UWCScholar :: Browsing by Author "Walters, Shirley"

Browsing by Author "Walters, Shirley"

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ABET and development in the Northern Cape province: Assessing impacts of CACE courses, 1996-1999
(Centre for Continuing and Adult Education (CACE), University of the Western Cape, 2001) Kerfoot, Caroline; Geidt, Jonathan; Alexander, Lucy; Dayile, Nomvuyo; Groener, Zelda; Hendricks, Natheem; Walters, Shirley
This study presents the results of an investigation into the impact of CACE courses for adult educators, trainers and development practitioners. The report describes how the courses affected the training practices and lives of past students. Case studies document and analyse the problems and successes of implementing capacity-building ABET training in the Northern Cape.
Adult learning within lifelong learning: a different lens a different light
(Wayne Hugo, 2006) Walters, Shirley
Adult learning is located within a lifelong learning framework both as a lens for looking back and for projecting forward. The competing views of adult and lifelong learning are discussed and a preliminary overview of what has been achieved within adult learning in the last 10 years in South Africa is given. Lifelong learning and the learning region are suggested as frameworks for providing a ‘connected up’ approach to human development, and a possibility for finding ‘troubled spaces of possibilities’ (Edwards and Usher, 2005) to create new solutions to old problems.
Building a learning region: Whose framework of lifelong learning matters?
(Springer, 1992) Walters, Shirley
This chapter is part of a book that aims to provide an accessible, practical and scholarly source of information about the international concern for the philosophy, theory, categories, and concepts of lifelong learning. In this chapter, the author examines the development of ‘learning regions’ in various parts of the world as a means for understanding how lifelong learning is enmeshed in the socio-economic and political approaches of a region. The development of indicators in one learning region in the Western Cape Province of South Africa, is used to demonstrate how complex and contested lifelong learning is. It is also used to identify a range of paradoxes, which are at the heart of lifelong learning.
Building common knowledge: negotiating new pedagogies in Higher Education in South Africa
(University of the Western Cape, 2015) Walters, Shirley; Daniels, Freda; Weitz, Vernon
Discussions in this chapter are located within an action research-based study which aims at supporting the integration of enhanced pedagogies in one university in South Africa. The study recognises that even full-time funded students in Higher Education face economic pressures which mean that student employment alongside full-time study is approaching the norm. It also recognises that this situation has implications for the pedagogies that are used by university departments, whether students are preparing directly for the professions or undertaking more open-ended courses. In this chapter we focus on how one university initiative to create more responsive pedagogies has been negotiated into the practices of three departments in one university with a strong history of engaging first generation university students who are poor. In particular, we draw on the idea of common knowledge to explain how new understandings of pedagogy are negotiated into the practices by the core team and are then deployed institutionally. We identify and discuss the political nature of organisational innovation and the building of common knowledge, through discussing an illustrative ‘moment’ from the research project and the participatory research approach that we adopt. The chapter brings together analytic resources of cultural-historical theory, a participatory research approach and, in particular, ideas of relational expertise, common knowledge and relational agency.
The Cape Town statement on characteristic elements of a lifelong learning higher education institution
(University of Western Cape, UNESCO, Lifelong learning, 2001) Walters, Shirley; Werner, Mauch
This statement grew out of a need recognised by adult and higher educators, scholars and specialists in the area of adult and lifelong learning to build on previous work focusing on transforming institutions of higher education into institutions of lifelong learning. It continues the work begun at the Fifth International Conference on Adult Education in Hamburg, Germany, 1997, continued at the University of Mumbai, India in 1998, and the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education in Paris in 1998. It was developed at the conference on Lifelong Learning, Higher Education and Active Citizenship from the 10 - 12 October 2000 in Cape Town which was co-hosted by University of Western Cape, UNESCO Institute for Education and the Adult Education Research Group of the Danish National University of Education. The Cape Town Statement served as a key guiding document in the Division for Lifelong Learning at UWC. The list of ‘Characteristic Elements of a Lifelong Learning Higher Education Institution’ was annually reproduced as ‘framework part-time provision’ in a handbook called “Juggling to Learn Planning for Success in Your Studies – A handbook for Students, Educators and Administrators” It was used as an organisational tool to improve the part-time provision and to promote lifelong learning at institutional level and beyond. The Editions 2005-2012 of this handbook are available in the Special Collections in the UWC Main Library on level 12. The Cape Town Statement has been translated into French, Spanish and Chinese.
