Water, Transport, Oil and Food: A Political–Economy–Ecology Lens on Changing Conceptions of Work, Learning and Skills Development in Africa
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/434894 , vital:73114 , ISBN 978-1529224634 , https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/transitioning-vocational-education-and-training-in-africa
- Description: Not enough has been said about the kinds of skills develop-ment that are needed if we are to stem the rising tides and impacts of political economies that have been driving what some call ‘fossil capital’(Malm, 2016). In this book, we are producing an emerging argument that it is necessary to also rethink and reframe vocational education and training (VET) logics and approaches if we are to fully consider the implica-tions of a warming future. This chapter provides the context of why this is such an urgent challenge and some thinking tools for understanding where we have come from and where we need to go. The prognosis is that it is now almost impossible to stop global warming below 2oC. The 2021 In-tergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report is-sued a ‘red alert’for humanity, noting climate change to be one of the most severe challenges facing human societies for decades and potentially centuries to come. Scientists are warning that we have entered a new ‘geological epoch’, named the ‘Anthropocene’, in which human activity, especial-ly the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere through fossil-based pollution, is transforming the stability of the earth system and creating knock on effects such as ice melt and methane release, which exacerbate the impacts of pollutants on the stability of the earth system.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/434894 , vital:73114 , ISBN 978-1529224634 , https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/transitioning-vocational-education-and-training-in-africa
- Description: Not enough has been said about the kinds of skills develop-ment that are needed if we are to stem the rising tides and impacts of political economies that have been driving what some call ‘fossil capital’(Malm, 2016). In this book, we are producing an emerging argument that it is necessary to also rethink and reframe vocational education and training (VET) logics and approaches if we are to fully consider the implica-tions of a warming future. This chapter provides the context of why this is such an urgent challenge and some thinking tools for understanding where we have come from and where we need to go. The prognosis is that it is now almost impossible to stop global warming below 2oC. The 2021 In-tergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report is-sued a ‘red alert’for humanity, noting climate change to be one of the most severe challenges facing human societies for decades and potentially centuries to come. Scientists are warning that we have entered a new ‘geological epoch’, named the ‘Anthropocene’, in which human activity, especial-ly the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere through fossil-based pollution, is transforming the stability of the earth system and creating knock on effects such as ice melt and methane release, which exacerbate the impacts of pollutants on the stability of the earth system.
- Full Text:
Academic development: Autonomy pathways towards gaining legitimacy
- Authors: Vorster, Jo-Anne A
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/445759 , vital:74427 , ISBN 9781003028215 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003028215-16/academic-development-jo-anne-vorster
- Description: Despite playing a critical role in universities grappling with change, practitioners working in the field of academic staff development often struggle with legitimacy. Being a relatively young field in higher education, the challenges faced by these actors are largely un-theorized and under-researched. This chapter explores how academic staff development practitioners at eight universities seek (and gain) legitimacy amongst disciplinary academic peers. Drawing on LCT concepts of ‘autonomy codes’, it analyses practices in terms of the fields from which they come and the purpose to which they are directed. Data include publications by academic developers and interviews with academic developers, academics and senior managers of the eight institutions. The chapter demonstrates how academic developers often struggle to gain legitimacy as they occupy a liminal position between academic or administrative positions in relation to the disciplinary experts they work with. Furthermore, it demonstrates that the most successful academic development work occurs when disciplinary staff view academic development as enabling them to become better teachers. The chapter reveals how legitimacy may be more successfully enabled in the field of academic staff development.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Vorster, Jo-Anne A
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/445759 , vital:74427 , ISBN 9781003028215 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003028215-16/academic-development-jo-anne-vorster
- Description: Despite playing a critical role in universities grappling with change, practitioners working in the field of academic staff development often struggle with legitimacy. Being a relatively young field in higher education, the challenges faced by these actors are largely un-theorized and under-researched. This chapter explores how academic staff development practitioners at eight universities seek (and gain) legitimacy amongst disciplinary academic peers. Drawing on LCT concepts of ‘autonomy codes’, it analyses practices in terms of the fields from which they come and the purpose to which they are directed. Data include publications by academic developers and interviews with academic developers, academics and senior managers of the eight institutions. The chapter demonstrates how academic developers often struggle to gain legitimacy as they occupy a liminal position between academic or administrative positions in relation to the disciplinary experts they work with. Furthermore, it demonstrates that the most successful academic development work occurs when disciplinary staff view academic development as enabling them to become better teachers. The chapter reveals how legitimacy may be more successfully enabled in the field of academic staff development.
