This article stemmed from discussions related to residence committee members and their role as leaders within their communities. The ideas presented during these conversations gave rise to a research interest for a conceptual exploration of collaborative and progressive social transformative brokering within a complex context. In particular, the identified interest within this context relates to finding common ground, between, inter alia, student affairs management, and residence committee (RC) management in residence spaces. The specific focus is the RC leadership team as strategists who are positioned to deal with potential conflict resolution in policy interpretation and enactment. The argument presented here has to do with the extent to which they can do this in a manner that facilitates the collegial and amicable interpretation of policy in residence communities. Inherent within this is the notion of managing the potential disjuncture between policy formulation and policy implementation. The primary question about this concern finds expression in how RCs move from being part of active cultural residence spaces to critical participants in dialogic conversations as part of a multi-perspectival progressive transformation strategy. Indeed, while bringing about transformation, the dynamic issues of brokering cohesion within a context of ideological and political complexity remain. Given the inherent situational complexities, the article adopts a bricoleuric theoretical thread that requires a multiperspectival orientation. In this regard, appropriate components of critical complexity theory, critical system theories, transformative learning, and hope theory account for this theoretical approach. A further consideration is that of a positionality of finding progressive and transformative common ground. In this regard, the argument revolves around examining the systemic factors that bear relevance for actualising the envisaged intention, that is, common ground in the interests of the common good. At stake in this argument is the notion of RC identity and their role in building a values-based residence system of policy interpretation and enactment, while bridging the ideological divide and finding common ground between the expectations of student affairs management and the residence community.
{"title":"Finding Common Ground towards Progressive Transformation in Student Residence Spaces: Residence Committee Members as Bricoleuric Brokers","authors":"Neo Pat Maseko, Shawn Stützner","doi":"10.24085/jsaa.v8i1.4183","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v8i1.4183","url":null,"abstract":"This article stemmed from discussions related to residence committee members and their role as leaders within their communities. The ideas presented during these conversations gave rise to a research interest for a conceptual exploration of collaborative and progressive social transformative brokering within a complex context. In particular, the identified interest within this context relates to finding common ground, between, inter alia, student affairs management, and residence committee (RC) management in residence spaces. The specific focus is the RC leadership team as strategists who are positioned to deal with potential conflict resolution in policy interpretation and enactment. The argument presented here has to do with the extent to which they can do this in a manner that facilitates the collegial and amicable interpretation of policy in residence communities. Inherent within this is the notion of managing the potential disjuncture between policy formulation and policy implementation. The primary question about this concern finds expression in how RCs move from being part of active cultural residence spaces to critical participants in dialogic conversations as part of a multi-perspectival progressive transformation strategy. Indeed, while bringing about transformation, the dynamic issues of brokering cohesion within a context of ideological and political complexity remain. Given the inherent situational complexities, the article adopts a bricoleuric theoretical thread that requires a multiperspectival orientation. In this regard, appropriate components of critical complexity theory, critical system theories, transformative learning, and hope theory account for this theoretical approach. A further consideration is that of a positionality of finding progressive and transformative common ground. In this regard, the argument revolves around examining the systemic factors that bear relevance for actualising the envisaged intention, that is, common ground in the interests of the common good. At stake in this argument is the notion of RC identity and their role in building a values-based residence system of policy interpretation and enactment, while bridging the ideological divide and finding common ground between the expectations of student affairs management and the residence community.","PeriodicalId":32008,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Student Affairs in Africa","volume":"1 1","pages":"79-91"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83876816","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study investigated the first‑year experiences (FYE) of students in a South African university. Survey research design was used in the study. The quantitative method was used for data collection and 1 479 first‑year students were randomly selected. The findings reveal that first‑year students in the selected South African rural-based university experience certain specific challenges amongst which are poor orientation to the new context, poor knowledge of the Higher Education system, and poor educational background of parents. The study recommends that a special office under the direct line management of the dean of students be established to observe and closely monitor the progress of first‑year students. This office would accommodate orientation of first years, and liaise and collaborate with appropriate offices within the institution to ensure that first‑year students are properly guided and assisted in integrating without stress into the university system.
