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

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10566/15407

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 49

Exploring identity shifts and power relations in online learning of TVET College
(Univesity of the Western Cape, 2025) Jenekar, Regan; Hendricks, Mohammed Natheem
This study investigated the impact of a shift in the medium of instruction from face-to-face to online learning on the identity formation of students at Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges. Drawing on a Foucauldian lens, the study critically analyses and problematises the shift in power relations that students and teachers encounter in online teaching and learning environments. The main themes explored in this study were the conceptions of e-learning, autonomy and challenges in e-learning, online identity in e-learning, and students’ and lecturers’ shifts of power relations. The study employed a qualitative research approach, gathering data through semi-structured interviews at a TVET college in South Africa. The investigation explored how the shift to online learning has resulted in changes in students’ identities, particularly in relation to how identity shifts due to moving to an online teaching and learning platform. The study examined how students and lecturers negotiate and resist the exercise of power in online learning environments and how their identities are shaped and reshaped in response to these power dynamics. The findings of this study contribute to an understanding of the complex interplay between identity formation, power relations, and online learning in the context of TVET colleges. This research has implications for policymakers, educators, and researchers interested in understanding the multifaceted nature of student identity in the digital age. As such, the study provided insights into the challenges and opportunities that students encounter in online learning environments and suggests recommendations for educational institutions to create inclusive and empowering online learning experiences for students.
Psychosocial barriers to participation among adult students at a university in the Western Cape: a Psychosocial Interactive Model
(University of the Western Cape, 2025) Hendricks, Elaine; Groener, Zelda; February, Colette
The purpose of this research paper was to explore psychosocial barriers to participation from the perspectives of adult students in an academic programme at a higher education institution in the Western Cape, South Africa. The aim of the research paper was therefore to invite participant perception regarding the key research question: ‘What psychosocial barriers to participation do adult students experience at a higher education institution?’ The significance of this study was informed by my own experience as an adult student in a higher education context; I felt compelled to know more about the barriers to learning that I have also experienced at various stages as an adult student studying at a higher education institution. The rationale of the study was therefore an attempt to understand the meaning of participation difficulties that may have been similarly encountered by the study’s participant group of adult students, and to reflect on ways of addressing participation challenges as preemptively as possible for future adult students in similarly constituted higher education settings.
An exploration of social media as a support tool in facilitating adult learning
(Univesity of the Western Cape, 2025) Damons, Marianna; Hendricks, Natheem
Social media has become a global phenomenon as a result of technological advancements and has provided opportunities for educational institutions to consider the introduction of digital platforms to facilitate online learning. Adult learners are gradually adapting to social media; hence, the use of social media has increased. The aim of this study was to investigate and gain insights into adult learners’ perceptions and experiences using social media as a learning support tool. Using a qualitative case study, twelve (12) participants, both males and females between 20-55 years of age, were purposively selected as the informants in this investigation. This research study adopted a case study design, using qualitative methods. Semi-structured interviews, between 30-45 minutes in duration, were used to gather the data related to understanding how adult learners may use social media as a learning support tool. Social constructivism was used as the theoretical framework for this study. By investigating adult learners’ perceptions and experiences using social media platforms such as, Facebook and WhatsApp, the investigation was able to comprehend the function of social media as a learning support tool.
The use of ICT by intermediate phase mathematics educators: exploring the development of ICT competence of in-service mathematics teachers
(Univesity of the Western Cape, 2024) Willemse, Gershom; Pietersen-Hendricks, Nadia Mariaan
This study explores how Mathematics educators enhance their competence in effectively integrating Information Communication Technology (ICT) through professional development. Constructivist theory sees professional development as a chance for educators to construct knowledge from individual experiences. This involves refining mental representations and integrating new information into existing schemas. The study's objective is to collect data on educators' experiences in improving their ICT integration skills. The aim is to equip current and future educators with effective tools, ideas and practices for integrating ICT within the classroom. The research focuses on the experiences of intermediate phase (grade 4-6) mathematics educators in the Western Cape, South Africa, as they enhance their ability to use ICT as a teaching tool. The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has taken steps to incorporate ICT into the curriculum, providing educator training, resources, smart classrooms and an online program called Green Shoots Maths. Green Shoots is aligned with the South African curriculum (CAPS) and is available to learners and educators in the Western Cape, with a primary focus on improving math skills. However, it is important to explore the factors that facilitate or hinder the development of competencies and skills in integrating ICT into mathematics teaching, as well as how educators can be supported in this endeavour. This study will utilise semi-structured interviews to gather qualitative data, offering insights into enhancing ICT skills and competencies as tools to support mathematics teaching.
