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Professor Zeblon Vilakazi Talks About Leading Wits To New Research Frontiers

Charles Molele
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Professor Zeblon Vilakazi Talks About Leading Wits To New Research Frontiers

CHARLES MOLELE

PROFESSOR Zeblon Vilakazi, a top nuclear scientist who is globally recognised for his expert knowledge in physics and nuclear research, is fully cognizant of the challenges that lie ahead when he takes over the reins as new vice-chancellor and principal of Wits University in January 2021.

Vilakazi takes the reins from Professor Adam Habib, who leaves Wits at the end of the year to lead the School of Oriental and African Studies in the United Kingdom.

In an interview with Inside Education, Vilakazi acknowledged that the financial pain from the coronavirus pandemic is going to hit the country’s colleges and universities hard, and Wits University will be no exception.

His intimate familiarity with the institution and previous leadership roles at the university prepare him well for this role. Vilakazi has been with Wits since 2014 and served as Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Post Graduate Affairs.

His immediate priority in January 2021 would be to focus on the financial stability of the university and raising funds after the COVID-19 crisis brought unexpected costs when classes were interrupted and moved online.

Vilakazi said higher education is indeed going to be at forefront of the economic fallout from coronavirus and Wits needs to respond strategically.

“We need to respond strategically to the COVID-19 crisis. My priority will be to worry about the university’s finances. The job of any vice chancellor is to raise funds for the university, engage the Wits alumni and present a vision for the next few years during my term. Therefore, financial stability is going to be my immediate priority,” said Vilakazi.

He added: “As higher education, COVID-19 has given us huge challenges with regards to online learning and teaching. We also need to introduce blended learning. This means integrating the classroom experience with technology.”

Vilakazi, who will begin in his new role on 1 January, believes the 21st-century universities must be innovative.

He said universities must respond to challenges facing communities such as climate change, environmental degradation and social inequalities. 

“The second priority for me is to innovate. If you don’t innovate you will lose out. I would like Wits to be at the forefront of technological innovation and produce job creators instead of job seekers. We need to develop app devices and technology and produce our own Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jack Dorsey, etcetera.

“We have the resources to become the leading university of innovation and innovators in the African continent. We also need to produce talented social innovators who will create social networks that will respond to our societal problems such as climate change and inequality,” said Vilakazi.

“I do believe that as a university, our task is to respond to the challenges by asking key questions that society needs to address, among others is what kind of research questions will come out of this, both in terms of the science and medics.”

Vilakazi has been instrumental in developing key local and global partnerships that have cemented the University’s position as a leader in innovation, including a partnership with IBM for Quantum Computing.

 “In terms of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we need to ensure South African universities are not found floundering in the backwash. We need to be in the leadership of Quantum Computing. We are currently working with University of Johannesburg on 4IR in Higher Education,” said Vilakazi.

He also chairs  South Africa’s National Quantum Computing Working Committee which seeks to develop a Framework for Quantum Computing and Quantum Technology driven research and innovation in South Africa.

“We are also working on digital mining technology systems – we will be partnering with a robotic system to do mining at deep level and ensure safety in mines. This is called Mining 4.0. Industry 4.0 offers new possibilities to combine increased productivity with stimulating workplaces in a good work environment.”

Vilakazi, who hopes to mend relations with student formations on campus, will have to learn how to communicate with his fellow millennials if he is to become more than just another vice chancellor and demonstrate grit and courage to confront a difficult challenge and beat the odd.

“My aim is to mend the relationship between management and student, resolve conflict and investigate the problem through open dialogue with students. It won’t be easy but it has to be done,” said Vilakazi.

Asked what keeps him up at night, or getting him out of the bed in the morning, Vilakazi said he was worried about the impact of coronavirus on higher education institutions and financial stability.

“My headache is the economic impact of the coronavirus. Every CEO must worry about the financial sustainability of the company. That’s my major concern at the moment,” said Vilakazi.

“It is an honour for me to have been appointed to this prestigious position. I am committed to working with my esteemed colleagues, fellow academics and smart, savvy students to create new knowledge, and to develop the high level skills required to move South Africa, and our economy forward. We also need to continue to develop the originators, innovators and critical thinkers who can help us solve the problems of the 21st Century.”

Vilakazi, who was born in Katlehong in Ekurhuleni, obtained his PhD from Wits in 1998 under the supervision of the late Professor J Sellschop, who also served as DVC: Research at Wits.

The title of his doctoral thesis is The Investigation of coherent correlated effects due to incidence of ultra-relativistic leptons on oriented crystalline matter.

