Diaspora in Dialogue: An Ontology of Diasporic Subjectivity in the Work of Three Artists Living In-Between South Africa and Zimbabwe
- Nyoni, Vulindlela Philani Elliott
- Authors: Nyoni, Vulindlela Philani Elliott
- Date: 2024-04
- Subjects: Foreign workers -- South Africa , South Africa -- Social conditions , South Africa -- Emigration and immigration
- Language: English
- Type: Doctorate , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/62366 , vital:72615
- Description: As a Zimbabwean artist and educator, living and working in South Africa, my daily experience is that of an “in-between” diasporic subjectivity, which is compounded by the discourses around the uneasy reintegration of post-apartheid South Africa into Africa. This context gives rise to the core philosophical aim of this thesis, which is to explore the notion of “diasporic subjectivities” as a philosophical approach to understanding what it means to be in a complex contemporary reality. The notion of diasporic subjectivities works in the same way as that of “queer subjectivities”, which has been used to understand not just gay people but all people. “Diaspora” names people who have moved, migrated, or been scattered away from an established or ancestral homeland, but retain some sense of belonging to this homeland. From an African perspective, I problematise the concept of an established homeland and the settled subjectivities that belong to it, in contrast to which only the diaspora remains in an uncomfortable state of in-betweenness. Instead, I explore a contention among both European and African existentialist philosophers that the condition of not being at home is the fundamental human condition out of which a home must be created. This would mean that the groundlessness, liminality or in-betweenness of being is experienced not just by the diaspora but by all humans. However, importantly, I find that sociocultural differences due to the history of colonialism gives rise to different experiences of homelessness and the groundlessness of being. This makes a distinction necessary, but to avoid the pitfalls of tying this distinction to geographical locations such as Western versus Non-Western or Global North and Global South, I will refer instead to spaces, practices and even individuals, in which there are “mindsets of entitlement” versus “mindsets of disentitlement”. The former refers to the mindset of ownership characteristic of the settled and developed. The latter refers to the mindset of many who feel a sense of unbelonging, due to disenfranchisement and forced disembodiment and dislocation. I have aimed to support the thesis that the groundlessness, liminality or in-betweenness of being is experienced not just by the diaspora but by all humans, in two ways. Firstly, I consider in detail through various means (narratives, personal reflection, investigation of philosophical texts, dialogues), the philosophical concepts of “belonging”, “home” and “nostalgia” as component aspects of an ontology of diasporic subjectivity. In the second part of this study, I engage in an interpretative process, as outlined by Hans-Georg Gadamer, whereby I use this ontology to help me dialogue with artworks produced by three Zimbabwean artists, Ronald Muchatuta, Gerald Machona, and myself (Vulindlela Nyoni), who share the diasporic condition of being Zimbabweans living in-between Zimbabwe and South Africa. The ontology of diasporic subjectivity developed in the first part offers a language with which to dialogue with the artworks or question the way in which the complexities of belonging, home and nostalgia are expressed in the works, while the works in turn help deepen an understanding of diasporic subjectivity. Both philosophies and artworks may function as transformative, practical tools for seeking wisdom, cultivating self-awareness, developing moral character, and living a reflective and examined life. The combination of personal narratives and self-reflexive, philosophical dialogues regarding artworks and art making and its exigencies holds the potential to produce deeper philosophical insights into the fundamentally diasporic human condition. This kind of hybrid research at the interface between philosophy and artistic praxis is accessible to a broad-based audience. It is therefore better able to undo malicious stereotypical associations between émigrés and malignant tropes of societal decay on the African continent and to validate the contributions made by African diaspora to the decolonial project, than neatly distanced academic reflections, which reduce the philosophical impact of transnational migration to measurable motivations and statistics. , Thesis (D.Phil) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Social Scinces, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-04
- Authors: Nyoni, Vulindlela Philani Elliott
- Date: 2024-04
- Subjects: Foreign workers -- South Africa , South Africa -- Social conditions , South Africa -- Emigration and immigration
- Language: English
- Type: Doctorate , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/62366 , vital:72615
