Enablements and constraints of articulation arrangements and agreements between technical and vocational education and training colleges and one Comprehensive University in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Mantashe, Lunga Xolisa https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1711-8358
- Date: 2020-01
- Subjects: Articulation (Education) , Technical education , Vocational education
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21624 , vital:51736
- Description: This study explored enablements and constraints of Articulation Arrangements and Agreements (AAAs) between Technical and Vocational Education and Training Colleges (TVETs) and one Comprehensive University (CU) in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The constructs of structure, culture, and agency as propounded by Margaret Archer were employed as the theoretical lens of the study. Each of Archer’s constructs is independent and their dynamic interplay has causal influence on whether AAAs are facilitated or hindered. A qualitative single embedded case study design was applied, owing to the interpretivist paradigm the research chose. To this end, seven participants were purposively chosen and interviewed, and two university documents were analyzed, namely the draft University Articulation Guidelines (UAGs) and the university general prospectus. It was found that there were no formal, written, or even verbal TVET-CU agreements. Articulation happened on an ad hoc basis. The change of role-players in the institutional role array played a role in the non-existence and collapse of AAAs. On admissions, challenges included disparate requirements between National Senior Certificate and National Certificate Vocational. Nevertheless, articulation-enabling practices manifested themselves in the credit transfer decisions of participants. However, the Work Integrated Learning (WIL) component of a TVET national diploma programme enjoyed no parity with non-TVET and university cosrordinated experiential learning in some departments. In addition, there were nuanced views over the (inherent) value of WIL which affected its ultimate treatment. Finally, the study found that though TVET-university national diploma programmes were somewhat similar and enabled AAAs, they were still misaligned at the level of design and interface, resulting in duplication of content, waste of time, and state resources. The university also did not have TVET programmes in mind in the design and review of programmes. The researcher deduced a conceptual framework for understanding and explaining how and why TVET-university AAAs succeed or fail. The framework touts the importance of having knowledgeable, articulation- cultured and acculturated leadership and officials (responsible for admissions, credit transfer, and RPL) as crucial for exploiting structural enablements and creatively circumventing inherent structural constraints, including challenging subtle ideas which may wittingly or unwittingly harbor views of TVET programmes as inferior. To this end, it is suggested that there be an establishment of an articulation office to coordinate AAAs that take a form of a hybrid model whereby there would be a combination of multilateral, direct in-house, and franchise TVET-CCU AAAs. The framework should also resolve programme design alignment issues by incorporating CAT and RPL principles, including other articulation instruments during curriculum analysis. RPL should equally be applied in the treatment of TVET WIL. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, 2020
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- Date Issued: 2020-01
A sociological analysis of the provision of extended studies as a means of addressing transformation at a historically white university
- Authors: Tanyanyiwa, Precious
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Rhodes University , Articulation (Education) , Articulation (Education) -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Educational equalization -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Discrimination in education -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Education, Higher -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Bourdieu, Pierre, 1930-2002 , Sen, Amartya, 1933-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3370 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012655
- Description: Foundation provisioning has a long history in South Africa, and is central to the transformation agenda, particularly the broadening of successful participation in higher education (HE). As access initiatives underpinned by various conceptualisations, foundation programmes evolved from peripheral, to semi-integrated and finally fully integrated curricular models in the form of current Extended Studies Programmes (ESPs). Underpinning the provision of Extended Studies is the acknowledgment that students who enter institutions are essentially ill equipped to cope with the demands of higher education studies, “leaving institutions themselves free of the responsibility of student failure” (Akoojee & Nkomo, 2007:391). This under-preparedness has been attributed to the ‘articulation gap’ between secondary and higher education, which in turn contributes to low retention and graduation rates (CHE, 2013:17). Situated within an overarching commitment to access and success, the Extended Studies Programme attempts to systematically address the ‘articulation gap’. This study evaluated the extent to which the Rhodes University Humanities Extended Studies Programme is achieving its objectives from a transformation perspective, specifically the broadening of successful participation in higher education. The majority of previous works on the evaluation of foundation programmes focused on measurable dimensions of student access and success – that is retention and graduation rates. This thesis considered both the measurable outcomes of the programme as well as the actual teaching and learning process. Given the shifts that have taken place in foundation provisioning, the evaluation of the current model of foundation provisioning necessitated their location in history. Therefore, the evaluation of the Rhodes University Humanities Extended Studies Programme was undertaken in view of the shifts, achievements, challenges and critics of its predecessor programmes. Specifically, the following dimensions were considered in the evaluation of the programme: i) assumptions underpinning the design and purpose of the programme, ii) teaching and learning practices in the programme, iii) student and staff perceptions of the programme, iv) students’ experiences of the programme, v) the validity of the programme in the broader institution, and vi) the measurable outcomes of the programme − that is retention and graduation rates of students enrolled in the programme. The triangulation of qualitative data collection techniques provided access into the different layers of institutional relations, processes and structures, which not only affect teaching and learning in the programme, but also determine students’ engagement with different academic and social aspects of the broader university. The theoretical insights of Pierre Bourdieu and Amartya Sen were integrated in order to provide analytical tools for both understanding the causes of inequalities in higher education, and evaluating institutional processes and structures that perpetuate or transform inequalities. Whilst Bourdieu’s social reproduction thesis exposed the ways in which social structures shape educational processes and outcomes, Sen’s capability approach provided tools for evaluating both institutional arrangements and individual capabilities – that is, the freedom to achieve desired educational outcomes (Sen, 1992:48).
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- Date Issued: 2014