This was followed by a National Research Foundation postdoctoral fellowship at the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland. 

(Compiled by Inside Education staff)

South Africa Is Ready For A ‘Re-look’ At Inclusive Education

Charles Molele
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South Africa Is Ready For A ‘Re-look’ At Inclusive Education

Dr AVIVIT CHERRINGTON

AN education system that is truly inclusive seeks to foster a culture of competence and belonging by recognising the strengths, rather than the limitations, of human diversity.

Its underlying values and principles are interwoven into every aspect of quality teaching and learning, from classroom practice to school culture, and from curriculum design to national policies, thus contributing meaningfully towards a transformative social education that promotes democratic participation, mutual respect, and social justice.

To advance an education and training system in South Africa that is able to carry the responsibility of implementing such a vision requires critical and collaborative thinking beyond a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.

We live in a country where a large percentage of children continue to be excluded from accessing quality basic education due to multiple barriers of ability, language, gender or poverty. It is therefore absolutely essential for all education stakeholders to question whether current inclusive education practices and policies ensure that every child is able to pursue learning to his/her fullest potential towards optimal development as an active citizen of society.

There is a need to re-look at the foundation of inclusive education in South Africa, and this starts with all key education agents actively engaging with key practices, policies and structures from school to national level. STADIO Faculty of Education and Humanities’ School of Education is launching a new part-time Bachelor of Education Honours in Inclusive Education [BEdHons (Inclusive Education)] in July 2020.

Such postgraduate programmes provide a much-needed springboard for building the critical voice and capacity of the country’s teachers, members of school management teams, and future education academics towards shaping education transformation in the country.

Inclusive education is traditionally focused on ways of integrating learners with differences into the mainstream classroom and requires teachers to adapt their teaching style and resources to ensure that all learners receive adequate support to function at a similar level. However, it is inherently part of the human condition that children will present with differences in learning styles, preferences, and abilities and thus teachers must be challenged to think more broadly about Inclusive Education as a means to maximise participation in education rather than just to minimise barriers to learning.

A truly inclusive learning approach acknowledges and respects that learners bring diversity into the classroom and seeks to foster potential and flourishing of each individual.

However, socio-economic conditions that prevail in many communities also play a significant role in influencing learning styles and abilities: children come to school hungry, with high anxiety due to the prevalence of community violence, or lack of parent support and involvement.

Access to quality learning is also hampered by poor infrastructure, over-crowded classrooms, an inflexible curriculum and ineffective school management encumbered by inadequate policies.

These factors make the issue of diversity and inclusivity in education a complex one.

The current challenges brought to light during lockdown and subsequent phasing-in approach to the re-opening of schools around the country have further highlighted the massive inequalities in the education system and what teachers are challenged with daily in the classroom.

It is also evident that schools are not just places for fostering academic achievement but essential in developing children holistically through health and nutrition programmes and psycho-social support. Relevant and contextual inclusive education training therefore is needed to consolidate and deepen teachers’ critical understanding and application of inclusive practice and policy in the context of the current local landscape.

All undergraduate education degrees in South Africa are required to engage students with the theoretical foundations and principles of inclusive education, however, it is up to the institutions themselves to map out how this topic is included in the curriculum. Some have designed specialised short courses or modules, while others choose to integrate the topic into the general education module.

However, beyond the initial four-year degree only a handful of public universities offer this specialisation at postgraduate level, and in the burgeoning arena of privately-funded higher education in the country STADIO’S School of Education is proud to be offering this specialisation as an Honours level.

The programme is aimed at examining inclusive education holistically from a social capabilities and systems perspective, encouraging students to re-construct education as an anti-discriminatory and non-exclusionary approach.

It is evident that inclusivity in education must move beyond the realm of inclusive education practitioners, educational psychologists, or remedial therapists to focus on promoting research and good practice at all domains of early childhood, basic and higher education. It is up to teachers and education graduates to re-define what inclusive practice, pedagogy, and policy should look like in the South African context, as well the broader field of transformative education.

As such, postgraduate degree programmes in education should also be designed to be inclusive, taking into account the many barriers that prevent practicing teachers and graduates from furthering their education at higher education institutions.

In line with current realities and the need to develop teachers who are technologically competent, the BEdHons (Inclusive Education) is delivered through the institution’s Flexible Hybrid Learning Environment (FHLE) model, which makes it possible for students anywhere around the country to further their studies part-time.

Study material is made available online through structured weekly “learning events”, which consist of presentations, readings, podcasts, discussion forums and webinars.

