Research Articles

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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.
Towards a critical ecological ontology: literacy, sustainability, and fostering environmental education through the Indian green informational picturebook
(Routledge, 2024) Karmakar, Goutam
It is widely acknowledged through various studies that comprehending the environment and sustainability can help children cultivate curiosity, insights, and ethical ideals, facilitating ways of enhancing public environmental literacy and leading to a more sustainable future. Environmental education in early childhood has substantial positive effects on social, economic, wellness, and educational elements, aiding in the growth of children’s abilities to become responsible young citizens. The present article examines how green informational picturebooks in India can cultivate eco-consciousness in young readers and support environmental children’s literature, motivating them to protect the earth and recognise their responsibility in environmental issues as adults. Taking Jeyanthi Manokaran’s Chipko Takes Root (2015) as a point of exploration and intervention, the article illustrates how a picturebook like this can be implemented as a means of communication for environmental protection. For this, the article emphasises how the book indulges in a streamlined recounting of the Chipko movement, incorporates regional stories, and uses effective visual representations as tools to elevate awareness about environment and sustainability among children.
Theorising student activism in and beyond twentieth century Europe: the contribution of Philip G Altbach
Luescher-Mamashela, Thierry
For most of the second half of the twentieth century, Philip Altbach has followed, analysed and theorised student activism in Europe, North America, India and beyond, and become the foremost scholar on the topic. This chapter critically reviews Altbach’s work on student activism (1964 – 2006) and his efforts at developing a comparative theoretical understanding of student activism in terms of its causes, organisation, ideological orientation and outcomes, along with the backgrounds and identity of student activists, the importance of national and institutional contexts and historical conjunctures in the emergence of student activism and in the response of national and university governments to student protest. The chapter takes Altbach’s thinking on student politics and activism and most recent theoretical contributions on changes in European higher education governance and student representation at system and institutional level to consider four questions: Under what conditions does student activism emerge? What are the typical characteristics of student organisations/movements? What are the typical characteristics of student activists? What are the effects of student activism? In so doing, testable propositions for theorising student activism in, and beyond, twentieth century Europe are developed. The paper thereby challenges Altbach’s own assertion that “student activism lacks any overarching theoretical explanation” (1991: 247).
‘I can easily switch to the kazakh language, also to the Russian language’: reimagining kazakhstani CLIL implementation as a third space
(Taylor & Francis Group, 2024) Simons, Marius; Bedeker, Michelle; Ospanbek, Assylzhan
There is extensive CLIL research on stakeholders’ practices, integration of content and language, and pedagogies. However, limited studies report on teachers’ pre-existing knowledge before CLIL implementation and how it influences their classroom pedagogy. Using a third space frame, this study examined CLIL implementation in Kazakhstan. It included 15 science teachers who teach science through the English medium of instruction (EMI). A hybrid coding strategy was followed to analyze questionnaires, teachers’ science lessons, multimodal teaching-based scenarios, and semi-structured interviews. Our findings revealed that teachers’ CLIL implementation was guided by their (1) hybrid beliefs about scientific knowledge and learning, (2) humanising pedagogy, (3) shift to constructivist science pedagogy, and (4) hybrid linguistic stance. We conclude that a third-space perspective diverts the gaze from CLIL teachers’ challenges to illuminate the entanglement of teachers’ epistemic stance, pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and linguistic stance as emergent discursive practices when policy borrowings connect global and local epistemologies.
Implementation of an intervention program to enhance student teachers’ active learning in transformation geometry
(SAGE Publications Inc, 2023) Mbusi, Nokwanda; Luneta, Kakoma
Active learning strategies are purported to be effective in enhancing students’ understanding of concepts that would otherwise be difficult to master through other strategies of mediating learning. This study forms part of a bigger study where pre-service teachers’ errors and misconceptions in transformation geometry were identified, analyzed and then addressed. The focus of this current study is on exploring the implementation of a van Hiele phase-based instruction to address the students’ misconceptions through the facilitation of active learning. The instructional program was implemented with 82 pre-service teachers (student teachers) and field notes, observations and informal conversations with students were used to collect data during the implementation. A test was then given at the end of the intervention to determine the effect of the intervention on student performance. Findings suggest active learning can be promoted, through the use of van Hiele phase-based intervention program, to address effectively students’ misconceptions.