Continuing professional education at the University of the Western Cape - survey results
(University of the Western Cape, 1997) Koetsier, Jos; Walters, Shirley
UWC has since 1998 a new Mission Statement which commits the university to Lifelong Learning. Since 1996 there has been a process to give content to this commitment. The process included surveys of distance education and resource-based learning at UWC, continuing professional education and an overall report with recommendations on Lifelong Learning by 2001. This report is a further component of the investigation into lifelong learning which highlights specifically the situation of Continuing Professional Education in all faculties, School and Centres and how to quality assure the programmes. The report formulates recommendations to increase enrolments and how to acquire full accreditation through the South African Qualification Authority (SAQA). It recommends the development of an institutional CPE policy and course database in line with this goal.
Critical human rights, citizenship, and democracy education: Entanglements and regenerations
(Springer, 2020) Walters, Shirley
My reading of this text does not come from within the field of citizenship (CE), democracy (DE) or human rights education (HRE). I am an outsider as far as the debates between CE, HRE and DE go. My interest in the problems at hand is my history as a social justice activist and scholar particularly within the field of adult learning and education (ALE). My doctoral thesis 35 years ago, which was entitled “Education for democratic participation”, studied education processes within anti-apartheid social movements – the issues of citizenship, human rights and democracy are therefore very “close and personal” to my perspective while being framed differently from those of CE, HRE and DE.
Discussion document: understanding the dynamics of part-time studies at UWC
(University of the Western Cape, 2003) Watters, Kathy; Koetsier, Jos; Walters, Shirley
This study into understanding the dynamics of part-time studies at UWC is part of on-going institutional research that is required to improve the conditions of and services to part-time students at UWC. Approximately 23% of UWC’s students are part-time in any one year. One of DLL’s mandates is to grow and develop the part-time programme. Through the DLL Board there has been an enquiry into financing part-time students through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). This has lead the Board to pose questions about the dynamics of the part-time programme and what it means to be part-time at UWC2. This paper is a preliminary report in progress and covers three of the following research aims. A subsequent paper will cover recommendations for improving the quality of part-time programme. The research aims of this documents are: (1) To help the institution think about the future of the part-time programme amidst the many shifts in national policy that affect the part-time programme, (2) to create clarity about the part-time terminology, (3) to get a better understanding of the actual dynamics of the part-time programme at UWC and the student profiles in terms of study patterns, class attendance (during the day or during after hours), payments records and need for financial aid, (4) To generate practical recommendations for quality enhancement of the part-time programme in terms of protocols for quality improvement and contractual obligations, staff development processes and student support.
Ecofeminisms and education: repositioning gender and environment in education
(Routledge, 2024) Walters, Shirley; Gough, Annette; Ho, Yi Chien Jade
Bcakground: This issue of Gender and Education explores aspects of the relationship of ecofeminisms and the environment to gender and education in the broadest sense. It provides an opportunity to re-think how ecofeminisms have, or could, inform educational theory and practice. In our call for papers, we suggested the following questions as one way of sparking ideas for contributors: How is ecofeminist thought currently being taken up in practice in diverse educational sites (e.g. early childhood, elementary, secondary and higher education, informal, community and adult education, activist learning, social learning, public pedagogies)? How does ecofeminist-inspired education, training, or activist pedagogies perpetuate and/or disrupt dominant ideologies about gender and the marginalization of diverse voices? What affinities and tensions are at play between ecofeminisms and feminist new materialisms, intersectionality, and/or posthumanism, and what might these imply for gender and education? How could critical environmentally-oriented education movements and subfields (e.g. climate justice education, common worlds pedagogies, critical animal-focused education, critical food education, environmental justice education, Land education, queer ecopedagogies, etc.) be more informed by ecofeminism, and what directions could that take those fields? What could ecofeminisms contribute to queer feminisms and what could queer feminisms contribute to ecofeminisms in the context of educational practice and theory?