Unlike outdated higher education distance learning where students are mostly left to their own devices to work through the study packs and then required to submit assignments never having engage with their lecturer or peers, at STADIO’s School of Education students can conveniently access the relevant materials through their laptops or smart phones according to their work-home schedules while not losing out on opportunities to regularly engage in critical discussions with lecturers and fellow students.

The research-driven programme opens the door for developing education scholarship and engagement that seeks to widen current definitions within inclusive education for analysing inclusive classroom practices, examining the role of pedagogy and curriculum in fostering inclusive cultures, and evaluating whether current policies serve to inhibit or promote inclusivity in local and international education systems.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr Avivit Cherrington is a senior lecturer at STADIO Faculty of Education and Humanities’ School of Education (formerly known as Embury), and is the programme coordinator for the Bachelor of Education Honours in Inclusive Education [BEdHons (Inclusive Education)]. She is a Research Associate at Nelson Mandela University, Faculty of Education specialising in research on community well-being and transformative social change, and is the Chairperson of the Community and Social Psychology Division of the Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA).

Kholosa Biyana: South African Football Queen Who Is Also Book-smart

Charles Molele
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Kholosa Biyana: South African Football Queen Who Is Also Book-smart

Three-time World University Games participant Kholosa Biyana has made enormous strides in her career so far, including having gone to a FIFA Women’s World Cup.

However, it is her continued resilience in studies that has made her dual career prospects possible.

Biyana, who was born in Eastern Cape has been playing soccer from the tender age of eight. She tells a heartfelt story of sacrifice from her father in particular.

“My dad was my support system, he would drive me to practice every day and he would have to drive back home an hour away, as I was in boarding school and they would not allow me to leave the premises alone,” says the grateful Biyana.

It is for this reason that her father remains one of her biggest inspirations.

Another value that was instilled by her parents was the importance of education and being able to have a dual career.

“Education is very important. I know I love football and I know I can make a living out of it but things are different in South Africa, as we do not have a professional league here.”

“I know there will come a stage when I won’t be able to play professional football,” she says. “I need to have something to fall back on. Injuries occur sometimes and I should be ready if something like that happens. Not only will education help me in the future, but I can also apply the knowledge I gain while playing soccer; aspects such as injury prevention, rehabilitation, sport psychology among others.”

Due to university sports in South Africa being cancelled for the reminder of the year, Biyana has used the lockdown to focus on her studies.

“I am doing my Honors degree in Biokinetics. It is very challenging but I have this time now, without football. We have been doing online learning from the second week of lockdown in April. They (university) have been giving us a lot of tests, assignments and presentations, and I will be writing exams soon.”

“Sometimes, I feel like quitting but I have one goal; to finish this year even if it means crawling to the finish line,” said the Honors degree prospect.

Biyana has participated in not one but three World University Games, consecutively from 2015 to 2019. Biyana cites the 2017 campaign in Taipei as one of her team’s best as they finished fourth overall, after she scored the only goal to send them to the semi-finals.

“It was a great experience because we all had the same goal,” she reminisces. “When we came back from those games, I think 7 of us got a national team call up which was great for USSA football.”

The impact University Sport South Africa has had on Biyana’s football career has been immense. She says, “Through education, you can achieve your goals. USSA is doing a great job because that is where most players get exposure. Some of the players are now in the Premier Soccer League and others in the Glad African Championship. Student-athletes must start taking advantage of the platform given to them.”

Biyana, who is a qualified diagnostic radiographer, also shared some words of wisdom with other student-athletes: “Our journeys are different, we won’t all play at the World University Games. Not everyone will represent their country at national level. Education is the best thing you can fall back on if things don’t work out the way you want them to. Let’s get that qualification!”

Biyana tells FISU about her experience at the FIFA Women’s World Cup last year: “I never thought I would get to that stage but eventually I did. I have learnt a lot from it, from playing against the best players in the world. It is an experience that no one can take away from me.”

She adds that representing South Africa is an honour. “There are thousands of soccer players in the country, they could be playing but in that particular time it was me, grabbing the opportunity and making sure I gave it my best when the opportunity came is the most important thing.”

Some of Biyana’s goals include playing in a top professional league, AFCON tournaments, an Olympics and another World Cup. And of course, finishing her degree!