Mapping higher education policymaking in Ghana with aquadruple helix framework
(Taylor and Francis Group, 2023) Ansah, Francis; Swanzy, Patrick; Langa, Patrício
Whilst research works have identified many actors involved inhigher education public policymaking in the Ghanaian context,there is a paucity of empirical studies on how the application of aquadruple helix network of policy actors considered essentialconstituents of higher education provision could create addedvalue to strengthen the policymaking ecosystem in Ghana. Usingmultiple data collection techniques including, document analysis,in-depth interviews and analytic memoing, this paper examinesdeeper insights into higher education public policymaking inGhana from the perspective of a quadruple helix framework ofpolicymaking and argues for an added value in the use ofquadruple helix framework in higher education policymaking.
The affective effect: exploring undergraduate students’ emotions in giving and receiving peer feedback
(Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 2023) Bharuthram, S; van Heerden, M
While the peer feedback process has an important role to play in student learning and has many benefits, it is not without its challenges. One of these is the effect that emotions may have on the way that students engage with the feedback. Yet, the specific emotions experienced during peer feedback is relatively under-explored. Therefore, this exploratory qualitative study unpacks the range of emotions experienced by students during peer feedback. Using Plutchnik’s Wheel of Emotions to analyze students’ questionnaire responses, the study found that students largely exhibited positive emotions, which may be due to their perceptions of themselves in relation to the process, as well as the various scaffolds put in place. Knowing which emotions students experienced during peer feedback may enable a greater understanding of the role of emotions in peer feedback, as well as enabling student feedback literacy development.
Keeping sites in sight: Conversations with teachers about the design of toolkits peculiar to a continuous professional development initiative
(AOSIS, 2019) Gierdien, Faaiz; Smith, Charles; Julie, Cyril
The aim of this article is to shift the notion of ‘sites’ as places of work peculiar to continuous professional development (CPD) to a theoretical level, independent of, yet intimately connected to, their physical meanings, for example universities and schools. Most CPD initiatives have to contend with at least one of these two sites, in which university-based mathematics educators and school teachers can have different and at times overlapping ways of talking about the same mathematics. Using research on number and operations, non-visually salient rules in algebra and algebraic fractions, and analytic tools and notions peculiar to conversation analysis and ethnomethodology, the authors identify and analyse site-related issues in the design of particular problem sets in Grade 8 and Grade 9 toolkits and related conversations between a mathematics educator and participating teachers. The article concludes with the implications of ‘keeping in sight’ ways in which universities and schools talk and work when it comes to designing and discussing toolkits.
Internationalisation of the curriculum in higher education: A case from a Mozambican university
(Taylor and Francis Group, 2023) Ndaipa, Charnaldo Jaime; Edström, Kristina; Langa, Patrício
Internationalisation of the curriculum has been the subject of various debates in recent years in higher education institutions. In particular, the need to incorporate local knowledge systems when internationalising the curriculum con-tinues to be a major challenge in African universities. This study explores faculty members’ experiences inherent in the internationalisation of the curriculum at one Mozambican university. On the basis of semi-structured interviews with eleven faculty members, two research questions were investigated: (1) How do faculty members understand the internationalisation of the curriculum in their university? (2) How are local knowledge systems embedded in the internationalisation of the university curriculum?
