Ruth Albertyn

Research within the context of community engagement

CITATION: Albertyn, R. & Daniels, P. 2009. Research within the Contect of Community Engagement, in E. Bitzer (ed.). Higher Education in South Africa: A scholarly look behind the scenes. Stellenbosch: SUN MeDIA. 409-428. doi:10.18820/9781920338183/18.

Patterns of empowerment in individuals through the course of a life-skills programme in South Africa

Abstract This research focuses on examining the effects of a local life-skills training programme as an intervention that claims to empower workers. The effects were observed on three levels of empowerment (micro-level, interface level and macro-level) at three testing occasions (before the course, directly after and then three months after completion of the programme). By applying a factor analysis the patterns of empowerment were examined to observe the prominent features present in participants (n = 37) based on the confines of the designed standardised questionnaire. In the long term, there was a shift from micro-level personal issues to more external issues and growth in terms of their critical thinking ability. They had a more positive outlook on life, greater feelings of confidence and self-respect, and a heightened feeling of control over life circumstances. There was retention of change and signs of continued growth during the following three months in the workplace.

Networks, nodes and knowledge: Blogging to support doctoral candidates and supervisors

CITATION: Leibowitz, B., Wisker, G. & Lamberti, P. 2016. Postgraduate Study in Uncharted Territory: A Compartative Study, in M. Fourie-Malherbe, R. Albertyn, C. Aitchison & E. Bitzer. (eds.). Postgraduate Supervision: Future Foci for the Knowledge Society. Stellenbosch: SUN PRESS. 189-202. doi:10.18820/9781928357223/11.

A collaborative higher education initiative for leadership development : lessons for knowledge sharing

The higher education sector needs to prepare youth for the fast changing innovative focused economy. Visionary leadership is needed to facilitate this knowledge transfer for novelty creation. A collaborative initiative could facilitate leadership development and foster knowledge sharing in this context. The initiative with three stakeholder groups started with an Interactive Qualitative Analysis exercise to identify needs and formulate a collaboration charter to ensure reciprocal benefits. A programme evaluation research design was applied three years after implementation using a logic-model framework. Process evaluation entailed collecting data from 103 questionnaires and 11 semi-structured interviews. Based on interpretation of data according to an integrated framework for managing knowledge across boundaries, we identified three areas for further development: contextual knowledge, collaborative partnerships and common vision. Working collaboratively across institutional and knowledge boundaries towards a common vision could enhance leadership development and contribute to longer-term transformation and sustainable change in complex environments.

Towards responsible massification: some pointers for supporting lecturers

ABSTRACT Teaching large classes poses many challenges to lecturers where massification is a reality in higher education. There are implications for both teaching and effective learning in this context. The need for accountability to learners in education provision served as motivation for a study of large classes in the largest faculty of one university where enrolment figures had recently increased. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 14 lecturers who teach on average over 500 students in one class. Lecturers reported challenges and experiences related to the higher education environment, resources and support, and teaching and learning. The article provides pointers for supporting lecturers who are teaching large classes based on their identified tensions due to challenges they face. Taking cognisance of lecturers’ experiences could guide institutions towards relevant support for academics in the large-class setting and ultimately contribute to accountability and responsible massification of higher education.

Conceptualising risk in doctoral education: Navigating boundary tensions

CITATION: Frick, L., Albertyn, R. & Bitzer, E. 2014. Conceptualising Risk in Doctoral Education: Navigating Boundary Tensions, in E. Bitzer (eds.). et al. Pushing Boundaries in Postgraduate Supervision. Stellenbosch: SUN PRESS. 53-66. doi:10.18820/9781920689162/05.

