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Author: Michael Cross
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 946300842X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 233
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Book Description
Besides the ongoing concern with the epistemological and theoretical hegemony of the West in African academic practice, the book aims at understanding how knowledge is produced and controlled through the interplay of the politics of knowledge and current intellectual discourses in universities in Africa. In this regard, the book calls for African universities to relocate from the position of object to subject in order to gain a form of liberated epistemological voice more responsive to the social and economic complexities of the continent. In itself, this is a critical exposé of contemporary practices in knowledge advancement in the continent. Broadly the book addresses the following questions: How can African universities reinvent knowledge production and dissemination in the face of the dominant Eurocentricism so pervasive and characteristic of academic practice in Africa to enhance their relevance to the contexts in which they operate? How can such change, particularly at knowledge production and distribution levels, be undertaken, without falling into an intellectual and discursive ghettoization in the global context? What then is the role of academics, policy makers and curriculum and program designers in dealing with biases and distortions to integrate policies, knowledge and pedagogy that reflect current cultural diversity, both local and global? Against this backdrop, while some contributions in this book argue that emancipatory epistemic voice in African universities is not yet born, or it is struggling with little success, many dissenting voices charge that if Africans do not take responsibility and construct knowledge strategies for their own emancipation, who will?
Author: Michael Cross
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 946300842X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 233
Get Book Here
Book Description
Besides the ongoing concern with the epistemological and theoretical hegemony of the West in African academic practice, the book aims at understanding how knowledge is produced and controlled through the interplay of the politics of knowledge and current intellectual discourses in universities in Africa. In this regard, the book calls for African universities to relocate from the position of object to subject in order to gain a form of liberated epistemological voice more responsive to the social and economic complexities of the continent. In itself, this is a critical exposé of contemporary practices in knowledge advancement in the continent. Broadly the book addresses the following questions: How can African universities reinvent knowledge production and dissemination in the face of the dominant Eurocentricism so pervasive and characteristic of academic practice in Africa to enhance their relevance to the contexts in which they operate? How can such change, particularly at knowledge production and distribution levels, be undertaken, without falling into an intellectual and discursive ghettoization in the global context? What then is the role of academics, policy makers and curriculum and program designers in dealing with biases and distortions to integrate policies, knowledge and pedagogy that reflect current cultural diversity, both local and global? Against this backdrop, while some contributions in this book argue that emancipatory epistemic voice in African universities is not yet born, or it is struggling with little success, many dissenting voices charge that if Africans do not take responsibility and construct knowledge strategies for their own emancipation, who will?
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Apartheid
Languages : en
Pages : 64
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Book Description
Author: Michael Cross
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789463008433
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 206
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Book Description
While African universities retain their core function as primary institutions for advancement of knowledge, they have undergone fundamental changes in this regard. These changes have been triggered by a multiplicity of factors, including the need to address past economic and social imbalances, higher education expansion alongside demographic and economic growth concerns, and student throughput and success with the realization that greater participation has not meant greater equity. Constraining these changes is largely the failure to recognize the encroachment of the profit motive into the academy, or a shift from a public good knowledge/learning regime to a neo-liberal knowledge/learning regime. Neo-liberalism, with its emphasis on the economic and market function of the university, rather than the social function, is increasingly destabilizing higher education particularly in the domain of knowledge, making it increasingly unresponsive to local social and cultural needs. Corporate organizational practices, commodification and commercialization of knowledge, dictated by market ethics, dominate university practices in Africa with negative impact on professional values, norms and beliefs. Under such circumstances, African humanist progressive virtues (e.g. social solidarity, compassion, positive human relations and citizenship), democratic principles (equity and social justice) and the commitment to decolonization ideals guided by altruism and common good, are under serious threat. The book goes a long way in unraveling how African universities can respond to these challenges at the levels of institutional management, academic scholarship, the structure of knowledge production and distribution, institutional culture, policy and curriculum.
Author: Paul Tiyambe Zeleza
Publisher: Unisa Press
ISBN: 9782869781245
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 338
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Book Description
As the twenty-first century unfolds, African universities, and indeed universities everywhere, are undergoing unprecedented change and confronting multiple challenges brought about by the vast and complex processes of globalisation and technological change. Powerful internal and external forces - political, pecuniary and paradigmatic - are reconfiguring all aspects of university life constituted around the triple mission of teaching, research and service. The need for redefining the role and defending the importance of universities has never been greater. How are African universities trying to balance the demands of autonomy and accountability, expansion and excellence, equity and efficiency, diversification and differentiation, internationalisation and indigenisation in the face of liberalisation and privatisation, and as they address the new challenges of knowledge production and dissemination, of Africanising global scholarship and globalising African scholarship? What innovative approaches can they adopt to facilitate the sustainable development of African economies, societies and polities? The two volumes in the Codesria Book Series address these issues. They articulate new values and missions for African universities, and define effective strategies to meet the challenges. Written by some of Africa's leading educators , Volume I examines the implications of the neo-liberal reforms and the new information technologies on African higher education, while Volume II interrogates the changing social dynamics of knowledge production, university organisation, and public service and engagement.
Author: Ephraim T. Gwaravanda
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004442103
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 222
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Book Description
How can African philosophy of education contribute to contemporary debates in the context of complexities, dilemmas and uncertainties in African higher education? The capacity for self-reflection, self-evaluation and self-criticism enables African philosophy of higher education to examine and re-examine itself in the context of current issues in African higher education. The reflective capacity is in line with the Socratic dictum ‘know thy self.’ African Higher Education in the 21st Century: Epistemological, Ontological and Ethical Perspectives responds to the demands for reflection and self-knowledge by drawing from ontology, epistemology and ethics in an attempt to address issues that affect African higher education as they connect with the past, present and future.