Choreographic cartographies with-in learning: towards response-ability in higher education pedagogy
(Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the South, 2023) Jonker, Francois
In this article, I seek to engage the liberatory impetus of critical pedagogies through an attentiveness to body-space-time so as to enrich the former with the notion of response-ability. Several learning activities are engaged within the context of a foundation year classroom of an Art School, to open up conceptions of the experiential nature of learning events and the ethico-onto-epistemological questions that emerge when foregrounding response-ability as a condition for learning-becoming. I have particular interest in notions of subjectivity, agency and affect, questioning how a new materialist reading of these concepts might serve to challenge representationalist conceptions of higher learning. I commence with a proposition: engage learning as an experience — through the processual potentialities of its in-act and prompt myself by drawing attention to the performativity of body-space-time cartographies and choreographies.
The Namibian inclusive education policy’s responseto gender nonconforming learners
(Wiley, 2023) Haitembu, Rauna Keshemunhu; Maarman, Rouaan
The provision of education to children is a human right that most countries including Namibia are trying to achieve. Hence, through educational inclusion, educators strive for removal of barriers within education systems for all children to learn. The purpose of this study was to explore how the Namibian inclusive education (IE) policy responds to gender non-conforming learners. Drawing upon the Social Identity Perspective (SIP) and interviews with four education officers and employing a transformative case study, this study revealed that the Namibian IE policy does not clearly pronounce itself on inclusion of gender non-conforming learners.
Multilingual tasks as a springboard for transversal practice: Teachers’ decisions and dilemmas in a functional multilingual learning approach
(Taylor and Francis Group, 2023) Foster, Nell; Auger, Nathalie; Van Avermaet, Piet
Functional Multilingual Learning (FML) aims to leverage pupils’ full language repertoire in a strategic and transversal way across the curriculum in order to enhance access to conceptual understanding and improve skills in the language of schooling. This linguistic-ethnographic study explores the pedagogical decisions of four teachers in a French–speaking primary school in Brussels, Belgium as they create ‘meaningful multilingual tasks’ for their linguistically diverse classrooms. Findings indicate that tasks serving symbolic and linguistic functions were the easiest for teachers to conceptualise, and that class-level learning objectives often took precedence over individual objectives. Multilingual scaffolding only occurred in classrooms already functioning extensively within a socio-constructivist paradigm and needed to be supported by a free classroom language policy to be the most effective.
Welfare and education in British colonial Africa, 1918–1945
(Springer, 2020) Kallaway, Peter
The relevance of historical research for an explanation of the roots of contemporary educational policy and its relationship to notions of equity, democracy and development has been sadly neglected in recent years. This means that policy makers have forfeited the advantages of reflecting on the traditions and experience of past endeavors and examining them critically for potential understandings of present and future policy making. The aim of this paper was to direct the attention of researchers to the complexities and multifaceted nature of educational policy development in inter-war era (1918–1945), with specific reference to British colonial Africa and South Africa. It will also hopefully provide a set of elementary tools for all of those interested in educational policy-making strategies that seek to promote meaningful social, economic and political change in an age of uncertainty.
Interprofessional learning through 3D printing of assistive devices
(Wiley, 2023) Filies, Gérard C; Ingram, Chinno; Mthembu, Thuli M.
Emerging technologies in the rehabilitative component of patient care in community settings continue to grow. One of the emerging technological fields in the health sciences arena is 3D printing. It is particularly useful in rehabilitation services in the production of assistive devices. Degerli et al.1 define assistive devices, as any commercially developed, modified or customised system, component or product used to improve or preserve the functional capabilities of a person not able to engage in all their daily living activities. Currently, assistive devices are not easily customizable. Off-the-shelf devices do not meet the individual needs of the customer; they are costly, lack individual compatibility and not always in stock. In minimising these challenges, technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) such as 3D printing have been offered as a practical solution at a local university in South Africa.
