Browsing by Author "Luckett, Kathy"
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- ItemOpen AccessBy 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, SalmaThis 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.
- ItemOpen AccessContradictions in the situational logic of the university: implications for student success(2014) Kotta, Linda; Case, Jenni; Luckett, KathyNearly sixteen years into the new democracy, student success at South African universities continues to be differentiated along lines of race. The tendency has been to define the problem in terms of student deficit. This article suggests that this is a limited view of a complex problem. The study investigates the case of a South African universitys engineering department and its historical struggle with the success of black students. It is an exploration of students progression through a design course and the associated pedagogical realities. Using a social realist approach, this study shows that the higher education environment is a complex of necessary contradictions which create a situational logic for agents. In the process of navigating the inconsistencies of a system in which academic development and quality assurance work against each other, it seems that black students get caught in the middle, with deleterious consequences for the countrys transformative agenda.
- ItemOpen AccessThe development of agency in first generation learners in higher education: a social realist analysis(Taylor & Francis, 2009) Luckett, Kathy; Luckett, ThembiThis paper reports on the findings of a formative evaluation of the mentorship support programme run by the Maskh'iSizwe Centre of Excellence for recipients of its bursaries. Learning theory traditions have typically been divided into those that prioritise individual cognition versus those that prioritise the context in which learning occurs. In both these traditions, the individual agent is dissolved. This paper interrogates the ontological assumptions held by dominant learning theories regarding relations between individual and society that neglect agency in the learning process. Archer's social realist ontology offers a way forward by reinstating the full properties and powers of learners as agents. Archer's social theory supports theories of learning that emphasise ontology and practice, as well as epistemology. It is therefore suggested that support programmes for undergraduate financially disadvantaged learners ensure that they first develop a sense of personal identity and social agency as a pre-condition for succeeding academically and developing a professional identity.
- ItemOpen AccessDisciplinarity in question: comparing knowledge and knower codes in sociology(Taylor & Francis, 2012) Luckett, KathyThis paper contributes to understanding why curriculum design in a discipline with a horizontal knowledge structure is difficult, time-consuming and contested. A previous paper on the same case study in one sociology department reported that students who had completed the general sociology major found it lacking in coherence. To illustrate the problem, I selected two third-year sociology courses, Urban Studies and Diversity Studies, and set out to compare and contrast how knowledge claims are made and legitimated in these two discourses. The paper also has a methodological focus – to demonstrate the potential of systemic functional linguistics as a method of discourse analysis that can complement and deepen a sociological analysis – Bernstein's sociology of education and in particular his concept of 'grammaticality'. I seek to make explicit the basis for knowledge claims in these two sub-disciplines and then to investigate how this 'grammar' is built into criteria for assessing students. The long-term goal of this project is pedagogic – to understand how academic discourses work, in order to contribute to the development of more coherent curricula and visible pedagogies with explicit assessment criteria, for the enhancement of teaching and learning. The analysis shows that the 'grammars' of these two academic discourses (in the same discipline, sociology) are based on different ordering principles: they are based on different ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions. The analysis also shows that the respective 'grammars' do 'get into' the assessment criteria, although in a contextually contingent manner. The paper concludes by suggesting that the use of SFL as a method of discourse analysis within a social realist sociology of education framework proved to be fruitful and worthy of further development, particularly for education development work where the quest to make explicit the criteria for producing a 'legitimate text' is critical.
- ItemOpen AccessDoes subject matter? A comparative study of framing and classification in the online and contact versions of two postgraduate management courses and the implications for student learning(2019) Karassellos, Lara Tracey; Wolmarans, Nicky; Luckett, KathyThis study is positioned in the context of the South African higher education landscape, which is currently grappling with issues of access and inequality. Online education is one of the potential approaches to expand access to South African students, but has often been met with skepticism as to its pedagogical quality, and has been perceived as an inferior alternative to traditional contact education. A comparative research design is followed in which two courses within a postgraduate marketing management qualification at a South African public university are compared. This qualification is offered in both contact and online format. The same courses within different modes of education are compared, as well as different courses within the same mode of education. A coding system was created based on Basil Bernstein’s concepts of framing and classification, and the courses were compared based on various dimensions of framing and classification. The study aimed to explore the affordances and limitations of both contact and online education. It was found that the ‘sequence’ and ‘pace’ aspects of framing are impacted by mode of education, with the online learning environment allowing students more agency in determining the pace and sequence of their learning. The ‘hierarchical rules’ aspect of framing is also impacted by mode, with the online courses offering an inherently non-hierarchical learning environment. It was found that weaker framing over these elements can present either an affordance or limitation, depending on the subject matter, with some types of subject matter being well suited to weaker framing over sequence, pace, and hierarchical rules, and others being constrained by it.
