended learning programme at a food production plant in Cape Town. A mixed methods approach incorporating both quantitative and qualitative instruments was used to answer the research questions. A range of data collection instruments, namely a survey, interviews, and observations, was utilized to gather and analyze the data. With a particular focus on dialogue, this approach allowed the study to investigate the influence and interaction of the tripartite variables of Transactional Distance Theory on adult learning at ABET L1 and the scope of transactional distance created by these interactions. Both quantitative and qualitative findings suggest that in the absence of constructive, meaningful dialogue and scaffolded learning practices, barriers to learning are accentuated in this blended learning environment and results in increased transactional distance. Findings from the data suggest that improved regular face-to-face facilitator contact throughout the programme could avert learner frustration and demotivation and thereby decrease transactional distance. General consensus is that dialogue plays a critical role in mediating adult learning. While multimedia approaches to blended adult learning in South Africa appear to provide appropriate and effective learning methodologies to address adult literacy education, the findings of this research study suggest that the complexity of literacy acquisition, particularly at ABET Level 1, requires much more than technological methods if literacy is to be seen in broader social and communicative terms. The findings of this study nevertheless remain anticipative that a synergistic and productive codependence can be negotiated between these loci. This particular learning environment could be improved by reassessing the interplay of dialogue, programme structure, and learner autonomy, hereby potentially reducing transactional distance by being cognizant that adult learning is not a homogenous enterprise unmindful of the nature of adult learners and the critical contexts of adult learning.
Open Access
An investigation of factors impacting on facilitator's implementation of a participatory development programme in Orange Farm, South Africa
(2008) Diedericks, Deborah R; Ismail, Salma; Cooper, Linda,
This thesis is concerned with investigating how four specific factors affected the implementation of a particular participatory development programme. As such, it is a case study of the Vukani group: a group of facilitators who implemented the participatory development programme of REFLECT in their area of Orange Farm, Johannesburg. The four factors guiding my empirical research were: facilitators' prior experience doing development work, personal motivations of facilitators, the extent and nature of organisational support for facilitators, and the extent and nature of facilitator peer support. REFLECT - Regenerated Freirean Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques - is an approach to adult literacy with a strong focus on participatory learning processes. It is a fusion of Freirean educational philosophies and the practical methodologies of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA). 'Implementation', for the purpose of this thesis, refers to the regular facilitation of a REFLECT circle, guiding circle members through the REFLECT learning cycle of critical analysis, reflection and action. The Vukani group was selected as the case study group, based on documented evidence that they had indeed implemented REFLECT. They were trained as REFLECT facilitators in October 2003. Four years later these facilitators had eight REFLECT circles running - two of which had been regularly meeting since late 2003 - and various community projects. My research is situated within an interpretivist framework, using qualitative data gathering methods. Interviews and observations were therefore my maIn fieldwork research tools. Additionally, the analysis of documentation, such as internal organisational documents and external research reports, provided in-depth information about the Vukani facilitators and their REFLECT circles.In summary, the evidence suggested that the following factors had indeed aided the Vukani facilitators in their implementation of REFLECT. Firstly, the facilitators' prior experience in doing development work. There was a clear progression that started from their involvement in another development programme and culminated in the eventual registration of Vukani. Secondly, the support that these facilitators had received in starting their own organisation, the function of arbitration that the independent board members fulfilled, and the ongoing training and remuneration provided, are all evidence of extensive organisational support that undoubtedly aided the Vukani facilitators in their implementation of REFLECT.
Open Access
Is knowing that you have rights enough? : exploring marginalised women's awareness, understanding and practice of the right to health
(2009) Thomas, Jacky; Ismail, Salma; London, Leslie
This research study explores women's awareness, understanding and practice of their rights to health. The target group in the case study is women. These women live in townships and informal settlements in Cape Town and are part of a community-based network called The Women's Circle (TWC). The purpose of this study ,is to advance understandings or bring out contradictions in current theoretical debates in relation to health and human rights. Primarily the study aims: II To generate knowledge which could assist in strengthening the TWC women's capacities to invoke their rights to health, access health and healthcare and improve the quality of their lives; * To identify whether the different theories of adult education can inform the work of the University of Cape Town (UCT) Health and Human Rights Unit, which is currently developing learning programmes around the right to health for civil society organisations; and * To gather empirical evidence to assist TWC in strengthening partnerships with the state and lobbying government around ensuring access to health rights and services. This study is inter-disciplinary and links adult education to health and human rights. Therefore the literature review draws on work of authors within the following domains: Nefdt (2003) in social services; Sen (1990) in development; London (2004); Ngwenya (2000) and Mann, Gruskin, Grodin and Annas (1999) in health and human rights. Furthermore, to analyse the women's learning the theoretical frarnework draws on literature in the field of adult education which include the Situated Learning theorists (Lave and Wenger, 1991), Phenomenological (Fenwick, 2001), (Mezirow, 1994) and Radical Feminist Pedagogy Ismail (2006); Walters (1998) and Weiler (1991) perspectives which provide theories that have direct relevance to this study in terms of the site of practice and its conceptions of learning and teaching.