- Full Text:
Decolonizing the science curriculum: When good intentions are not enough
- Adendorff, Hanelie, Blackie, Margaret A L
- Authors: Adendorff, Hanelie , Blackie, Margaret A L
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/445796 , vital:74433 , ISBN 9781003028215 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003028215-14/decolonizing-science-curriculum-hanelie-adendorff-margaret-blackie
- Description: Universities across the world are facing the need to transform as access is opened up and student cohorts diversify. In the case of South Africa, these calls for transformation are specifically related to ‘decolonization’. Since 2015, South African universities have experienced growing student protests as students mobilize against institutional racism and demand that higher education curricula are decolonized. This chapter uses the LCT specialization plane, which explores the basis of legitimacy in relation to knowledge and knowers, to analyse the content of these calls for decolonization, particularly with respect to science education. The analysis provides a way into real dialogue. Having established what is at stake in the conversation we turn to the ‘autonomy code’ to explore what decolonization might look like in practice and shows why current decolonization attempts might be perceived as perpetuating past injustices. Although focused on the South African context, this chapter offers generalizable principles applicable to any educational institutions undergoing transformation.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Adendorff, Hanelie , Blackie, Margaret A L
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/445796 , vital:74433 , ISBN 9781003028215 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003028215-14/decolonizing-science-curriculum-hanelie-adendorff-margaret-blackie
- Description: Universities across the world are facing the need to transform as access is opened up and student cohorts diversify. In the case of South Africa, these calls for transformation are specifically related to ‘decolonization’. Since 2015, South African universities have experienced growing student protests as students mobilize against institutional racism and demand that higher education curricula are decolonized. This chapter uses the LCT specialization plane, which explores the basis of legitimacy in relation to knowledge and knowers, to analyse the content of these calls for decolonization, particularly with respect to science education. The analysis provides a way into real dialogue. Having established what is at stake in the conversation we turn to the ‘autonomy code’ to explore what decolonization might look like in practice and shows why current decolonization attempts might be perceived as perpetuating past injustices. Although focused on the South African context, this chapter offers generalizable principles applicable to any educational institutions undergoing transformation.
- Full Text:
Eco-schools as education for sustainable development in rural South Africa
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436854 , vital:73310 , ISBN 978-3-030-46820-0 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46820-0_16
- Description: This chapter takes the reader into the context of rural South Africa with a sketch of developmental and educational chal-lenges from the point of view of a young person born here. It goes on to ask whether Eco-Schools has a role in this chal-lenging context, as a vehicle for or form of Education for Sus-tainable Development (ESD). Past Eco-Schools evaluations are reviewed against current educational needs and livelihood opportunities. The findings suggest that Eco-Schools gives teachers greater environmental awareness and motivates pedagogical practices such as active learning in relation to lo-cally relevant issues. Learners develop environmental com-mitment and a sense of agency, and may become more com-mitted to academic learning – all of which is necessary to pre-pare them for thriving in and also improving their socio-ecological contexts. Eco-Schools further supports schools sys-temically through meaningful partnerships with external agen-cies. The conclusion is that attempts should be made to scale up and scale out this impact. In the process, key features of the programme should be preserved. These include a focus on sustainable solutions.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436854 , vital:73310 , ISBN 978-3-030-46820-0 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46820-0_16
- Description: This chapter takes the reader into the context of rural South Africa with a sketch of developmental and educational chal-lenges from the point of view of a young person born here. It goes on to ask whether Eco-Schools has a role in this chal-lenging context, as a vehicle for or form of Education for Sus-tainable Development (ESD). Past Eco-Schools evaluations are reviewed against current educational needs and livelihood opportunities. The findings suggest that Eco-Schools gives teachers greater environmental awareness and motivates pedagogical practices such as active learning in relation to lo-cally relevant issues. Learners develop environmental com-mitment and a sense of agency, and may become more com-mitted to academic learning – all of which is necessary to pre-pare them for thriving in and also improving their socio-ecological contexts. Eco-Schools further supports schools sys-temically through meaningful partnerships with external agen-cies. The conclusion is that attempts should be made to scale up and scale out this impact. In the process, key features of the programme should be preserved. These include a focus on sustainable solutions.
- Full Text:
Invasive alien aquatic plants in South African freshwater ecosystems:
- Hill, Martin P, Coetzee, Julie A, Martin, Grant D, Smith, Rosali, Strange, Emily F
- Authors: Hill, Martin P , Coetzee, Julie A , Martin, Grant D , Smith, Rosali , Strange, Emily F
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/176271 , vital:42680 , ISBN 978-3-030-32394-3 , 10.1007/978-3-030-32394-3
- Description: South Africa has a long history of managing the establishment and spread of invasive fioating macrophytes. The past thirty years of research and the implementation of nation-wide biological and integrated control programmes has led to widespread control of these species in many degraded freshwater ecosystems. Such initiatives are aimed at restoring access to potable freshwater and maintaining native biodiversity.
