scholarly journals Teaching and inculcating (decolonised) legal skills in the LLB curriculum at the University of Pretoria?

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anton Kok ◽  
Michelle Oelofse
Keyword(s):  
First Year ◽  
Student Protests ◽  
University Of Pretoria ◽  
Curriculum Transformation ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Framework Document ◽  
The University

‘Legal Skills’ was taught as a standalone first-year module in the LLB curriculum at the University of Pretoria from 1998 to 2012. In the 2013 curriculum, the teaching and inculcation of legal skills were integrated into a first-year “Jurisprudence” module. The 2015/6 student protests at the University of Pretoria led to the creation of three ‘transformation work streams’, one of which was tasked with curriculum transformation. The activities of the curriculum transformation work stream led to the adoption by the Senate of a Curriculum Transformation Framework Document (CTFD). All faculties have been asked to reconsider and fundamentally reshape their curricula with reference to the CTFD. This reflection-on-the-curriculum process at the Faculty of Law has arguably been dominated by an over-emphasis on the place and sequencing of modules instead of an overhaul of the content of law modules and the approach with which teaching should take place. There has also been a concerted push from some quarters in the Faculty to reintroduce a standalone Legal Skills module, rationalised by an argument along the lines of ‘legal skills cannot be transformed’ (never mind ‘decolonised’). In this article we will consider what it could mean to ask for the decolonising of the teaching and inculcation of legal skills in an LLB curriculum.

scholarly journals HISTORICALLY WHITE UNIVERSITIES AND THE WHITE GAZE: CRITICAL REFLECTIONS ON THE DECOLONISATION OF THE LLB CURRICULUM1

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mankhuwe Caroline Letsoalo ◽  
Zenia Pero
Keyword(s):  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Institutional Culture ◽  
Historically White ◽  
Student Protests ◽  
Institutional Landscape ◽  
Curriculum Transformation ◽  
Framework Document ◽  
White Gaze ◽  
The University

The (most recent) call for curriculum decolonisation came at the height of student protests such as #feesmustfall and #afrikaansmustfall. In the University of Pretoria’s Curriculum Transformation Framework document, the University identified four drivers of curriculum transformation, namely, responsiveness to social context; epistemological diversity; renewal of pedagogy and classroom practices; and an institutional culture of openness and critical reflection. The content of these drivers mirror what is needed to engage in decolonisation of curricula. In the spirit of these protests that led to the conceptualisation of decolonised higher education, the authors of this article critically reflect on the institutional landscape of historically white universities. The authors employ the term ‘white gaze’ to highlight how historically white universities respond to calls for decolonisation, often substituting this call with transformation. The purpose of this article is to re-contextualise the need for decolonisation at historically white universities.

scholarly journals Factors influencing the choice of profession of first-year teaching students

2008 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Hislop-Esterhuizen ◽  
J. G. Maree ◽  
M. J. Van der Linde ◽  
A. Swanepoel
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Career Choice ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
First Year ◽  
Qualified Teachers ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
University Of Pretoria ◽  
Role Of Parents ◽  
The University

The lack of appropriately qualified teachers in South Africa is growing rapidly and debates about the decline in teacher numbers in South Africa are increasing. In this study, the results of an investigation into possible factors that impact on the career choice of teaching students are reported. The reasons why first-year teaching students at the University of Pretoria chose teachings a career were studied by using a non-experimental design (survey design; administering anon-standardised questionnaire). The results revealed, inter alia, that a number of factors influence the career choice of first-year teaching students. Trends that emerged from the current study include the following: many more women than men enter the teaching profession; relatively few African language speaking students choose education as a field of study and the role of parents in helping their children to choose a career cannot be underestimated. 

scholarly journals Navigating curriculum transformation: charting our course

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid Turner ◽  
Irene Lubbe ◽  
Liz Wolvaardt ◽  
Lizeka Napoles
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Nominal Group Technique ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Nominal Group ◽  
Diverse Group ◽  
Visual Tool ◽  
University Of Pretoria ◽  
Modified Nominal Group Technique ◽  
Curriculum Transformation ◽  
The University

The 2015 student-led #FeesMustFall campaign in South Africa initiated at some universities, and accelerated at others, indepth discussions and reflections about curriculum transformation within the perceived ivory towers of learning. Three years later, the mandate to implement transformation is clear from all levels but what is uncertain is the operationalization of the official transformation framework at the University of Pretoria.   The aim of the project presented is to chart the process followed by one of the four Schools of the Faculty of Health Sciences to deconstruct this transformation framework. As part of a three phased programme, a workshop of diverse staff using a modified nominal technique was held in 2018. It resulted in a visual tool of 19 specific statements considered evidence of personal practice that supports and advances the drive for transformation. This tool will be used to share practices and instil individual and School accountability for everone’s role in curriculum transformation. In conclusion, complex policy ideals and technical terminology can be translated into practical, appropriate actions by a diverse group of  staff and students.  The use of a modified nominal group technique was an efficient way to do this by generating an easy to use visual tool.