(Source: University Sport South Africa)

Science & Technology: How STEM Professionals Are Making A Difference

Charles Molele
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Science & Technology: How STEM Professionals Are Making A Difference

ON THE June 28th episode of High-Tech Sunday, Dr. Mark Vaughn, manager, Technical Talent Pipelining for Corning Incorporated’s Technology Community and the lead for the Technology Community Office of STEM, sat down with the 2019 Women of Color Technologist of the Year.

Dr. Pamela McCauley is the first academic who was selected for that honor. She talks about how she’s able to bridge the gap between people who work in STEM in industry and those in academia.

Dr. Mark Vaughn: It’s always interesting to hear about a person’s journey. Those of us who are part of the Career Communications Group family, with Black Engineer of the Year and Women of Color, know that you are a somewhat of a fixture on the national scene. But, how is it that you got started in the area of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in the first place?

Dr. Pamela McCauley: When I was a little girl, we would visit my grandmother in Oklahoma City in the country. And we would always, in the summertime. beg to sleep outside on the patio on the roll-away bed. And that’s when I would look up and gaze at the stars. I absolutely fell in love with the constellations and wanted to know what stars were made of and that really began my love for science.

And then of course, my father always made sure we took math. So we had to take math courses every year, whether we needed them or not. I enjoyed math as well. So, I think I had the foundation to be comfortable with a STEM major early on. My father told me that I was smart so I should become a doctor. So I started out as premed. While I loved science and studying the human body, I realized pretty quickly that I didn’t like the sight of blood. And it probably wouldn’t be a good idea for me to study medicine.

How she got into industrial engineering

“So I went to the library and learned about other disciplines. This is the time when you actually had to go to a library. You had to go up steps, open doors, and pull out card catalogs. So, I went to the library and I learned about industrial engineering. And it said there’s an area within industrial engineering called bio mechanics. That looked at the study of people in the workplace or the study of the human body’s movement. I saw then that I could use my interest in the human body in engineering. That’s when I switched to industrial engineering.”

What is it that you are focused on in your research as it pertains to bio mechanics these days?

“In some of the recent research that I did, I’ve studied the bio mechanics of body-worn camera for law enforcement officers. Of course, that’s something that’s very timely as we think about what’s going on today. A lot of times, people don’t think about the science that has to go into some of these decisions. That is if they are made well. The reason that I got involved was because at my former institution, the University of Central Florida in Orlando, the Orange County sheriff’s office was considering implementing body worn cameras. So they wanted to have a study done to look at the different types of body-worn cameras as they were making these decisions.

“We all know the tremendous advantages of body-worn cameras. For example, one of the primary reasons they are used is because they include officers facing. But they also increase evidence quality, and then they reduce the number of civilian complaints. Also they reduce an agency’s liability because they you do have actual footage. Because if you have five people seeing the same thing, you’re probably going to have five different stories told. But if you have that camera there, that provides some additional assurance.

“I was really excited to do that study and I had officers in my ergonomics class. So we were actually having them do many of their maneuvers that they would do, such as running and jumping off a treadmill as if they were going to apprehend someone as they would do. Then we’ll evaluate how the body worn camera could stay in position and still collect the kind of information that was needed. That, I felt was a real contribution, and some of the things I loved to do in research that is going to be easily translatable so that it could make a difference.”

(Source: The Black Engineer)

13 South African Universities Feature In The World’s Top 2000 Higher Learning Institutions

Charles Molele
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13 South African Universities Feature In The World’s Top 2000 Higher Learning Institutions

THE universities of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and Johannesburg (UJ) are among the top 2 000 universities that made the cut in this year’s Center World University Rankings (CWUR).

This year, Wits was ranked second in South Africa and 275th internationally while UJ was seventh nationally and 706th in the world. In total, 13 South African universities attained a spot on the final league table where 20 000 higher education institutions were evaluated.

CWUR is a leading consulting organisation providing policy advice, strategic insights, and consulting services to governments and universities to improve educational and research outcomes. The organisation grades universities on seven factors to compile their annual list of the world’s top universities.

These include the quality of education, quality of academic faculty staff, alumni employment, and overall research performance. They believe that they are known objectivity, transparency, and consistency and are trusted by students, academics, university administrators, and governments from around the world.

The University of Cape Town was ranked as the top university in the country and 268th globally.

Stellenbosch University (third nationally and 429th globally), the University of KwaZulu-Natal (fourth nationally and 429th globally) and University of Pretoria (fifth nationally and 578th globally wrapped up the top five South African universities.