Author: Chrissie Bowie
Publisher: African Books Collective
ISBN: 1928502229
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 182
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Book Description
Drawing on the South African case, this book looks at shifts in higher education around the world in the last two decades. In South Africa, calls for transformation have been heard in the university since the last days of apartheid. Similar claims for quality higher education to be made available to all have been made across the African continent. In spite of this, inequalities remain and many would argue that these have been exacerbated during the Covid pandemic. Understanding Higher Education responds to these calls by arguing for a social account of teaching and learning by contesting dominant understandings of students as decontextualised learners premised on the idea that the university is a meritocracy. This book tackles the issue of teaching and learning by looking both within and beyond the classroom. It looks at how higher education policies emerged from the notion of the knowledge economy in the newly democratic South Africa, and how national qualification frameworks and other processes brought the country more closely into conversation with the global order. The effects of this on staffing and curriculum structures are considered alongside a proposition for alternative ways of understanding the role of higher education in society.
Author: Michael Cross
Publisher: Brill
ISBN: 9789463008440
Category : Africa
Languages : en
Pages : 204
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Book Description
This book calls for African universities to relocate from the position of object to subject in order to gain a form of liberated epistemological voice more responsive to the social and economic complexities of the continent. In itself, this is a critical exposé of contemporary practices in knowledge advancement in the continent. How can African universities reinvent knowledge production and dissemination in the face of the dominant Eurocentricism so pervasive and characteristic of academic practice in Africa to enhance their relevance to the contexts in which they operate? While some contributions in this book argue that emancipatory epistemic voice in African universities is not yet born, or it is struggling with little success, many dissenting voices charge that if Africans do not take responsibility and construct knowledge strategies for their own emancipation, who will?
Author: Cloete, Nico
Publisher: African Minds
ISBN: 1928331874
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 316
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Book Description
From the early 2000s, a new discourse emerged, in Africa and the international donor community, that higher education was important for development in Africa. Within this ‘zeitgeist’ of converging interests, a range of agencies agreed that a different, collaborative approach to linking higher education to development was necessary. This led to the establishment of the Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa (Herana) to concentrate on research and advocacy about the possible role and contribution of universities to development in Africa. This book is the final publication to emerge from the Herana project. The project has also published more than 100 articles, chapters, reports, manuals and datasets, and many presentations have been delivered to share insights gained from the work done by Herana. Given its prolific dissemination, it seems reasonable to ask whether this fourth and final publication will offer the reader anything new. This book is certainly different from previous publications in several respects. First, it is the only book to include an analysis of eight African universities based on the full 15 years of empirical data collected by the project. Second, previous books and reports were published mid-project. This book has benefited from an extended gestation period allowing the authors and contributors to reflect on the project without the distractions associated with managing and participating in a large-scale project. For the first time, some of those who have been involved in Herana since its inception have had the opportunity to at least make an attempt to see part of the wood for the trees. Different does not necessarily mean new. An emphasis on the ‘newness’ of the data and perspectives presented in this book is important because it shows that it is more than a historical record of a donor-funded project. Rather, each chapter in this book brings, to a lesser or greater extent, something new to our understanding of universities, research and development in Africa.
Author: Muller, Johan
Publisher: African Minds
ISBN: 1920677925
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 258
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Book Description
Castells in Africa: Universities and Development collects the papers produced by Manuel Castells on his visits to South Africa, and publishes them in a single volume for the first time. The book also publishes a series of empirically-based papers which together display the multi-faceted and far-sighted scope of his theoretical framework, and its fecundity for fine-grained, detailed empirical investigations on universities and development in Africa. Castells, in his afterword to this book, always looking forward, assesses the role of the university in the wake of the upheavals to the global economic order. He decides the university’s function not only remains, but is more important than ever. This book will serve as an introduction to the relevance of his work for higher education in Africa for postgraduate students, reflective practitioners and researchers. Includes two previously unpublished public lectures and an Afterword by Manuel Castells.
Author: Bank, Leslie
Publisher: African Minds
ISBN: 1928331750
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 254
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Book Description
Tensions in South African universities have traditionally centred around equity (particularly access and affordability), historical legacies (such as apartheid and colonialism), and the shape and structure of the higher education system. What has not received sufficient attention, is the contribution of the university to place-based development. This volume is the first in South Africa to engage seriously with the place-based developmental role of universities. In the international literature and policy there has been an increasing integration of the university with place-based development, especially in cities. This volume weighs in on the debate by drawing attention to the place-based roles and agency of South African universities in their local towns and cities. It acknowledges that universities were given specific development roles in regions, homelands and towns under apartheid, and comments on why sub-national, place-based development has not been a key theme in post-apartheid, higher education planning. Given the developmental crisis in the country, universities could be expected to play a more constructive and meaningful role in the development of their own precincts, cities and regions. But what should that role be? Is there evidence that this is already occurring in South Africa, despite the lack of a national policy framework? What plans and programmes are in place, and what is needed to expand the development agency of universities at the local level? Who and what might be involved? Where should the focus lie, and who might benefit most, and why? Is there a need perhaps to approach the challenges of college towns, secondary cities and metropolitan centers differently? This book poses some of these questions as it considers the experiences of a number of South African universities, including Wits, Pretoria, Nelson Mandela University and especially Fort Hare as one of its post-centenary challenges.
