OpenUCT :: Browsing by Subject "Adult Education"

Browsing by Subject "Adult Education"

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Open Access
Adult conceptions of the environment: an analysis of a formal curriculum in Environmental Education
(1996) Reddy, Shaada; Morphet, Tony; Winter, Kevin
This research reports on an evaluation of conceptions of the environment held by a group of students at the University of Cape Town. This group of students were all registered for the degree of Bachelor of Education, and included in their curricula the elective in Environmental Education. The research attempts to describe the constructivist approach as implemented in the course in Environmental Education over a prescribed period, and to explore the impact of such an approach on student conceptions. The research was conducted primarily through the use of two questionnaires together with unstructured interviews. The results of the questionnaires and interviews were used to assess both qualitatively and quantitatively the development of student conceptions of the environment. The first questionnaire was administered early on in the course, while the second was administered towards the end of the course. In this way it was possible to make a comparative study of the responses. The results indicate that the course contributed to some shift in student conceptions of the environment, and that it contributed also towards the development of environmental attitudes, values and behaviour. The work concludes with suggestions for developing aspects of the course design, in the light of insights gained by this research.
Open Access
The ambiguities of empowerment: a deconstructive approach to the adult education work of Edward Roux in the 1930s and 1940s and its implications for present conceptions of learner materials for adult basic education and training (ABET)
(1999) Alexander, Lucy; Morphet, Tony
This research is an attempt to understand the ambiguities of empowerment inherent in transactions between educators and adult learners studying at a basic level. Through analysing the case study of Edward Roux's text-based adult education intervention for Africans in South Africa in the 1940's, some conclusions on the resultant power arrangements were drawn. These interpretive conclusions were applied comparatively to a set of adult basic education texts in use in South Africa in the 1990's. The research addressed itself to selected biographical events from Roux's life, as well as to a set of theoretical texts written by Roux about adult education and a set of pamphlets called The Sixpenny Library, intended for mass distribution to adult readers. The texts were analysed using a postmodern discourse analysis methodology. Having identified five recurrent discursive formations in the texts, it was proposed that these discourses could be intertextually read as constituting an individualised construction by Roux of the Enlightenment meta-narrative. The genealogy of the meta-narrative was analysed, the subjectification of the adult learners was asserted and an interpretation of the arrangements of power within the educational transaction was proposed. The primary findings were made on the basis of the case study: it was concluded that Roux was committed to the Enlightenment ideal which he constructed in terms of Western educational and cultural norms. By conflating education with social remediation and rationalism, he proposed that education in its own right had socially . redemptive power and that it would even result in equality. The potential impact of the intervention in subjectifying adult learners and their resultant disempowerment was analysed and some general trends were noted. Roux's intervention suggested a deep but unrealistic conviction that the acquisition of knowledge had the potential to alleviate the social deprivations that Africans suffered under conditions of post-colonial racial capitalism. Unconsciously Roux conflated the promise of empowerment with the acquisition of a set of basically Western rationalist cultural values and beliefs, without recognising the identity which he constructed for the educator and the attendant disempowerment which the learners may have experienced. The secondary stage of the research comprised the application of the claims identified in Roux's case study to three comparable genres of Adult Basic Education and Training texts of the 1990's; the presence of similar assumptions in these transactions was assessed and continuities and changes were identified. Some general conclusions were drawn regarding the nature of adult education transactions and the potential for a postmodern consciousness to alter the arrangements of power within educational transactions for adults was discussed. The limitations of the study in terms of learner responses was acknowledged and avenues for further research were identified. An attempt was made to bring into focus some of the uncertainties operative at a global level within adult education, while addressing issues of power between educator and learner in the field of basic adult education in South Africa.
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
Contradictions in policy and implementation of adult education and training : unifying the system or accommodating diversity?
(2001) Kikuchi, Yuko; Kell, Catherine
This study attempts to examine and answer the research question: "What is the feasibility of the integration of education and training through promotion of the GETC as envisaged within the NQF discourse?" Focusing on problematic educational policy implementation in South Africa, the study also attempts to examine causes for the disparity between intended policies and implemented policies.
Open Access
A critical analysis of magistrates' experiences of the peer learning initiative in the KwaZulu-Natal courts : transcending apartheid judicial education?