- Full Text: false
- Authors: Hill, Martin P , Coetzee, Julie A , Martin, Grant D , Smith, Rosali , Strange, Emily F
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/176271 , vital:42680 , ISBN 978-3-030-32394-3 , 10.1007/978-3-030-32394-3
- Description: South Africa has a long history of managing the establishment and spread of invasive fioating macrophytes. The past thirty years of research and the implementation of nation-wide biological and integrated control programmes has led to widespread control of these species in many degraded freshwater ecosystems. Such initiatives are aimed at restoring access to potable freshwater and maintaining native biodiversity.
- Full Text: false
Nutrient patchiness, phytoplankton surge-uptake, and turbulent history: a theoretical approach and its experimental validation
- Schapira, Mathilde, Seuront, Laurent
- Authors: Schapira, Mathilde , Seuront, Laurent
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/149774 , vital:38883 , https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids5020080
- Description: Despite ample evidence of micro- and small-scale (i.e., millimeter- to meter-scale) phytoplankton and zooplankton patchiness in the ocean, direct observations of nutrient distributions and the ecological importance of this phenomenon are still relatively scarce. In this context, we first describe a simple procedure to continuously sample nutrients in surface waters, and subsequently provide evidence of the existence of microscale distribution of ammonium in the ocean. We further show that ammonium is never homogeneously distributed, even under very high conditions of turbulence. Instead, turbulence intensity appears to control nutrient patchiness, with a more homogeneous or a more heterogeneous distribution observed under high and low turbulence intensities, respectively, under the same concentration in nutrient. Based on a modelling procedure taking into account the stochastic properties of intermittent nutrient distributions and observations carried out on natural phytoplankton communities, we introduce and verify the hypothesis that under nutrient limitation, the “turbulent history” of phytoplankton cells, i.e., the turbulent conditions they experienced in their natural environments, conditions their efficiency to uptake ephemeral inorganic nitrogen patches of different concentrations.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Schapira, Mathilde , Seuront, Laurent
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/149774 , vital:38883 , https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids5020080
- Description: Despite ample evidence of micro- and small-scale (i.e., millimeter- to meter-scale) phytoplankton and zooplankton patchiness in the ocean, direct observations of nutrient distributions and the ecological importance of this phenomenon are still relatively scarce. In this context, we first describe a simple procedure to continuously sample nutrients in surface waters, and subsequently provide evidence of the existence of microscale distribution of ammonium in the ocean. We further show that ammonium is never homogeneously distributed, even under very high conditions of turbulence. Instead, turbulence intensity appears to control nutrient patchiness, with a more homogeneous or a more heterogeneous distribution observed under high and low turbulence intensities, respectively, under the same concentration in nutrient. Based on a modelling procedure taking into account the stochastic properties of intermittent nutrient distributions and observations carried out on natural phytoplankton communities, we introduce and verify the hypothesis that under nutrient limitation, the “turbulent history” of phytoplankton cells, i.e., the turbulent conditions they experienced in their natural environments, conditions their efficiency to uptake ephemeral inorganic nitrogen patches of different concentrations.
- Full Text:
Probing the structural dynamics of the Plasmodium falciparum tunneling-fold enzyme 6-pyruvoyl tetrahydropterin synthase to reveal allosteric drug targeting sites:
- Khairallah, Afrah, Ross, Caroline J, Tastan Bishop, Özlem
- Authors: Khairallah, Afrah , Ross, Caroline J , Tastan Bishop, Özlem
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/163057 , vital:41008 , https://doi.org/10.3389/fmolb.2020.575196
- Description: The de novo folate synthesis pathway is a well-established drug target in the treatment of many infectious diseases. Antimalarial antifolate drugs have proven to be effective against malaria, however, rapid drug resistance has emerged on the two primary targeted enzymes: dihydrofolate reductase and dihydroptoreate synthase. The need to identify alternative antifolate drugs and novel metabolic targets is of imminent importance. The 6-pyruvol tetrahydropterin synthase (PTPS) enzyme belongs to the tunneling fold protein superfamily which is characterized by a distinct central tunnel/cavity. The enzyme catalyzes the second reaction step of the parasite’s de novo folate synthesis pathway and is responsible for the conversion of 7,8-dihydroneopterin to 6-pyruvoyl-tetrahydropterin. In this study, we examine the structural dynamics of Plasmodium falciparum PTPS using the anisotropic network model, to elucidate the collective motions that drive the function of the enzyme and identify potential sites for allosteric modulation of its binding properties.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Khairallah, Afrah , Ross, Caroline J , Tastan Bishop, Özlem
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/163057 , vital:41008 , https://doi.org/10.3389/fmolb.2020.575196
- Description: The de novo folate synthesis pathway is a well-established drug target in the treatment of many infectious diseases. Antimalarial antifolate drugs have proven to be effective against malaria, however, rapid drug resistance has emerged on the two primary targeted enzymes: dihydrofolate reductase and dihydroptoreate synthase. The need to identify alternative antifolate drugs and novel metabolic targets is of imminent importance. The 6-pyruvol tetrahydropterin synthase (PTPS) enzyme belongs to the tunneling fold protein superfamily which is characterized by a distinct central tunnel/cavity. The enzyme catalyzes the second reaction step of the parasite’s de novo folate synthesis pathway and is responsible for the conversion of 7,8-dihydroneopterin to 6-pyruvoyl-tetrahydropterin. In this study, we examine the structural dynamics of Plasmodium falciparum PTPS using the anisotropic network model, to elucidate the collective motions that drive the function of the enzyme and identify potential sites for allosteric modulation of its binding properties.
