Teaching and learning in an age of transformation

Two Rhodes University academics – professors Jo-Anne Vorster and Lynn Quinn – recently received a 2018 national teaching and learning award from the Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of Southern Africa (HELTASA) for their teamwork in designing and offering a postgraduate diploma in higher education specifically for academic developers. As an enrollee in one of their courses I found their teaching approach to be liberating in an age of transformation in South African higher education.

In Barbara Sizemore’s analysis of Paulo Frere’s 'education for liberation' concept, she argues that education is derived from the Latin verb, 'educere', meaning 'to lead out of'.

She describes “education for liberation” in South Africa as a relentless and “continuous process of uncovering that environment which denies natural growth and development, and of discovering new sets of knowledge and reinterpreting old sets to accelerate renaming the world”.

Given my experience, it seems plausible to describe the experience of being a student in the Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning (CHERTL), and taking one of the courses offered by Vorster and Quinn, as “liberating”.

The centre’s education and learning is a true practice of problem-solving in teaching and embodies the true meaning of “transgression from the traditional ways of teaching”. I want to suggest here that the model applied in the centre can be used to conceptualise a transformed teaching and learning experience for the upcoming generation of academics.

What does ‘transformation’ mean?

It is clear that education should transform us, as teachers, students, and the world around us, but what does transformation mean in South Africa’s post-1994 higher education sector?

Transformation was defined by the 2015 summit on higher education as “a comprehensive, deep-rooted and ongoing social process seeking to achieve a fundamental reconstitution and development of our universities to reflect and promote the vision of a democratic society".

A summit discussion paper produced by Universities South Africa (USAf) suggested that transformation refers to the “active removal of any institutional, social, material and intellectual barriers in the way of creating a more equal, inclusive and socially just higher education system”.

In its outlook and practice, CHERTL is dedicated to the reconstitution and development of South African universities with a special focus on research, teaching and learning; in other words, the whole experience. And it includes writing.

The centre deals mainly with enhancing the work of academics in the institution. There is a humane approach among the centre’s staff. Most recognise the troubled history of our society and its damages to all of us. Their willingness to assist and engage with difficult questions of identity that dominate the post-apartheid higher education space around concepts such as race, racism, culture, gender and sexualities, is commendable.

They recommend (rather than prescribe) readings that are written in accessible language; they develop their arguments with the reader in mind and the student does not feel lost. They encourage dialogue in line with the “education for liberation” discourse. As Sizemore states, “It is through communication, dialogue, or the dialectic that cognitive education resulting in action becomes education for liberation.”

Teaching and learning as a discipline

This approach of CHERTL probably has a lot to do with the discipline of teaching and learning. Teaching and learning as a discipline was not the priority in South Africa’s former higher education sector as it is today. Following an explosion of the field in the United Kingdom, South Africa (and especially historically white universities) took an interest.

This became more important following the post-1994 massification project in higher education that saw sharp increases in students numbers, followed by government mandates for the sector to “transform” (as defined above). This massification has had positives and negatives.

According to Dr Shireen Motala, cohort studies by the Council on Higher Education in 2013 show that out of all students entering a three-year degree, less than half complete, and of those who do, up to 50% take up to six years to graduate. In addition, access, success and completion rates continue to be racially skewed, with white student completion rates being on average 50% higher than African rates.

Response to massification

In part, the massification project has made teaching and learning a necessary response by universities to the demands of massification. As a result, teaching and learning has taken centre stage in promotion policies and in many universities has come to define a holistic teacher in higher education, especially in South Africa.

Teaching and learning has aimed at ensuring that there is creation of democratic spaces of learning. Furthermore, as argued by Professor Lis Lange, the 2015 and 2016 student protests necessitated critical engagement with the context of higher education, both globally and locally, with students questioning curriculum, institutional culture and all aspects of higher education.

This has forced academics to think about how they teach, who they teach, where they teach and how they assess students’ work. At CHERTL the response is based on respect and practicality, while at the same time embodying a vision of education and learning as a liberating experience.

The centre has many other valuable practices which impact positively on the development of academics. For instance, guided critiques of the literature. Sessions allow for a discussion of the literature and different interpretations and analyses of the same content. All participants are affirmed and empowered. There is sharing of knowledge with an emphasis on space, time and being.

Who is the student?

Academics are encouraged to think about how to make knowledge accessible to all students – not just the socio-economically privileged. This means that one must constantly think about who the student is, and be aware of “difference” in shaping the student’s learning experiences.

The centre recognises the value of writing as part of academic life and ensures that academics are given time off for writing. During writing retreats, both Quinn and Vorster have shown themselves to be prepared to read other people’s material and give immediate feedback.

The CHERTL experience is transformative and in tune with the changing society that is South Africa and the globe. The assessment practices of academics have for too long remained the preserve of concerned academics, with little accountability among the wider academic community.

We have seen student complaints about academics’ marking practices and lack of transparency. In her 2017 research paper Eunice Nyamupangedengu confirms that inadequate assessment practices could negatively impact “both epistemological access and success of our students”.

Valuing transparency

In other words, the whole project of massification could be hindered by practices that remain unquestioned, untransformed and non-consequential. The centre teaches us to value transparency in our teaching and learning, and assessment to the extent of discussing these practices with the students we teach, not only to encourage openness and dialogue, but to the benefit of our practice.

It teaches us to align our assessment practices with what we teach, and assess what has been transparently agreed upon or at least made visible during the teaching process. It teaches the value of reliable and valid assessment practices with an emphasis on formative and summative practices, including peer assessment. Above all, the centre – and its committed academics – teaches academics to justify their practice as teachers, and inspires them to be the best they can be.

Sandiso Bazana is a lecturer at Rhodes University, South Africa, and teaches organisational development at postgraduate level. The university is currently using higher education institutions as case studies to train students to work as organisational development practitioners within the sector.