- Description: As a Zimbabwean artist and educator, living and working in South Africa, my daily experience is that of an “in-between” diasporic subjectivity, which is compounded by the discourses around the uneasy reintegration of post-apartheid South Africa into Africa. This context gives rise to the core philosophical aim of this thesis, which is to explore the notion of “diasporic subjectivities” as a philosophical approach to understanding what it means to be in a complex contemporary reality. The notion of diasporic subjectivities works in the same way as that of “queer subjectivities”, which has been used to understand not just gay people but all people. “Diaspora” names people who have moved, migrated, or been scattered away from an established or ancestral homeland, but retain some sense of belonging to this homeland. From an African perspective, I problematise the concept of an established homeland and the settled subjectivities that belong to it, in contrast to which only the diaspora remains in an uncomfortable state of in-betweenness. Instead, I explore a contention among both European and African existentialist philosophers that the condition of not being at home is the fundamental human condition out of which a home must be created. This would mean that the groundlessness, liminality or in-betweenness of being is experienced not just by the diaspora but by all humans. However, importantly, I find that sociocultural differences due to the history of colonialism gives rise to different experiences of homelessness and the groundlessness of being. This makes a distinction necessary, but to avoid the pitfalls of tying this distinction to geographical locations such as Western versus Non-Western or Global North and Global South, I will refer instead to spaces, practices and even individuals, in which there are “mindsets of entitlement” versus “mindsets of disentitlement”. The former refers to the mindset of ownership characteristic of the settled and developed. The latter refers to the mindset of many who feel a sense of unbelonging, due to disenfranchisement and forced disembodiment and dislocation. I have aimed to support the thesis that the groundlessness, liminality or in-betweenness of being is experienced not just by the diaspora but by all humans, in two ways. Firstly, I consider in detail through various means (narratives, personal reflection, investigation of philosophical texts, dialogues), the philosophical concepts of “belonging”, “home” and “nostalgia” as component aspects of an ontology of diasporic subjectivity. In the second part of this study, I engage in an interpretative process, as outlined by Hans-Georg Gadamer, whereby I use this ontology to help me dialogue with artworks produced by three Zimbabwean artists, Ronald Muchatuta, Gerald Machona, and myself (Vulindlela Nyoni), who share the diasporic condition of being Zimbabweans living in-between Zimbabwe and South Africa. The ontology of diasporic subjectivity developed in the first part offers a language with which to dialogue with the artworks or question the way in which the complexities of belonging, home and nostalgia are expressed in the works, while the works in turn help deepen an understanding of diasporic subjectivity. Both philosophies and artworks may function as transformative, practical tools for seeking wisdom, cultivating self-awareness, developing moral character, and living a reflective and examined life. The combination of personal narratives and self-reflexive, philosophical dialogues regarding artworks and art making and its exigencies holds the potential to produce deeper philosophical insights into the fundamentally diasporic human condition. This kind of hybrid research at the interface between philosophy and artistic praxis is accessible to a broad-based audience. It is therefore better able to undo malicious stereotypical associations between émigrés and malignant tropes of societal decay on the African continent and to validate the contributions made by African diaspora to the decolonial project, than neatly distanced academic reflections, which reduce the philosophical impact of transnational migration to measurable motivations and statistics. , Thesis (D.Phil) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Social Scinces, 2024
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2024-04
Continuing teacher professional development in the Environment Sector: A case study of Fundisa for Change continuing teacher professional development programme
- Authors: Nkhahle, Lebona Jerome
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Environmental education South Africa , Pedagogical content knowledge , Teachers In-service training South Africa , Curriculum-based assessment South Africa , Fundisa for Change , Practice Architectures
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192724 , vital:45254 , 10.21504/10962/192724
- Description: The importance of teachers being engaged in professional development initiatives is widely acknowledged in the literature and in most cases these initiatives are largely focused on addressing teachers’ lack of subject content knowledge. The problem of teachers having inadequate environmental knowledge is common in South Africa due to the fact that much of the environmental content knowledge in the curriculum is new, and environmental education itself is a new field. This is an area of interest in South Africa as a third iteration of the post-apartheid curriculum, the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) has recently been introduced into schools and many subjects have environmental learning content. Inadequate subject content knowledge influences teachers’ abilities to choose appropriate teaching and assessment methods and this might negatively affect the process of teaching and learning. Knowledgeable teachers are needed to help learners understand the current issues affecting citizens, and in particular, environmental issues, which form the focus of this study. The main research questions addressed are: 1. What are the teachers’ experiences of the Fundisa for Change continuing teacher professional development programme in relation to environment and sustainability content knowledge? 2. How does the Fundisa for Change continuing teacher professional development programme influence teachers’ practice? 3. What practices of the Fundisa for Change teacher professional development programme are characteristic of effective continuing teacher professional development initiatives? 