Edited by Drs Noluthando Toni and Viwe Ndayi and Professsor Willie Chinyamurindi, the book features contributions from 17 academics across seven South African universities and was published by Mandela University Press (MUP).
Dr Viwe Ndayi, Professor Willie Chinyamurindi and Dr Noluthando Toni
The volume explores belonging in South African higher education through the perspectives of academic developers and early career academics. Its ten chapters examine the challenges of building bridges between access and participation, academia and practice, and crisis and recovery.
Wally Morrow’s (2009) concept of epistemological access also provides a framework for considering what it means to build these bridges and who gets to cross them.
Divided into three sections: The Epistemes of Access; Philosophies and Teaching Orientations; and Collaborations, Capacitation and Communities the chapters together reflect on learning and teaching, academic identities, collaboration and the changing higher education landscape, including the impact of COVID-19.
Back from left, Lindiwe Wezizwe Mangisa, Dr Anthony Tolika Sibiya, Dr Lucky Maluleke, Mbali’nhle Mohlakoana, Dr Shaun Ramroop, Nirode Bramdaw, Dr Noluthando Toni and Prof Willie Chinyamurindi. Front from left, Dr Viwe Ndayi, Shriya Bramdaw, Anelisa Pezisa and Sanele Matomela
The Epistemes of Access
The first section examines access and participation with Mangisa reflecting on her transition from tax practitioner to academic, focusing on language and cultural capital in making taxation education more accessible.
Maluleke, Dlamini, Jacobs and Sibiya thereafter explored the use of learning technologies in the Advanced Diploma in Technical and Vocational Teaching programme at Mandela University, highlighting how the shift to virtual learning during the pandemic sometimes reinforced the very divides the programme sought to address.
Ramroop then examined the effect of lockdown restrictions on environmental health students’ academic performance, using Humanising Pedagogy to consider adaptability in learning and teaching.
Philosophies and Teaching Orientations
The second section explores teaching philosophies and their contribution to belonging. Kagola, Sathorar and Geduld applied Humanising Pedagogy to assessment in teacher education, with a focus on rural schools and diverse learner contexts.
Matomela reflected on teaching social entrepreneurship and the relationship between her academic identity and teaching practice. Harry and Chinyamurindi again examined curriculum in the management sciences and considered psychobiographies as a decolonising tool for teaching and research.
Collaborations, Capacitation and Communities
The final section considers collaboration, capacity building and academic communities. Ndayi, Pezisa and Champion examined the contribution of student assistants to academic development and support for early career academics.
Maluleke then explored the development of a student journal to foster academic writing, whereas Mohlakoana reflected on teaching and course evaluation, particularly within integrated modules.
In the final chapter, Toni examined the relationship between academics and academic developers at Mandela University and how these relationships were sustained during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Collectively, the chapters highlight the value of reflective practice, collaboration and context-sensitive approaches to higher education, contributing to efforts to create more inclusive environments for participation, knowledge production and engagement, Dr Toni said.
Launched on 31 July, more than 160 guests from universities and academic communities attended and the programme opened with a performance by the Faculty of Education’s Future Teachers’ Choir.
Dr Manyane Makua, Nirode Bramdaw
Dr Manyane Makua, Senior Director of the Learning and Teaching Development Centre at Mangosuthu University of Technology, commended the contributors for engaging with the varied meanings of epistemological access and noted that Building Bridges was a fitting title given the University’s history.
He described the book as an exploration of the pedagogical, conceptual and human bridges connecting students with meaningful epistemic development.
Nirode Bramdaw, Director of African Sun Media (ASM) and MUP Publishing Partner, congratulated the editors and contributors and noted that the book is among 14 titles published by MUP during its first three years.
He acknowledged Allan Zinn and the MUP team for their commitment to keeping knowledge production local and affordable, while emphasising the role of university presses in challenging the dominant geopolitics of knowledge.
Dr Noluthando Toni, book co-editor, Director of Teaching Development and Acting Dean of Learning and Teaching, emphasised the importance of building communities and cultures that sustain the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) beyond individual outputs.
She highlighted the University’s commitment to co-construction and acknowledged the colleagues and communities whose contributions made the publication possible, including the University leadership, the Teaching Development team, MUP, African Sun Media, the 2023 SoTL in the South conference community and the Early Career Academics’ Advancement Programme (ECAAP) community.
Building Bridges: Reflecting on Learning and Teaching, Research and Engagement is available from the Nelson Mandela University Shop and other bookstores.