Lg Higgs

South Africa: Recklessly Incapacitated by a Fifth Column – The Academic Profession Facing Institutional Governance

The South African academic profession currently has to negotiate a battery of changes foisted down upon them. These changes relate to the education reform project of government, the societal reconstruction which also assigns a big role for universities, and the neo-liberal economic revolution. The sum total of all these changes is a serious erosion of the autonomy of the academic profession. Academic freedom is being drastically curtailed as academics have to put up with prescriptions and control from both government and institutional managers and bureaucrats. The CAP survey shows the extent of this control and the pernicious influence it is having on the academic profession. If it is accepted that academics can fulfill their mission optimally only in an atmosphere of academic freedom and when they are satisfied with their jobs, then this issue of managerialism needs to be addressed urgently.

Key challenges facing the South African academic profession at the interfaces of management, interaction with the international academic community and service for society

Abstract The international Changing Academic Profession (CAP) research project is currently surveying the academic profession in 22 countries. At the planning conference of this study, three emphases in the contemporary professional environment of academics have become particularly persuasive: relevance, internationalisation and management. As part of the international research team of the CAP research project, the authors have applied the questionnaire of the CAP survey (which measures academics’ experiences and responses to these three trends) to a sample of the South African academic profession. The results show that while the South African academic profession has made the mind-shift from the traditional conceptualisation of the university as an “ivory tower institution”, rather detached from society in its pursuit of truth, to an institution relevant to the concrete and immediate needs of society, the profession could thus far not succeed in giving practical effect to this changed concept. While the South African academic profession has internationalised rapidly during the first decade after the repeal of the international academic boycott against South Africa, to the point where it has become more internationalised than its colleagues abroad, it has been losing ground again during the past few years. It is in its relationship with management that the biggest cause of concern for the South African academic profession lies. This research indicates that the South African academic profession finds itself in a highly prescriptive environment, over which it has little influence, and which it does not find very supportive of its teaching and research activities. In conclusion, follow-up research aiming at addressing these problems is recommended.

Reimagining education for transformation and social change: A case study of integrated learning at UCBC in the DRC

This article examines the case of integrated learning at the Christian Bilingual University of the Congo (UCBC) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A description of the integrated learning as an igniter of transformation in learners was obtained through the analysis of data collected from twelve alumni through semi-structured interviews. An explanation of how learners are impacted through integrated learning to serve as change agents in their communities also emerged from the data analysis. In fact, the curriculum at UCBC was described as having multiple components and dimensions. This curriculum equips learners with academic knowledge and skills, and it fosters character and servant leadership skills in them. The major components of the curriculum are the academic training, the special skills training, the work program, service-learning and community life, and its dimensions are affective, social and relational. Learning occurs in a family-like environment characterized by accessibility and free interactions between members of the campus community. The curriculum functions under an overall Christian worldview. As a result of the educational process they underwent students became role models and learning-teachers to their colleagues and community members. Key terms: Christian university, curriculum, integrated learning, servant leadership, transformation, triadic training