Internationalisation of the curriculum in higher education: A case from a Mozambican university
(Cogent Education, 2023) Langa, Patrício; Ndaipa, Charnaldo Jaime; Edström, Kristina; Geschwind, Lars
Internationalisation of the curriculum has been the subject of various debates in recent years in higher education institutions. In particular, the need to incorporate local knowledge systems when internationalising the curriculum continues to be a major challenge in African universities. This study explores faculty members’ experiences inherent in the internationalisation of the curriculum at one Mozambican university. On the basis of semi-structured interviews with eleven faculty members, two research questions were investigated: (1) How do faculty members understand the internationalisation of the curriculum in their university? (2) How are local knowledge systems embedded in the internationalisation of the university curriculum? The findings revealed that the internationalisation of the curriculum is mainly understood in terms of developing intercultural knowledge, skills and values; mobility of students, teachers and academic programmes; and teaching international students and languages. Some practices suggest opportunities for a more decolonised approach in the internationalisation of the university curriculum, such as the integration of local languages and the practice of ethnoscience, with the main focus on ethnomathematics.
Taking risks: Exploring ecofeminist, climate-just popular education
(Linköpings University Electronic Press, 2023) von Kotze, Astrid; Walters, Shirley
The climate catastrophe is a clarion call to humanity to change how we live. How do radical popular educators respond to this call? We ‘join the dots’ using climate justice, ecofeminism and our own insights from our engaged activist scholarship as theoretical positions to explore this question. Dominant Western worldviews which separate humans from other life forms contribute to ecological degradation. For climate justice, this hard-wired worldview needs to be disrupted.
Reconceptualising teacher education for teachers of learners with severe to profound disabilities
(Taylor and Francis Group, 2023) McKenzie, Judith; Kelly, Jane; Moodley, Trevor
This paper considers teacher education for teachers of learners withsevere to profound disabilities (SPD) in South Africa, in both formaland non-formal learning programmes within a disability studies ineducation framework. Qualitative data were collected from a rangeof education stakeholders including non-governmental (NGOs) anddisabled people organisations (DPOs). Based on a thematic analysis,findings show limited pre-service teacher education programmesfocused on teaching learners with SPD. In-service teacher trainingthrough education departments and NGOs and DPOs, is usuallythrough basic short courses or workshops and are notcomplemented by on-going support.
Towards a decolonial feminist intervention: Ethics and perspectives of françoise vergès
(Journal of Gender Studies, 2023) Karmakar, Goutam
In this conversation with Françoise Vergès, a French political scientist, historian, film producer, independent curator, activist, and public educator, Vergès talks about postcolonial studies and decolonial feminism. While the focus has been on Verges’ book A Decolonial Feminism, other aspects such as civilizational feminism, a feminist critical decolonial pedagogy, and ethical nuances have been discussed.
Episteme, sports, and media: Review of the film saina
(Media Asia, 2023) Karmakar, Goutam; Pal, Payel
Background: In recent years, the Indian Hindi film industry has produced a number of films like Mary Kom (Kumar, Citation2014) on boxing, Dangal (Tiwari, Citation2016) on wrestling, Panga (Tiwari, Citation2020) on kabaddi, Rashmi Rocket (Khurana, Citation2021) on track and field, and Shabaash Mithu (Mukherji, Citation2022) on cricket. These show the empowering journey of athletes in India. Saina (Gupte, Citation2021), directed by Amole Gupte, is one such Indian Hindi-language biographical sports film that chronicles the career trajectories of Indian badminton player Saina Nehwal (Parineeti Chopra). In doing so, the film pays homage to the individuals who have significantly contributed to her perseverance and indomitable spirit.
Post philosophies and the doing of inquiry: Webinars and webing sessions become a special issue(s)
(SAGE Publications, 2023) Kuby, Candace R.; Bozalek, Vivienne
In this guest co-editors’ introduction to the special issue(s) titled “Post Philosophies and the Doing of Inquiry,” the authors share the backstory to the webinar series, information about the webinars and how to locate the recordings, and how WEBing sessions with our (former) students came from the webinar series. A list of articles and article titles for the special issue(s) are also included.

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