Two SU academics participate in first national TAU Fellowship programme

Dr Elmarie Costandius of the Visual Arts Department and Prof. Geo Quinot of the Department of Public Law attended the national Teaching Advancement at University (TAU) Fellowship programme presented under the auspices of the Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association (Heltasa) and funded by the Department of Higher Education and Training in Pretoria from the 13th to the 16th of July. This was the first of three sessions stretching over 13 months and the following sessions will be presented in Durban and Cape Town. The aim of the programme is to contribute towards the enhancement of teaching and learning in higher education (HE) in South Africa by supporting the development of a cadre of 52 academics across 22 universities and disciplines as scholars, leaders and mentors in teaching and learning in their institutions or disciplinary fields. The objective of the programme is to engage lecturers in a range of projects that seek to address real challenges within HE and in their own institutional contexts. The session, according to Elmarie and Geo, was a valuable experience because current issues in higher education such as transformation, language and supporting postgraduate research development were discussed. Ihron Rensburg, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Johannesburg presented a talk on burning issues in South African Higher Education; Nthabiseng Ogude, former VC of Tshwane University of Technology presented a talk titled Institutional Diversity and Differentiation; and Andre van Zyl of the University of Johannesburg’s Academic Development Centre, shared his experience in enhancing student learning and success.

Each TAU participant is expected to work on a group project but also on individual projects aimed at advancement of teaching and learning. In her own TAU project, Elmarie is pursuing action research with the aim of bringing together a team of academics to advance critical citizenship and social justice. These researchers would be interested in gaining insight into what lecturers are doing in their individual courses to address critical citizenship and social justice issues. They do not want to ‘force’ a specific way of critical citizenship and social justice teaching and learning onto lecturers in a top-down manner; the aim is rather to use the project as an opportunity to find ways of utilising what lecturers are already doing in their teaching and learning practice to expand and enrich the concept of critical citizenship and social justice further. The hope is that, through collaborative discussions between researchers and lecturers and continuous critical reflection by all, a space can be created for dealing with the necessary transformation process at Stellenbosch University. Ultimately, the project aims to gain insight into how critical citizenship and social justice teaching and learning can be enhanced and improved at the various faculties or departments. The project is not merely interested in what is included in curricula to address critical citizenship and social justice, but, in particular, in what can be learnt through processes of critical self-reflection by lecturers, and how they can then put these potential new insights into an evolved practice. An action research methodology will be used in the study.

Geo’s project investigates approaches to collaborative learning in law. It aims to draw on the literature on designing collaborative learning activities in higher education generally and tailor those to the particular conditions of legal education in South Africa in terms of the theoretical framework of Transformative Legal Education on which he has been working over the last few years. Based on that exercise, the project will attempt to design, implement and evaluate an approach to collaborative teaching-learning activities (including assessment) within a particular undergraduate module in the LLB programme as a pilot study. Along this route, the project aims to pave the way for a model that can facilitate design of meaningful collaborative learning and hence the development of students’ competence to function within a collaborative setting as a graduate attribute of programmes in legal education and more generally in higher education.


