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This paper responds to a question posed by [Shay, Suellen. 2012. "Educational Development as a Field: Are We There Yet?" "Higher Education Research and Development" 31 (3): 311-323. doii:10.1080/07294360.2011.631520] about the status of knowledge building in the field of Educational Development. In her paper, Shay critiques knowledge produced in the field arguing that it is 'codified practice' [Gamble, Jeanne. 2001. "Modelling the Invisible: The Pedagogy of Craft Apprenticeship." "Studies in Continuing Education" 23 (2): 185-200. doii:10.1080/01580370120101957; Gamble, Jeanne. 2004. "Retrieving the General from the Particular: The Structure of Craft Knowledge." In "Reading Bernstein, Researching Bernstein," edited by J. Muller, B. Davies, and A. Morais, 189-203. Abingdon: Routledge; Gamble, Jeanne. 2006. "Theory and Practice in the Vocational Curriculum." In "Knowledge, Curriculum and Qualifications in South African Further Education," edited by M. Young and J. Gamble, 87-103. Pretoria: HSRC Press] rather than applied theory which could succeed in reconceptualising problems rather than simply trying to address them. This paper draws on a review of research produced in the field in recent years in South Africa to argue that, although some work does result in the reconceptualision of problems the higher education, it is limited in that (1) it has been produced by a relatively small group of practitioners located at a few universities and (2) draws on theory developed in the Global North. The paper then proceeds to offer some tentative suggestions for the way future work aimed at knowledge building could proceed.

This article draws on a long term ethnographic study which explored the way the home based practices experienced by children in a marginalised community in a large South African city, Port Elizabeth, prepared them for, and supported them in, schooling. The study was informed by the field known as 'New Literacy Studies' and which draws extensively on the likes of Heath (1983) and Street (1984). It acknowledges that individuals have the power to exercise agency in the context of structural and cultural constraints but shows how, in this particular community, poverty and geography and the educational backgrounds of caregivers impacted on their best efforts to contribute to their children's development.

This paper reports on the use of a framework developed from Bhaskar's critical realism and Archer's social realism to analyse teaching- and learning-related data produced as a result of the first cycle of institutional audits in the South African higher education system. The use of the framework allows us to see what this cycle of audits did achieve, namely some change in structural systems related to teaching and learning alongside the appointment of key agents. It also allows us to see how the stagnation of sets of ideas about teaching and learning in the domain of culture may mean that an assurance of the quality of learning experiences for all students remained elusive.

The push for global rankings and the possibility of attaining funding mean that participation in international projects is prized. Although international projects can bring enormous benefits, they can also exhibit 'social dynamics' (Bradley, 2008) that impact equality of participation. In the case of Global North-Global South partnerships, these social dynamics are often shaped by legacies of colonialism. For South African partners, they can also be shaped by history and the way it continues to impact on the institutional landscape. This paper draws on one project, involving six South African and six European universities, to explore the way these dynamics played out. Archer's (1995, 1996, 2000) social realism is used to analyse the dynamics of the project and, more specifically, the way different project partners' ability to exercise their agency was shaped by the social and cultural conditions in the global and national arena as well as within the project itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the use of a framework developed from Bhaskar's critical realism and Archer's social realism to analyse teaching- and learning-related data produced as a result of the first cycle of institutional audits in the South African higher education system. The use of the framework allows us to see what this cycle of audits did achieve, namely some change in structural systems related to teaching and learning alongside the appointment of key agents. It also allows us to see how the stagnation of sets of ideas about teaching and learning in the domain of culture may mean that an assurance of the quality of learning experiences for all students remained elusive. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Research-intensive universities, such as the Russell Group in the UK, the Ivy League Colleges in the USA and the Sandstone Universities in Australia, enjoy particular status in the higher education landscape. They are, however, also often associated with social elitism and selectivity, and this has led to critique as higher education systems seek to widen access. This article looks at how academic staff are discursively constructed in five such institutions in South Africa through an analysis of documentation submitted as part of a national review. Three interrelated discourses are identified: a discourse of ‘staff as scholars’ whereby research is privileged over teaching, a discourse of ‘academic argumentation’ whereby a critical disposition is valued and is called upon by academics to resist development initiatives and a discourse of ‘trust’ whereby it is assumed that academics share a value system and should thus be trusted to undertake quality teaching without interference. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]