In post-apartheid South Africa, a foregrounding of democratic citizenship education through broadened and inclusive participation is especially evident in a decentralised school-based leadership, management, and governance system. Policy-wise, the involvement of parents in School Governing Body (SGB) structures is seen as an enactment of…

A recent report from the Democracy Project found that "confidence in our governing institutions has been weakening over many years, and key pillars of our democracy, including the rule of law and freedom of the press, are under strain." In the recently published book "The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to…

In a critical review of the South African government's Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications (MRTEQ), designed to provide a foundation for teacher education institutions, a stark deficiency emerges in terms of critical Global Citizenship Education (GCE). This paper thus aims to investigate the underpinnings guiding teacher…

The subject Mathematical Literacy (ML) prioritises an interplay of mathematics and real-life contexts in pursuit of an empowerment agenda for improved life opportunities. In seeking to identify processes of inclusion-exclusion afforded by different conceptualisations of this interplay, a network of Bernstein's theoretical constructs --…

Place-based education makes a compelling case that the pedagogy of colleges and universities must be re-imagined to be more relevant and engaged. This article argues for a specific approach to place-based education--what has been termed "deliberative pedagogy"--offering an emerging practical philosophy that applies insights from…

The popularity of distance education, particularly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent national lockdowns, necessitates a rethink of how we understand and think about students, and particularly international students in this context. This study explores how the definition of international students is impacted by their…

This article is based on research into the phenomenon referred to as the "colonization of the mind." It commences with a discussion of four different backgrounds and concomitant experiences regarding this persistent form of colonization: two with reference to the authors of this article, and two with reference to distinguishable…

Universities are criticised for overemphasising instrumental values. Instrumental values are important but universities risks undermining cultivation of humanity, critical consciousness and civic agency. Service-learning (SL) is practice that moves teaching and learning beyond the focus on technical skills and instrumental outcomes. Nonetheless,…

The South African Higher Education sector has undergone major transformation since the end of Apartheid more than 25 years ago. Critical digital literacies and critical (digital) citizenship, aligns with the most important aspects of the transformation agenda, 'the production of socially conscious graduates that will become the thinkers and…

The centring of Muslim women in Islam resides in an intertwining historico-politico-theological narrative of gender reform, first promulgated in a seventh century revelation of the Qur'an. Significantly, the gains derived by the women of Islam's first community, have become lost in the dominance of contemporary androcentric-patriarchal…

Over the past few years, we have worked together in a citizen science project called "Diamonds on the Soles of our Feet" (see also Goldin et al. 2021, Goldin et al., 2023). In this project we engaged with 420 young learners in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. We came to see participating schools as collaborative ecosystems where…

Higher education institutions (HEIs) remain fraught with student activism because transforming and decolonising curricula to promote culturally responsive education is still lingering. Prolonging a trajectory of culturally apathetic education will not only lead to impoverished and decoupled human knowledge systems but also quell democratic…

While higher education is crucial for the development of ideals and skills necessary for democratic societies to take root and prosper, higher education institutions' missions have been tested during this time of uncertainty. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the instabilities and disparities in global higher education by exacerbating profound…

There is no how-to recipe for implementing pedagogical approaches, as each school, learner and teacher has a unique perception of the nature of critical mathematics education. It is therefore the duty of educators and school administrators to cultivate critical teaching and learning experiences that can connect the standardised school curriculum…

Christian religious belief systems may influence higher education teaching and learning. We investigated how this manifests in relation to critical citizenship education at the Department of Visual Arts of Stellenbosch University. During the facilitation of a Visual Communication Design course, which included community interaction (CI), students…