- Full Text:
Protected and un-protected urban wetlands have similar aquatic macroinvertebrate communities: a case study from the Cape Flats Sand Fynbos region of southern Africa
- Blanckenberg, Michelle, Mlambo, Musa C, Parker, Denham, Motitsoe, Samuel N
- Authors: Blanckenberg, Michelle , Mlambo, Musa C , Parker, Denham , Motitsoe, Samuel N
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/149288 , vital:38822 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1371/journal.pone.0233889
- Description: Rapid urbanisation has led to major landscape alterations, affecting aquatic ecosystems’ hydrological and biogeochemical cycles, and biodiversity. Thus, habitat alteration is considered a major driver of aquatic biodiversity loss and related aquatic ecosystem goods and services. This study aimed to investigate and compare aquatic macroinvertebrate richness, diversity and community structure between urban temporary wetlands, located within protected and un-protected areas. The latter were found within an open public space or park with no protection or conservation status, whereas the former were inaccessible to the public and had formal protected, conservation status.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Blanckenberg, Michelle , Mlambo, Musa C , Parker, Denham , Motitsoe, Samuel N
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/149288 , vital:38822 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1371/journal.pone.0233889
- Description: Rapid urbanisation has led to major landscape alterations, affecting aquatic ecosystems’ hydrological and biogeochemical cycles, and biodiversity. Thus, habitat alteration is considered a major driver of aquatic biodiversity loss and related aquatic ecosystem goods and services. This study aimed to investigate and compare aquatic macroinvertebrate richness, diversity and community structure between urban temporary wetlands, located within protected and un-protected areas. The latter were found within an open public space or park with no protection or conservation status, whereas the former were inaccessible to the public and had formal protected, conservation status.
- Full Text:
The alternative theory of state-minded protest texts in the music of democratic Nigeria:
- Authors: Osiebe, Garhe
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/160423 , vital:40444 , DOI: 10.1080/21681392.2020.1810085
- Description: This paper centres on an alternative discourse of popular music culture in re-democratized Nigeria. Whereas much work has been done on state-minded protest music in Nigeria, studies have been reticent in appreciating the works of Fela's son, Femi; particularly within a framework of re-democratized Nigeria's equivalent of Fela's works which constituted a major alternative voice through military-ruled Nigeria. The paper is an attempt to make up this lacuna along the lines of Chris Atton’s 2006 alternative media theory. The analysis of the alternative media theory is complemented by an analysis of the texts of selected state-minded protest works from two crossover popular musicians – Blackface and Mr Raw – of re-democratized Nigeria, both of whose state-minded protest works have hitherto been unexplored by the academe.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Osiebe, Garhe
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/160423 , vital:40444 , DOI: 10.1080/21681392.2020.1810085
- Description: This paper centres on an alternative discourse of popular music culture in re-democratized Nigeria. Whereas much work has been done on state-minded protest music in Nigeria, studies have been reticent in appreciating the works of Fela's son, Femi; particularly within a framework of re-democratized Nigeria's equivalent of Fela's works which constituted a major alternative voice through military-ruled Nigeria. The paper is an attempt to make up this lacuna along the lines of Chris Atton’s 2006 alternative media theory. The analysis of the alternative media theory is complemented by an analysis of the texts of selected state-minded protest works from two crossover popular musicians – Blackface and Mr Raw – of re-democratized Nigeria, both of whose state-minded protest works have hitherto been unexplored by the academe.
