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22 February 2024 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo SUPPLIED
Action Learning Workshop 2024
Along with Prof Richard Teare (far right) are some of the workshop attendees, which consisted of a group of 15 students, academics, and community organisation leaders.

The Directorate Community Engagement at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently hosted Prof Richard Teare, the President of the Global University of Lifelong Learning (GULL). During his visit, he presented a workshop on action learning.

GULL, established 17 years ago, offers lifelong learning opportunities for people in communities and workplace organisations around the world. It provides frameworks and awards in support of lifelong learning.

Prof Teare described what the process of action learning entails and how it differs from the notion of ‘training’. According to him, action learning occurs when people learn from each other, create their own resources, identify their own problems, and form their own solutions. He stated, “The process is so enriching that every learner is able to identify personal and life-transforming outcomes. These commonly include expressions of enhanced self-confidence, self-belief, renewal, enthusiasm for learning, a new sense of direction and purpose for career and life – along with news skills, insights, and the sense of being equipped for the future.”

The workshop, attended by a group of 15 students, academics, and community organisation leaders, had an element of self-directed development, according to Dr Karen Venter, Head of the Division of Service Learning at the University of the Free State (UFS). “Participants learned how action learning can enable self-directed personal and professional development,” she said.

Skills and leadership characteristics

GULL pathways were also profiled to outline some of the innovative ways in which it can be used to facilitate continuous development aligned with professional certification. It offers three generic pathways, each with five levels (or certification points) leading to professional bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees,” explained Dr Venter.

“In practice, community leaders who have obtained one of these professional degrees can now become change agents for community development in their own community organisations, using the action learning pathway and certification offered by GULL,” she said.

Dr Venter added that a group of students from the UFS – the Active Community Citizens through Engaged Scholarship for Sustainability (ACCESS) group – embarked on a Professional Bachelor pathway certified by GULL last year. Not only did the group of 11 students successfully earn certification, including one Level Two certificate, five Level Three diplomas, three advanced diplomas, and one bachelor’s degree at the Engaged Scholarship Awards 2023, but they also developed a range of skills and leadership characteristics during the process. These include eco-brick making, vermiculture and gardening, eco-entrepreneurship, soap and candle making, and creative recycling, to name a few. 

Furthermore, the pathway is underpinned by community-based research to drive initiatives of student structures towards implementing impactful community engagement in three clusters, namely sustainable environment, well-being, and social justice.

Addressing SDGs and embracing Vision 130

Lifelong action learning is one of the innovative approaches for the development of graduate attributes. In this light, the outcomes of not only the action learning workshop, but also the learning opportunities presented by GULL, align with the UFS Vision130. “Using action learning for bringing social change, students can address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and embrace the values of the UFS’ Vision130 – impact, care, excellence, sustainability, accountability, and social justice,” stated Dr Venter.

One of the attendees communicated the experience as follows: “I learned that action learning is a process for self-determined personal and professional development – the change starts with me developing myself and then sharing it with others.” 

For further opportunities presented by GULL, visit the website here.

News Archive

Researchers focus on parrots, poultry and phage therapy
2014-10-10

Photo: en.wikipedia

Veterinary biotechnology focuses on microbial and molecular biological approaches to veterinary illnesses. The group working on veterinary biotechnology research at the University of the Free State (UFS) consists of two academic staff members, Prof Rob Bragg and Dr Charlotte Boucher, two post-doctoral fellows, Drs Chris Theron and Arina Hitzeroth, five PhD and three honours students.

The group has three research focus areas.

Dr Boucher says, “Our main focus area is infectious coryza in poultry, caused by the bacterium Avibacterium paragalliarum. The aim is the control of the disease, mainly through improvement of vaccines, understanding the immune response and improved biosecurity. A key objective is improving methods for serotyping; studying of selected surface antigens and investigating the influence recently discovered bacteriophages might have on virulence. We have co-operative projects with research groups in China, India and Israel.

“The second focus area is an expression system co-developed with the National Institute for Agronomic Research (INRA), France. The flagship project is the expression of the coat protein gene of the beak and feather disease virus, a disease affecting parrots, currently threatening the endangered Cape parrot. This system has led to the development of serological tests, currently under patenting. The application of this system has been extended to human-related diseases, with two interdisciplinary projects underway, co-working with Profs Muriel Meiring and Felicity Burt. Prof Meiring is working on diseases causing bleeding disorders, such as blood-clotting impairment, while Prof Burt is working on viral infections causing haemorrhagic (bleeding) disorders.

“We are also researching disease control in a post-antibiotic era, investigating the potential of phage-therapy by targeting and destroying pathogenic islands within a host, with reduced side-effects on the host itself.

“We have smaller projects, including an interdisciplinary project with Zoology, looking at the protein profile of amphibian (frog) secretions with the focus on antimicrobial activity, as these secretions assist with protecting amphibian skin against infections.”  


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