The study aimed to conceptualise the key competencies for academic employees in the current dynamic South African higher education environment. Key competencies that enable these employees to perform and meet their work challenges in the dynamic environment they operate in need to be identified to ensure relevant talent and performance management…

Purpose: Scholarly studies on mentoring have mostly focused on traditional mentor-mentee relationships, with little or no emphasis on how institutionalized mentoring activities that include different pedagogical approaches could be used to enhance the professional development of academics. To address this knowledge gap, this article examines how…

Academic development is a mammoth undertaking that requires collective effort from all stakeholders, extending beyond academic developers alone. As early career academics, we explore our experiences of academic development within our community of practice. Through a collaborative self-study, we reveal how our community of practice has bolstered…

The question of whether academic development and higher education research can be considered fields is one of ongoing significance, centred on debates about knowledge-building. This study analyses the published outputs of a highly influential South African scholar, Suellen Shay, to identify the characteristic modes of knowledge generation that she…

This self-reflective study investigated lecturers' perspectives on and adaptability to co-teaching in teacher education in South Africa. The purpose of the study was to examine lecturers' personal experiences with collaborative co-teaching and to identify the changes that are required to make co-teaching effective. A sample of teacher education…

This study focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education teachers' perspectives on integrating indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) into a multidisciplinary STEM framework to promote sustainability. The aim is to understand how integrating the values, ethics and worldviews of the global community can contribute to a…

The public university in South Africa continues to propagate capitalist, competitive and neoliberal agendas that are inconsistent with agendas that could be considered to be of public good. These market-orientated logics and discourses have compromised teaching in the university because of increased casualisation of faculty as a result of cost…

Intercultural competence (IC) development has been highlighted in academia as an essential educational outcome for all constituents. Over the last few decades, extensive research has been conducted regarding both the components of IC and how it is developed. Yet research is scant on the experiences of international graduate students regarding…

Literature predominantly portrays Black women academics as individuals who usually lack a sense of belonging, unable to manage their workload and struggle with career progression in higher education. The oversaturation of this kind of literature can (over time) perpetuate a stereotypical idea that Black women academics are incapable of coping and…

The demand for relevant skills for the labor market constitutes one of the fundamental challenges facing the post-school system in South Africa. The South African government has therefore proposed a policy on professional development teacher education programs for Technical and Vocational Education and Training and the South African Department of…

The lack of women in leadership across higher education has been problematised in the literature. Often, contemporary discourses promote "fixing the women" as a solution. Consequently, interventions aimed at helping women break through "the glass ceiling" abound. We argue that the gendered power relations at play in…

The concept of digital and information communication technology (ICT) literacy is receiving renewed empirical attention. This focus is attributed to the changing nature of society and the move towards the ideals of the knowledge-based economy. Further, universities in South Africa and internationally are encouraging the fusion of technology in how…

Decolonisation aims at exposing the ills of colonialism in an attempt to undo their long-standing effects. Important criticism of curriculum decolonisation has focused on potential conflicts with academic freedom. However, this criticism has to some extent suffered from a perceived lack of agreement on the concept and status of academic freedom…

Over two years, a graduate diploma program in science communication was designed and delivered by a university in the Republic of South Africa with assistance from a university in Australia. Building on the Australian program, the design incorporated cross-cultural and Indigenous Knowledge elements in keeping with the ethos of the South African…

The notion of "resources" is often framed in an economic sense: money, time, equipment and the like. The authors reconceptualise this notion, situating resources as embedded in curricular frameworks, teacher practice and student experience. This leads them to define resources as "the potential to participate in socio-cultural…