- Full Text:
Tracing the Voice of Protest in Selected Oral Literature:
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/174452 , vital:42479 , ISBN 9783030555177
- Description: This chapter aims to present the notion of “protest” as a contested arena in the production of oral literature, against the backdrop of continued and contested sociopolitical change in Africa. This contestation can be politically based, gender based and sometimes even based in religion. The chapter looks specifically at poetry, songs and the folktale to establish how the “voice of protest” has been presented over time in relation to specific African countries such as Senegal, South Africa, Somali, Guinea, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Lesotho. Poetic protest as part of political protest is also discussed. Furthermore, the chapter seeks to explore how this “voice of protest” has been received, both from an audience point of view and from the point of view of those who control power.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/174452 , vital:42479 , ISBN 9783030555177
- Description: This chapter aims to present the notion of “protest” as a contested arena in the production of oral literature, against the backdrop of continued and contested sociopolitical change in Africa. This contestation can be politically based, gender based and sometimes even based in religion. The chapter looks specifically at poetry, songs and the folktale to establish how the “voice of protest” has been presented over time in relation to specific African countries such as Senegal, South Africa, Somali, Guinea, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Lesotho. Poetic protest as part of political protest is also discussed. Furthermore, the chapter seeks to explore how this “voice of protest” has been received, both from an audience point of view and from the point of view of those who control power.
- Full Text:
(Re) activated heritage:
- Authors: Siegert, Nadine
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146321 , vital:38515 , ISBN 9780429624353
- Description: Book abstract. Securing Urban Heritage considers the impact of securitization on access to urban heritage sites. Demonstrating that symbolic spaces such as these have increasingly become the location of choice for the practice and performance of contemporary politics in the last decade, the book shows how this has led to the securitization of urban public space. Highlighting specific changes that have been made, such as the installation of closed-circuit television or the limitation of access to certain streets, plazas and buildings, the book analyses the impact of different approaches to securitization.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Siegert, Nadine
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146321 , vital:38515 , ISBN 9780429624353
- Description: Book abstract. Securing Urban Heritage considers the impact of securitization on access to urban heritage sites. Demonstrating that symbolic spaces such as these have increasingly become the location of choice for the practice and performance of contemporary politics in the last decade, the book shows how this has led to the securitization of urban public space. Highlighting specific changes that have been made, such as the installation of closed-circuit television or the limitation of access to certain streets, plazas and buildings, the book analyses the impact of different approaches to securitization.
- Full Text:
Culture, language and productivity in the workplace within the BRICS Nations:
- Kaschula, Russell H, Mostert, Andre, Wolff, H Ekkehard
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H , Mostert, Andre , Wolff, H Ekkehard
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/174624 , vital:42495 , https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.25159/2663-6697/5009
- Description: The changing economic environment globally carries challenges and opportunities for business. Cross-cultural environments and financial integration call for greater understanding of the workplace. The authors assess the usage and status of language and culture in workplaces within the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries through a light touch survey to assist in framing further and deeper research activities. The objective is to develop a suitable research framework regarding the place of language and culture in the workplace in multilingual and multicultural contexts. The authors argue for the inclusion of a cultural dimension linked to multilingual strategies in the workplace. The inextricable link between language and culture is explored in this article.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H , Mostert, Andre , Wolff, H Ekkehard
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/174624 , vital:42495 , https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.25159/2663-6697/5009
- Description: The changing economic environment globally carries challenges and opportunities for business. Cross-cultural environments and financial integration call for greater understanding of the workplace. The authors assess the usage and status of language and culture in workplaces within the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries through a light touch survey to assist in framing further and deeper research activities. The objective is to develop a suitable research framework regarding the place of language and culture in the workplace in multilingual and multicultural contexts. The authors argue for the inclusion of a cultural dimension linked to multilingual strategies in the workplace. The inextricable link between language and culture is explored in this article.
- Full Text:
Formative interventionist research generating iterative mediation processes in a vocational education and training learning network
- Lotz-Sisitka, Heila, Pesanayi, Tichaona V
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Pesanayi, Tichaona V
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370575 , vital:66356 , ISBN 9780429279362 , https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429279362
- Description: This chapter addresses a research problem identified in the vocational agricultural learning system where there was a gap in vocational education and training knowledge flow from research institutions to knowledge users. The chapter develops a theoretical framework for dealing with the problem of ‘knowledge flow’ in vocational education and training settings. The problem emerges around the uptake and use of relevant research-based knowledge resources on rainwater harvesting and conservation practices for agricultural education and training focused on small-scale farmers and household food producers in South Africa. These resources, despite their contemporary relevance, were not being used in agricultural colleges or in the related agricultural learning support system. Drawing on a social ecosystemic approach to knowledge flow and mediation, the chapter surfaces five iterative mediation processes developed via a generative, formative interventionist research process over a five year period (Lotz-Sisitka et al. 2016; Pesanayi, 2019; cf. Chapter 8) that facilitated the development of a regional learning network which enabled vertical facilitatory processes and horizontal connectivities that impacted on farmers’ food production system, as well as the agricultural learning system. We illuminate key features of these as important for supporting knowledge flow within a regional social ecosystemic framework for skills development.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Pesanayi, Tichaona V
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370575 , vital:66356 , ISBN 9780429279362 , https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429279362
- Description: This chapter addresses a research problem identified in the vocational agricultural learning system where there was a gap in vocational education and training knowledge flow from research institutions to knowledge users. The chapter develops a theoretical framework for dealing with the problem of ‘knowledge flow’ in vocational education and training settings. The problem emerges around the uptake and use of relevant research-based knowledge resources on rainwater harvesting and conservation practices for agricultural education and training focused on small-scale farmers and household food producers in South Africa. These resources, despite their contemporary relevance, were not being used in agricultural colleges or in the related agricultural learning support system. Drawing on a social ecosystemic approach to knowledge flow and mediation, the chapter surfaces five iterative mediation processes developed via a generative, formative interventionist research process over a five year period (Lotz-Sisitka et al. 2016; Pesanayi, 2019; cf. Chapter 8) that facilitated the development of a regional learning network which enabled vertical facilitatory processes and horizontal connectivities that impacted on farmers’ food production system, as well as the agricultural learning system. We illuminate key features of these as important for supporting knowledge flow within a regional social ecosystemic framework for skills development.