UJ has been able to gradually climb nearly 250 places over just three years to its current global ranking of 706. This year they improved from last year’s standing by 55 places. Vice-chancellor and principal of UJ, Professor Tshilidzi Marwala said, “We are thrilled with this global endorsement that recognises our endeavours towards global excellence and stature, in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

“The rankings also reaffirm our stature as an international university of choice, anchored in Africa and dynamically shaping the future.” Globally, the top five universities rankings haven’t changed from last year’s list. Harvard University in the United States of America was ranked as the best university on earth for the ninth year in a row.

American universities Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University round up the top the three while the United Kingdom’s University of Cambridge and University of Oxford came fourth and fifth respectively.

The University of Johannesburg’s vice-chancellor and principal, Professor Tshilidzi Marwala has celebrated the university’s inclusion in the top 2 000 universities globally in this year’s rankings.

(Compiled by NorthCliffMelville Times)

Princeton To Remove President Woodrow Wilson’s Name From Public Policy School

Charles Molele
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Princeton To Remove President Woodrow Wilson’s Name From Public Policy School

PRINCETON University will remove Woodrow Wilson’s name from its public policy school over “racist thinking and policies” the former president had championed, the university says.

The university’s Board of Trustees approved the name change on Friday. In a letter, trustees said long-standing questions over Wilson’s history of supporting segregationist policies were “made more urgent” by the recent high-profile killings of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks.

Trustees noted that Wilson infamously segregated the nation’s civil service after decades of racial integration. That legacy, trustees concluded, was not befitting a school geared toward public service.

“We have taken this extraordinary step because we believe that Wilson’s racist thinking and policies make him an inappropriate namesake for a school whose scholars, students, and alumni must be firmly committed to combatting the scourge of racism in all its forms,” the board said.

The school will be renamed the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and the residential Woodrow Wilson College will be renamed First College, Princeton said.

Wilson had a long history with Princeton. He obtained his undergraduate degree from the university in 1879 and returned in 1890 as a professor, teaching for 12 years before becoming the university’s president in 1902.

Princeton appended Wilson’s name to the School of Public and International Affairs in 1948 when it added a graduate program. In addition to the public policy school and residential college, a prestigious alumni award also bears Wilson’s name.

Trustees say Wilson’s name will remain on the alumni award however, because it was endowed by a gift that came with a “legal obligation to name the prize for Wilson.”

Alongside the veneration have also been concerns by students over Wilson’s prominence on campus. In 2015, students protested, occupying the president’s office. In response, the trustees assembled a special committee to review concerns over Wilson’s legacy and provide recommendations.

The committee recommended that the school keep the 28th president’s name on both schools, even as it acknowledged that “Wilson indisputably opposed the idea of admitting black students to the Princeton of his time.”

But as anti-racist protests surged across the nation, the celebration of Wilson’s legacy at Princeton was one more longstanding debate to re-enter the spotlight.

Students of the public policy school recently sent a letter, dated June 22, demanding, among other things, a name change.

“If Princeton saw fit to change the name of the School of Public and International Affairs in 1948 to reflect the politics of the mid-century United States, then it is time to change the name once again, over sixty years later, to reflect the morals and principles of our institutional identity in 2020,” the letter read.

(Compiled by NPR)

Willowmoore High School Principal, Lorna Sanders, Is Our Teacher Of The Week

Charles Molele
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Willowmoore High School Principal, Lorna Sanders, Is Our Teacher Of The Week

CLASSROOM CORNER

Teacher of the Week

Teacher: Lorna Sanders

School: Willowmoore High School, Benoni, Gauteng

VETERAN educator Lorna Sanders remembers that all she ever wanted to be was a mathematics teacher.

A school principal at the Willowmoore High School in Benoni, Gauteng, Sanders was inspired by one of her mathematics educators who gave her the opportunity to assist her fellow students when he was busy with administration work.

Working with staff members and getting them to be excited about their teaching and their own learning is a great challenge for her.

However, she is able to get the staff to be a professional body.

She encourages her staff to get involved in up-skilling themselves using the latest trends in technology and in education.

She takes up challenges to try new methods in the classroom, attend conferences and networks.

In the same time she receives a lot of support from a very good team of staff who allow her to introduce new ideas.

She also ensures that her learners are involved in many activities and she will always go out of her to see that the learners receive the recognition that they deserve.

She also works closely with members of the community, School Governing Bodies (SGB) and the Education department.

She believes that no one will ever take away the empowerment that she has acquired by participating in the National Teachers Awards (NTA) from the district level to national level.

She will continue to continue the work that she is doing as it is a passion.

Sanders want everyone to be curious about the world and be excited about learning one small thing each day.