scholarly journals Student Support and Transition Through a Buddy Programme to Foster Social Integration

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-63
Author(s):  
Ana Naidoo ◽  
Hestie Byles ◽  
Sindi Kwenaite
Keyword(s):  
Social Integration ◽  
Contact Point ◽  
Student Support ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
University Of Pretoria ◽  
University Life ◽  
Student Advisor ◽  
Peer Advisors ◽  
The University

The University of Pretoria (UP) began offering formal academic student support in 2011 when the first faculty student advisor (FSA) was appointed. Although many more FSAs were subsequently appointed, assistance to all the students in need of support remained insufficient. However, financial assistance through the collaboration grant received from the Department of Higher Education and Training in 2018 made it possible to explore new areas of support. The UP was able to pilot four innovations due to the availability of additional funds. These included generic workshops across faculties; the creation of a hub in the library, which served as a common contact point for students requiring assistance; the appointment of peer advisors; and a Buddy Programme for first-year students. This article explains the Buddy Programme as perceived by the senior students who mentored the first-year students. The mentors are known as “big buddies”. Our work on this programme is based on Tinto’s (1975) ideas about social integration. The Buddy Programme was introduced to assist first-year students in their transition from school to university life. This paper highlights the challenges that first-year students faced and it explains how the concepts could become institutionalised once university activities have been normalised in the post-pandemic future.

scholarly journals Old Testament Studies: The story of a department

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jurie Le Roux
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
First Year ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Excellent Teaching ◽  
Critical Scholarship ◽  
University Of Pretoria ◽  
The Times ◽  
The University

The Department of Old Testament at the Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, has been in existence since 1938 and this article is an attempt to highlight some aspects of its history. The article consists of two main sections. The first discusses the place of the Department in the world, in Africa and at the University. It is stated that the Department always moved with the times and re-invented itself in new contexts. It found a stronghold in the university context, addressed the problems of our times intellectually and consistently maintained international contacts. In the second section, the members of the Department are discussed individually. It will become clear that there is a strange mixture of synchrony and diachrony, of reading the text in its final form and of taking the historical context and growth seriously. Both approaches exist alongside each other and complement each other. It is concluded that the Department�s future lies in its scholarly past � in the intellectual traditions in which it is embedded, and in its ability to adapt to new contexts without losing its total devotion to critical scholarship, the students and the church.Like human beings, a university department can also have a biography. It has a life entrenched in real experiences and is subjected to the same socio-political realities as people. This article briefly tells the life story of one such department, that of the Department of Old Testament at the University of Pretoria. It describes the Department�s academic endeavours, and of the scholars who devoted their lives to the pursuit of Old Testament scholarship and the teaching of theological students from their first year to doctorate level. Over the years the Department had to adjust and re-adjust, but in the end it survived all kinds of pressures and established its place both here and abroad. One of the reasons for its endurance and survival has been the commitment of the members of the Department to cutting-edge research, sound scholarship and excellent teaching. This story is told here by focusing on the physical contexts in which the Department had to exist, and then on the scholars who made things happen.

scholarly journals Prof. DR. F. C. Eloff - An appreciation

Koedoe ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
G De Graaff
Keyword(s):  
First Year ◽  
University Of Pretoria ◽  
Veterinary Student ◽  
New Students ◽  
The University

I have been requested to write an appreciation of the man to whom these proceedings of a symposium on the Kalahari Ecosystem are dedicated @ Prof. Dr. F. C. Eloff, or Fritz as he is popularly referred to. I undertook the task with some trepidation and the only claim to the honour to write this article may be the fact that I have known Professor Eloff since 1949 when I was a green-shanked first year veterinary student at the University of Pretoria where he lectured in zoology to the new students.

Supervision: Supervision and Clinical Practicum in Telepractice

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sena Crutchley
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
First Year ◽  
University Of North Carolina ◽  
Speech Language Pathology ◽  
Support Personnel ◽  
Clinical Practicum ◽  
Training Support ◽  
Language Pathology ◽  
The University

This article describes how a telepractice pilot project was used as a vehicle to train first-year graduate clinicians in speech-language pathology. To date, six graduate clinicians have been trained in the delivery of telepractice at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Components of telepractice training are described and the benefits and limitations of telepractice as part of clinical practicum are discussed. In addition, aspects of training support personnel involved in telepractice are outlined.

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