- Full Text:
Formative interventionist research generating iterative mediation processes in a vocational education and training learning network
- Lotz-Sisitka, Heila, Pesanayi, Tichaona
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Pesanayi, Tichaona
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435998 , vital:73219 , ISBN 9780429279362 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429279362-13/synthesis-elaboration-critical-realist-methodology-green-skills-research-eureta-rosenberg
- Description: This chapter addresses a research problem identified in the vocational agricultural learning system where there was a gap in vocational education and training knowledge flow from research institutions to knowledge users. The chapter develops a theoretical framework for dealing with the problem of ‘knowledge flow’ in vocational education and training settings. The problem emerges around the uptake and use of relevant research-based knowledge resources on rainwater harvesting and conservation practices for agricultural education and training focused on small-scale farmers and household food producers in South Africa. These resources, despite their con-temporary relevance, were not being used in agricultural col-leges or in the related agricultural learning support system. Drawing on a social ecosystemic approach to knowledge flow and mediation, the chapter surfaces five iterative mediation processes developed via a generative, formative interventionist research process over a five year period (Lotz-Sisitka et al. 2016; Pesanayi, 2019; cf. Chapter 8) that facilitated the development of a regional learning network which enabled vertical facilitatory processes and horizontal connectivities that impact-ed on farmers’ food production system, as well as the agricultural learning system. We illuminate key features of these as important for supporting knowledge flow within a regional social ecosystemic framework for skills development.
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- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Pesanayi, Tichaona
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435998 , vital:73219 , ISBN 9780429279362 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429279362-13/synthesis-elaboration-critical-realist-methodology-green-skills-research-eureta-rosenberg
- Description: This chapter addresses a research problem identified in the vocational agricultural learning system where there was a gap in vocational education and training knowledge flow from research institutions to knowledge users. The chapter develops a theoretical framework for dealing with the problem of ‘knowledge flow’ in vocational education and training settings. The problem emerges around the uptake and use of relevant research-based knowledge resources on rainwater harvesting and conservation practices for agricultural education and training focused on small-scale farmers and household food producers in South Africa. These resources, despite their con-temporary relevance, were not being used in agricultural col-leges or in the related agricultural learning support system. Drawing on a social ecosystemic approach to knowledge flow and mediation, the chapter surfaces five iterative mediation processes developed via a generative, formative interventionist research process over a five year period (Lotz-Sisitka et al. 2016; Pesanayi, 2019; cf. Chapter 8) that facilitated the development of a regional learning network which enabled vertical facilitatory processes and horizontal connectivities that impact-ed on farmers’ food production system, as well as the agricultural learning system. We illuminate key features of these as important for supporting knowledge flow within a regional social ecosystemic framework for skills development.
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Health literacy test for limited literacy populations (HELT-LL): validation in South Africa
- Marimwe, Chipiwa, Dowse, Roslind
- Authors: Marimwe, Chipiwa , Dowse, Roslind
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/156652 , vital:40035 , https://doi.org/10.1080/2331205X.2019.1650417
- Description: The majority of health literacy measures emanate from high-income countries and are inappropriate for use in limited literacy individuals who are usually excluded from participation in health literacy studies. There is currently no appropriate health literacy measure for the educationally diverse South African population. This study, which reports the validation of the Health Literacy Test for Limited Literacy individuals (HELT-LL), was conducted in primary health-care clinics with 210 isiXhosa-speaking patients with a maximum of 12 years of schooling. The HELT-LL has varied cognitive demands, assesses functional literacy skills as well as local burden of disease knowledge, and also includes self-reported questions.