Eleventh annual Julius Nyerere memorial lecture in 2014
(University of the Western Cape, 2015) Popular Education South Africa; Walters, Shirley
The event included a live performance by Jana Natya Manch (The People’s Theatre Group), also known as Janam (Birth). Janam has created original plays for the past 40 years; they have performed more than 8000 times in over 150 towns and cities of India, using public spaces and educating and engaging their audiences in discussions around issues of common concern. Janam is on its first tour of South Africa. They performed 'Enough is Enough'. A play based on the personal narratives of industrial workers in and around Delhi, gathered by the actors. The play is a juxtaposition of hilarious, over-the-top farce with deadly serious, quietly assertive docu-drama on the work conditions of workers. Through testimonies of real workers, the play explores issues that confront them, such as low wages, long hours of work, inadequate safety measures and the contract labour system. The topic was Popular Education: Inspiring education and activism. The event was coordinated by Professors Shirley Walters and Astrid Von Kotze of the Traditions of Popular Education Research Project within the Division for Lifelong Learning (DLL). This project was supported by the Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences (IHSS) and UWC to uncover the history of popular education in South Africa in order to bring these traditions to the attention of those thinking about community learning centres / colleges which are mentioned in the White Paper on Post - School Education and Training.
Equity, access and success: adult learners in public higher education
(Council on Higher Education, 2007) Buchler, Michelle; Castle, Jane; Osman, Ruksana; Walters, Shirley
Unlike research into access and success for school-leavers entering higher education (HE) in South Africa, very little research has been conducted into adult learners in HE. Apart from generalized, albeit extensive, socio-economic studies on poverty and inequality, including changing patterns of participation in education more generally (for example, Gelb, 2003), there is little information, at the systems level, on ‘deeper’ questions, such as the push/pull factors for adult learners entering higher education, the barriers they face and experience once in higher education institutions, their success and completion rates, and their reasons for entering HE institutions. These issues have taken on a much greater significance than before in post-1994 higher education policy developments that call for the widening of the social base of higher education to include, inter alia, adult learners. In this context, the broad purpose of the research was to find out whether a higher education system that facilitates access, equity and success for adult learners exists or is being formulated in South Africa. One aspect of the research was to investigate the participation rates of adult learners in the higher education system, in general, and to attempt to identify variables (apart from age), such as gender, class, race, marital status and family obligations, employment status and sectors, and funding sources, which may characterize adult learners as a distinct group. The second aspect of the research was to study the ways in which three public institutions – the Vaal University of Technology (VUT), the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and the University of the Western Cape (UWC) – engage with adult learners as a ‘special’ category of student. This aspect of the study was designed to identify systemic and contextual factors that facilitate or hinder the participation of adult learners, and to provide insights into the nature and quality of adult learners’ experiences of particular institutions and programmes. The questions that framed the research were: • Who are the adult learners in public higher education? How are they defined and characterized? How are these understandings of adult learners reflected in programme design? • Which programmes do adult learners access? What is the nature and quality of these programmes? • Are institutions responsive to adult learners, and to policies advocating an increase in their participation? Why, or why not?
An exploration of the use of African proverbs and metaphors in a visual communication design course
(University of the Western Cape, 2007) Costandius, Elmarie; Walters, Shirley; Faculty of Education
This study was envisioned to investigate and improve multicultural education in a visual communication design course. It aimed to explore the educational use of proverbs for the benefit of improving multicultural teaching and learning. Proverbs and metaphors are an essential source for the composition of visual narratives. Overall results of this study revealed that, even though proverbs are a significant part of the experience of black African students, the students seldom directly use narratives and proverbs as inspiration for their designs.
Factors that contribute towards students' successful participation and completion of the intercontinental Masters Programme (Adult Learning and Global Change) at one of the partner universities
(University of the Western Cape, 2007) February, Colette Ann; Walters, Shirley; Faculty of Education
This Research sets out to understand the participation experiences of a selected group of adult learners at one of the partner institutionsof the online Intercontinental Masters in Adult Learning and Global Change. The study offers an understanding of adult learners' experiences of success and persistence in relation to online study within a higher education context, and also offers insights into what may costitute successful learning communities. In relation to literature, , the student perceptions obtained via the study largely affirm what 'successiful' can mean to a group of postgraduate adult learners in an online learning environment. This stidy also contributes to the ongoing conversation in terms of the unique experiences of students in one particular cohort of the programme.
Flexible learning and teaching: Looking beyond the binary of full-time/part-time provision in South African higher education
(University of the Western Cape, 2015) Walters, Shirley; Jones, Barbara
This paper engages with literature on flexible learning and teaching in order to explore whether it may be possible, within the South African context, to have flexible learning and teaching provide a third way which goes beyond the current practice of full-time/part-time provision. This binary classification of students is a proxy for day-time/after-hours delivery. The argument is made that effective, flexible learning and teaching requires a fundamental shift in thinking about learning and teaching in higher education that moves us beyond such binaries. The paper proposes that in order to ensure access and success for students, ‘common knowledge’ (Edwards, 2010) will need to be co-constructed which understands flexible learning and teaching in ways which will meet needs of a diversity of students, including working students. It will require ‘resourceful leadership’ (Edwards, 2014) within the university that recognises, enhances and gives purpose to the capability of colleagues at every level of the systems they lead. Also, it will require the building of ‘common knowledge’ between certain sectors of universities and particular workplaces.
