‘Making a life’: Elmarie Costandius and her Roles in Teaching, Research and Community Involvement

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Oct 292012
 

Elmarie Costandius

“…at that moment that you give students the project of discussing stereotyping, you are immediately in the position where you have to start thinking very carefully yourself about what you say, how you do things. And suddenly you are in a situation where you realize you have just stereotyped!”

In this brief Elmarie Costandius, of the Department of Visual Arts is interviewed by Dr Catherine Kell, a researcher commissioned by the CTL. Download the full interview here.

This is the sixth brief in the Centre for Teaching and Learning or CTL’s ‘Making a life’ series, where we explore the attitudes and experiences of academics at Stellenbosch University, with regard to their roles in teaching, research and what is generally called ‘community involvement’. The series was approached as a set of interviews with individual academics, which took the form of reflective conversations between a CTL researcher and the individual academic. Academics approached for the interviews were not sampled, but drawn from different departments and different disciplines, and tended to be those who had had some involvement with CTL. At times we have incorporated other texts into the brief, to enrich the sense of the activities academics engage in, in ‘making a life’.

‘Making a life’: Rhoda Malgas and her Roles in Teaching, Research and Community Involvement

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Oct 222012
 

Rhoda Malgas

“The way I see it, there are different currents, working in different directions. The community interaction cannot happen without the teaching and research, because it can’t be sustainable without baseline data. Maybe you could do community interaction and research together without the teaching, but I find teaching so helpful in that it cements my thinking and it challenges me to think differently.”

In this brief Rhoda Malgas, of the Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, is interviewed by Dr Catherine Kell, a researcher commissioned by the CTL. Download the full interview here.

This is the fifth brief in the Centre for Teaching and Learning or CTL’s ‘Making a life’ series, where we explore the attitudes and experiences of academics at Stellenbosch University, with regard to their roles in teaching, research and what is generally called ‘community involvement’. The series was approached as a set of interviews with individual academics, which took the form of reflective conversations between a CTL researcher and the individual academic. Academics approached for the interviews were not sampled, but drawn from different departments and different disciplines, and tended to be those who had had some involvement with CTL. At times we have incorporated other texts into the brief, to enrich the sense of the activities academics engage in, in ‘making a life’.

Oct 152012
 
Prof Leslie Swartz

Photo Courtesy of Christine Fourie

“…it’s a huge privilege [working as an academic], I feel so lucky and people who work at institutions like ours are lucky, lucky. Yes, I complain but I don’t like it when I hear people moaning and complaining and feeling hard done by. I want to say ‘Then go and find another job. Where basically you can do what you love to do; come and go just as you please; be exposed to young people all the time; have technology just provided for you! Find another job like that!”

In this brief, Professor Leslie Swartz of the Department of Psychology is interviewed by Dr Catherine Kell, a researcher commissioned by the CTL. Download the full interview with Professor Swartz here.

This is the fourth brief in the Centre for Teaching and Learning or CTL’s ‘Making a life’ series, where we explore the experiences and attitudes of academics at SU, with regard to their roles in teaching, research and what is generally called ‘community involvement’. The series was approached as a set of interviews with individual academics which took the form of reflective conversations between a CTL researcher and the individual academic. Academics approached for the interviews were not sampled, but drawn from different departments and different disciplines, and tended to be those who had had some involvement with CTL. At times we have incorporated other texts into the brief, to enrich the sense of the activities academics engage in, in ‘making a life’.

Oct 082012
 

Dr Nokwanda Makunda

“All the research projects that I have ever been involved with have always been applied. It’s always been important to me to be able to do projects that are linked to industry or society because if I thought about changing careers I needed to be able to fit in into another environment – that’s the only way I could see myself being relevant. But I also wanted to do something that would be good, to give something back.”

In this brief Dr Nokwanda Makunda of the Department of Botany and Zoology  is interviewed by Dr Catherine Kell, a researcher commissioned by the CTL. Download the full interview here.

This is the third brief in the Centre for Teaching and Learning (or CTL’s) ‘Making a life’ series, where we explore the attitudes and experiences of academics at SU, with regard to their roles in teaching, research and what is generally called ‘community involvement’. The series was approached as a set of interviews with individual academics, which took the form of reflective conversations between a CTL researcher and the individual academic. Academics approached for the interviews were not sampled, but drawn from different departments and different disciplines, and tended to be those who had had some involvement with CTL. At times we have incorporated other texts into the brief, to enrich the sense of the activities academics engage in, in ‘making a life’.

‘Making a life’: David Holgate and his Roles in Teaching, Researching and Community Involvement

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Oct 012012
 

Professor David Holgate

“I guess my point of departure especially when it comes to the teaching research connection would be that as a mathematician it would be quite hedonistic to be involved in pure research and not have a commitment to teaching, especially in an African context, and at the University of Stellenbosch. I really enjoy teaching, but that aside, I do feel what I suppose you can call a kind of moral obligation; that if I have been entrusted with a certain level of knowledge and skill I should share that.”

In this brief Professor David Holgate of the Department of Mathematical Sciences is interviewed by Dr Catherine Kell, a researcher commissioned by the CTL.  Download the full interview here.

This is the second brief in the Centre for Teaching and Learning, or CTL’s ‘Making a life’ series, where we explore the attitudes and experiences of academics at Stellenbosch University, with regard to their roles in teaching, research and what is generally called ‘community involvement’. The series was approached as a set of interviews with individual academics, which took the form of reflective conversations between a CTL researcher and the individual academic. Academics approached for the interviews were not sampled, but drawn from different departments and different disciplines, and tended to be those who had had some involvement with CTL. At times we have incorporated other texts into the brief, to enrich the sense of the activities academics engage in, in ‘making a life’.

Sep 262012
 

Professor Aslam Fataar

“…[t]he classroom is not a container that can be closed off, and when you’ve done that, you’ve generated a frame for your research. …the classroom [can be seen] as an extension of social space and time, and that carries with it educational processes that have their origins in the larger world. So the big challenge is to bring that lens on board for teachers.”

In this brief Professor Aslam Fataar, of the Department of Education Policy Studies, is interviewed by Dr Catherine Kell, a researcher commissioned by the CTL. Download the full interview with Professor Fataar here.

This is the first brief in the Centre for Teaching and Learning or CTL’s ‘Making a life’ series, where we explore the attitudes and experiences of academics at Stellenbosch University, with regard to their roles in teaching, research and what is generally called ‘community involvement’. The series was approached as a set of interviews with individual academics, which took the form of reflective conversations between a CTL researcher and the individual academic. Academics approached for the interviews were not sampled, but drawn from different departments and different disciplines, and tended to be those who had had some involvement with CTL. At times we have incorporated other texts into the brief, to enrich the sense of the activities academics engage in, in ‘making a life’.

Jun 012012
 

Professor Geo Quinot (Faculty of Law) presented A Love triangle: Changes in our knowledge world, pedagogy and subject discipline at the first SU Teaching and Learning Seminar in April 2012.

 In this presentation Prof Quinot investigated how three dimensions of teaching can be connected in order to bring about a coherent theoretical underpinning for teaching in a specific subject discipline. The three dimensions include the student’s knowledge world, pedagogy and the subject discipline. Prof Quinot focused in particular on changes in our, as well as the student’s knowledge world, which are mainly caused by the digital revolution and investigate ways in which these changes could be aligned with the other two dimensions in order to create a meaningful learning strategy.

Transformative legal education – Prof G Quinot Inaugural lecture 2011

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Oct 062011
 

Prof Geo QuinotProf Geo Quinot delivered his inaugural lecture at the University of Stellenbosch in September 2011.

“If I were to say, “Theory matters”, most people would not find it particularly surprising. In fact, you would think it obvious that as a  university professor, I would make such a statement. But what would your reaction be if I were to say, “Theory matters in teaching”? It is on  this question that I want to dwell in this lecture and in particular within the context of teaching law in South Africa today.” …

Download his full lecture here.

Keywords: Geo Quinot, law, legal education, inaugural lecture