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- Authors: Marimwe, Chipiwa , Dowse, Roslind
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/156652 , vital:40035 , https://doi.org/10.1080/2331205X.2019.1650417
- Description: The majority of health literacy measures emanate from high-income countries and are inappropriate for use in limited literacy individuals who are usually excluded from participation in health literacy studies. There is currently no appropriate health literacy measure for the educationally diverse South African population. This study, which reports the validation of the Health Literacy Test for Limited Literacy individuals (HELT-LL), was conducted in primary health-care clinics with 210 isiXhosa-speaking patients with a maximum of 12 years of schooling. The HELT-LL has varied cognitive demands, assesses functional literacy skills as well as local burden of disease knowledge, and also includes self-reported questions.
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Molecular phylogeny of Chondrocyclus (Gastropoda: Cyclophoridae), a widespread genus of sedentary, restricted-range snails:
- Cole, Mary L, Raheem, Dinarzarde C, Villet, Martin H
- Authors: Cole, Mary L , Raheem, Dinarzarde C , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140761 , vital:37916 , DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.09.018
- Description: The genus Chondrocyclus Ancey, 1898 contains the majority of southern African members of the Cyclophoridae, a large family of operculate land snails. We present the first molecular phylogeny of the genus based on two mitochondrial genes (16S and CO1) and complement this with an appraisal of morphological characters relating to the shell and soft parts. Worn shells on which some descriptions and records of different species were based appear to be indistinguishable morphologically, creating taxonomic confusion. We show that Chondrocyclus s.l. underwent two major radiations, one Afromontane and the other largely coastal.
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- Authors: Cole, Mary L , Raheem, Dinarzarde C , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140761 , vital:37916 , DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.09.018
- Description: The genus Chondrocyclus Ancey, 1898 contains the majority of southern African members of the Cyclophoridae, a large family of operculate land snails. We present the first molecular phylogeny of the genus based on two mitochondrial genes (16S and CO1) and complement this with an appraisal of morphological characters relating to the shell and soft parts. Worn shells on which some descriptions and records of different species were based appear to be indistinguishable morphologically, creating taxonomic confusion. We show that Chondrocyclus s.l. underwent two major radiations, one Afromontane and the other largely coastal.
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Pigs vs people: the use of pigs as analogues for humans in forensic entomology and taphonomy research
- Matuszewski, Szymon, Hall, Martin J R, Moreau, Gaétan, Schoenly, Kenneth G, Tarone, Aaron M, Villet, Martin H
- Authors: Matuszewski, Szymon , Hall, Martin J R , Moreau, Gaétan , Schoenly, Kenneth G , Tarone, Aaron M , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140557 , vital:37898 , DOI: 10.1007/s00414-019-02074-5
- Description: Most studies of decomposition in forensic entomology and taphonomy have used non-human cadavers. Following the recommendation of using domestic pig cadavers as analogues for humans in forensic entomology in the 1980s, pigs became the most frequently used model cadavers in forensic sciences. They have shaped our understanding of how large vertebrate cadavers decompose in, for example, various environments, seasons and after various ante- or postmortem cadaver modifications. They have also been used to demonstrate the feasibility of several new or well-established forensic techniques. The advent of outdoor human taphonomy facilities enabled experimental comparisons of decomposition between pig and human cadavers. Recent comparisons challenged the pig-as-analogue claim in entomology and taphonomy research. In this review, we discuss in a broad methodological context the advantages and disadvantages of pig and human cadavers for forensic research and rebut the critique of pigs as analogues for humans. We conclude that experiments using human cadaver analogues (i.e. pig carcasses) are easier to replicate and more practical for controlling confounding factors than studies based solely on humans and, therefore, are likely to remain our primary epistemic source of forensic knowledge for the immediate future. We supplement these considerations with new guidelines for model cadaver choice in forensic science research.
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- Authors: Matuszewski, Szymon , Hall, Martin J R , Moreau, Gaétan , Schoenly, Kenneth G , Tarone, Aaron M , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140557 , vital:37898 , DOI: 10.1007/s00414-019-02074-5
- Description: Most studies of decomposition in forensic entomology and taphonomy have used non-human cadavers. Following the recommendation of using domestic pig cadavers as analogues for humans in forensic entomology in the 1980s, pigs became the most frequently used model cadavers in forensic sciences. They have shaped our understanding of how large vertebrate cadavers decompose in, for example, various environments, seasons and after various ante- or postmortem cadaver modifications. They have also been used to demonstrate the feasibility of several new or well-established forensic techniques. The advent of outdoor human taphonomy facilities enabled experimental comparisons of decomposition between pig and human cadavers. Recent comparisons challenged the pig-as-analogue claim in entomology and taphonomy research. In this review, we discuss in a broad methodological context the advantages and disadvantages of pig and human cadavers for forensic research and rebut the critique of pigs as analogues for humans. We conclude that experiments using human cadaver analogues (i.e. pig carcasses) are easier to replicate and more practical for controlling confounding factors than studies based solely on humans and, therefore, are likely to remain our primary epistemic source of forensic knowledge for the immediate future. We supplement these considerations with new guidelines for model cadaver choice in forensic science research.