{"title":"Investigation of First‑year Learning Experiences in a Rural University in South Africa","authors":"Chinaza Uleanya, Y. Rugbeer","doi":"10.24085/jsaa.v8i1.4180","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v8i1.4180","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigated the first‑year experiences (FYE) of students in a South African university. Survey research design was used in the study. The quantitative method was used for data collection and 1 479 first‑year students were randomly selected. The findings reveal that first‑year students in the selected South African rural-based university experience certain specific challenges amongst which are poor orientation to the new context, poor knowledge of the Higher Education system, and poor educational background of parents. The study recommends that a special office under the direct line management of the dean of students be established to observe and closely monitor the progress of first‑year students. This office would accommodate orientation of first years, and liaise and collaborate with appropriate offices within the institution to ensure that first‑year students are properly guided and assisted in integrating without stress into the university system.","PeriodicalId":32008,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Student Affairs in Africa","volume":"15 1","pages":"29-46"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84122766","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Animated by the voices of 12 former student leaders representing Students’ Representative Councils (SRCs) from a few public universities across the country, Reflections of South African Student Leaders, 1994 to 2017 situates the discourse-shifting #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall movements as an inevitable progression after two decades of governmental and institutional shillyshallying on urgent issues confronting the progressively diverse national student body.
{"title":"Luescher, T.M., Webbstock, D. & Bhengu, N. (Eds.) (2020). Reflections of South African Student Leaders, 1994 to 2017. Cape Town, South Africa: African Minds.","authors":"Imkhitha Nzungu","doi":"10.24085/jsaa.v8i1.4187","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v8i1.4187","url":null,"abstract":"Animated by the voices of 12 former student leaders representing Students’ Representative Councils (SRCs) from a few public universities across the country, Reflections of South African Student Leaders, 1994 to 2017 situates the discourse-shifting #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall movements as an inevitable progression after two decades of governmental and institutional shillyshallying on urgent issues confronting the progressively diverse national student body.","PeriodicalId":32008,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Student Affairs in Africa","volume":"40 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84342835","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Since 1994, there has been a doubling in the enrolment of students in South Africa’s public universities. Students, especially first-generation students, face numerous challenges that may impact their subjective perceptions of their well‑being. In a milieu of high levels of suicide and depression amongst South Africa’s student population, the understanding of the variables determining students’ subjective well‑being (SWB) should be deepened. This article investigates the levels and changes in the SWB of successive groups of first‑year students at a comprehensive university in South Africa between 2014 and 2017. It makes use of a fit-for-purpose survey instrument. The results show that the SWB of students is influenced positively by their living arrangements and variables that have a direct influence on the educational environment in which they operate, such as feeling ‘at home’ and an overall level of satisfaction of the students’ experience at the university. Negative variables that influence the SWB of students include concerns regarding finances and upcoming tests, and living on campus or within walking distance of campus.
{"title":"Financial Challenges and the Subjective Well‑being of First‑year Students at a Comprehensive South African University","authors":"M. Pretorius, D. Blaauw","doi":"10.24085/jsaa.v8i1.4181","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v8i1.4181","url":null,"abstract":"Since 1994, there has been a doubling in the enrolment of students in South Africa’s public universities. Students, especially first-generation students, face numerous challenges that may impact their subjective perceptions of their well‑being. In a milieu of high levels of suicide and depression amongst South Africa’s student population, the understanding of the variables determining students’ subjective well‑being (SWB) should be deepened. This article investigates the levels and changes in the SWB of successive groups of first‑year students at a comprehensive university in South Africa between 2014 and 2017. It makes use of a fit-for-purpose survey instrument. The results show that the SWB of students is influenced positively by their living arrangements and variables that have a direct influence on the educational environment in which they operate, such as feeling ‘at home’ and an overall level of satisfaction of the students’ experience at the university. Negative variables that influence the SWB of students include concerns regarding finances and upcoming tests, and living on campus or within walking distance of campus.","PeriodicalId":32008,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Student Affairs in Africa","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86933405","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Publications by AFRICAN SUN MeDIA","authors":"T. Luescher","doi":"10.24085/JSAA.V8I1.4203","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/JSAA.V8I1.4203","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":32008,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Student Affairs in Africa","volume":"298 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77509485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Author biographies","authors":"T. Luescher","doi":"10.24085/jsaa.v8i1.4201","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v8i1.4201","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":32008,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Student Affairs in Africa","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75257199","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Francis Simui, Sophie Kasonde-Ngandu, A. Cheyeka, Mpine Makoe
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) benchmark of persons with disability in every population is 15.6 per cent. However, the University of Zambia is way below that benchmark as it is home to less than 0.1 per cent of students classified as ‘disabled’. Within the 0.1 per cent, students with visual impairment are the majority, estimated at 70 per cent. The purpose of this study was to explore disablers (also known as barriers) to academic success faced by students with visual impairment at the University of Zambia. A Hermeneutic Phenomenological approach directed the research process. Seven purposively sampled participants volunteered to voice their lived experiences and a cluster of themes emerged thereafter. Emerging from their lived experiences are thirteen disablers that impede the learning experiences at University and key amongst them are: (i) negative attitudes; (ii) policypractice disjuncture; (iii) staff unreadiness and unpreparedness; (iv) inaccessible buildings; and (v) rigid curricula.