- ItemOpen AccessEducational Decision making among Grade 9 learners in Cape Town(2018) Begbie, Ceclin Kirsty; Luckett, KathyThe need for higher skill levels in South Africa’s labour market warranted an investigation into why some learners from poor communities make the decision to leave high school at the end of Grade 9, whilst other learners continue to Grade 12 or tertiary education. This exploratory, longitudinal study investigated the Educational Decision Making (EDM) of 16 Grade 9, Coloured, male learners from poor neighbourhoods in Cape Town. This study identified the socio-economic factors that influenced participants’ EDM to consider leaving the school system at the end of Grade 9, or continue their education. The study applied Miles and Huberman’s (1994) approach to identify links between the socio-economic factors that influenced EDM, and to understand the learners’ educational context. These interactions were investigated using Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Framework, comprising 5 traversing and Huberman’s (1994) approach to identify links between the socio-economic factors that influenced EDM, and to understand the learners’ educational context. These interactions were investigated using Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Framework, comprising 5 traversing layers, namely, the micro-system, meso-system, exo-system, macro-system, and chronosystem (Watts, Cockcroft & Duncan, 2009). This qualitative study drew on semi-structured, one-on-one interviews with learners in their Grade 9 year in 2015, and makes use of followup telephonic interviews (2016) and enrolment records (2017) to verify the findings. All learners made the decision to continue to Grade 12 or tertiary education. Examples of negative influences on EDM included socio-economic challenges presented by South Africa’s transition to democracy (Chrono-system), which impacted on other systems, including inadequate school facilities (exo-system), a family history of school dropout (mesosystem), and financial instability (micro-system). Examples of positive influences on EDM included financial stability in the household (mesosystem), and the resilience and agency of learners (microsystem).
- ItemOpen AccessExamining Institutional Practices and their effects on Student Success(2017) Adebulehin, Aderinsola Michelle; Luckett, Kathy; Morreira, ShannonGiven South Africa’s racialized history of access to education, redress efforts targeted at achieving equity in access to universities for students from across racial backgrounds have been well underway for over two decades now. More recently, within the higher education sector, ensuring that access translates into success has become a priority. Drawing on this concern, this research study looks into what constitutes success for previously excluded students at a historically white university. In addition, this research study examines the experiences of these students to uncover factors which contribute to either enabling or constraining their abilities to achieve this much sought after success. The analysis presented in this study arrived at the conclusion that institutional practices continue to entrench various forms of systematic exclusion which in turn significantly affect black students’ abilities to achieve success at a historically white university.
- ItemOpen AccessExplaining the relations between culture, structure and agency in lecturers' contribution and non-contribution to Open Educational Resources in a higher education institution(2016) Cox, Glenda; Hodgkinson-Williams, Cheryl; Luckett, KathyDespite the existence of many successful initiatives to promote the sharing and use of Open Educational Resources (OER), sharing and use of OER is not a widely accepted practice in higher education. The reasons for lecturers' choices on whether or not to contribute OER are poorly understood. This thesis develops a theoretically-based explanation of both why lecturers contribute and why they do not. The thesis addresses the question: How do the relations between culture, structure and agency influence lecturers' contribution and non-contribution of OER in a higher education institution? A mixed methods approach was used to gather quantitative (questionnaires) and qualitative (interviews) data. Fourteen lecturers from the University of Cape Town (UCT) were interviewed (two from each of its seven faculties), seven who had contributed OER and seven who had not. The analysis adopted an Activity Theory framework to highlight the enablers and barriers to contribution present in the institutional system. The Social Realism of Margaret Archer (1995, 2003, 2007a, 2012) was used to explore the power of academics' agency and their internal conversations arising from their personal concerns in deciding on their courses of action. This study illustrates how capturing lecturers' internal conversations and analysing how they think about their social contexts is valuable not only in the context of OER but also as a way of understanding their role as social actors more generally. Analysing the relations between culture, structure and agency in institutions explains why some institutions are slow to change and/or prefer to maintain current practices. At UCT, where institutional culture allows academic freedom of choice and structure supports that choice, it is the academic agents themselves who hold the power of action to contribute or not to contribute OER. Academics have the power to change their practice if it makes sense in terms of their projects, the activities that they are involved in and their concerns. Thus in this context, the long term sustainability of the OER movement rests firmly on the willingness of individual lecturers to share and use OER. By understanding the institutional context in which the individual is placed, OER can be encouraged appropriately
- ItemOpen AccessIntegrating multidisciplinary engineering knowledge(Taylor & Francis, 2012) Wolff, Karin; Luckett, KathyIn order to design two distinct engineering qualification levels for an existing University of Technology programme, empirical evidence based on the current diploma is necessary to illuminate the nature of and the relationship between the contextual and conceptual elements underpinning a multidisciplinary engineering curriculum. The increasing focus on contextual application could result in decreasing opportunities to develop the conceptual disciplinary grasp required for a dynamic, emerging region at the forefront of technological innovation. Using the theoretical tools of Bernstein and Maton to analyse final year student practice, the research addresses the question of how multidisciplinary knowledge is integrated by students, and what this reveals about the nature of such knowledge. The paper presents a conceptualisation of multidisciplinary knowledge integration practices as a dynamic process along two axes simultaneously, shifting between different forms and levels of conceptual and contextual knowledge.
- ItemOpen AccessIntegrating multidisciplinary engineering knowledge in a final year technical university diploma programme : an analysis of student praxis(2011) Wolff, Karin; Luckett, KathyIn order to determine two distinct engineering qualification levels for an existing University of Technology (UoT) programme, empirical evidence based on the current diploma is necessary to inform decisions as to qualification-appropriate curriculum design. This evidence needs to shed light on the nature of and the relationship between the contextual and conceptual elements underpinning a multidisciplinary engineering curriculum.
- ItemOpen AccessThe introduction of external quality assurance in South African higher education: an analysis of stakeholder response(Taylor & Francis, 2007) Luckett, KathyThis paper analyses the take-up of proposals for a national quality assurance system in South Africa using different approaches to quality assurance to classify stakeholder responses to survey and interview questions. The context of the study was the introduction of an external quality assurance system for South African higher education by an agency of the Department of Education, the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) in 2004. A conceptual framework using Habermas's distinctions between system and strategic action on the one hand and lifeworld and communicative action on the other was set up to map different approaches to quality assurance and to analyse the data. Stakeholder opinion on the HEQC's proposals for institutional audit and programme accreditation was gathered using survey questionnaire and depth-interview instruments. Given that quality assurance in South Africa has been conceived as a means of furthering the state's 'transformation agenda' for higher education, different and sometimes conflicting approaches to quality assurance exist in the higher education community—underpinned by different values, discourses and purposes for higher education. The study shows that these differences of opinion were shaped more strongly by the respondents' position in the social structure (apartheid defined class and race position) than by their social role (academic, manager, quality assurance manager) in the policy-making process. The paper concludes by suggesting that this finding may be explained if one understands the adoption and intended implementation of quality assurance policy to be a lifeworld matter. The contribution of Habermas' notions of lifeworld and system to conceptualising and understanding quality assurance systems is put forward.
- ItemOpen AccessMaking gazes explicit: facilitating epistemic access in the humanities(Springer, 2014) Luckett, Kathy; Hunma, AditiThis paper addresses the problem of curriculum design in the Humanities and Social Sciences, and more specifically the challenge of designing foundation courses for first-generation or 'disadvantaged' learners. Located in the social realist school of the sociology of education studies that builds on the legacy of Basil Bernstein, we emphasise the importance of knowledge and understanding the principles that generate 'what counts' in particular courses and disciplines. In order to operationalise this, we used Maton's Legitimation Code Theory to uncover the knowledge/knower structures in eight first year courses in four of the most popular majors in a Faculty of Humanities. Our data sources were curriculum documents and exam papers in particular. The findings are presented and the 'codes', 'gazes, and 'lenses' for each set of courses delineated. The findings are being used to inform the design of a set of curriculum and pedagogic interventions that aim to offer powerful ways of knowing to novices in the Humanities and Social Sciences.