She would like to spend time up-skilling fellow educators in the use of technology in their classrooms as she is passionate about the way technology can assist educators without replacing educators.

She is determined to make learners aware of their surroundings and to become valuable members of society.

“I want the country to benefit from the learners that I am able to assist.”

(Compiled by Inside Education staff)

Maths teachers in South Africa: case study shows what’s missing

Charles Molele
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Maths teachers in South Africa: case study shows what’s missing

SOUTH African students are bad at maths compared to other countries. This is clear from results of South African learners in the International Mathematics and Science Study. The results show that South Africa’s performance is far from competitive in relation to other countries.

To try and understand the reasons for this poor performance, I did a qualitative case study focusing on a year-long post graduate course taken by aspiring teachers. I focused particularly on a Post Graduate Certificate in Education with a maths focus offered by one of the country’s university of technologies.

I looked at three key themes – the curriculum and its delivery, partnerships during delivery and policy influencing delivery. My research findings show that the success of the Post Graduate Certificate in Education in preparing maths teachers is not without concern and its delivery, in the case study context, needs rethinking.

My findings underscore earlier research that has suggested that a shortage of competent and confident qualified mathematics teachers is a key contributing factor to the low maths performance of South African school children.

Constraints

The one-year Post Graduate Certificate in Education offered at South African universities is a key qualification for aspiring teachers. This is taken after completing a diploma or degree in other fields such as engineering, business and hospitality. It offers an opportunity to university graduates to become a professionally qualified teacher in one-year instead of pursuing a career in industry.

My research highlights the constraints identified by students and lecturers of the post graduate certificate programme, in particular as it relates to the teaching of maths.

The first constraint I identified involved inadequate support structures as well as information, communication and technology infrastructure to meaningfully support the ever-increasing numbers of students taking up the course. The numbers have grown exponentially – from 10 in 1994 to 100 in 2014 and then 207 in 2015. In short, the university has been expected to do more with less.

The second constraint I identified was a potential over reliance on using Bachelors in Education content designed to be delivered over four years. This was evident from the statements from lecturers clarifying how they identify and select content to present during lectures.

This is a constraint as the four year Bachelors in Education content is not always suitable for the Post Graduate Certificate in Education context. This indicates a need to develop context specific content to make the best of the one-year post graduate certificate.

The third constraint was a limited partnership to develop professional learning communities. These should ideally involve lecturers and students, university representatives evaluating students during compulsory classroom teaching periods and the teachers in schools hosting students.

The main reason for this constraint appeared to be that most lecturers were part-time as the course was offered in the afternoon or evening. This meant that lecturers and students had limited time to engage. This affected the outcomes and the quality of the course.

Another outcome from the lack of engagement between the part-time lecturers was that lecturers duplicated content offered in other programme modules. Students and graduates noted this as one of their main concerns. Unnecessary duplication is a major problem because the post graduate certificate programme has a limited time-frame of just one year.

The fourth and final constraint was a lack of oversight over university policy stipulations linked to the delivery and assessment of the post graduate qualification.

For example, university policy stipulates that an assessment plan, programme and calendar must be provided to students. Such a document wasn’t provided to students as noted during interviews. Policy also stipulates that students must re-do practical teaching if they miss more than five days during the study period. One student noted that he was absent for a whole week during this period and no one noticed. He was awarded a pass for practical teaching.

My research found that lecturers didn’t follow all the university’s policies. This suggested that they weren’t being monitored by the relevant authorities. This lack of oversight by the university is clearly a major problem.

Next steps

I conclude from my findings that, to become confident and competent maths teachers, graduates who have passed the Post Graduate Certificate in Education need further development and support. If this isn’t provided, South Africa is unlikely to see an improvement in the performance of its school children.

Jacques Verster: Doctoral candidate Centre for International Teacher Education, Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

W&M Professor Explores Blackface Minstrelsy In America And Abroad In New Book

Charles Molele
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W&M Professor Explores Blackface Minstrelsy In America And Abroad In New Book

NATHAN WARTERS

BLACKFACE, dark makeup worn by a performer in a caricature of the appearance of a Black person, is now widely considered unacceptable in mainstream American culture — but that wasn’t always the case. 

William & Mary professor Chinua Thelwell explores its history in the United States and abroad in his new book “Exporting Jim Crow: Blackface Minstrelsy in South Africa and Beyond.” 

The topic is in the news again recently, as companies review branding that stems from minstrelsy for product lines such as Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben’s. 