Open Access
The Langa enrichment programme : a study of students' perceptions of the performance of the programme, undertaken to improve its functioning
(1993) Ismail, Salma; Millar, Clive
This study focuses on the Langa Enrichment Programme an educational support programme for black students studying under the Department of Education and Training in the Cape Peninsula. The study aimed to determine students' reasons for attending the programme, their perceptions of its strengths and weaknesses and their recommendations for improvements. Student expectations of the programme and reasons for the high dropout rate especially amongst Standard Nine and female students were explored. To contextualise the study and to give further insights into student views a brief summary of the apartheid education crisis is given. Educational support programmes are reviewed as is liberalism's response to the crisis in education and the history and culture of the South African Institute of Race Relations. The methodology used was two-fold: self-administered questionnaires to 126 Standard 10 Mathematics students and a series of focus group interviews with small groups of students. The findings may be summed up as follows. Students were generally positive towards the teachers, teaching methods and administration of the programme. They requested that teachers should teach and complete the syllabus, emphasizing exam questions, revision and scientific experiments, and explore alternative small group teaching with critical discussions. Students also requested a comprehensive career guidance programme, bursary information and increased financial assistance. Students expressed a reluctance to pay fees and this, coupled with increasing requests for financial and educational supp01t, raises the issue of welfarism on the programme. Reasons for the high dropout rate amongst Standard Nines included that they write an internal examination. Social pressures from boyfriends and peer groups and regarding clothes were given as reasons for female students dropping out of the programme. The students appear to determine the direction of the school in that as a result of their demands the programme has changed from an enrichment programme to a compensatory one. Recommendations in the concluding chapter of this study are that the Enrichment Programme should draw up clearer policy guidelines in conjunction with staff and students; liaison with DET secondary schools, tertiary institutions and other enrichment programmes should be improved; career guidance programmes linked to bursary information should be implemented; bursaries and other incentives should be linked to attendance and academic performance on the programme; a full time co-ordinator should be employed.
Open Access
Learning in Social Movements: A research study of awareness and understanding of a Treatment Literacy programme implemented by the Treatment Action Campaign in the Western Cape in the period 2001 to 2009
(University of Cape Town, 2020) Booysen, Fredalene; Ismail, Salma
This qualitative research study examines six participant's awareness and understanding of a Treatment Literacy (TL) programme implemented by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) in the Western Cape in the period 2001 to 2009. The study investigates what attracted the participants to the TAC; what they learnt and how this was taught; the extent, if any, to which participant's experiences changed their understanding of HIV and AIDS, sexuality, treatment and other health-related practices. To analyse participants' awareness levels, understanding and experiences, I drew on Freire (1970; 1985) and Mezirow (1991; 1994) adult education literature, more specifically literature addressing the social movements and how activists learn and teach in different context (informal and non-formal) such as Newman (1995) and Foley (1999). These perspectives underpin the central argument of the thesis, namely that adult education is contextual and has impact on awareness, understanding and experiences and in this case HIV and AIDS. A primary finding of the study is how the participants in the study perceived the world as central to their learning. Learning is thus a substantially personal experience; however, the development of the individual frequently occurs within a group dynamic. Participants felt that being part of TAC and fighting for access to treatment and helping other people who are either HIV positive or affected by HIV and AIDS, helped them in turn to deal with their own challenges of being HIV positive and affected with HIV and AIDS. Being HIV positive and receiving education from TAC has given participants dignity and the necessary consciousness to obtain control of their life. Participants also reported that the TL programme boosted their confidence and raised their level of awareness and understanding of the topic.
Open Access
Listening to experience: the narratives of a Zimbabwean migrant living and working in Cape Town
(2012) Bresnihan, Sive; Ismail, Salma; Grossman, Jonathan
This study explored the experiences of Tendai, a 50 year old migrant from Zimbabwe currently living and working in Cape Town. The approach adopted was that of narrative inquiry, an approach to research that advocates open and informal interviewing and brings theory into conversation with stories as opposed to using it as a kind of structuring framework. The field work for this study was carried out over a period of 4 moths. Interviews were held in Tendai's home in Khayelitsha and were recorded and transcribed, along with detailed field notes.
