Southern African Rurality in Higher Education SARiHE Project Overview Final Colloquium 29th May 2019, Johannesburg Sue Timmis, Patricia Muhuro, Kibbie Naidoo
Southern African Rurality in Higher Education
SARiHEProjectOverviewFinalColloquium
29thMay2019,Johannesburg
SueTimmis,PatriciaMuhuro,KibbieNaidoo
Southern African Rurality in Higher Education
PRINCIPALINVESTIGATORS:
SUETIMMISUniversityofBristolTHEADEWETUniversityofJohannesburgBRENDALEIBOWITZ(2016-April2018)UniversityofJohannesburg
CO-INVESTIGATORS:
EMMANUELMGQWASHURhodesUniversity
PATRICIAMUHUROUniversityofFortHare
SHEILATRAHARUniversityofBristol
LISALUCASUniversityofBristol
GINAWISKERUniversityofBrighton
KIBBIENAIDOOUniversityofJohannesburg
TheSARiHEprojecthasinvestigatedhowstudentsnegotiatethetranstionfromschoolandhomeinruralcontextsto‘universitylearning’Afocusonivedspaces,practices,artefacts1.Howlearninginruralcontextshelpedorinhibitedstudents’negotiationofthetransitionintoandthroughhighereducation2.ChallengesforstudentsfromruralareasfacingHEcurriculawhichremainimbuedwithcolonialism3.Howcanwedevelopinclusiveandlivingcurricula,buildingontheexperiencesofallstudents,includingthosefromruralcontexts?
Southern African Rurality in Higher Education
• Socialencountersinwhichthepositionsofthosetakingpartmatter,theyaresociallyandculturallyorganisedandlocatedinparticulartimesandplaces.
• Historicalphenomena-shapedbyactivitiesofparticipants
• Howweactwhenencounteringandparticipatinginnew‘figuredworlds’givesrisetoandshapesouridentities
• Positionalidentities-‘day-to-dayandonthegroundrelationsofpower,deferenceandentitlement,socialaffiliationanddistance–withthesocial-interactional,social-relationalstructuresofthelivedworld’(p127).
• Figurativeidentities-‘thestories,actsandcharactersthatmaketheworldaculturalworld’(p127).
• Improvisation–theinterplayofhabitusandagency
Identityandagencyinfiguredworlds(Hollandetal,1998)
Allowsustoexploretheinfluencesoftheruralfiguredworldsuponthenewworldsofhighereducationandtheimprovisationsstudentsmake
Decolonisation versus decoloniality
• Decolonisation–‘acomplexlymutatingentity’(Mbembe,2016,32)
• Mgqwashu(2016)-grandnarratives,includingthatof“decolonisation”tendtosilence“localnarratives”.
• Decoloniality-dealingdecisivelywithcolonialvestigesinknowledgegenerationtraditionsandknowledgeitself,psychologicalenslavementandasenseofunworthinessengineeredformanycenturiesoverthecolonisedthroughcolonialinstitutionssuchasschoolsanduniversities
(Ndlovu-Gatsheni,2014).
Southern African Rurality in Higher Education
• ‘CentringKnowledgeinRelationtoPlace’–centretheknowledgeinthecurriculumbyfocusingthatwhichismostfamiliarorrelevanttopeople,..inthecaseofAfricans,AfricanKnowledge’.• ‘AnEcologyofKnowledges’-studentswouldberequiredtobecome‘multi-lingualthenmulti-epistemic’sothat‘studentswouldneedtobecomeproficientinarangeofknowledges,andhaveanappreciationoftheirpurposesandrelevance.• ‘DecolonisingKnowledgefromtheOutside’–studentsfromdifferentsociallocationscometogethertolearn–withsomeuncomfortablelearningexperiences.
Non-hegemonizingApproachestoKnowledge(Leibowitz,2017)
SouthernAfricanRuralityinHigherEducation
INSTITUTIONALCONTEXTCooper(2015)classificationofHEIinSouthAfrica• UniversityofJohannesburg
UrbancomprehensiveBalancedfocusonresearch,teachingandtechnology
• UniversityofFortHareRural,previouslydisadvantagedTeaching-led
• RhodesUniversityOnlyresearch–intensiveuniversityinaruralarea,Historicallywhiteuniversity,previouslyadvantaged
Southern African Rurality in Higher Education
• ‘Co-researchermodelofparticipation’ina‘communityofinquiry’(Timmis&Williams,2013)
• Participatoryresearch–isa‘decolonisingmode’(Bozalek,2011),asitavoidsadeficitpositioningofstudents.
• NarrativeInquiryprinciples• Unitofanalysis-practices
• Datagenerationwithco-researchers• Longitudinal(ApriltoDec2017)at3
sites(UJ,RhodesandFortHare)• Approx24studentsfromSTEMand
Humanitiesateachsite(72intotal)• Sevendatagenerationsessions
(plusexternalsettings)• Allco-researchersgivenanipad–
producingmulti-modalartefacts(Evernote)
• 2daycollaborativedataanalysisandpublishinginitiative
• DatagenerationwithAcademicsandSeniorManagers
Methodology
SouthernAfricanRuralityinHigherEducation
MethodologicalReflectionsonusingparticipatorymethodologyintheSARiHEProject
Sampling strategy
SouthernAfricanRuralityinHigherEducation ATTRIBUTESOFPARTICIPATORYMETHODOLOGY
MultimodalMethods
SouthernAfricanRuralityinHigherEducation
DATACOLLECTION
• Selectionofco-researchers–snowballsamplingusingthematrix(firstpresentation)• Purposivesampling–firstgenerationintouniversity,secondyearintheuniversity,STEMandHumanitiesdisciplines• Questionnairetodeterminesuitability
Southern African Rurality in Higher Education
WelcomingEvent(rulesof
engagement,ruralityis)
LearninginruralareasP1(iPads),formSARiHE
researchcommunity
Learninginruralareasp2(critical
incident)(collectionofartifacts)
Transitiontohighereducation
Learningatuniversity
LearningandValues Sharingdocumentaries
SouthernAfricanRuralityinHigherEducation DEALINGWITHCHALLENGESEXPEREINCED
• Differentinstitutionalcontexts(constraintandenabling)• Expertiseofco-investigators• Gainingentryanddifferingexpectations• UseofiPadsduringtheinitialdatagathering• Developingrapportandhandlingethics• Dedicatingtime
SouthernAfricanRuralityinHigherEducation LESSONSFORFUTURERESEARCHINSIMILARCONTEXTS
• Ruralstudentsarenothomogenous,neitherareuniversitycontexts-needtoadapt• Useofauniformdatagatheringguideoffsetsomecontextualchallenges–butbringsupothers• Multimodalresearchisidealtooffsetlanguagechallenges• Longitudinaldatacollectionisidealinenablingrapportandtrust
Southern African Rurality in Higher Education
TheSARiHEproject:KeyFindings
Southern African Rurality in Higher Education
Strengthsandopportunitiesfromrurallife• Responsibilityforareasofworkwithinthefamily
andcommunity.
• Livinginresource-constrainedenvironmentshelpstomanageresourceconstraintsinuniversitylife.
• Strongsupportfromsomemembersofthecommunitysuchasfamilymembers,principals,teachersandsiblings.
• Tasksandpracticestypicalofrurallife,suchascattleherding,mayprovideopportunitiestoacquireskillsthatcanbecarriedoverintoschoolingoruniversity.
• Morecommunalandgroup-orientedapproachesencourageacademicsuccessatschoolandatuniversity(butsometimesconflictwithuniversityethos-achallengeaswellasastrength).
Southern African Rurality in Higher Education
• Perceptionbyruralstudentsthattheyneedto‘adapt’,‘adjust’or‘fitit’,andformany,thetransitionfromruralareastoHEischallenging:
• ‘...itischallengingformepersonallybecauseIfeltlikeIwasnotaccommodatedasyouknow,achildfromtheruralareas,butatthesametimeuniversityisuniversity,lifemustgoon,youmustjusttrytofindawaytofitin.’(discussiongroup,R.U.,25March2017,F.)
• ‘Youhavetochangeandthecurriculumjuststaysthesame.’(discussiongroup,R.U.,2May2017,F).
• Otherco-researchersactivelyresistadaptation:‘Adaptingtothechangesmeanschangingmylifestyle-thatisclosetoimpossible.ThereisaXhosasayingthatgoes"ungamkhuphaumntuezilalinikodwaawunakuzikhuphaiilaliemntwini".ThismeansthateventhoughI'mnolongerintherurals,thevaluesIgottherecanneverbeerased.Theeducationsystemherepurposelyorotherwisefavoursthosewhogrewupinsuchprivilegedlifestylesandthatisofgreatdisadvantagetoruralstudents…’(GoogleDocs,R.U.,April2018,F.)
Negotiatingthetransitiontouniversity
Southern African Rurality in Higher Education
Becomingauniversitystudent• Outreachtosupportaccessintoruralschoolsandcommunitieswaspatchy
• Widespreadreportsoflackofaccesstotechnologyandwifiinfrastructureinruralareas
• Feelinginitiallypowerless–lossofagency• Poverty,crimeandpersonalsafety,inabilitytopayfees,residencefacilities,lackoffood
• Language/lackoffamiliaritywithEnglishasmediumofcommunicationatuniversity• Significantchallengeswithtechnologyatuniversity–deficitledsupportmodels• Lackofknowledge/experienceinpedagogicpractices,e.g.scientificexperiments,
equipment.• Perceptionthatnon-ruralstudentsaremoreadvanced-oftenafraidtoaskforhelpfor
fearofseeming‘stupid’• Perceptionofdifferentialtreatmentofblackandwhitestudentsbywhitelecturers
Southern African Rurality in Higher Education
‘…youknowwhattheDeansaidtosomepeopleatthebeginningoftheyearwhenyouwannatakeCompSci?“YoupeoplewilllikenottrytotakeCompSci…youdon’tevenknowhowtoswitchonthecomputer”…Yougetthere,theysay“designyourowngame”…’(discussiongroup,R.U.,1April2017).
Transitionsintonewworlds
‘IhadnophoneandIdidn’tevenknowinternetandgoogle,evenacomputer.IsawonewhenIwenttoapply[touniversity]...whenyougettotheinternetcafé,youaskstrangerstoassistyou.’(discussiongroup,R.U.,22July2017,F).‘I’mstudyingMicroBiologyandBiochemistryand..Youcometouniversityandlikeourpracticalsmostofthetimeweusethingslikemicroscopesandyouhaveneverseenamicroscopeinyourlifeandneverusedonebefore,andeveryoneissobusylikeyoudon’tknowwhattodo,youdon’tknowwhattotouch…..‘(discussiongroup,R.U.,25March2017).
Southern African Rurality in Higher Education
• Someruralstudentsinitiallysocialisedwithpeoplefromsimilarbackgroundswhospokethesamelanguages,andthentheyintegratedwithstudentsfromdifferentbackgroundsandraces.
• TheyjoinedarangeofsocietiesandgroupstoeasethetransitionfromruralareastoH.E.institutions.
• Digitaltechnologiesenableinformallearningpractices:
• ‘Learningatuniversityisnotaseasyasitwasbackinhighschool.Youcannotdoeverythingonyourownandneedthehelpofyourpeerseverynowandthen…myHumanPhysiologylaboratorygroupcreated[aWhatsAppgroup]sothatwecanhelpeachotherwithourwork...’(Evernote,U.J.,24August2017,F.)
Socialandtechnologicalresourcesdrawnupon
Southern African Rurality in Higher Education
• Importanceofrecognisinglearningasoccurringacrossvariouslivedspaces–thisresearchpointstotheimportanceofruralexperiences
• Howareruralstudentsmisrecognised?• Howcanwe,inHEopenupspacesfortherecoveryofagencyofruralstudentsandwhatmightthosespaceslooklike?
• Theexperiencesofruralstudentscanbegintomakeacontributiontoepistemicbecoming–butonlyiftheir‘largelyignoredstruggles’arelistenedto
• …andtheknowledgesandpracticesthattheybringtouniversityfromtheirruralareasareacknowledged,celebratedandintegratedintocurricula/structures
Positioning,identitiesandagency
Southern African Rurality in Higher Education
Southern African Rurality in Higher Education
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