Pushing Boundaries in Postgraduate Supervision

Background and context In keeping with global trends, there is a national imperative in the terrain of higher education in South Africa to increase the percentage of university students studying at the postgraduate level (RSA DHET 2012). With this comes mounting pressure to increase the throughput rates of postgraduate students in the country’s universities for economic, social and political reasons, and critically in order to maintain and further what has become known as the ‘knowledge project’. However, as a result of the inequities of the apartheid era, the higher education arena is faced with a complex and diverse student population (Quinn 2012) and ever-increasing student numbers (Snowball & Sayigh 2007) as it attempts to grapple with issues of epistemological access, redress and quality. To date, there is evidence to suggest that our higher education system is failing the majority of students, at both the undergraduate and the postgraduate levels (Letseka & Maile 2008; Scott, Yeld & Hendry 2007). Higher education in South Africa, therefore, must be understood to speak to both the ‘knowledge project’ and the issue of social justice, as without a sustained emphasis on the latter, the country will have failed in its mandate to engage in equal and equitable transformation of the higher education system.IntroductIon: AcAdemIc mobIlIty While the concept of the wandering scholar is not new, the speed and frequency of academic mobility have rapidly gained momentum in the 21st century (Kim 2009). Linked to the notion of the ‘borderless’ university (Cunningham et al. 1998; Hearn 2011; Watanabe 2011), scholars today expect to study and work in more than one country, to present their research at international conferences, and to collaborate with colleagues from all around the world. The result is a multicultural academic workforce in many universities for whom boundaries between national cultures are increasingly being erased and where all members require high levels of intercultural competence.

A multi-level researcher development framework to address contrasting views of student research challenges

Ensuring quality and completion of students’ research places pressure on postgraduate supervisors. Postgraduate students’ primary interest in theoretical and practical knowledge rather than research, influences the completion of qualifications. Student research challenges were explored using an Interactive Qualitative Analysis research design. Through conducting student and supervisor focus groups and individual interviews, issues emerged related to educational input, support and identity development. There were differences in the perspectives of student and supervisor indicating that students are less dependent on supervisors than supervisors thought they were. Supervisors indicated support strategies, such as an awareness of learning styles, adaptive support and strengthening researcher identity. Researcher development needs to take place on multiple levels to enhance quality and relieve pressure on the postgraduate supervisor in changing educational contexts.

Existential leadership coaching in a medical partnership

PURPOSE This paper aims to report on a case study conducted in a private medical partnership of more than 50 specialist physicians where the researcher applied a leadership coaching model grounded in existential philosophy. The paper asserts that existential leadership coaching can be a novel and effective means to address leadership development needs in the unique context of a professional partnership. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH The qualitative phenomenological study used a bounded case study design using four purposively selected specialist physicians who were involved in four individual structured coaching sessions over an eight-week period. Data came in writing from participants in the form of reflective questions before and after the coaching, and note-taking on index cards during the coaching process. Data also came from the coach/researcher as a participant observer in the form of note-taking and a reflective journal. FINDINGS Findings indicate that working with perceptions of leadership in existential coaching conversations can provide a mechanism for members of a partnership to find greater purpose, and choose how they can contribute better to leadership development in their collective. Findings indicate that the process of imaging the perceptions of fellow partners can unlock the identification of and choice for developmental actions and contributions to the collective. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS For the selected qualitative design, the researcher as the participant observer provided advantages such as insider access and depth of engagement. The study was limited to a small sample in a particular time and context. Findings are thus viewed in the light of this unique case. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS Such a qualitative phenomenological case study provides glimpses into the lives of real-life leaders and offers the coaching, academic and medical fraternities an insider understanding of leadership development in the case of professional partnerships. ORIGINALITY/VALUE The paper points to a mechanism which may be a means to unlock potential and facilitate leadership development in the context of professional partnerships.

Using transformative transition coaching to support leaders during career transitions

Senior leadership transitions present daunting challenges. To promote inclusive development and comply with equal opportunity legislation, South African companies often fast-track careers of high-potential previously disadvantaged individuals. Organisations typically do not sufficiently support transitioning leaders, possibly acting unethically. The rate of failure is high with devastating effects for the individual and their organisation. The novel, empirically researched Transformative Transition Coaching (TTC) framework, helps facilitate deep and lasting changes in meaning perspectives of transitioning leaders through coaching. The ability of the TTC framework to support transitioning leaders is presented in this article