- ItemOpen AccessMethodology matters: what methods for quality improvement?(University of the Free State, 2007) Luckett, KathyThis article discusses methodological issues in relation to models of quality assurance for higher education. It first traces the historical development of the widely adopted pragmatic model and shows how this model has been adapted by the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) for the South African context. It then sets out some basic tenets of critical realism in order to critique the pragmatic model from a critical realist perspective. Finally it proposes a theory-based approach to evaluation located in a critical realist paradigm as an approach that has the potential to effect the improvement or even transformation of educational practice as a possible outcome of quality assurance.
- ItemOpen AccessA 'quality revolution' constrained? A critical reflection on quality assurance methodology from the South African higher education context(Taylor & Francis, 2010) Luckett, KathyThis paper attempts a brief meta-reflection on quality assurance policy and practice in South African higher education, with a focus on methodology. More specifically it seeks to answer the question 'What are the effects of the Higher Education Quality Committee's (HEQC) quality assurance technologies on institutional practice and how could they be more effective in achieving its mandate?' This question is pursued with regard to the failure of the quality assurance system to impact significantly on the graduation rates of African South African students, despite the South African government's (and thus the HEQC’s) explicit 'transformation agenda' for higher education.
- ItemOpen AccessThe relationship between knowledge structure and curriculum: a case study in sociology(Taylor & Francis, 2009) Luckett, KathyThis article aims to address a theoretical question, ‘what is the relationship between knowledge structure and curriculum structure?’, by answering an empirical, context-specific question, ‘what drives and legitimates the curriculum in one sociology department?’, with an emphasis on surfacing the ‘recontextualising rules’ at work in this particular institutional context. These questions were explored by conducting a case study in the wake of a departmental review. The conceptual framework for the article is based on Bernstein’s sociology of education and on those who have developed his work further. The findings support Bernstein’s characterisation of sociology as a discipline with weak external boundaries, a horizontal segmental structure and a ‘weak grammar’, and, it is suggested, with knowledge claims that tend to be legitimated by social rather than epistemic relations. In this particular case study, the horizontal, segmental structure of the discipline was seen to be reflected in a curriculum that currently lacks coherence and cohesion.
- ItemOpen AccessStructural conditioning and mediation by student agency : a case study of success in chemical engineerng design(2011) Kotta, Linda Thokozile; Case, Jenni; Luckett, KathyThe study, informed by Bhaskar’s realist philosophy for social science, seeks to provide an explanation for the differential success rates in a final year chemical engineering design course.
- ItemOpen AccessA study of academic resilience amongst first generation university students in South Africa(2013) Meinert, Leigh; Luckett, Kathy; Pym, JuneThis study adopts a sociological approach to the issue of academic resilience amongst first generation university students in a developing world context. As suggested in the opening quotation above, this study aims to generate insight in to the structural conditions of first generation students who have accessed higher education and to better define the “overwhelming odds†that are frequently deemed to be against them. More importantly perhaps, this study seeks to generate understanding about the manner in which these agents engage with their structural conditions and, in so doing, succeed in overcoming the effects of their natal conditions, or not. Margaret Archer’s (2003) theory of “modes of reflexivity†, the nexus between structure and agency, is utilised as the conceptual framework for this study. This research project is therefore guided by the following 2 primary questions that, together with their related sub-questions, are motivated in more detail in Chapter 2 (refer to Section 2.8). All research questions will be featured in italics throughout this report. 1. How do first generation university students in a developing world context engage with their socio-cultural conditions? 1b) What are the distinctive aspects of the socio-cultural conditions of students in a developing world context? 2. Are some modes of reflexivity more conducive to academic resilience in undergraduate studies than others? 2b) What kinds of interventions can be put in place to serve first generation university entrants better?
- ItemOpen AccessWorking with 'necessary contradictions': a social realist meta-analysis of an academic development programme review(Taylor & Francis, 2012) Luckett, KathyThis article addresses the problem of making programme evaluation sufficiently meaningful and cognisant of context such that practitioners, in this case of academic development, can gain new understandings of their situation in order to improve their practice. In order to do this, the paper uses Archer's morphogenetic framework to deepen the methodology of academic review on an academic development programme. The theory enables a richer understanding of how the programme developed within particular national and institutional situational logics and of the relationships between structure, culture and agency.