In recent years, deanship in universities has become more complex and challenging. Deans in South African universities take up their positions without appropriate training and prior executive experience, and with no clear understanding of the ambiguity and complexity of their roles. This paper calls for appropriate leadership development…

In order to investigate the composing practices of digital storytellers in a South African context, a qualitative case study, set within a university of technology in South Africa and framed by literature stemming from the disciplines of digital storytelling and composition and rhetoric, was implemented as part of a larger dissertation project…

International higher education research focused on students who claim same-sex identifications in university residential spaces has tended to prioritise the "gay as victim" discourse, often leading to the pathologising of same-sex identification. While there is emerging research seeking to challenge this dimension of scholarship by…

Schools in post-apartheid South Africa appear to be under siege by violence. In turn, school leaders find themselves in the unenviable position of not only having to deal with inadequate educator professionalism and learner underachievement--particularly in previously disadvantaged schools--but are under pressure to find ways to counteract the…

Education has been subject to a process of continuous educational reforms. The aim of this study was to explore teachers' abilities to adapt to these reforms and to find out how this process of continual reform related to their identities as teachers. The study used a narrative research approach. The data for this research were based on the…

This study investigated how quality in early learning centres (preschools) in South Africa was experienced and perceived by mothers and teachers. A theoretical framework, based on a model of quality development by Woodhead (1996), informed the study. This framework that consists of input (structural), process and outcome quality indicators is a…

Since the 1990s there has been increased public interest, debate and research on workplace bullying. Little research has, however, been done on the abuse of educators or on the bullies per se. The aim of this paper is to expand the body of knowledge on workplace bullying by shedding light on the character of a bullying school principal. In 2008 I…

This paper reports on lessons learnt in the use of teachers' social capital as a resource for curriculum development, in the implementation of the Child-Friendly Schools (CFS) programme in South Africa. The researchers in this study were amongst the trainers. The study followed a qualitative research approach, where a descriptive research design…

The discourses of accountability and global economic competitiveness have impacted negatively on the quality of education in schools worldwide. Focused attention on the social and ecological places that people inhabit has been overshadowed by education's support for individualistic and nationalistic competition in the global economy. South African…

Life Orientation sexuality education in South Africa faces many pedagogical challenges, not least among which is that it is sometimes perceived as irrelevant to learners' real interests and concerns. Learners report that the content is repetitive and that they learn more from peers than from the reiterated lessons of risk and disease avoidance…

This article examines the effects of political, socio-economic and educational change on a South African teacher's identity trajectory. Our research was conducted at a primary school in a historically disadvantaged community in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. We applied a cultural-historical activity theoretical (CHAT) lens to explore the…

In this article we describe how using a visual, child-friendly measure of resilience in a randomised control trial (RCT), the Kgolo Mmogo (KM) project, resulted in representative insights on resilience in a mother-child relationship where the mother is HIV-positive. We used the existing psychological method Kinetic Family Drawing (KFD) to measure…

Orientation and mobility (O&M) practice is important because the population of persons with visual impairments is large enough to warrant planned action on measures to help them acquire independence and sustain their livelihoods. Most O&M practitioners in South Africa are full-time employees in non-governmental organizations. The few who…

Crime, abuse and violence against school children are grave problems in South African schools and are undisputedly on the increase. This article highlights aspects of hostile and violent behaviour in South Africa that contribute to the persistence of school violence. The problem is complex and there are no simple solutions. The article puts…

This paper argues that the success of schools in disadvantaged township communities is shaped by an interplay of four dimensions: strategy, regulation, pedagogy and compensation. The paper presents these dimensions of successful leadership in secondary schools by drawing on a research study focusing on cases of three Soweto township secondary…