Magister Educationis - MEd (AL (Adult Learning and Global Change)

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https://hdl.handle.net/10566/15407

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Browsing by Author "February, Colette"

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    Lifelong learners as digital citizens: Challenges and new learnings for adult learners in higher education
    (University of the Western Cape, 2022) Mouwers–Singh, Constance; February, Colette
    This study explored the learning journeys of graduate students in an online master’s programme with the view to understand the challenges, successes, identities and distinct attributes they may bring to the programme. Historically the literature largely points to adult students being commonly portrayed only in terms of the challenges they may be experiencing in higher education settings. Arguably it may be an under–researched area as to whether adult learners may already be active online learners and digital citizens when they seek access to certain higher education programmes. The study, therefore, explored the kind of contribution adult learners bring to certain educational settings, the learnings adult learners may be seeking, and what they may be acquiring especially in terms of lifelong learning, online learning, and as digital citizens.
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    Reducing high school dropout: towards new narratives of educational success in a rural South African educational community.
    (University of the Western Cape, 2023) Raman, Thereza Gwendoline; February, Colette
    This study sought to investigate the professional experiences of educators at a rural school in South Africa, and in particular pertaining to their perceptions on learner dropout or voluntary withdrawal. Within an interpretive framework as a qualitative case study, educators were invited to offer their narrative accounts particularly about the kinds of professional development they perceived as educationally most useful for learners to succeed at school. Secondly, the study investigated the extent to which an ethos of lifelong learning could play a role in promoting successful outcomes for educators and learners, specifically in a rural educational community. The study also probed the extent to which community-school partnerships might assist in actualizing sustainable supportive environments for teaching and learning to flourish particularly in rural school contexts. Findings revealed important insights regarding the extent to which educators may understand the importance of their own professional identity and development in relation to new forms of lifelong learning as dispositions towards reducing dropout in the rural educational contexts they know. Findings also shed light on the extent to which lifelong learning within community-school partnerships and extended educational communities may play a role in reducing dropout in the rural educational contexts described in this study. The most significant finding of the study is that lifelong learning might take root in certain rural South African schools only if a body teachers is sufficiently curious about new ways of teaching and learning that directly addresses reducing dropout in the educational contexts they know.
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    The contribution of literacy education in raising the standard of living: A case study of two Namibian informal settlements
    (Universty of the Western Cape, 2024) Mutenda, Nicholette; February, Colette
    The Ministry of Education Arts and Culture in Namibia has historically invested resources into adult literacy education to ensure the realization of both national and international undertakings. However, despite such efforts, scores of Namibian citizens are still in need of a literacy education that would make an improved standard of living possible. This research explores participants’ perceptions of the role of adult literacy in improving standards of living. Within a qualitative paradigm, this study uses a socio-cultural approach to explore the views of selected literacy educators who teach in two informal settlements as well as groups of informal settlement residents who have participated in literacy programmes. The findings of this research undertaking may contribute towards insights into how certain kinds of literacy work could usefully address and support internationally recognized sustainable development goals such as inclusivity, quality education and lifelong learning, which are aimed at contributing towards the best possible improved living conditions particular for literacy learners living in informal settlements.