“Blackface minstrel shows portrayed enslaved Black people as happy and content,” Thelwell said. “Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben’s products sell a similar patronizing fantasy of smiling Black servant characters. Such products traffic nostalgia for American slavery and do not reflect the values of multi-racial democracy. These products should have been renamed or removed years ago.” 

Thelwell and his family have fought against American racism and Jim Crow segregation for generations, and it helped guide Thelwell down a career path that led him to William & Mary as an associate professor of Africana studies and history. 

He is also one of the founding faculty members of the university’s new Asian & Pacific Islander American Studies program. 

“I have dedicated my professional career to the struggle for multi-racial democracy,” Thelwell said. “I’m proud to be part of an intergenerational movement for racial equality in the United States and abroad.” 

That struggle was communicated in the recent PBS documentary series, “Asian Americans,” which included accounts of Thelwell’s grandfather and other relatives being banished to Japanese internment camps during World War II despite being American citizens.

That PBS would choose to tell his family’s story filled Thelwell with immense pride, but the painful details gave him feelings of sorrow and vulnerability. 

“In many ways, the story of Japanese internment is a story of intergenerational trauma,” Thelwell said. “For my family, the trauma has become very public because of this documentary. Still, I’m proud because the documentary tells a story about the intergenerational activism of a Japanese American family.” 

Thelwell spoke to W&M News recently about his book. 

When did you decide to study blackface minstrelsy and why?

Blackface minstrelsy is a racist genre of performance that began in the United States and was exported abroad. I first became interested in this topic when taking a history class as an undergraduate student. I learned that Commodore Matthew Perry, the United States naval officer who used gunboat diplomacy to force Japan into a trading agreement in 1853, brought blackface minstrelsy to Japan. Some of his crew members were amateur performers and they presented a blackface minstrel show during their stay. This history immediately resonated with me because I had always wondered about how these kinds of racist images got to Japan. I also thought to myself: “Where else did these minstrel troupes go?” Later, in graduate school, I learned that South Africa has an interesting and relatively understudied history regarding blackface minstrelsy. 

What can we learn from your book?

My book is about America’s cultural imprint on the world. I have had opportunities to travel to countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America and the Caribbean and have always been fascinated by the large amount of American music that is played on the radio. Popular music is one of the most enduring cultural exports of the United States. My book demonstrates that this tradition of exporting American popular music to the world began with the blackface minstrel shows of the 1830s and 40s. Indeed, racist minstrel shows are part of America’s cultural legacy in the international arena. 

We Americans need to acknowledge this history. Racist images and ideas that began in our country influenced the ways in which people thought about race in other countries. As such, those of us who are interested in advancing anti-racist perspectives must be ready to move beyond the boundaries of the United States. In short, we have to do more to challenge racism in the United States and abroad. 

What is new?

“Exporting Jim Crow”provides an introduction to blackface minstrelsy in the global arena. There are other scholarly sources on this topic. However, the book covers more cities and countries than any other source. In order to describe how blackface minstrel shows got to South Africa, I use primary and secondary sources to trace the transatlantic and transpacific touring circuits of the mid-19thcentury. These circuits linked San Francisco and New York to Honolulu, Melbourne, Sydney, Calcutta, Bombay, Durban, Cape Town and London among several other urban centers. “Exporting Jim Crow”is the most expansive study on transnational blackface, covering more locations than any other work of scholarship. 

What progress do you think America has made in condemning blackface in mainstream culture?

Regarding traditional blackface imagery, there has been much progress. Before the 1960s, blackface imagery appeared in many Hollywood movies and cartoons. However, during the 1960s, civil rights movement activists lobbied against blackface in mainstream media forums. By the late 1960s, traditional blackface imagery became taboo in mainstream media in the United States. Today, in rare moments when blackface shows up on mainstream TV shows or movies in the United States, it has to be a self-aware commentary on blackface to be considered acceptable. Rather than ridiculing Black people, as it did in the past, self-aware blackface today is often used to make jokes about people who foolishly decide to put on blackface. 

Is America influencing other countries in the effort to eliminate these racist behaviors and images?

Yes, most definitely. Many American citizens understand the ugly history of blackface minstrel shows. And when we see these images in other countries, we can speak out. High-speed internet has really changed the global public discussion regarding blackface. Blackface images can travel across national borders even more quickly today than they did in the past. At the same time, anti-blackface critique also circulates more quickly. When people in other countries put on blackface, they are more likely to face immediate international criticism.

(Source: William & Mary University)

What’s The Future Of Online Higher Education In Africa?

Charles Molele
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What’s The Future Of Online Higher Education In Africa?