4. How are (if at all) the practices of teacher training, teacher learning, teaching and assessment of Biodiversity content in CAPS living practices? This work was conducted as a qualitative case study and it was carried out in the provinces of Gauteng, Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga in South Africa. It included four teachers from the Eastern Cape and five from Mpumalanga. Seven teacher trainers also participated, two of which were based in Gauteng and the rest in the Eastern Cape. Data were generated through interviews and document analysis, and included analysis of teacher portfolios showing evidence of classroom practice. The study explored teachers’ experiences of an environmental education training programme called ‘Fundisa for Change’, which has been set up as a national partnership initiative to strengthen teachers’ environmental knowledge and teaching skills in order to address the above-mentioned problem. It focused on training teachers in the Life Sciences, particularly on new content knowledge on Biodiversity, and on teaching and assessment skills. It also looked into how the training influenced teaching practice. The study worked with practice theory, in particular Kemmis and Grootenboer’s (2008) theory of practice architectures, to look at the sayings, doings and relatings pertaining to the teaching of Biodiversity, and the enabling and constraining of this practice. The features and the teachers’ experiences of the Fundisa for Change professional development programme have been presented and explained. The study also used the ecologies of practices theory to describe the living nature of practices. The following are the key findings: • The Fundisa for Change programme improved the participating teachers’ Biodiversity content knowledge, teaching and assessment skills. • Practices of the Fundisa for Change teacher professional development programme characteristic of effective continuing teacher professional development initiatives are: duration; active involvement of teachers; providing teachers with subject content knowledge; promoting establishment of professional learning communities; coherence; follow-up; and assessment of teachers. • The conditions that affect the participating teachers’ teaching practice are: the use of language (both scientific and instructional); infrastructure (availability of computer laboratories, science laboratories, extra classrooms and libraries); teaching and learning support materials including laboratory apparatus; class size; and policies. • The Fundisa for Change programme encourages teachers to improvise and use the local environment in their teaching to try to tackle the problem of lack of funds and equipment. • Teaching Biodiversity practice is ‘living’ as it is characterised by the principles of living ecologies. Recommendations based on the findings are: • There is a need for more teacher training by Fundisa for Change and other organisations whose training activities are SACE approved to cater for more teachers. • A more structured plan of action from the Department of Basic Education (DBE) is needed to assist and involve more organisations and stakeholders. • Provision of infrastructure and teaching and learning resource materials to schools by the DBE needs to be accelerated as it is legally binding. • Follow-up should be formally incorporated into Fundisa for Change programme activities. • Formation of professional learning communities is very important to help new teachers as there is no formal induction programme in South Africa. • An induction policy by the DBE needs to be formulated to help establish an induction programme for newly qualified teachers. Recommendations for further research are: • Use of lesson observation for data collection to improve results. • A larger sample could be used to expand the insights gained in this study. • Fundisa for Change practices can be studied at the level of teacher professional development practices. • Other modes of teacher professional development initiatives such as Lesson Study can be tested out to overcome the challenge of teachers not wanting to be observed. • More research can be carried out on the practices of teacher training, teacher learning, student learning and assessment, as practices associated with teaching Biodiversity. The study was important in that it gave an understanding of what makes continuing teacher professional development initiatives effective. The study also looked at teaching Biodiversity through the use of contemporary forms of a practice theory which are the theory of practice architectures and the theory of the ecologies of practices. This provided understandings into how professional development programmes are experienced in practice, and showed that though the teachers were trained and positive benefits accrued, there are factors which enable or constrain their actual teaching Biodiversity practice. The study also showed that practices are interrelated in ecologies of practices. These factors need to be considered in professional development programming. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Nkhahle, Lebona Jerome
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Environmental education South Africa , Pedagogical content knowledge , Teachers In-service training South Africa , Curriculum-based assessment South Africa , Fundisa for Change , Practice Architectures
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192724 , vital:45254 , 10.21504/10962/192724