(2010) Sardien, Anthony William Patrick; Cooper, Linda
This dissertation investigates the peer learning activities initiated by the Joint Education and Training Committee (Jetcom) of the kwaZulu-Natal district court magistrates. A core aspect of the study considers how magistrates relate their understandings of peer learning to their professional development, particularly in view of the continued influence of the legacy of apartheid–era judicial education.A brief analysis of the history of the magistracy in the context of the development of South Africa from colonisation, industrialisation, and apartheid to democracy is the basis for a characterisation of judicial education before 1994. The study draws on literature inthe sociology of professions, professional development and peer learning in order to construct a conceptual framework to interpret the peer learning initiative.Data collection involved mainly semi-structured individual interviews and focus group discussions with magistrates. Field notes recorded observations of interactions with and between magistrates and reflections on the research process generally. A thematic data analysis informed the interpretive phase of the analysis. The conceptual framework developed in the literature review informed the critical analysis of the experiences and understandings of the peer learning initiative.Until 1993, the executive controlled and provided the content of the 'apartheid' judicial education of magistrates, compromising their judicial independence.The findings show that some magistrates have used peer learning to try to build equal, reciprocal peer learning relationships; others have used peer learning to retain existing distinctions and inequalities. The Jetcom has succeeded in embedding the peer learning initiative into the authority structures of the magistracy, thereby strengthening its sustainability.Magistrates have used peer learning to respond to various professional development needs. 'Race' and gender have influenced the conception and the implementation of the peer learning initiative.
Open Access
Early Childhood development Level 4 learnership: A qualitative study of the curriculum responsiveness to the needs of experienced ECD teachers
(2019) Erasmus, Janice; Cooper, Linda
This study aimed to explore whether the curriculum and pedagogy of an Early Childhood Development (ECD) Level 4 Learnership recognized the informal knowledge of experienced practitioners. It focused on whether the curriculum and pedagogy considered the experiences of adult learners and to what extent adult education principles were followed in its delivery. A review of the literature in South Africa showed that there is a very limited amount of research on the training of ECD practitioners. The study considered the experiences of adult students completing their Learnership at two TVET colleges in Cape Town and focused on practices that could potentially have followed principles of adult learning as well as the recognition of prior experiential learning. The research explored whether the ECD teachers who had gained entry to the Learnership felt that their prior experiential knowledge was considered in the delivery of the learnership. The research adopted a qualitative and exploratory approach, using a conceptual frame drawn from the theoretical literature on adult learning, and on the Recognition of Prior Learning. The research design adopted a mixed methods approach involving interviews with the ECD managers at two TVET colleges and eight ECD teachers drawn from four different ECD centres in Mitchells Plain. A purposive sampling technique was used to select the research participants and semi-structured interviews were conducted face-to-face with each participant. In addition, data was collected via classroom observations as well as relevant policy and course documents. The analysis of research findings revealed that although ECD teachers without formal training had considerable understanding of how to educate the young children in their classes, this rich experiential knowledge was not drawn on during the initial process of entry into the learnership, nor in the curriculum or teaching strategies within the ECD Level 4 Learnership. The thesis ends by noting that there are various ways in which ECD teachers could have been better assisted.
Open Access
Education in South Africa : towards a postmodern democracy
(1990) Richmond, Keith; Millar, Clive
The requirements of social and educative justice are examined further in the light of John Rawls's conception of justice as 'fairness'. In particular, critical response to his notions of 'the original position', 'veil of ignorance' and 'overlapping consensus' misrepresents the critical and creative capacity that these concepts properly denote and preserve in the interests of participants' 'strong' democratic capacity. The ethical implications of a non-authoritarian relationship between learners and existing discursive formations are then discussed with reference to Philip Wexler's 'textualist' theory of social analysis and education. His advocacy of 'collective symbolic action' is found to be compatible with an uncoercive discourse ethic, oriented to mutual understanding and contextualised hypothesis formation by self-reflective agents. Inferences for education are proposed, in conclusion, emphasising the teachers' role as agent provocateur of the 'liminal imagination' (generating non-formulaic symbolic movement and self-formative struggle by the learners themselves), which qualifies the usual obligation to approved curricular content. Education for a postmodern democracy is sustained by, and sustains, both context-relative knowledge - publicly educed - and an ongoing 'desublimation' of discourse, in the interests of participatory self-critique and renewal.
