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Bridging the gap between teaching and learning

25 April 2019 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Jolandi Griesel

Dr Whitty Green, Dr Engela van Staden and Prof Francois Strydom, Senior Director of CTL.

Data, quality, and capacity building were among the main topics of discussion at the third annual Teaching and Learning Conference hosted by the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Dr Engela van Staden, Vice-Rector: Academic, welcomed delegates on the first day of the conference. The three themes of the conference were quality, capacity and excellence. “These three constructs have never been more relevant in South African higher education than now,’ said Dr Van Staden. “The quality of education, globally, and specifically in SA, is being questioned. Both public and private sectors are demanding graduates that need to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.”

The aim of the teaching and learning conference is to foster more collaboration between academics at the UFS. A total of 14 academics from across all seven faculties presented during the two-day conference. Dr Whitty Green from the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) delivered the keynote on the first day and Prof Corlia Janse van Vuuren delivered the second day keynote.

The inclusion of technology in the world of work and the use of data analytics are fundamentally confronting our learning and teaching place. “And I hope some of the issues will be addressed in the presentations,” Dr Van Staden said.

Bringing down silos of research and teaching

Dr Green spoke about the Enacting the National Framework for Enhancing Academics as University Teachers. “Academics are teachers and researchers and they have to engage with the community. There are multiple roles and these roles intersect,” Dr Green said. In order to build capacity in the system it is important to understand the multiple natures of the roles and try to work with them. This is the reason why the teaching development grant and teaching grant have been pulled together to form the University Capacity Grant. “We are trying to break down the silos of research development and teaching development at universities,” he said.

Prof Janse van Vuuren, Head of the UFS School of Allied Health Professionals, delivered her keynote address on Quality, Capacity and Excellence: Dotting the Is and crossing the Ts in a changing, data-driven Higher Education Environment. She shared her story to establish a faculty-based operational framework for teaching and learning.

“I did not know how to bring all of the issues ranging from research, teaching and learning and student success into one framework,” said Prof Janse van Vuuren. She developed a faculty-based operational framework for teaching and learning for the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.

The third annual UFS Teaching and Learning Conference took place from 26 to 27 March 2019.

News Archive

Breyten Breytenbach shares his words and philosophies

2013-03-05

Breyten Breytenbach
Photo: Johan Roux
02 March 2013

The Department of Philosophy at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently hosted Breyten Breytenbach as part of its Colloquium series.

In a packed Odeion theatre, Breytenbach shared his words and views relating to poetry and philosophy. The session was chaired by Prof Pieter Duvenhage from the Department of Philosophy, who noted the symbiotic relationship which exists between the two seemingly distinct disciplines.

Breytenbach is one of South Africa’s best-known literary sons, gaining worldwide recognition for his writings and poetry, as well as his political activism against the erstwhile Apartheid regime. He left the country in 1960 due to Apartheid and settled in Paris where his first collection of poetry was published in 1964. It was the beginning of a prizewinning literary career spanning multiple languages and decades.

He returned illegally in 1975 in order to agitate against the repressive National Party government, but was arrested, spending seven years in prison after being charged with terrorism.

The audience was treated to a reading from an unpublished work from Breytenbach, A letter to my daughter. The lengthy letter outlined Breytenbach's world views, his sense of the creative process, his philosophies and his takes on current and historical events.

A large part of the letter focused on the philosophical and emotional processes involved in writing.“Writing is the travelling of its own landscape; landscapes and rooms that may always have been there,” he said.

He noted that it’s not always an easy process, and that sometimes writers need to explore the abysses, which can be unnerving.

“In this regard it is important to know that emptiness exists,” he said.

He stressed his concern over some of the problems the country currently faces, especially the abuse of state institutions. He was especially worried about the abuse of power. He warned that “power has its own predatory identity,” often abused and misused by those who wield it.

Despite his misgivings, Breytenbach still retains his optimism for the country and its people. He remarked that the country and its many diverse cultures resembles a “fantastic patchwork blanket,” one that should be cherished and protected.

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