Implementing lifelong learning at a Technikon in South Africa
(University of Western Cape, 2001) Coleman, Lynn; Walters, Shirley
The nature of lifelong learning in the context of a South African technikon is the investigation focus of this mini-thesis. It argues for the adoption of a holistic and humanistic conceptualization to lifelong learning in this context. The argument that the implementation of lifelong learning has significant implications for all aspects in the functioning of a higher education institution, is supported.
Keeping the doors of learning open for adult student-workers within higher education
(University of the Western Cape, 2015) Walters, Shirley; Witbooi, Sally; Abrahams, Mark
The Freedom Charter of the African National Congress (ANC), the triumphant South African liberation movement, proclaims that ‘the doors of learning shall be open’ for all. Twenty years since coming to power, the doors of the universities are struggling to stay open for adult student-workers. An action research project into implementation of ‘flexible provision’ at one historically black university is described in response to these realities. Rich experiences from lives of working librarian student-workers illustrate the complex issues that confront individuals, workplaces and institutions in implementing innovative pedagogies within a university.
Learning/work: Turning work and lifelong learning inside out
(Springer, 2011) Walters, Shirley
CONFINTEA VI took place against the background of an uneven and contradictory social and economic impact of globalisation. This impact registered globally and locally, in both the political North and South, drawing new lines of inequality between “core” and “periphery”, between insiders and outsiders of contemporary society. Financial turmoil in the world has exacerbated levels of poverty and insecurity. The question is how work related education and conceptions of learning might promote greater inclusion and security for those whose livelihoods are most severely affected by globalisation. The Belem Framework for Action implicitly recognises that lifelong learning and work cannot be discussed outside broader socio-economic and political contexts. The authors of this article draw substantially on research from around the world and argue for the re-insertion of “politics and power” into both the theory and practice of “lifelong Learning” and “work”.
Lifelong learning and connected-up development: insights from South Africa
(UNESCO, 2011) Walters, Shirley
Lifelong learning through the four major stages of people’s development (Schuller and Watson 2009) embodies the need for integrated, connected-up approaches to development. I will reference briefly three examples in action of connected-up approaches to development from South Africa which are examples of national, regional and institutional approaches to lifelong learning. They are: the National Qualifications Framework, the Learning Cape, and the University of Western Cape. I will start with highlighting the social purposes of lifelong learning and the socio-economic and political context, both of which frame the discussion.
Lifelong learning and professional development in 'Residential Universities': Implementing the 'White Paper on post-school education and training'
(University of the Western Cape, 2015) Walters, Shirley
This is a compilation of key documents from the four year action research project between the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) which seeks to implement the transformational agenda of the White Paper on Post-School Education and Training (MHET, 2013) which challenges education and training institutions to re-think approaches to teaching and learning. The research findings provide useful insights particularly for residential universities, but may also have application for other education and training institutions.
Lifelong, life-wide and life-deep learning: utilizing the lens of HIV/AIDS
Walters, Shirley
In this presentation, I use a discussion on pedagogies of HIV/AIDS as a lens to sharpen and clarify ways of thinking about adult and lifelong learning, particularly in and for the majority world. HIV/AIDS highlight some of the most difficult social, economic, cultural and personal issues that any adult educators have to confront. I adopt a critical participatory action research methodology to reflect back on the approaches we have developed over several years. From these experiences, our observations are that working with people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS bring into sharp focus the need for pedagogical approaches (i) to include male and female, children and adults across generations, for all ages (i.e. lifelong learning); (ii) to recognize the importance of sustainable livelihoods and systemic issues in a life-wide approach (i.e. life wide learning); and (iii) to work with deeply personal issues relating to death and sexual relations which tap into the cultural, spiritual, and intimate aspects of people’s lives (i.e. life deep learning). I use theoretical frameworks from feminist popular education, post-colonial theory and adult and lifelong learning. The paper is a ‘work in progress’.

Browsing by Author "Walters, Shirley"

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