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Bollywood Nights: Indian youth and the creation of diasporic identity in South Africa
- Authors: Boshoff, Priscilla A
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143494 , vital:38251 , DOI: 10.3138/topia.26.29
- Description: Bollywood’s popularity as a global cultural form has occurred at the same time as the valorization of difference in the South African political landscape. As the youngest members of the 19th-century labour diaspora, South African Indian youths are the inheritors of a conservative—yet adaptable—home culture amidst the marginalized identities of (post-)apartheid South Africa. Their desire to create an identity for themselves that encompasses their self-perception both as modern South African subjects and as guardians of their traditional home cultures is achieved through Bollywood, which speaks to its diasporic audiences through images of an idealized traditional yet modern India. While India is not a place of return for these youth, their reactivation of a diasporic identity through Bollywood’s representations of a successful Indian diasporic culture and their participation in South African Bollywood concerts and award ceremonies has provided an opportunity for young South African Indians to reimagine their diasporic Indian identity in ways that (re-)connect them to India and to an imagined global diaspora.
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- Authors: Boshoff, Priscilla A
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143494 , vital:38251 , DOI: 10.3138/topia.26.29
- Description: Bollywood’s popularity as a global cultural form has occurred at the same time as the valorization of difference in the South African political landscape. As the youngest members of the 19th-century labour diaspora, South African Indian youths are the inheritors of a conservative—yet adaptable—home culture amidst the marginalized identities of (post-)apartheid South Africa. Their desire to create an identity for themselves that encompasses their self-perception both as modern South African subjects and as guardians of their traditional home cultures is achieved through Bollywood, which speaks to its diasporic audiences through images of an idealized traditional yet modern India. While India is not a place of return for these youth, their reactivation of a diasporic identity through Bollywood’s representations of a successful Indian diasporic culture and their participation in South African Bollywood concerts and award ceremonies has provided an opportunity for young South African Indians to reimagine their diasporic Indian identity in ways that (re-)connect them to India and to an imagined global diaspora.
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Can Jamaica put music first?: a comment
- Authors: Stanley Niaah, Sonjah
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145941 , vital:38480 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1080/00086495.2018.1480319
- Description: Many development programmes fail because they don’t account for cultural contexts. In a context where cultural and creative industries represent 10% of the GNP in economies such as Brazil, China, India, and Indonesia, there is no doubt that culture is vital for their sustainable development.
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- Authors: Stanley Niaah, Sonjah
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145941 , vital:38480 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1080/00086495.2018.1480319
- Description: Many development programmes fail because they don’t account for cultural contexts. In a context where cultural and creative industries represent 10% of the GNP in economies such as Brazil, China, India, and Indonesia, there is no doubt that culture is vital for their sustainable development.
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Confronting the Colonial Library: teaching Political Studies amidst calls for a decolonised curriculum
- Authors: Matthews, Sally
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142191 , vital:38057 , DOI: 10.1080/02589346.2018.1418204
- Description: This paper engages with Mudimbe's concept of the ‘colonial library’ with the aim of using this engagement to contribute to current debates about decolonising South African university curricula. The term ‘colonial library’ refers to the body of texts and epistemological order which construct Africa as a symbol of otherness and inferiority. Mudimbe shows that even the most determined attempts to resist the colonial library draw on this same epistemological order. This presents a profound challenge for attempts to decolonise university curricula as it suggests that the colonial library's reach extends into attempts to dismantle it. In response to this challenge, I discuss ways in which we can oppose epistemological ethnocentrism and argue that we need to be open to the possibility of the emancipatory reappropriation of aspects of the colonial library. The paper concludes by relating the foregoing discussion to the South African political studies classroom.
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- Authors: Matthews, Sally
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142191 , vital:38057 , DOI: 10.1080/02589346.2018.1418204
- Description: This paper engages with Mudimbe's concept of the ‘colonial library’ with the aim of using this engagement to contribute to current debates about decolonising South African university curricula. The term ‘colonial library’ refers to the body of texts and epistemological order which construct Africa as a symbol of otherness and inferiority. Mudimbe shows that even the most determined attempts to resist the colonial library draw on this same epistemological order. This presents a profound challenge for attempts to decolonise university curricula as it suggests that the colonial library's reach extends into attempts to dismantle it. In response to this challenge, I discuss ways in which we can oppose epistemological ethnocentrism and argue that we need to be open to the possibility of the emancipatory reappropriation of aspects of the colonial library. The paper concludes by relating the foregoing discussion to the South African political studies classroom.
- Full Text: