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This qualitative case study set out to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the educational practice of academics, using this moment as a new perspective to illuminate broader, enduring issues such as how will approaches to university education that have emerged in response to the pandemic lead to lasting changes? What is the likely impact of these changes on the dominant forms of university education that we will see in the future? Findings reveal a transition from panicgogy to the pedagogy of compassion. There appeared to be a shift to an interest in human suffering and social justice. An ethic of care and pedagogy of compassion seemed to foreground the practice of many academics, which moved education beyond the curriculum and educational strategies to cultivate social capital and equal life chances for all. These insights hold valuable implications for changes in the dominant forms of university education in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilising a qualitative case study, we set out to investigate how learners at Hope Saturday School evoked the principles of ubuntu/humanity as they collaborated during project-based learning. The article is part of a broader study in which a mix of semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, observations, document analysis and field notes were used to capture data. The learner participants were Black, and almost all of them resided in informal settlements, townships, and farming communities. Data were analysed using content analysis. The philosophy of ubuntu was used to underpin this study. The finding of this study shows that values like interdependence, sharing, caring, teamwork, solidarity, unity and helping one another were evoked as learners collaborated in project-based learning. The article concludes that a supportive environment that aids the development of ubuntu values can improve learning experiences of underperforming learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores South African academics' responses to the call for decolonisation of education through a qualitative case study using social constructivism and narrative inquiry. The data included a mix of qualitative survey responses and semi-structured interviews, analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Findings were threefold; first, academics should "turn away" from the "lip service model" of decolonisation of education and "turn towards" deep and lasting change. Second, academics should "turn away" from challenges and "turn towards" opportunities offered by decolonisation of education. Third, academics should "turn towards" becoming transformative intellectuals and agents of change if they want to "turn the tide." Knowledge in the blood may not be "easily changed," but the disruption of the authority of received knowledge is possible through the transfusion of new knowledge. The findings suggest that universities should develop professional development courses that are focussed on how to effectively decolonise education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An earlier paper focused on how born-free learners constitute, negotiate and represent their identities after almost two and half decades of democracy in South Africa. Utilising the theoretical framework of subjective realities of educational change, in this article I set out to explore what implications teachers' beliefs hold for born-free learners, and how teachers' beliefs can be changed or adapted to initiate appropriate educational change. The focus of this article is on the beliefs of teachers and how the change thereof can contribute to educational change, based on how learners perceive their identities. The epistemological lens of social constructivism and the research strategy of narrative inquiry was used. Fifty-eight born-free learners across 6 research sites participated in this study. Semi-structured interviews and field notes comprised the data capture, which were analysed using the qualitative content analysis method. Findings reveal that shifting and diverse selfidentifications of born-free learners hold fundamental and crucial implications that reside at the heart of educational change, namely a change in teachers' beliefs and in teachers' practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an account of how contested spaces: shared places have played out in the South African education context by tracing how the historical, political, social and educational contexts of South Africa created and determined shared places. The article draws on findings from a range of research projects that I conducted over the past 15 years and that utilised the meta-theoretical framework of social constructivism and the methodological framework of qualitative case studies, narrative inquiry and portraiture. Findings from this collection of research studies reveal that the creation and evolution of shared spaces though activated by political, social and educational policy intent that was good and at times exceptional, 'knowledge in the blood' coupled with a passion for power witnessed policy in action transform these shared spaces into largely contested spaces. Intriguingly, within these spaces sparks of 'goodness' emerged that hold promise for a brighter future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the theoretical framework of pedagogy of compassion and single embedded case study methodology, this article explores how a teacher negotiates the contours of migration and social transformation to promote education for global citizenship. The research site was a former white school in South Africa. The research sample was a female Indian teacher and Grade 7 students. Data collection comprised a mix of semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, observations, and field notes, and occurred over a period of three weeks in 2018. Data were analyzed by means of the content analysis method. Findings reveal that the teacher anticipated and fulfilled requirements not only to raise the critical consciousness of students but also to espouse an "epistemology of compassion" and implement a "pedagogy of compassion." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study set out to explore how Black immigrant academics (BIAs) reconstruct their identities within academe. Utilising the research methodology of narrative inquiry, this article explores how BIAs came to see themselves across those communities, which were of primary importance to them in the reformation of their identities. Through the construction of narratives of experience, their lived and told stories emphasised the diversity of their identities that were negotiated with others within personal, historical and situational contexts. The study of BIAs' lives from their perspective, in which they actively and socially develop their identities, not only provides a lens through which they can be understood as shifting constructions of identity but allows them to rethink who they are and have become and what influence power relations have in promoting or negating their sense of academic self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sets out to explore how academics can become agents of meaningful educational change and social cohesion, by implementing a Pedagogy of Compassion. The education triad comprises the teacher, the learner and the content (curriculum), which unfolds within historical, political, social and educational contexts. Changing one aspect of this triad – the curriculum- without due consideration to the others, will not effect the desired change. In the context of the university, the demographics of the learner has radically changed and a massive drive to decolonise the curriculum has been initiated, but little if any attention has been given to academics who deliver the curriculum. I argue that the Achilles' heel in the decolonisation of the curriculum project of South African universities is the academic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased multilingualism and mobility have witnessed an increased focus on multilingual immigrant learners. This study aims to help educators understand experiences of immigrant students in South Africa that relate to language and identity by comparing such experiences across three different school settings: an urban school with a high (Black) immigrant and indigenous population, a former Indian school, and a former White school. Drawing on semi-structured interviews from a larger case study, this study makes visible the immigrant learner experience in multilingual settings in which xenophobic conditions arise. The findings reveal similarities as well as differences in individual identity construction and negotiation and its vital connection to language. Furthermore, they illustrate ways in which these learners must navigate xenophobic trends, exclusive language pedagogies, and language loss. The implications of this study point to a call for policy, practice, and research to take into account multilingual immigrant learners as well as a need to attend to the social construction of identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study set out to explore how the resettlement of an African female immigrant academic in a new country and her repositioning in a foreign academic context influenced the reconstruction of her professional identity. A qualitative constructivist lens and a phenomenological case study approach was utilised. Data capture included a mix of semi-structured interviews, field notes, and a researcher journal and was analysed by means of the content analysis method. Findings revealed the use of language as an instrument of exclusion; and, the juxtaposition between a continental identity and rejection. This study recommends that induction programmes intended for sojourner academics at higher education institutions should be thoughtfully designed and that the complete journey of sojourner academics should be taken into consideration to ensure proper management thereof through appropriate policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilising a qualitative case study approach, this research study set out to understand discrimination experienced by immigrant students in their interactions with South African students and the prejudice immigrant students expressed against Black South African students. Findings reveal that the discrimination experienced by immigrant students could be clustered into four broad themes, namely categorisations and prototypes; practised stereotypes; academic and social exclusion; and work ethic. Furthermore, statements immigrant students make about South African students seem to fall into two broad categories, namely lack of value for moral integrity and lack of value for education. Educating students to value human dignity and to view each other as cosmopolitan citizens of the world could be a way to ensure social cohesion and harmony of future generations to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sets out to advance the concept of an 'epistemology of compassion' first proposed by Vandeyar (2013; 2016). Utilising a single embedded case study and the theoretical mooring of post-conflict pedagogy this paper attempts to find links between Jansen's perceptions of a post-conflict pedagogy and Freirean pedagogy and to argue a case for a 'pedagogy of compassion' as a possible approach to addressing and transforming education in post-apartheid South Africa. Data capture comprised a mix of semi-structured interviews, observations and field notes. Data was analysed by means of the content analysis method. Findings were threefold. First, the implementation of a 'pedagogy of compassion' enabled the teacher to dismantle polarised thinking and to shatter the polite silence of postapartheid South African society. Second, teachers not only need to be able to raise the critical consciousness of learners but they need to adopt an 'epistemology of compassion' in order to enable learners to become active critical citizens, imbued with a sense of common humanity and compassion. And third, becoming an agent of transformative change may challenge the very premise of teachers' identities and practices, but by empowering the learner to exert influence on her world, the teacher is in turn also changed and empowered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much research is available that details student experiences of immigration and adaptation to receiving countries and schools, but few studies analyze the metaphors used by immigrant students (IS) when talking about the immigration experience, or offer a comparative lens through which to view identity negotiation in two very different contexts. The present paper aims to address these gaps by conducting a comparative linguistic analysis of 20 interviews conducted with IS at universities in South Africa and the United States in order to gain a greater understanding of immigration and the types of identity negotiation processes learners undergo in these very different countries. Findings reveal interesting similarities between metaphorical conceptions of immigration across different cultural contexts and a remarkable resilience in the use of adaptation strategies and identity development that leads to salient pedagogical implications for teachers of higher education who face increasingly international classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this study was to explore difficulties and challenges that confront African immigrant teachers as they attempt to reconstruct their professional identities in South African schools. The study was qualitative in nature and utilized narrative inquiry and the case study approach. Data-gathering techniques included a mix of semi-structured interviews, observations, focus group interviews, field notes and researcher journals. Data were analysed using grounded theory and content analysis methods. Findings of the study revealed that immigration status, employment status, attitudes of indigenous learners and holding on to former culture or way of knowing due to lack of induction or mentoring, were impediments to the successful reconstruction of African immigrant teachers' professional identities in South African schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is framed within the global context of immigration and the resultant debates around citizenship, belonging, inclusion and exclusion. The task of schools as social institutions is to ‘integrate’ and ‘educate’ immigrant youth and as such they can be seen as the primary sites where the politics of belonging and struggles over belonging and citizenship are waged. Drawing on the conceptual framework of ‘youthscapes’ and the theoretical framework of critical race theory, this article engages with the contradictions inherent in schools and the manner in which the South African education system is implicated in constructing different ‘kinds’ of citizens and reproducing hierarchies of belonging, even in its efforts at inclusivity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Official policy in post-apartheid education is aimed at redressing linguistic inequity in schooling by promoting the 11 official languages of South Africa through mother tongue instruction. However, since the life chances of children are inextricably linked to the language of power, many parents believe that their children would benefit from instruction in English. Consequently, there has been an ever-increasing demand for English to be the language of instruction in schools. Utilising case studies of Grade 4 pupils at three desegregated schools, this research sought to determine whether Grade 4 learners, whose mother tongue is not English, would be able to express their conceptual mathematical understanding better when tested in English or in their mother tongue. The major finding was that although many non-first-language English speaking Grade 4 learners are challenged by having to acquire abstract subject knowledge through a non-mother tongue medium, they face an even greater challenge when tested in their mother tongue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognizing that teacher commitments are consequential for classroom practice, this study sets Out to determine the extent to which the ethos of South African schools has been transformed towards integration in the truest sense. Findings emanating from this research indicate that teachers do not enter their classrooms as blank slates' with respect to diversity questions; teachers respond differently to the challenge of school integration; and a few teachers went against the grain and responded to school integration in a way that holds immense promise for the South African schooling system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research study seeks to understand how a former Afrikaans medium school, named after a prominent president of the apartheid era and steeped within the proud traditions and customs of the Afrikaans culture, went against the grain to become a shining beacon of democracy in South Africa. Utilising the methodology of portraiture this research study draws attention to the outstanding qualities of this school, Equity High, studying excellence rather than pathology. Three major research findings emanated from this study: first, a transitory leader that is committed to humanistic principles and norms can effect positive educational change; second, if change attempts are to be successful, individuals and groups must find meaning concerning what should change as well as how to go about it; and third, a school climate that promotes cultural interconnectedness and cultural interdependency can foster a sense of belonging and a feeling at home for all students at school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The changes in post-apartheid South Africa have been accompanied by considerable changes in the education system. The most notable include desegregation of schools, development of a National Qualifications Framework, adoption of new language policies for education, and introduction of outcomes-based curricula. However entrenched assessment practices appear to be hampering the efforts to transform school education. An analysis of the assessment practices of three Grade 4 educators in multilingual classrooms revealed that the educators were unable or unwilling to adapt their assessment practices to the changing demands of South African school education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent educational reforms in South Africa have been framed by an outcomes-based education (OBE) policy. One of the assumptions underlying this nationally directed educational reform process is that teachers will be both willing and able to adapt their teaching and assessment practices accordingly. Yet, there is considerable evidence to suggest that this is not so ( Harley & Wedekind, 2004 ; Jansen, 2001 ; Jita, 2002 ; Sieborger & Nakabugo, 2001 ; Vandeyar & Killen, 2004a ). The change in educational policy has set new and more challenging demands on teachers, which are often in conflict with their beliefs and value systems. These conflicting demands are twofold in nature: a change in assessment policy and a change in learner target population. To explore this issue, this article examines data from a larger study that set out to investigate teacher assessment practices in multilingual classrooms in South African primary schools. This article is about the process of policy appropriation or misappropriation by agents mediating between policy and its actual practice on the classroom floor. In this case, the policy in question is OBE-related assessment policy. The mediators between policy and practice in the classroom are teachers. Using a conceptual framework that advocates an approach to educational changes that Proudford (1998 ) terms as “emancipatory” (p. 139), this article attempts to describe how teachers cope with conflicting demands on their assessment practices. The emancipatory approach is conceptualized in terms of three key dimensions: professional confidence, professional interpretation, and professional consciousness (Proudford). The findings of this study are twofold. First, teachers mediate the external pressures upon them through the “filter” of their own professional identities. Second, the process of assessment is not merely technical, but it is not merely social and personal either; it is both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]