Open Access
The experiences and perceptions of 6 NGO leaders on the role and value of formal and informal learning in leadership continuity in the NGO sector across 3 historical periods in South Africa
(2010) Julie, Frank Joseph; McMillan, Janice
In this research study I explore the role and value of formal and informal learning in leadership continuity in South Africa. In order to do this I look at the experiences and perceptions of 6 NGO leaders in South Africa whom I locate within three historical periods. Within this context, I also explore the shifts in leadership and modes of learning, which I argue and based on my data analysis, were accompanied by broader shifts in the power relations in South Africa post 1994. I highlight three informal modes of learning that were dominant in the first historical period namely, experiential learning, popular education and situated learning which became eroded in the second and third historical periods and substituted by more formal learning processes. My study found that in the latter part of the third historical period there was a resurgence of more informal learning processes in line with an emergent and developing social movement that questioned the continued power imbalances in society. In conducting this study my research methodology was informed by an interpretive and qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews with the 6 NGO leaders employed as the primary means of data collection. Based on my findings, I discovered that the NGO sector has experienced a leadership discontinuity further exacerbated by a disruption of learning processes with serious implications for transfer of knowledge, skills and experiences In answering my main research question I found that effective leadership continuity to enhance sustainable organizations can best be facilitated through informal learning processes where, within a community of practice, these processes are more respected and valorised. I also found that formal learning processes will best be effective if it can be complementary to but not a substitute for these informal learning processes. I also found that the conflation of training with learning and the dualism between formal and informal learning are not very helpful in understanding leadership development and continuity in the NGO sector. Another important finding that this research study highlights is the importance of appreciating the dynamic interrelationship between the macro power alignments represented by the state and the economy and the micro power relationships represented by leadership and learning within a community of practice.
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
Extra-mural programmes and adult education at the University of Cape Town : an analysis of policy
(1984) Walker, Douglas, 1935-; Millar, Clive
This study examines and analyses the events associated with, and development of policy in, the Centre for Extra-Mural Studies at the University of Cape Town. Three phases of task, role and associated policy can be discerned. From the earliest days of extra-mural activities at the University in the mid-nineteenth century until the present, the most visible of the Centre's activities has been the presentation of university-level courses and lectures to the public. This has been a phase of liberal, nonvocational tradition, aiming at personal fulfilment and enlightened discussion. Despite open access to these programmes, low fees and efforts to encourage a wider support, there has been very little response from the working class, African or "Coloured" communities. Following consultation with community groups and strenuous fund-raising efforts, the Centre launched a series of community education projects in the mid-1970's, some of which were managed initially by the Centre. In 1979 the University established a Chair of Adult Education and the first Diploma Course for the Educators of Adults was launched in 1980. From this point the Centre saw its community function as part of a broad programme of providing University-based professional education and support for adult educators and community workers in an indirect mode. The study has attempted first, to show how each of these phases, acquired in an historical sequence, is rooted in a previous phase; is reactive to previous phases or is a critique of them. Secondly, the study examines the problem of a proper balance between the more traditional task of extra-mural programmes and the more recently acquired adult education role. The University's own examination of this question of balance is highlighted together with the constitutional changes that were deemed appropriate in order to promote development of adult education while protecting the older tradition against radical change or diminution. Thirdly, the study shows that the staff of the Centre have to maintain an uneasy equilibrium between the academic acceptability of their programmes to the University on the one hand, and the relevance of those programmes to communities in a fractured society on the other. Finally, the study concludes that while the major constitutional and policy changes of 1903, 1949 and 1982 were appropriate responses to changes of circumstance, there was not the same degree of recognition of the need for adequate resources to meet the challenges of the vast and unmapped area of adult education in South Africa.
Open Access
How efficiency is constructed and effected in the provision of health education
(1994) Khan, Moonira B M; Prinsloo, Mastin
The focus of this study is on the constraints encountered by health care providers situated at community centers in meeting the local community's health needs. Health education is one way of meeting these needs. This case study is an investigation into how the registered nurses as health workers of four clinics in the Grassy Park area perceive their roles and identities in relation to providing Health Education as part of Primary Health Care to meet the health needs of the community. The information obtained attempts to identify the influences and constraints which affect the way in which health workers as professionals interface between their _., organization which is also their employer, and, the community, and how they conduct their role as intermediaries at ground level.
Open Access
Investigating popular writing : the theory and the practice
(1989) Schuster, C R; Millar, Clive
This dissertation attempts to illustrate and analyse the theory and the practice of popular writing in South Africa. Within this study popular writing is seen as an example of innovative educational practice, attempting to establish creative alternatives to traditional, hierarchical knowledge-production. This subject has been chosen for investigation as it is seen as an important integral part of an alternative educational focus, which has come about due to oppositional "popular" pressure questioning and challenging hegemonic control of educational structures. The first part of the dissertation constitutes an analysis of the theoretical debate characterising popular writing in South Africa. It attempts to highlight the problems and tensions inherent in the defined purpose of popular writing, as well as investigate the realisable potential of that purpose. The second part of the dissertation focusses on the practice of popular writing. The INTERNATIONAL LABOUR RESEARCH AND INFORMATION GROUP has been chosen as an illuminative case study of popular writing practice. An attempt is made within this section at a fusion between theory and practice evidencing both tensions and points of agreement. The conclusion highlights the problematic nature of this research as it essentially focusses on "work-in-progress" and therefore constitutes too static a framework for realistic, up-to-date analysis. The need for further research is emphasised, focussing especially on the most important and most complex element in popular writing: the readership.
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
A multimodal social semiotic approach to jewellery design pedagogy
(2012) Salaam, Safia; Archer, Arlene
This thesis presents a multimodal social semiotic theoretical framework to explore jewellery design pedagogy. The role of the designer, meaning making and the semiotic functions of resources used within the practice of jewellery design are analysed.
Open Access
Practitioner and institutional perspectives on lifelong learning at a South African university
(2007) Small, Janet
This research explores how the term 'lifelong learning' is understood at a higher education institution in South Africa. The study is built around a case study at the University of Cape Town (UCT). The research questions posed were: What are the different understandings of 'lifelong learning' at UCT? And secondly, what factors have shaped the development of these different understandings of 'lifelong learning'? The thesis approaches the research questions from two angles: What people working in the institution say about the topic and what can be read from the official University documentation on the topic. Continuing education work is used as a general proxy for lifelong learning as the term itself did not prove to be a useful identifier of specific educational activities at UCT. In analysing the data, two inter-related theoretical frameworks are employed - thematic analysis of the interviews and a critical discourse analysis of the texts. Some of the key pressures and issues facing institutions globally as well as specific local concerns are identified when setting the context. In the interviews, practitioners identified some of these contextual issues as factors influencing the development of continuing education: funding pressures, responding to socio-political demands for rapid student throughput while also widening access, and the particular character of the institution. The literature reveals some common approaches to lifelong learning - identified as economic, humanistic and social discourses - which were used to engage the perspectives of practitioners working on continuing education programmes. Based on an interpretation of the data, this thesis argues that in practice, the distinctions between the discourses tend to blend or transform. The economic and humanistic discourses begin to merge, as an individual's motivations cannot be neatly categorised as either learning for work or learning for personal development, pointing to the emergence of a new discourse. In the case of the social discourse, the more widely used definitions of social responsiveness embrace economic (and political) imperatives, while also maintaining a development and democracy agenda. Instead of seeing the data as only revealing what exists, the analysis argues that emerging discourses themselves help to create new realities.
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.
Open Access
The extent to which a basic financial literacy programme delivered to over-indebted call-centre agents enables transformative learning to take place
(2020) Denton, Laura; Cliff, Alan
Against the backdrop of a high level of personal over-indebtedness experienced by a large number of a Company's call-centre employees, a basic financial literacy workshop was conceptualised, implemented and offered to employees. However, while some participants found the learning helpful in alleviating their indebtedness to a lesser or greater degree, others did not. Drawing on qualitative data analysed through an interpretivist lens, this paper attempts to understand the extent to which the adult learners experienced transformative learning in the classroom. The paper's argument states that if transformative learning conditions are identified as being present in the workshop and adult learners experience a shift to a new worldview of their indebtedness situation, they will successfully implement positive changes towards alleviating their debt. The interview data for this small-group study comprised in-depth, face-to-face interviews with two participants, regarded as representative of the larger group of participants, triangulated with facilitator interview data and with workshop observation and note-taking. The thematic analysis method was used for identifying, coding and analysing the data. The themes identified related to the four main components of transformative learning theory namely, (1) triggering transformation; (2) critical reflection; (3) critical discourse and (4) willingness to act. The study showed that there were indeed components of transformative learning evident in the workshop facilitation and experienced by the study participants but that the nature of these components were embryonic. Further development of these emergent elements is required for true transformative learning to take place. Owing to the deep seated influence of a learner's worldview in prescribing how to spend his or her money, against the backdrop of the broader South African culture of indebtedness, it is only through experiencing true transformative learning that adult learners can identify and critically reflect on the belief systems that shape the way they think about and make positive changes towards their indebtedness.
Open Access
The integration of education and training in further education and training : towards a pedagogy of mode-switching
(1999) Edwards, Lucy
The integration of different types and areas of knowledge and skills is being explored for the first time in the official discourse on educational reconstruction in South Africa. The reasons for this are bound up with the country's general global conditions of capital accumulation and its political and social history. The conceptually and practically integrated curricula envisaged pose some challenges that will have to be addressed. On the one hand, the culture of democracy presently being introduced in the educational arena leads to notions of learner autonomy, self-realisation, recognition of diversity, and socio-economic redress and equity. On the other hand, the present conditions of capital accumulation accentuate the market discourse of efficiency, competitiveness and tangible outcomes.