UWCScholar
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From chisungu to the museum: a historical ethnography of the images, objects and anthropological texts of the chisungu female initiation ceremony in the Moto Moto Museum in Zambia, 1931 to 2016
(Universty of the Western Cape, 2023) Mbewe, Mary; Hayes, Patricia
This study examines the processes through which sacred cultural practices and people were made subjects of ethnological studies. It considers these histories through a renewed examination of the contexts under which the chisungu female initiation ceremony of the Bemba-speaking people of northern Zambia came to be studied, and how the sacred belongings of the ceremony were collected and turned into objects of ethnography in museums. This project is conceived not only as a biographic study of these collections and their histories but is also a study of processes of meaning-making about cultural practices and people in a museum in Zambia, the Moto Moto Museum. Founded by the missionary Jean Jacques Corbeil in the 1950s, this museum had its origins in particular colonial contexts and was formalised as a national museum in the period after colonialism. The project involves a critical examination of the work of the British anthropologist Audrey Isabella Richards (1899-1982), and the missionary ethnographer Jean Jacques Corbeil (1913-1990) who respectively studied and conducted collecting on the ceremony in the 1930s and in the 1950s respectively. Their studies led to the collection of images, texts and objects for museums and institutions in Britain, South Africa, and Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). This transformation of sacred cultural belongings into museum objects, and the mobilities that resulted in their circulation were part of the making of empire. This was done within processes of colonial knowledge construction that were disruptive, extractive, and epistemologically violent. Ethnological studies and resultant ethnographic museums were part of colonial governance and control, within the broader contexts of indirect rule, which operated through the use of local systems to rule over colonised people
(Re)configuring socially just pedagogies with posthumanism and decoloniality: Experimenting with processual learning in the Architectural Technology extended curriculum programme in the Western Cape, South Africa
(University of the Western Cape, 2024) Noble, Alexandra Claire; Bozalek, Vivienne
This doctoral thesis investigates the potential of processual learning within the Architectural Technology Extended Curriculum Programme in South Africa to foster transformative learning experiences and promote social justice. Currently, undergraduate AT qualifications in South Africa primarily emphasise technical and academic knowledge, while neglecting affective and socio-economic-environmental sensibilities in the learning process. As an alternative to this approach, the study explores the benefits of integrating processual learning interventions into the curriculum to enhance student learning opportunities. The research is framed within posthumanism and decoloniality, aiming to investigate how these theoretical underpinnings can contribute to socially just pedagogies in architectural education. The focus is on the Architectural Technology - Extended Curriculum Programme offered at a university of technology in the Western Cape. The programme is designed to provide access to historically marginalised students. The interventions introduced in the curriculum involve walking excursions and site visits that aim to develop students’ social, historical, environmental and political awareness in architectural studies. By exploring the spatial planning of Cape Town with its inherent power relations in South African society, the research seeks to alert students to social and spatial inequalities and encourage students to consider ways of envisaging a built environment that is more equitable and just.
Exploring the design and implementation of an entrance readiness assessment and its relationship with performance outcomes among first year TVET college students
(University of the Western Cape, 2024) De Wee, Marissa Francine; Papier, Joy
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college entrance/placement tests have been critiqued in the few studies done in South Africa because they offer insufficient information about vocational students and their potential for success or failure. In light of the limitations associated with current entrance-testing mechanisms in South African TVET colleges and the limited information they afford colleges about entry-level students, this study set out to investigate alternative models or instruments that might yield a more holistic and informative picture, particularly with regard to students who might not complete their studies. The aims of this study were therefore to explore the development of a more appropriate entry-level readiness assessment for first-year TVET college students and to examine the possible relationships between their profiles at entry and their success/lack of success at the end of the first year. It was anticipated that the research findings could contribute to the sparse local knowledge base on these crucial issues in the South African TVET context. Using a pragmatic approach and mixed methods of data gathering within a convergent parallel design, a model that had been tested in international education systems was applied as a framework into which local input obtained from college experts was integrated to produce an entrance assessment instrument that was administered to first year college students. Qualitative and quantitative data were juxtaposed with first year performance outcomes, and statistical analyses conducted produced noteworthy associations among the findings. The research ultimately demonstrated that existing TVET college placement tests are severely limited in acknowledging the multifaceted nature of education and the diverse strengths and challenges that students bring to the learning journey. What was further revealed were the many taken-for-granted assumptions about TVET college students and their performance that require ongoing interrogation so that interventions remain at the cutting edge rather than relying on what may be outdated norms and stereotypes.
A comparative study evaluating physical properties of four tissue conditioners relined to modeling plastic material
(Universty of the Western Cape, 2024) Abdelrahman, Shahad Karamalla Ali; Asia-Michaels, Winifred
Tissue conditioners are widely used to allow for the healing of the insulted denture-bearing area and as a functional impression material for relining existing dentures, they display different clinical behaviours that are expressed in their viscoelastic properties. This variation should be considered when determining the type of tissue conditioner used in each clinical situation. Aims and objectives: To explore the physical properties of four different commercially available tissue conditioners after 1 and 7 days of immersion in Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS). Methodology: This is a comparative quantitative in-vitro study evaluating the E-modulus, force exerted, water sorption, and solubility of four tissue conditioner groups. The groups named; Visco-gel, GC Coe-comfort, GC Soft- liner, Functional Impression Tissue Toner (FITT). Each group had 25 samples, and experiments were conducted at days 0, 1 and 7 of immersion in a simulated environment (PBS), totaling 100 samples in this study. Results: The following mean values were registered on days 1 and 7 respectively. The E-modulus values were .166 and .237 for Visco-gel, .046 and .061 for Coe-comfort, .112 and.188 for Soft-liner, and .025 and .031 for FITT. The force values were 5.708 and 7.620 for Visco-gel, 1.688 and 2.312 for Coe-comfort, 3.436 and 6.348 for Soft-liner, and .84 and 1.076 for FITT.
Exploring competence development through the transfer of specialist knowledge and skills from engineering lecturers to students in South African Technical and Vocational Education and Training colleges: A COMET study
(University of the Western Cape, 2024) Hurjunlal, Adhir; Papier, Joy
This study investigates the potential of the COMET (Competency Measurement in Electrotechnology) occupational competence diagnostic model to assist TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) college lecturers in transferring skills, knowledge and competencies to their students by applying the dynamics of the model and through various pedagogical strategies. Achieving holistic problem-solving competence is a fundamental goal of the COMET framework and is embedded in eight competence criteria that focus on real-life, complex, work-related problems. A mixed method, explanatory sequential design comprising qualitative and quantitative research methods was adopted. Data were gathered from 275 students and 22 lecturers at five public TVET colleges. Two COMET large-scale open-ended learning tasks and a test task were conducted to measure the occupational competence of TVET students and lecturers. Lecturer data on competence scores, experiences of doing the task, and teaching and learning strategies were collected. Analysis of the data employed the SPSS version 26 and R Studio 4.0. This study demonstrated that lecturers were indeed able to transfer their skills and knowledge to students. Areas of learning in which transfer was strong and areas in which transfer could be enhanced were identified using the COMET diagnostic model. The evidence further indicated that a variety of pedagogic strategies – for instance, feedback, metacognition, cognitive apprenticeship, problem-based learning and work-integrated learning – are used to enhance transfer and are most effective when used interchangeably or integrated.