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Hard work pays off: Two Education Faculty graduates celebrate PhD success

17 April 2025 | Story Anthony Mthembu | Photo Kaleidoscope Studios

Dr Bheki Sandhleni and Dr Gale Davids — Dr Bheki Sandhleni; Deputy Principal at Khumbula High School and Dr Gale Davids; Lecturer in the School of Education Studies at the University of the Free State (UFS) were two of 19 PhD graduates from the Faculty of Education during the UFS’s April 2025 graduations.

The Faculty of Education at the University of the Free State (UFS) wrapped up the UFS’s April 2025 graduation season with ceremonies held on 12 April 2025, and cheers were especially loud for two graduates who were among 19 PhD recipients.

Marking the culmination of years of dedicated research, Dr Gale Davids, Lecturer in the Faculty’s School of Education Studies, and Dr Bheki Sandhleni, Deputy Principal at Khumbula High School, were proud to be among the distinguished cohort.

Their respective specialisations – Dr Davids in policy studies for restorative justice and Dr Sandhleni in education management for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) improvement – underscore a shared dedication to impactful scholarship that promises to contribute meaningfully to the advancement of education in South Africa.

Both graduates received a Doctor of Philosophy degree – Dr Davids’s with specialisation in policy studies in education, and Dr Sandhleni’s in education management and leadership.

Dr Sandhleni said that walking across the graduation stage symbolised the “crossing of a finish line”, while Dr Davids described the moment as “a powerful one which brought a deep sense of accomplishment”.

“This moment is the peak of years of hard work, late nights, challenging projects, and personal growth, and to have this research journey recognised in such a tangible way feels truly rewarding,” Dr Davids says.

The conferred qualifications

Dr Sandhleni’s PhD focused on ‘Principals’ leadership practices for improving teaching and learning in Mathematics, Science, and Technology (MST) schools in the Mpumalanga Province’. He regards his study as a “contribution to the scholarship on instructional leadership focusing on the roles, leadership approaches, and policy guidelines used by MST school principals to enhance teaching and learning”.

Dr Davids’s PhD studied ‘The implementation of a restorative approach to learner discipline, underpinned by transformative constitutional principles to foster non-violent schools’. Her research looked closely at how restorative justice practices can replace traditional, punitive disciplinary systems in schools.

Reflecting on their academic journeys

The new PhD graduates say getting to this point has been a challenging experience. Dr Sandhleni says everything from deciding on a research topic to wrapping up the project was difficult. As such, he regards achieving this milestone as a symbol of his dedication and perseverance.

Dr Davids agrees, saying that the process was demanding. Mastering legal concepts and translating theory into practice were just some of the challenges she encountered as she worked on her study. However, she describes the pursuit of her PhD as a “transformative experience” and adds, “Completing this academic milestone is deeply gratifying, but I am equally committed to ensuring that my research moves beyond theory to become a catalyst for real change in school disciplinary practices.”

Exploring a new chapter

The new graduates also share the sentiment that completion of their degree allows an opportunity to close one chapter and explore new ones.

“I am really happy for this achievement, and I hope that it brings me to the beginning of a new chapter in my life, whether it’s a career in academia, research, or higher positions in the same field where I am now,” Dr Sandhleni said. In addition to plans for publishing books and journal articles, he also hopes to “embark on a project where I train principals and other science, maths and technology members on how to be instructional leaders and to improve academic performance”.

Dr Davids hopes to formulate collaborations with schools which are open to taking on the restorative justice approaches outlined in her study. She says collaborating with teachers and learners will provide her with the opportunity to look at “real-world implementation challenges and successes, building on the theoretical foundations of my PhD”.

News Archive

Multi-disciplinary research approach at UFS

2005-10-25

UFS follows multi-disciplinary research approach with opening of new centre

“A new way of doing business in necessary in the research and teaching of agriculture and natural sciences in South Africa. We must move away from departmentalised research infrastructures and a multi-disciplinary approach to research involving several disciplines must be adapted,” said Prof Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Prof van Schalkwyk delivered the keynote address during the launch of the Centre for Plant Health Management (CePHMa) at the Main Campus in Bloemfontein today (21 October 2005). CePHMa is an initiative of the UFS Department of Plant Sciences.

According to Prof van Schalkwyk a tertiary institution must practice multi-disciplinary research to be a world-class research institution. “It is difficult for researchers to admit that they do not know a lot about each other’s area of speciality. It is therefore necessary for researchers to make a paradigm shift and to focus on inter-disciplinary co-operation. To do this, we must encourage them to work together and to find a common language to communicate ideas en establish symbiotic relationships,” said Prof Van Schalkwyk.

“We tend to think that research is better and faster if it is specialised. This is not true. The new generation of scientists are young and they are trained to form a concept of the total system and not to focus on a specific area of speciality. At the UFS we encourage this approach to research. This was one of the main reasons for the establishment of CePHMa,” said Prof Van Schalkwyk.
CePHMa is the only centre of its kind in Africa and is established to extend the expertise in plant health management in South Africa and in Africa, to train experts in plant health and to conduct multi-disciplinary research about the health of agricultural crops.

“CePHMa is a virtual centre comprising of ten disciplines applicable to crop production and crop protection,” said Prof Wijnand Swart, Chairperson of CePHMa during the opening ceremony.

“The UFS is the leading institution in Africa in terms of news crop development and manages three research programmes that concentrate on new crops, i.e. the New Crop Pathology Programme, the New Crop Development Programme and the Insects on New Crops Programme. Other applied research programmes that are unique to the UFS are genetic resistance to rust diseases of small grain crops and sustainable integrated disease management of field crops,” said Prof Swart.

“Because the expected growth in population will be 80% in 2020 in sub-Saharan Africa, the future demands of food produce in Africa will be influenced. Therefore research will in future be focused on ways to improve food security by employing agricultural systems that are economically viable and environmentally sound,” said Prof Swart.

“Thorough knowledge of the concept of holistic plant health management is crucial to meet the challenge and it is therefore imperative that innovative crop protection and crop production strategies, with particular emphasis on plant health, be adopted. This is why the Department of Plant Sciences initiated the establishment of CePHMA,” he said.

According to Prof Swart there is a shortage of expertise in plant health management. “The UFS has shown the potential to address the demand of the sub-continent of Africa regarding expertise training and CePHMa is the leader in southern Africa to provide in this need,” he said.

The appropriateness and quality of training in plant health management is reflected in the fact that students from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Malawi, Uganda, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania, Cameroon, Angola, Mozambique and Lesotho have already been trained or are in the process of being trained in at the UFS.

Scientists from CePHMa have forged partnerships with numerous national and international institutions including the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), various community trusts, seed, pesticide and agricultural chemical companies, in addition to overseas universities.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
21 October 2005

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