TWEE US AKADEMICI NEEM DEEL AAN EERSTE NASIONALE TAU GENOOTSKAP PROGRAM

Dr Elmarie Costandius van die Departement Visuele Kunste en prof. Geo Quinot van die Departement Publiekreg het die Teaching Advancement at University (TAU) Genootskap se program wat van 13 tot 16 Julie in Pretoria aangebied is, meegemaak. Die program word aangebied onder die vaandel van die Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association (Heltasa) en befonds deur die Departement van Höer Onderwys en Opleiding. Dit was die eerste van drie sessies wat oor 13 maande strek en die volgende sessies sal in Durban en Kaapstad aangebied word. Die doel van die program is om ‘n bydrae te lewer tot die verbetering van onderrig en leer in hoër onderwys in Suid-Afrika deur die ‘n groep van 52 akademici in 22 universiteite en dissiplines as kundiges, leiers en raadgewers in onderrig en leer in hulle instansies of dissiplines te ondersteun. Die doelstelling van die program is om dosente by ‘n reeks projekte wat die werklike uitdagings in hoër onderwys in hul eie institusionele kontekste aanspreek, te betrek. Volgens Elmarie and Geo was die sessie ‘n waardevolle ervaring omdat teenswoordige kwessies in hoër onderwys, soos transformasie, taal en die ondersteuning van nagraadse navorsingsontwikkeling, bespreek is. Ihron Rensburg, die vise-kanselier van die Universiteit van Johannesburg het ‘n lesing oor brandpunte in Hoër Onderwys in Suid-Afrika gelewer; Nthabiseng Ogude, voormalige vise-kanselier van die Tswane Universiteit van Tegnologie, het oor Institusionele Diversiteit en Differensiasie gepraat; en Andre van Zyl van die Universiteit van Johannesburg se Sentrum vir Akademiese Ontwikkeling het sy ondervinding met die verbetering van leer en sukses onder studente gedeel.

Van elke TAU-deelnemer word verwag om ‘n groepsprojek sowel as individuele projekte te onderneem wat fokus op die ontwikkeling van leer en onderrig. In haar eie TAU-projek is Elmarie by aksie-navorsing betrokke met die doel om ‘n span akademici bymekaar te kry om kritiese burgerskap en sosiale regverdigheid te bevorder. Hierdie navorsers stel daarin belang om insig te verkry in wat dosente reeds in hul individele kursusse doen om kritiese burgerskap en sosiale regverdigheid aan te spreek. Hulle beoog nie om ‘n besondere manier van onderrig en leer vir kritiese burgerskap en sosiale regverdigheid van bo af op dosente ‘af te dwing’ nie, maar sien die projek eerder as ‘n geleentheid om maniere te vind om wat dosente reeds in hul onderrig en leerpraktyk doen, te gebruik om die konsep van kritiese burgerskap en sosiale regverdigheid uit te brei en verder te verryk. Die verwagting is dat samewerkende gesprekke (“collaborative discussion“) tussen navorsers en dosente en deurlopende kritiese refleksie deur almal ruimte sal skep vir die hantering van die nodige transformasieproses by die Stellenbosch Universiteit. Die uiteindelike doel van die projek is om insig te verkry in hoe die onderrig en leer van kritiese burgerskap en sosiale regverdigheid binne die onderskeie fakulteite of departemente verbeter en bevorder kan word. Die projek stel nie net belang in wat in kurrikulums ingesluit is om kritiese burgerskap en sosiale regverdigheid aan te spreek nie, maar veral in wat dosente deur die proses van selfrefleksie kan leer, en hoe hulle dan potensiële nuwe insigte in die ontwikkelende praktyk toepas. Die aksienavorsingsmetode sal in hierdie studie gebruik word.

Geo se projek ondersoek verskillende benaderings tot samewerkende leer (“collaborative learning”) in regsgeleerdheid. Dit poog om die literatuur rakende die ontwerp van samewerkende leergeleenthede in hoër onderwys in die algemeen te ondersoek en dit te verwerk tot ‘n vorm wat pasgemaak is vir die konteks van regsopleiding in Suid-Afrika in terme van die teoretiese raamwerk van “Transformative Legal Education” waarop hy die afgelope paar jaar werk. Gegrond op hierdie oefening sal die projek poog om ‘n benadering tot samewerkende onderrig en leer aktiwiteite (insluitende assessering) as  ‘n loodsprojek te ontwerp, te implementeer en te evalueer in ‘n spesifieke voorgraadse module in die LLB program. Langs hierdie weg poog die projek om die fondasie te lê vir ‘n model wat die ontwerp van betekenisvolle samewerkende leer kan bewerkstellig en daarmee saam die ontwikkeling van studente se vaardigheid  om in samewerkende omstandighede as ‘n uitkoms van programme in regsopleiding en meer algemeen in hoër onderwys te funksioneer.

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