Browsing by Author "Aploon-Zokufa, Kaylianne"

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    Forgotten women in education: A narrative inquiry into the marginalisation of ECD practitioners
    (AOSIS (Pty) Ltd, 2024) Aploon-Zokufa, Kaylianne
    Background: South African narratives of and by early childhood development (ECD) practitioners often focus on policies, practices and perspectives in research. While these are important for the development of the field, the voices of ECD practitioners, in this marginalised space, are silent. Aim: This article aims to understand: Who are the ECD practitioners? What are the conditions of their lives and livelihoods? How do they negotiate opportunities for employment, socio-economic growth and further education and training? Setting: The study describes the marginality of ECD practitioners by narrating the lived experience of work and post-school education and training of one mature woman in the Western Cape. By narrating a single story, the stories of others unfold; working in similar circumstances and negotiating the same opportunities in the harsh reality of poverty and oppression. Employing a narrative methodology is a commitment to decolonising the practice of research, where voices of the ‘Other’ are centralised and amplified. Methods: An intersectional lens forms the theoretical grounding for this article with life history interviews as its primary form of data collection. Results: Adult women ECD practitioners are mainly poor, black and female. They pursue access into higher education to improve their lives and livelihoods. Conclusion: The intersections that shape their lives limit their opportunities for access and success. Contribution: The power of narrative research, displayed in this article, ensures that voice is used to move the lived experiences of black women ECD practitioners from the margins to the centre.
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    Funding as a crisis for mature women students: Agency, barriers and widening participation
    (University of the Western Cape, 2022) Aploon-Zokufa, Kaylianne
    Drawing on a research investigation into the learning pathways of mature women, this chapter highlights funding as a crisis. Mature women students face barriers to access, participation and success in higher education. Understanding these barriers is crucial for widening institutional access. The analysis in this study indicates that a lack of personal finance and difficulties in accessing institutional funding are among the significant barriers these women experience. In addition, the findings show that some women overcame their funding crisis and successfully gained entry into higher education, while others remain excluded. Motivation to overcome poverty is primary to the agency that women demonstrate in their efforts to devise strategies to access funding for their higher education studies.