{"title":"Lived Disablers to Academic Success of the Visually Impaired at the University of Zambia, Sub‑Saharan Africa","authors":"Francis Simui, Sophie Kasonde-Ngandu, A. Cheyeka, Mpine Makoe","doi":"10.24085/jsaa.v7i2.3824","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v7i2.3824","url":null,"abstract":"The World Health Organization’s (WHO) benchmark of persons with disability in every population is 15.6 per cent. However, the University of Zambia is way below that benchmark as it is home to less than 0.1 per cent of students classified as ‘disabled’. Within the 0.1 per cent, students with visual impairment are the majority, estimated at 70 per cent. The purpose of this study was to explore disablers (also known as barriers) to academic success faced by students with visual impairment at the University of Zambia. A Hermeneutic Phenomenological approach directed the research process. Seven purposively sampled participants volunteered to voice their lived experiences and a cluster of themes emerged thereafter. Emerging from their lived experiences are thirteen disablers that impede the learning experiences at University and key amongst them are: (i) negative attitudes; (ii) policypractice disjuncture; (iii) staff unreadiness and unpreparedness; (iv) inaccessible buildings; and (v) rigid curricula.","PeriodicalId":32008,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Student Affairs in Africa","volume":"68 1","pages":"41-56"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83297098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Elections in fledgling democracies are punctuated by perceived and observed cases of vote buying otherwise also called electoral clientelism – regarded as a major threat to democratic consolidation. Notions of vote buying are variously captured in the burgeoning literature on democracy, but the ongoing scholarly discussions have failed to engage some growing contemporary trends that also contribute significantly to sustaining the culture of vote buying in intra-party, local and national elections. In our analysis of recent intra-party elections in Ghana, we argue that vote buying has become more complex and more pronounced – and the proliferation of the phenomenon is aided by student campus politics (particularly at the various tertiary institutions), which directly feed into national politics. Following this stance, the article concludes with a recommendation that further empirical research be conducted by scholars and policymakers to fully examine the reinforcing role of campus politics in electoral clientelism during intra-party elections and, by extension, national elections.