AT ONE point during the global Covid-19 pandemic, 1.6 billion young people in 161 countries were out of school – close to 80% of the world’s enrolled students. This has spurred a significant surge in using technology to deliver education – with mixed results for students.

Many establishments were ill-prepared for the changes needed to make learning online a good experience for students. The question now is whether the Covid-19 crisis will result in a more permanent shift to online education delivery, and can this be sustained in Africa?

Africa has the world’s fastest-growing youth population. Yet, there is a stark undersupply of quality, affordable higher education across the continent. Current tertiary enrolment rates across Africa stand at roughly 8% – well below the global average of 32%.

Four years ago, CDC invested in UNICAF, Africa’s largest online university. This was underpinned by the belief that online education has the potential to increase access to higher education by making it cheaper, more flexible and more relevant and therefore opening up opportunities for higher education for a wider set of students.

As of May 2020, UNICAF has offered bachelor, master’s and PhD degrees to almost 30,000 students across every country in Africa through either a fully online or a blended learning format from its campuses in Malawi and Zambia. Students can get affordable degrees accredited from globally recognised British, American, European, and African universities.

Last year, we set out to evidence the impact that UNICAF has on its student base. Results of surveys with over 1,000 students are outlined in our insight study ‘What’s the impact of online higher education in Africa?’

We found that overall, UNICAF fulfils its promise to provide a more affordable and flexible higher education. Its degree programmes are explicitly designed to allow people to keep working while studying. A large part of UNICAF’s student base is therefore made up of older students (aged between 25 and 39) returning to education. Of the students surveyed, 86% worked while studying. UNICAF students pay $4,000 on average for a postgraduate degree, in small monthly payments. This is significantly cheaper than any standard postgraduate degree available in most countries, particularly Nigeria and Kenya. Student satisfaction is high.

Critical to improving access to online higher education in Africa is the need to improve connectivity across the continent. A stable internet connection remains difficult to access for the majority of Africans, especially those living outside the hubs of Nairobi, Lagos or Johannesburg. Additionally, many Africans leave secondary education without the necessary digital skills to take advantage of online programmes. Connectivity is low in most countries and data prices across Africa are amongst the highest in the world. Across Africa only 18% of households had access to the internet in 2019. The majority of Africans use the internet on their mobile, and whilst cost is still prohibitively high for many, phones and data bundles are getting cheaper year on year.

Overall, trends are pointing in the right direction and we predict that online and blended higher education will grow significantly over the next decade. To accelerate this even further, we propose the following solutions:

  • Joint efforts between governments and connectivity providers are needed to address a lack of connectivity. CDC investee company, Liquid Telecom, for example, is working with local governments and has already connected over 6,000 schools and higher education institutions to broadband and is working to improve digital skills of ICT teachers in secondary schools.
  • Edtech companies in Africa should embrace cutting-edge thinking to deliver learning more efficiently and effectively. Many developments in technology and changes in the global approach to teaching are not yet used at scale in Africa. This includes: collaborative and project-based learning, mobile-friendly learning platforms, adaptive and personalised learning, improved automated assessment methodologies and technologies.
  • Online education companies should continue to engage with the continent’s forward-thinking employers and integrate 21st century skills into their offering. If the learning experience as well as the learning goals are transparent and attractive to employers, it’s easier for them to support their workforce to engage in continued learning (full-time or part-time). Companies such as Liquid Telecom (together with Microsoft), ALX and Andela have significantly pushed the agenda around learning job-relevant tech skills.
  • Partnerships between public universities and edtech companies can help to accelerate adoption of online teaching. There is a need for African universities (public and private) to develop online offerings. UNICAF’s recent partnerships in Zimbabwe and Rwanda underline its commitment to helping take public institutions online.
  • Innovative financing solutions to bridge the affordability gap must increase. Student loans, and, in particular income share agreements, will be an important part of education take-up in Africa, whether for new or existing universities. Innovative financing will further require collaboration between public regulators and private companies.

Ultimately, what matters most is the impact that further education has on a student’s life and career. In general, this is hard to measure. Establishing a robust methodology for measuring impact on a student’s career, and following through on data capture, is therefore critical. Last year, CDC published an Education Impact Framework, to stimulate debate in this area.

Even before COVID-19, there was already high growth and adoption in education technology, with global edtech investments reaching $18.66 billion in 2019 and the overall market for online education projected to reach $350 billion by 2025. We see significant opportunity to boost online education in Africa and help increase access to higher education.

(Source: How We Made It In Africa)

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