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18 March 2020 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Charl Devenish
Education
Members of the Faculty of Education Academic Advisory Board at its inaugural meeting held on the University of the Free State’s Bloemfontein Campus.
A first of its kind for the University of the Free State (UFS), the Faculty of Education Academic Advisory Board (AAB) was inaugurated on 5 March 2020 to provide guidance on developing industry-driven academic programmes.

Chairman of the Board and Dean of the faculty, Prof Loyiso Jita, explained the relevance of the structure. “Essentially, the Board is there to provide advice to the faculty on how we can be at the top of our game, connect with practitioners out there, and give ourselves an edge both in terms of our strategic research goals as well as raising the required finance to run our programmes effectively.”

A future-focused faculty
At its first sitting on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus, the Board made recommendations which the faculty has committed to implementing. The first suggestion put forward was to align the faculty to the larger higher-learning industry and education practitioners.

Bridging the gap between the institution and these stakeholders is of utmost significance: “There is still a feeling that we universities operate as ivory towers. Everything that we do, whether it is research, engaged scholarship, or teaching, has to be anchored in the practice. It has to be designed to influence and in most cases to change the practice in our communities,” added Prof Jita.

Other key focus areas identified include science and mathematics education. Prof Jita leads the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) Research Chair that focuses on science education in the country. In the first five years of its existence, the Chair has helped graduates achieve 28 PHDs, eight master’s degrees, and has produced 66 publications. Prof Jita revealed that the Sanral Chair has challenged itself to double these statistics in the next five years.

Childhood development
Early Childhood Development (ECD), as a development zone will be championed as recommended by the Board. According to the Dean: “We have developed a strength as a faculty in that we have been leading in curriculum development in the area of ECD and have even hosted a number of workshops for other universities.”

Subsequent to that, the faculty has also decided to shine a spotlight on literacy. A project plan is pending submission to the National Research Foundation (NRF) for funding.

Long-term sustainability
The Advisory Board made a commitment to help the faculty develop more durable partnerships with industry players instead of the usual year-to-year collaborations. Undertaking the task to develop medium- to long-term partnerships of three to five years would be helpful because that could result in more sustainable projects and funding. A progress report is expected by the Board at its follow-up meeting scheduled for November 2020. 

Why an Academic Advisory Board?
Academic Advisory Boards are established across higher-learning institutions to ensure development aligned with regional, local, and global standards. Our Faculty of Education intends to use this structure to assist in terms of strategic direction and quality assurance of curriculum development and content delivery. Generally, the establishment of active AABs seeks to ensure that graduates comply with the expectations of the workplace, curriculum relevance for industry and the inclusion of the necessary knowledge, skills and attributes graduates will need in their specific fields.

Its purpose is to also assist in formulating and achieving strategic objectives, help make the connection between academic knowledge and “real work” skills, build a list of practitioners who could serve as classroom and graduation guest speakers, and create opportunities for students to learn workplace skills by providing suitable internship locations.

The Faculty of Education’s Board consists of the chief executive officers (CEOs) from the Education, Training and Development Practices Sector Education and Training Authority (ETDP SETA); the South African Council for Educators (SACE),the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) and Umalusi. In addition to the CEOs are six external members, three Heads of Schools, the Programme Director for Research and Engaged Scholarship, the Assistant Dean of the faculty at the Qwaqwa Campus, the Vice-Dean, as well as the Dean. 

News Archive

Forgive and forget? Or remember and retaliate?
2015-10-08

Cover of the novel Kamphoer

Fact and fiction came together at the Bloemfontein Campus recently to discuss the traumatic repercussions of the South African War. The event forms part of a three-year project – headed by Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela (University of the Free State Trauma, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation Studies) – which investigates transgenerational trauma in the aftermath of the South African War.

The discussion explored the theme, ‘Working through the Past: Reflections on the novel Kamphoer’.

Together, Emeritus Prof Chris van der Merwe (University of Cape Town) and the author of the novel, Dr Francois Smith (University of the Free State, Department Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French), engaged in a thought-provoking, insightful conversation, tracing themes of trauma and issues of forgiveness presented in Kamphoer. Prof Van der Merwe and Dr Smith demonstrated how both fiction and historical fact can inform our present, and guide us into the future.

Emeritus Prof Chris van der Merwe and Dr Francois Smith
discuss the novel Kamphoer and how the book relates to
current issues of transgenerational trauma.

“On a societal level,” Prof Van der Merwe said, “we need to work through trauma by putting it into words, and putting it into a narrative.” When it comes to historical trauma, should we forgive and forget, though? Or rather remember and retaliate? Neither, proposed Prof Van der Merwe. “What I want to plead for is the difficult challenge: remember and forgive.” But Prof Van der Merwe also pointed out that, although forgiveness blesses both the giver and receiver, it is an ongoing process.

Dr Smith agreed wholeheartedly. “One of the discoveries of my book is that forgiving is a continuous process. It’s not something that gets completed at a particular stage in your life. By the same token, you can’t say that you are ever able to leave the past behind.” These issues of trauma, forgiveness, the past versus the present, remembering and forgetting are all integral questions confronting the main character of the novel, Susan Nel .

They are also questions we, as a nation, are currently confronted with, too.

“At this moment in our society,” Prof Van der Merwe said, “we have enough killers. We have a greater need now for caring nurturers.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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