Capacity-building projects in African higher education

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanne Kirstine Adriansen ◽  
Lene Møller Madsen
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
International Collaboration ◽  
Research Methodology ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Quality Enhancement ◽  
Building Projects ◽  
African Higher Education ◽  
Curriculum Research ◽  
Teaching Learning

This article studies issues of coloniality in so-called capacity-building projects between universities in Africa and Scandinavia. Even fifty years after independence, the African higher education landscape is a product of the colonial powers and subsequent uneven power relations, as argued by a number of researchers. The uneven geography and power of knowledge exist also between countries that were not in a direct colonial relationship, which the word coloniality implies. Based on interviews with stakeholders and on our own experiences of capacity-building projects, this article examines how such projects affect teaching, learning, curriculum, research methodology and issues of quality enhancement. We analyse the dilemmas and paradoxes involved in this type of international collaboration and conclude by offering ways to decolonise capacity-building projects.

scholarly journals Expanding use of the English language for research and its Implications for Higher Education Institutions and Researchers

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (Winter) ◽  
pp. 209-212
Author(s):  
Addisalem Tebikew Yallew
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
English Language ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Knowledge Society ◽  
Linguistic Capital ◽  
African Higher Education ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Flagship Universities ◽  
Language And Education ◽  
Teaching Learning

The knowledge era or the knowledge society has made universities one of the central institutions for the production of new knowledge and scholarship. In line with this development, many African universities, that were often regarded as teaching-learning laden, are reorienting their mission and vision embracing research intensiveness as one of their aspirations with the goal of becoming globally or regionally competitive and locally relevant. This  qualitiative research focusing on the use of the English language for research in selected African flagship universities in Ethiopia, Mozambique and South Africa is conducted against a backdrop where questions related to research productivity are becoming more central not only to higher education institutions but to higher educational research pertaining to the continent. Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of capital, field, and habitus in general and specifically that of linguistic capital as an aspect of cultural capital are used to inform the conceptualization and the analysis of the research. To explore issues pertaining to the interlinked concepts of language and (de)colonization in research, postcolonial perspectives on language and education are used to guide the study. The study is expected to contribute to our understanding of (English) language and research in African higher education. 

scholarly journals Transplanting the Fairy Tale: An Afrocentric Perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Candice Livingston
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Cultural Capital ◽  
South African ◽  
Fairy Tales ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
English Curriculum ◽  
African Higher Education ◽  
South African Higher Education

In the light of #FeesMustFall, decolonisation has come to the fore in the South African higher education landscape. Decolonisation proposes the overthrow of entrenched European power relations in higher education and the study of fairy tales within a pre-service teaching degree in a university English curriculum provides an ideal opportunity for lecturers to challenge this dominance. All too often, cultural fairy tales are analysed and studied within the European trajectory of the structuralist/formalist classification tradition, often rendering the tale to an oversimplified outline which has been reduced to archetypes, motifs and memes which are universalised across cultures and texts. Epistemic awareness of Afrikology has been suggested as a way of facilitating the inclusion of Afrocentric thinking in the English curriculum and giving pre-service teachers a voice in their own learning. The purpose of this paper is to track the creation of context-relevant cultural capital in the writing of fairy tales. An analysis of the results shows that deep critical engagement with the cultural metaphors presented in fairy tales leads to the development of Afrocentric cultural capital that is highly contextualised and rooted in the language and customs of the cultural identity of the writers who transcoded the fairy tales.

scholarly journals Re-Envisioning Pedagogy in the Lens of Asychronous and Synchronuos Learning in Higher Education Amid Covid 19 Pandemic in Kenya

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 90
Author(s):  
Rosemary Khitieyi Imonje
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Building Structures ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
Diverse Learning ◽  
Face To Face Instruction ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Global Arena

Higher Education institutions have faced many challenges since the onset of COVID 19 pandemic with closures that extended to more than three months. Coronavirus pandemic pushed universities to switch to online classes from the conventional traditional pedagogies. While the work to transition face-to-face instruction to online environments would mean a lot of technological preparedness among lecturers, students, infrastructure; these initiatives have at the same time lead to established familiarity with the necessary technological tools, and teaching approaches with online learning. Universities have taken up the initiative to re-plan, re- design and re-develop in-house capacity building structures and develop off campuses courses and distance learning in order to meet the diverse learning needs of the students and pedagogical needs of the faculty. Among these initiatives is re-envisioning pedagogy in the lens of asynchronous and synchronous learning in higher education amid COVID 19 Pandemic. This paper has analyzed reflections on asynchronous and synchronous pedagogies and learning during faculty capacity building sessions from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. Out of these reflections are recommendations that other universities in the global arena can apply for quality in the teaching-learning processes in institutions of higher learning.

scholarly journals Tuning as Instrument of Systematic Higher Education Reform and Quality Enhancement: The African Experience

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karola Hahn ◽  
Damtew Teferra
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Higher Education Reform ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Quality Enhancement ◽  
African Experience ◽  
African Higher Education ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Education In Africa

This article explores the state of higher education in Africa as it relates to the experience and lessons learned in the Tuning African higher education project. It analyses the specific African dimension of the methodology, its contribution to the reform efforts in teaching and learning, and the critical issues vital for quality enhancement and harmonization of higher education in Africa.

