scholarly journals Fostering communities of practice for improved food democracy: Experiences and learning from South Africa

ua ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Adelle ◽  
Florian Kroll ◽  
Bruno Losch ◽  
Tristan Görgens
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Food Democracy

scholarly journals Trust and Positive Working Relationships among Teachers in Communities of Practice as an Avenue for Professional Development

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 136
Author(s):  
Adeola Folasade Akinyemi ◽  
Symphorosa Rembe ◽  
Vuyisile Nkonki
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
South Africa ◽  
High Schools ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Working Relationships ◽  
Strong Ties ◽  
Good Working

This study explores trust and positive working relationships among teachers in communities of practice as an avenue for professional development in high schools in South Africa. A mixed methods research approach was employed for this study with the use of a semi-structured interview and semi-structured questionnaires as data collection instruments. Ten schools were purposively selected for this study and seventy-nine participants were selected as samples. The findings of the study show that teachers had good working relationships with their colleagues. The good working relationships they had enabled them to assist their colleagues, share their classroom challenges with them, confide in their colleagues, and they were able to get assistance from them. It was established from the study that a great number of teachers feel safe to be part of the communities of practice activities in the sampled high schools, thus, they engage in diverse of discussions with their colleagues and they were able to relate to their colleagues the difficulties they have in terms of their work. The study recommends that teachers should spend an adequate time in their meetings, see themselves as colleagues, interact as teams, and build strong ties to have good relationships and a strong level of trust among themselves.

Strangers in a strange land – on becoming scholars of teaching

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanelie J. Adendorff
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
The Third ◽  
Academic Cultures ◽  
Negative Perceptions

This paper reports on a qualitative study that explored the challenges experienced by nine emerging scholars of teaching at a research-intensive university in South Africa. It details three problem areas encountered during the process of becoming scholars of teaching: (1) negative perceptions about the work and related reward concerns, (2) concerns about mastering this form of enquiry, and (3) identity issues. Whilst the first two have been described in SoTL literature, the third – identity issues – has not received attention in the literature in this area. These concerns are discussed using the constructs of Discourse, academic cultures and communities of practice.

Vertical and horizontal communities of practice: gender and geography in South Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 98 (3) ◽  
pp. 531-541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Dirsuweit ◽  
Sumayya Mohamed
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Communities Of Practice

Knowledge Sharing Through Communities of Practice in a Financial Institution

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (01) ◽  
pp. 1450008
Author(s):  
S. Nkuna ◽  
A. S. A. du Toit
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Financial Institution ◽  
Critical Factors ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Current State ◽  
Effective System

This article discusses the effectiveness of knowledge sharing (KS) within communities of practice (CoPs) in a financial institution in South Africa. This was achieved through understanding the current state of KS within the CoPs, identifying critical factors for effectively sharing knowledge and thereafter determining reasons for a CoP not being effective in sharing knowledge. The results showed that there is still a long way to go to ensure the effectiveness of KS through CoPs. The CoPs within this financial institution are informal in nature, and therefore not necessarily given the attention that they deserve. Time used for CoPs is not maximised effectively, which reduces the chances of their effectiveness and improvement of productivity. Lack of effective system infrastructure to support KS is also a massive challenge for the CoPs, as is not having virtual Cops to reduce challenges faced in the use of face-to-face CoPs.

scholarly journals Co-production of knowledge in transdisciplinary communities of practice: Experiences from food governance in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Adelle ◽  
Tristan Görgens ◽  
Florian Kroll ◽  
Bruno Losch
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Food Policy ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Multiple Stakeholders ◽  
Production Of Knowledge ◽  
Food Governance ◽  
Cohesive Group

Abstract Communities of Practice are sites of social learning for the co-production of knowledge. Building on recent literature on Transdisciplinary Communities of Practice, this article reflects on the experiences of an emergent ‘Food Governance Community of Practice’ in South Africa that brings together multiple stakeholders to co-produce knowledge to inform local food policy and governance. Our results show the following lessons for managers and participants engaged in establishing similar ‘third spaces’ for knowledge co-production: 1) make inevitable power asymmetries explicit; 2) the identity of the group should not be built on a particular normative position but emerge from discursive processes and 3) create a balance between supporting peripheral learning and maintaining the specialist cutting edge discussions needed for co-production. Furthermore, the most beneficial legacy of a Community of Practice may not be the outputs in terms of the co-produced knowledge but the development of a cohesive group of stakeholders with a new shared way of knowing.

Time and Latitude in South Africa

1972 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 27-38
Author(s):  
J. Hers
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Astronomical Observations ◽  
Royal Observatory ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Astronomical Determination ◽  
Limited Accuracy ◽  
Better Than

In South Africa the modern outlook towards time may be said to have started in 1948. Both the two major observatories, The Royal Observatory in Cape Town and the Union Observatory (now known as the Republic Observatory) in Johannesburg had, of course, been involved in the astronomical determination of time almost from their inception, and the Johannesburg Observatory has been responsible for the official time of South Africa since 1908. However the pendulum clocks then in use could not be relied on to provide an accuracy better than about 1/10 second, which was of the same order as that of the astronomical observations. It is doubtful if much use was made of even this limited accuracy outside the two observatories, and although there may – occasionally have been a demand for more accurate time, it was certainly not voiced.

Indirect Rule in South Africa

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Myers
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Indirect Rule

Combining Professional Interests and Travel: People to People Citizen Ambassador Program

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-54
Author(s):  
Alex Johnson ◽  
Amanda Hitchins
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Education ◽  
Communication Disorders ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Exchange Program

Abstract This article summarizes a series of trips sponsored by People to People, a professional exchange program. The trips described in this report were led by the first author of this article and include trips to South Africa, Russia, Vietnam and Cambodia, and Israel. Each of these trips included delegations of 25 to 50 speech-language pathologists and audiologists who participated in professional visits to learn of the health, education, and social conditions in each country. Additionally, opportunities to meet with communication disorders professionals, students, and persons with speech, language, or hearing disabilities were included. People to People, partnered with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), provides a meaningful and interesting way to learn and travel with colleagues.

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