Open Access
A poor women's pedagogy' : an exploration of learning in a housing social movement
(2006) Ismail, Salma; Mama, Amina; Walters, Shirley
This study examines the critical role that adult education played in a housing social movement whose membership was mainly poor African women in informal settlements. In this social movement women have combined learning with the struggle to obtain social goods from the state. The study explores the interconnectedness between learning, development and social change. The conceptual framework developed from a feminist critique of popular education was applied in the methodology and yielded insights with regard to the learning of VM women. The feminist critique allowed for an exploration of the contradictions within popular education and people-centred development. In addition it provided a vocabulary to explain the learning and agency of VM women. The conceptual framework allowed me to argue that learning is contextual, and to analyse and understand learning in the micro-context (VM and the life changes and learning of VM women) it is necessary to examine the interaction between the macro-- (political, economic and policy context of South Africa) and micro-contexts. The interaction of these contexts has brought political opportunities to mobilise the agency of poor African women who were seeking solutions to their housing problems.
Open Access
Popular pedagogy and the changing political landscape: a case study of a women housing movement in South Africa.
(Taylor & Francis, 2009) Ismail, Salma
This paper sets out to explore the relationship between popular education and the changing South African political landscape through case study research of the Victoria Mxenge Housing Development Association. The research took place over an extended period of time from 1992–2003 and discusses how popular education was advocated by the South African Homeless People's Federation and its parent NGO (People's Dialogue); how it was implemented, how an increasing disjuncture between teaching and learning occurred, and how pedagogy was shaped by both political and personal factors. The paper discusses the interactions between social movements and NGOs and the limitations of social movements and popular education. It argues for a more nuanced conceptual understanding of learning in social movements within development contexts.
Open Access
Researching transformation at a South African university - ethical dilemmas in the politics of representation
(Taylor & Francis, 2011) Ismail, Salma
This article focuses on the complexity of researching institutional culture and the ethical dilemmas posed in representing staff according to race and gender, drawing on three qualitative studies undertaken at a previously white South African university between 2000 and 2007. During the research process, issues of representation became a concern both for participants and the researcher; specifically, some participants contested how they were categorised in interview transcripts and draft articles. Based on the empirical data of the three studies and using critical social theory and constructionist, feminist and post-colonial critiques, this article asks whether researchers can describe the lives of others without violating their reality, and argues for ethical representation that allows for advocacy and empowerment.
Open Access
'Respek vir ek, respek die plek!': a case study of a single popular educator's approach to pedagogy in post-apartheid South Africa
(2011) Pottier, Lyndal; Ismail, Salma
This thesis explores the pedagogy of a single popular educator, Mike Abrams, currently practising in post-apartheid South Africa. The study aimed to describe his ideology, educational theory and practice and to explore the links between these and current social justice issues in South Africa. It also aimed to locate his practice within his personal background. Mike Abrams was chosen as the subject of the case study owing to his extensive work and commitment as a popular educator.
Open Access
Straddling the nonformal and formal education paradigm: a qualitative study of transformative learning within an Islamic Teacher Education Programme presented in the Western Cape from 2012 to 2014
(2017) Jacobs, Yasmina; Ismail, Salma
This study addresses the question of the transformative effect of a nonformal learning programme for Muslim education practitioners - the Islamic Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) in the Western Cape, within the context of lifelong learning. It investigates the effect on participants' personal teaching practice and whether it assisted adult learners with decisions for further formal study. ITEP can be treated as an example of a wide variety of nonformal programmes within different contexts. The programme serves to fill the gap where no accommodation is afforded to it in the broader formal education provision of this country. This dissertation argues that nonformal education has the ability to be a springboard to launch educators on a trajectory of personal transformation and development in their own field of practice, as well as to forge a path that provides access to formal education. A qualitative research design and a narrative research method was utilised to answer the research question, drawing on a range of data - personal learning narratives of adult learners; interviews with a sample of six learners as well as journal entries. This approach allowed the study to demonstrate how participants gauged the readiness for change in their own transformative perceptions from their personal learning experiences in a safe environment. The spaces created within the programme created the opportunity for participants to reflect critically, participate and collaborate in a range of learning experiences that served as a catalyst for perspective transformation. The six participants of this study revealed how disorienting dilemmas, frame of reference and context are important to consider in programmes such as the ITEP. The research has shown that the provision of competent educators to teach, motivate and inspire is possible by means of teacher training in faith-based, indigenous and other non-western, nonformal spaces with a group of nonformal practitioners that generally do not have any access to formal higher education. While such a programme is rarely considered by policy efforts, it certainly does not diminish the legitimate role the programme plays and the value placed on it by the society which it serves.