{"title":"Campus Politics and Intra-Party Vote Buying in Ghana: How Political Mentorship Could Destruct","authors":"S. Paalo, R. Gyampo","doi":"10.24085/jsaa.v7i2.3829","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v7i2.3829","url":null,"abstract":"Elections in fledgling democracies are punctuated by perceived and observed cases of vote buying otherwise also called electoral clientelism – regarded as a major threat to democratic consolidation. Notions of vote buying are variously captured in the burgeoning literature on democracy, but the ongoing scholarly discussions have failed to engage some growing contemporary trends that also contribute significantly to sustaining the culture of vote buying in intra-party, local and national elections. In our analysis of recent intra-party elections in Ghana, we argue that vote buying has become more complex and more pronounced – and the proliferation of the phenomenon is aided by student campus politics (particularly at the various tertiary institutions), which directly feed into national politics. Following this stance, the article concludes with a recommendation that further empirical research be conducted by scholars and policymakers to fully examine the reinforcing role of campus politics in electoral clientelism during intra-party elections and, by extension, national elections.","PeriodicalId":32008,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Student Affairs in Africa","volume":"42 1","pages":"123-141"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84742378","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In South Africa, scholarship on the teaching practice learning experiences for students with disabilities is a relatively new area of sociological inquiry. Social justice arrangements in the South African Higher Education policy frameworks identify the equity imperative as being of critical importance for social redress and transformation for all students. This qualitative study drew on the teaching practice school placement experiences of five Bachelor of Education students with either visual or physical disabilities and who were part of a teaching practice learning community. The findings of this study suggest that, for students with visual and physical disabilities, learning communities were perceived to be a structure that enhanced equity arrangements for human development and well‑being in teaching practice school placements. In addition, and in alignment with equity arrangements, the need for a social justice reform agenda for teaching practice school placements emerged from the data. The study concludes that learning communities as a context-specific institutional structure support freedom, agency, dialogue and participation, and respect for disability required for capability expansion for human development and well‑being in the teaching practice school placements of students with visual and physical disabilities. These were found to enhance equity arrangements for students with visual disabilities and physical disabilities.
{"title":"Learning Communities for Teaching Practice School Placements: A Higher Education Initiative to Promote Equity for Students with Disabilities","authors":"R. Subrayen, Sachin Suknunan","doi":"10.24085/jsaa.v7i2.3823","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v7i2.3823","url":null,"abstract":"In South Africa, scholarship on the teaching practice learning experiences for students with disabilities is a relatively new area of sociological inquiry. Social justice arrangements in the South African Higher Education policy frameworks identify the equity imperative as being of critical importance for social redress and transformation for all students. This qualitative study drew on the teaching practice school placement experiences of five Bachelor of Education students with either visual or physical disabilities and who were part of a teaching practice learning community. The findings of this study suggest that, for students with visual and physical disabilities, learning communities were perceived to be a structure that enhanced equity arrangements for human development and well‑being in teaching practice school placements. In addition, and in alignment with equity arrangements, the need for a social justice reform agenda for teaching practice school placements emerged from the data. The study concludes that learning communities as a context-specific institutional structure support freedom, agency, dialogue and participation, and respect for disability required for capability expansion for human development and well‑being in the teaching practice school placements of students with visual and physical disabilities. These were found to enhance equity arrangements for students with visual disabilities and physical disabilities.","PeriodicalId":32008,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Student Affairs in Africa","volume":"302 1","pages":"27-39"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73601814","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Research evidence suggests that approaches to promote student success in higher education are becoming more holistic and integrated in nature. This implies that not only classrooms and laboratories, but also residences, as informal out-of-class learning environments, can potentially contribute significantly to promoting student success. The research question we sought to answer is: what is the preferred role and skill sets of residence heads that will enable them to promote student success? In order to answer this question, the study proposes a student success framework with five levels, and the role of the future residence head is explicated in terms of this framework. The findings of the study are significant as they suggest a practical skill set, underpinned by sound theory, for residence heads to contribute to student success.
{"title":"Residence Heads as Intentional Role‑Players in Promoting Student Success","authors":"J. Groenewald, Magda Fourie-Malherbe","doi":"10.24085/jsaa.v7i2.3821","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v7i2.3821","url":null,"abstract":"Research evidence suggests that approaches to promote student success in higher education are becoming more holistic and integrated in nature. This implies that not only classrooms and laboratories, but also residences, as informal out-of-class learning environments, can potentially contribute significantly to promoting student success. The research question we sought to answer is: what is the preferred role and skill sets of residence heads that will enable them to promote student success? In order to answer this question, the study proposes a student success framework with five levels, and the role of the future residence head is explicated in terms of this framework. The findings of the study are significant as they suggest a practical skill set, underpinned by sound theory, for residence heads to contribute to student success.","PeriodicalId":32008,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Student Affairs in Africa","volume":"88 1","pages":"1-14"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73681134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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