- Description: The importance of teachers being engaged in professional development initiatives is widely acknowledged in the literature and in most cases these initiatives are largely focused on addressing teachers’ lack of subject content knowledge. The problem of teachers having inadequate environmental knowledge is common in South Africa due to the fact that much of the environmental content knowledge in the curriculum is new, and environmental education itself is a new field. This is an area of interest in South Africa as a third iteration of the post-apartheid curriculum, the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) has recently been introduced into schools and many subjects have environmental learning content. Inadequate subject content knowledge influences teachers’ abilities to choose appropriate teaching and assessment methods and this might negatively affect the process of teaching and learning. Knowledgeable teachers are needed to help learners understand the current issues affecting citizens, and in particular, environmental issues, which form the focus of this study. The main research questions addressed are: 1. What are the teachers’ experiences of the Fundisa for Change continuing teacher professional development programme in relation to environment and sustainability content knowledge? 2. How does the Fundisa for Change continuing teacher professional development programme influence teachers’ practice? 3. What practices of the Fundisa for Change teacher professional development programme are characteristic of effective continuing teacher professional development initiatives? 4. How are (if at all) the practices of teacher training, teacher learning, teaching and assessment of Biodiversity content in CAPS living practices? This work was conducted as a qualitative case study and it was carried out in the provinces of Gauteng, Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga in South Africa. It included four teachers from the Eastern Cape and five from Mpumalanga. Seven teacher trainers also participated, two of which were based in Gauteng and the rest in the Eastern Cape. Data were generated through interviews and document analysis, and included analysis of teacher portfolios showing evidence of classroom practice. The study explored teachers’ experiences of an environmental education training programme called ‘Fundisa for Change’, which has been set up as a national partnership initiative to strengthen teachers’ environmental knowledge and teaching skills in order to address the above-mentioned problem. It focused on training teachers in the Life Sciences, particularly on new content knowledge on Biodiversity, and on teaching and assessment skills. It also looked into how the training influenced teaching practice. The study worked with practice theory, in particular Kemmis and Grootenboer’s (2008) theory of practice architectures, to look at the sayings, doings and relatings pertaining to the teaching of Biodiversity, and the enabling and constraining of this practice. The features and the teachers’ experiences of the Fundisa for Change professional development programme have been presented and explained. The study also used the ecologies of practices theory to describe the living nature of practices. The following are the key findings: • The Fundisa for Change programme improved the participating teachers’ Biodiversity content knowledge, teaching and assessment skills. • Practices of the Fundisa for Change teacher professional development programme characteristic of effective continuing teacher professional development initiatives are: duration; active involvement of teachers; providing teachers with subject content knowledge; promoting establishment of professional learning communities; coherence; follow-up; and assessment of teachers. • The conditions that affect the participating teachers’ teaching practice are: the use of language (both scientific and instructional); infrastructure (availability of computer laboratories, science laboratories, extra classrooms and libraries); teaching and learning support materials including laboratory apparatus; class size; and policies. • The Fundisa for Change programme encourages teachers to improvise and use the local environment in their teaching to try to tackle the problem of lack of funds and equipment. • Teaching Biodiversity practice is ‘living’ as it is characterised by the principles of living ecologies. Recommendations based on the findings are: • There is a need for more teacher training by Fundisa for Change and other organisations whose training activities are SACE approved to cater for more teachers. • A more structured plan of action from the Department of Basic Education (DBE) is needed to assist and involve more organisations and stakeholders. • Provision of infrastructure and teaching and learning resource materials to schools by the DBE needs to be accelerated as it is legally binding. • Follow-up should be formally incorporated into Fundisa for Change programme activities. • Formation of professional learning communities is very important to help new teachers as there is no formal induction programme in South Africa. • An induction policy by the DBE needs to be formulated to help establish an induction programme for newly qualified teachers. Recommendations for further research are: • Use of lesson observation for data collection to improve results. • A larger sample could be used to expand the insights gained in this study. • Fundisa for Change practices can be studied at the level of teacher professional development practices. • Other modes of teacher professional development initiatives such as Lesson Study can be tested out to overcome the challenge of teachers not wanting to be observed. • More research can be carried out on the practices of teacher training, teacher learning, student learning and assessment, as practices associated with teaching Biodiversity. The study was important in that it gave an understanding of what makes continuing teacher professional development initiatives effective. The study also looked at teaching Biodiversity through the use of contemporary forms of a practice theory which are the theory of practice architectures and the theory of the ecologies of practices. This provided understandings into how professional development programmes are experienced in practice, and showed that though the teachers were trained and positive benefits accrued, there are factors which enable or constrain their actual teaching Biodiversity practice. The study also showed that practices are interrelated in ecologies of practices. These factors need to be considered in professional development programming. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
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