Addressing current ICT skills training and development orientations for an online postgraduate programme: a case study at a higher education institution in the Western Cape, South Africa
(Univesity of the Western Cape, 2025) Ahmed, Sumaya; February, Colette
This case study explored the educational value of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills training and development for selected cohorts of postgraduate students at a higher education institution in the Western Cape, South Africa. The study aimed to gain clarity in relation to ICT competency, specifically targeting postgraduate students within a purely International Online Masters Programme (IOMP) focusing on digital skills and literacies. This includes assisting students with logging into the Learning Management System (LMS), creating MS Word documents for the completion of assignments, and formatting and inserting a table of contents needed for referencing. The main area of inquiry was to understand how educators, in particular, might assist students in gaining the best possible onboarding and educational experience of a specific Learning Management System (LMS) platform for the duration of the stipulated two-year online learning experience. Within an interpretive paradigm, this qualitative case study draws on social constructivism and critical theory to inform its theoretical framework and accordingly engages with participants' lived experiences and perceptions through these lenses. Noting that this International Online Masters Programme (IOMP) has been offered in collaboration with other partner universities since 2001, the findings of the study usefully draw attention to current ICT innovation for educators within an international collaborative partnership to consider for onboarding requirements as well as course delivery as a whole.
An investigation into ways in which TVET colleges could assist students to become self-employed through improved entrepreneurial training
(University of the Western Cape, 2024) Mabutha,Tercia
The White Paper for Post-School Education and Training (2013) states that the purpose of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges is primarily to train students to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed in the formal labour market. They cater for adolescents wanting to enrol in vocational programmes after Grade 9 or finish school with a Grade 12 and learners who wish to complete their schooling. However, mainstream South African qualifications, such as those funded by the Department of Higher Education and Training, have limited practical and workplace learning opportunities and are primarily theoretical.
A Research Paper submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of master in ducation (adult learning and global change)
(University of the Western Cape, 2025) Jenekar, Regan
This study investigated the impact of a shift in the medium of instruction from face-to-face to online learning on the identity formation of students at Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges. Drawing on a Foucauldian lens, the study critically analyses and problematises the shift in power relations that students and teachers encounter in online teaching and learning environments. The main themes explored in this study were the conceptions of e-learning, autonomy and challenges in e-learning, online identity in e-learning, and students’ and lecturers’ shifts of power relations. The study employed a qualitative research approach, gathering data through semi-structured interviews at a TVET college in South Africa. The investigation explored how the shift to online learning has resulted in changes in students’ identities, particularly in relation to how identity shifts due to moving to an online teaching and learning platform. The study examined how students and lecturers negotiate and resist the exercise of power in online learning environments and how their identities are shaped and reshaped in response to these power dynamics The findings of this study contribute to an understanding of the complex interplay between identity formation, power relations, and online learning in the context of TVET colleges. This research has implications for policymakers, educators, and researchers interested in understanding the multifaceted nature of student identity in the digital age. As such, the study provided insights into the challenges and opportunities that students encounter in online learning environments and suggests recommendations for educational institutions to create inclusive and empowering online learning experiences for students.
A critical exploration of Pan-African ecofeminist popular education within WoMin’s feminist schools
(Taylor&Francis, 2025) Hargreaves, Samantha; Walters, Shirley; Khan, Leila
WoMin African Alliance (WoMin) has hosted six Feminist Schools since 2016 in which a Pan-African ecofeminist popular education approach has evolved. The participants are women in communities of resistance against extractive projects in West, East, and Southern Africa. Given the limited research on ecofeminist popular education in Africa, an exploratory case study method is used to examine the praxis of the emergent curriculum. Most participants have limited levels of formal schooling; therefore, we probe how we build an understanding of complex theoretical ideas while simultaneously honouring the centrality of women’s embodied knowledge. We describe various participatory, inventive pedagogical practices which place women’s experiences at the centre while elucidating abstract concepts. The facilitator’s ability to weave theory from the stories while ‘on her feet’ is crucial. The case deepens the argument that experience is a source of knowledge and provides rich evidence to support it.
Informal and non-formal learning amongst teachers in relation to the management of classroom discipline at a primary school
(University of the Western Cape, 2007) Damonse, Selwyn
South Africa has undergone major transformation after the election of the first democratic government in 1994. The acceptance of a humane constitution as well as equal rights for all its citizens necessitated the banning of corporal punishment in all schools under the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996. Accordingly, this change in the education policy as well as a change in society regarding equal rights for all citizens required teachers to adjust and improve their practices related to classroom management and discipline. The abolition of corporal punishment in 1996 (South African Schools Act 84 of 1996) can thus be regarded as such a changed aspect which required teachers to find alternative ways of keeping discipline in schools. It is expected from teachers to manage learning in classrooms, while at the same time practise and promote a critical, committed and ethical attitude towards the development of a sense of respect and responsibility amongst learners. It is with this in mind that one should remember that classroom locations and environments are complex as well as dynamic. Learners can now use their rights in a court of law while at the same time become more unruly, disruptive and at times even violent. Teachers on the other hand are left with limited alternative procedures or guidelines to manage unruly learners. As such, teachers now rely on their own informal learning in order to deal with such learners since alternatives to manage ill-disciplined learners are not included in formative teacher training courses. This study therefore concerns itself with the way teachers acquire classroom management skills in the absence of corporal punishment and learn how to deal with behavioural problems in order to carry on with day-to-day classroom activities. This is essentially viewed as informal learning. Because of the absence of much-needed training and support from educational authorities, teachers adjust and improve their practice, relying on hands-on experience in classrooms since they only incidentally receive opportunities to engage in ongoing formal professional development.
The role of learning communities in addressing primary school dropout: an exploratory study of a learning community in a low-income primary school in Cape Town, South Africa.
(University of the Western Cape, 2025) Sithole,Nomakolwa
This research responds to an identified concern in the literature that primary school dropout may be a relatively understudied phenomenon requiring due attention. Accordingly, this research undertaking explored the present role of learning communities in addressing voluntary withdrawal or dropout in a low-income primary school educational context in post-apartheid South Africa. This research is important especially in a country where, for the majority of South African learners, educational inequality continues to prevail across postapartheid educational landscapes. Within an interpretive paradigm, and as a qualitative case study, the underpinnings of Epstein’s model pertaining to school, home and community partnerships have been explored to broadly guide this research undertaking, and participant perception was invited through semi-structured interviews. Key findings draw attention to possible collaborative solutions to the unrelenting problem of voluntary learner withdrawal in low- income primary school educational contexts. Most notably, key findings suggest that the formation of educational communities comprising educators, parents and caregivers, and the learners themselves potentially has a high social and educational value towards the success of learners. Findings also draw attention to the value of an extended educational community in which district officials and community organizations, for example, could contribute towards authentic lifelong learning strategies towards educator and learner success.
An agentic approach to investigating barriers to access and participation on the pathways of mature adult students in Namibia
(University of the Western Cape, 2024) Bassonn, Bronwin Valerie
Various shifts in the educational landscape of Namibia have made educational access and participation, particularly for mature adult students aiming to enter the teaching profession, difficult. While research on this phenomenon in Namibia is limited, the purpose of the current study is to investigate the barriers to access and participation for mature adult students aiming to live their lifelong dream of becoming teachers. As a result, this study is also necessary, as it can provide valuable knowledge regarding the teaching profession in Namibia which has experienced a crisis over the past few years. Using a qualitative research approach and an interpretivist framework, I aimed to answer the main research question: “What are the barriers to access and participation among mature adult students at a Higher Education Institution in Namibia?” I used structure and agency as a theoretical framework, highlighting how the students use their agency to approach the barriers they face on their learning pathways. The study shows how mature adult students demonstrated agentic capacities in the face of hardship, which allowed them to overcome both situational and institutional barriers to access and participation in teacher education. Recommendations are made around these barriers to support teacher education in the hope of solving some of the challenges facing this profession in Namibia
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.
Exploring the efficacy of the grant funding process of a SETA within the context of South African skills development
(University of the Western Cape, 2024) Abrahams; Natheem, Hendricks
Continuous introduction of innovations and rapid technological changes in industry necessitate the constant need for skill development within the workplace. For companies to grow, stay competitive, and remain economically sustainable, they must ensure that their employees’ skills, knowledge, and capabilities incorporate the latest developments and trends. Therefore, employee development within the manufacturing and engineering sectors becomes imperative and benefits both the employee and employer. To encourage skills development, Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) have become critical links as providers of incentive funding to ensure that companies implement and/or participate in skills development initiatives that aim to upskill, reskill and multi-skill their workers. The research investigated the alleged bureaucratic claiming process from SETAs which might prevent companies from fully benefiting from the skills development system. This investigation was guided by the research question: How do merSETAaffiliated companies/organisations experience the grant-claiming process? Exploring the efficacy of the SETA grant funding process, this inquiry used a qualitative research methodology to investigate whether SETA funding is a beneficial process for all involved.
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.
Exploring the potential of digital storytelling in the teaching of academic writing at a higher education institution in the Western Cape
(University of the Western Cape, 2019) Mkaza, Linda Olive
Writing is an important skill throughout learners’ schooling trajectory because it is through writing that learners need to situate meaning and sense-making across the curriculum. Writing proficiency becomes even more important when learners access tertiary studies. Yet studies suggest that most students struggle with academic writing. Various authors suggest that writing has not been taught appropriately especially in secondary schooling contexts in South Africa and that writing becomes even more daunting for Second Language speakers of English when they reach tertiary education. There is abundant literature on students’ challenges with academic writing and ways to address academic writing challenges but the use of digital storytelling in relation to academic writing development is recent and distinctively underexplored in the literature. In this study, I seek to explore the potential that digital storytelling has in the teaching of undergraduate academic writing skills. I will focus on first year students' academic writing skills, how they are taught currently and how technology in the form of digital storytelling can help first year students improve their academic writing skills. The theoretical framework for the study is largely based on the New Literacies Studies which is championed by members of the New London Group such as Street and Street (1984) Lea and Street (2006) among others. The theoretical framework will draw on the notion of literacy as social practice rather than a set of reading and writing skills which explains why educators need to find new ways of teaching academic writing skills. I use semiotics and multimodality as a foundational concept for using digital storytelling in academic writing. That is because semiotics and multimodality further support the idea that literacy goes beyond words but that audio and visual elements are also part of learning and can help engage students in their academic work. The main aim of this proposed research is to explore both students and lecturer practices of digital literacies in the teaching and learning of academic writing at The Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Investigating the Teaching and Learning of Creative Writing in English first additional language in selected grade 9 classrooms in the Western Cape
(University of the Western Cape, 2020) Nondabula, Nikiwe; Nomlomo, V
Writing is an important aspect of language learning and a tool for assessment in Basic and Higher Education across the globe. Learners need to acquire proficient writing skills to learn and to demonstrate their knowledge and creativity. Given the importance of creative writing in expressing one’s thoughts, emotions and imagination, this study sought to investigate how creative writing was taught through the medium of English First Additional Language (FAL) to Grade 9 learners in one primary school in the Western Cape province. It also sought to observe and analyse the teaching strategies employed by teachers in creative writing to Grade 9 learners who were isiXhosa home language speakers, and who were taught all the subjects (except isiXhosa language) through the medium of English (FAL). Through the lens of Vygotsky’s Social Constructivism Theory, this study explored how the learners’ social context and language played a role in the teaching-learning process. The Social Constructivism theory assumes that the home environment is a primary
Group work in management education - The role of task design
(University of the Western Cape, 2007) Du Toit, Anna; Hendricks, Mohamed Natheem
This minithesis examines adult learners' experiences of group work in management education. Group work is an integral part of learning and teaching methods at most business schools because it develops team skills demanded by today's workplace. Furthermore, group work in education is grounded in the belief that much learning happens through social interaction and that diversity within groups promotes learning. At a more practical level, group work makes large projects feasible. Learners view group work as beneficial. But their experiences also reflect that it is often associated with problems. The main problems reported relate to unequal participation and group conflict. Underpinning the study is the recognition of the key role of social interaction in learning. This study analyses learners' group experiences in a business school. The study aims to identify conditions that hinder and promote group interaction with a view to enhance learning. Through questionnaires and interviews the study obtains an overview of the experiences of 45 adult learners on a one-year management programme at a business school in South Africa in relation to two group assignments. Questionnaires are also used to obtain the views of the two educators who designed the two group assignments. The study includes an analysis of the two group assignment briefs. The study found that non-participation or 'free-riding' and the sub-division of group tasks occurred frequently. The design of the group tasks promoted sub-division and non-participation, which in turn gave rise to tension and conflict. Learning objectives were unclear as the purpose of group work in the learning process was not communicated to students. The tasks did not demand much group interaction or learner interdependency which meant that tasks could be split up and done individually or by part of the group. This reduces the opportunity for group collaboration to clarify understandings and create shared meaning, which in turn negatively impacts on individual learning. The study argues that successful group work requires careful task design. To realise its full potential certain conditions must be met. Learners need to know that the group process is an integral part of their learning, group work must be integrated into overall course design and assessment, tasks must demand a high degree of interaction, learners need to be interdependent, and groups need support throughout the process.
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.
Access, barriers to participation and success among mature students at a University in the Western Cape
(University of Western Cape, 2021) Williams, Gillian; Groener, Zelda
This research study is informed by the White Paper for Post-School Education and Training (2013) in which the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) sets out its focus and priorities concerning higher education and training. The main purpose of this study is to find out how mature students participate despite the barriers that they experience while participating in post-school education and to offer an opportunity to achieve greater clarity about the way that the students who exercised agency overcame the barriers that they faced and in turn, achieved success.
A transformative approach to teaching adults in a culturally diverse context
(University of Western Cape, 2013) Wales, Raymond; Groener, Zelda
The post-modem society is described as a society on the move, a phenomenon the anthropologist, (Vigouroux, 2005) describes as 'flows'. These flows are mostly manifested by people moving in and towards countries with better economic prospects. In most African countries there is a large-scale migration from rural to urban areas and a lot of trans-national migration across countries, due to recent socio-economic and socio-political trends. Democracy in South Africa became a powerful drawing card on the African continent for those nations plagued by poverty, unemployment and civil wars and migration to South Africa became increasingly popular. Therefore, democracy in South Africa is also a spatial process, which transcends local and national geographical spaces.

Browse

Recent Submissions