Measuring interdisciplinarity in the context of sustainability research projects toward capacity building in higher education

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Schmidt ◽  
Hannes Hobbie ◽  
Philipp Hauser
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Significant Degree ◽  
Building Projects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Sustainability Research ◽  
Sustainable Energy Systems

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop an analytical framework toward facilitating the quantitative measurement of interdisciplinary understanding regarding sustainable energy systems with an application in the area of capacity-building projects in higher education. Design/methodology/approach The analytical framework is developed using the portfolio representation measurement approach in combination with a survey questionnaire. The subsequent assessment is carried out using the statistical measure of mean signed deviation to capture variation from an established baseline across the project group and visualized via radar diagrams. Findings The results provide a quantitative assessment framework for evaluating the degree of interdisciplinary understanding in the project groups. The application of the framework to the DESIRE project indicates the most significant degree of variation across economic and regulatory dimensions of sustainability. Discrepancies in general and educational contexts are observed. Research limitations/implications The exploitable value of the results is sensitive to the derivation of composite indicators of the dimensions defined as well as the survey design. The case study was carried out on an ex-post basis, potentially biasing the results reported and limiting their interpretability and theoretical value. Practical implications The analytical framework can be used as a basis for assessing and engaging in discussions on interdisciplinarity understanding at the outset of capacity-building projects. Originality/value The contribution of this paper is practical in scope and entails the development of a quantitative framework for measuring interdisciplinarity in the specific context of capacity-building projects in the field of sustainability research in higher education institutions.

scholarly journals Capacity Building for Quality Enhancement in Higher Education

2017 ◽  
pp. 84-92
Author(s):  
P. M. Suresh Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Teacher Quality ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Quality Enhancement ◽  
Improve Quality ◽  
Student Progression ◽  
Innovative Learning ◽  
Advance Knowledge

Higher education institutions strive to produce quality professionals, who would be intellectually robust, emotionally balanced, and economically productive, socially committed and spiritually satisfied so that they make meaning in their lives and contribute to the society. Teachers have a big role in maintaining this. Teacher quality influences curriculum, provides leadership, and promote student progression. Curriculum delivery and pedagogy should incorporate multitude of learning experiences and innovative learning methodologies. So much so the faculty should be exposed to advance knowledge and skill through a variety of ways which would be mutually complementary for both the teacher and the taught. Their capacities should be developed and all the more periodically recharged for sustained results. This paper discusses capacity building through establishing sustainable mechanisms to improve quality in teaching as reflected in the values and culture of the institution.

A CUSTOMISED FRAMEWORK FOR EFFECTIVE PODCAST INTEGRATION IN A SOUTH AFRICAN HIGHER EDUCATION ENVIRONMENT

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-32
Author(s):  
Shane Pachagadu ◽  
Liezel Nel
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
South African ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning Environment ◽  
Education Environment ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
African Higher Education ◽  
South African Higher Education ◽  
Effective Integration

Numerous studies have explored the potential of podcast integration in teaching and learning environments. This paper first presents and organises perspectives from literature in a conceptual framework for the effective integration of podcasting in higher education. An empirical study is then discussed in which the guidelines presented in the framework were evaluated for applicability in a selected course at a South African University of Technology. Since the results of the study revealed a number of aspects not accounted for in the conceptual framework, the framework was customised to make it more applicable for the particular higher education environment. The customised framework identifies four principles and a series of related guidelines for the effective integration of podcasts in a South African higher education teaching and learning environment. This framework can become a valuable resource for effective podcast integration in similar environments.

Challenges Posed by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for South African Higher Education Institutions

10.28945/2679 ◽  
2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
ME Herselman ◽  
HR Hay
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Revolutionary Change ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Teaching Learning

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are the major driving forces of globalised and knowledge-based societies of a new world era. They will have a profound impact on teaching and learning for two decades to come. The revolutionary change which is taking place in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), has dramatic effects on the way universities carry out their functions of teaching, learning and research, particularly on the creation, dissemination and application of knowledge. These developments pose unprecedented challenges to higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries particular in South Africa as South Africa is viewed as the leading country on the continent.

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