Nestling national ‘transformation’ imperatives in local ‘servicing’ space: Critical reflections on an intergovernmental planning and implementation project

In this article, it is argued that South Africa’s post-1994 dream is marked by a tension between servicing and transformation – mutually supporting, but potentially also divergent set of intentions, processes and outcomes. Towards the end of 2006 the national Presidency in South Africa embarked on an ambitious project of using the spatial logic and principles of the National Spatial Development Perspective (NSDP) to structure a process of high-level intergovernmental and civil society dialogue, strategising, plan-preparation, resourceallocation and implementation in all District Municipalities in the country over a three-year period. This project, in which both authors were intensively involved, is used to illustrate this tension and need for convergence and balance  between servicing and transformation. The project context and key planning and governance challenges are described, the project outcomes highlighted, possible explanations for the findings probed, and the lessons learnt, documented.&nbsp

Corruption Perception and Sustainable Development: Sharing Botswana’s Anti-Graft Agency Experiences

Unethical practices and corruption issues have become one of the greatest challenges to Africans and their leaders, threatening to undermine economic growth, democratic stability and sustenance, and general developmental efforts. Against this background, this paper examines corruption perception in Africa using indicators of Transparency International as benchmark. The costs of corruption to the continent’s progress were highlighted. The paper also focused on Botswana’s efforts to fight corruption through its Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC). The factors that have aided the qualified successes of the anti-corruption efforts as well as lessons that may be learnt by other African countries were discussed

Crossing borders between education and work-places

This paper presents a case study on workplace learning were Swedish and Norwegian public authorities participated in an academic course in business process modelling. The aim has been to develop an understanding of how partners in a transnational project can build bridges between the academic teaching and the students’ local learning at work. A sociocultural framework was applied in the study focusing on the use of tools, the building of knowledge and learning in the zone of proximal development, the crossing of boarders, and interaction and networking between activities. The source of data consisted of interviews, surveys, observations, data from learning management system, and student’s reports. Analyse of the data was based on four dialogical learning mechanisms – identification, coordination, reflection and transformation. Our findings show that students’ local cases acted as key drivers for their developmental process, as the course transformed from distribution of information to case based knowledge building process at local work places. A mutual learning process occurred when teacher and students taught each other in a zone of proximal development. Further, the use of business model techniques made the interpretation of academic discipline easier, since it created a common language that served as a foundation for shared understanding when they discussed their local cases

The role of intergovernmental relations in service delivery: a case study of the community development worker programme within the Umsunduzi local municipality and Ugu district municipality.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2019.South Africa is a society that is characterised by various inequalities as a result of the apartheid system. The advent of democracy came with promises of equality and a better life for all through, among others, improved delivery of services; however, these have not come to fruition. Citizens remain in poverty due to a range of factors. This has led to the country witnessing regular service delivery related protests which are a manifestation of dissatisfaction with a slow pace of service delivery. The Community Development Worker Programme (CDWP) was introduced to address the challenges of poor service delivery and to empower communities through improved and accelerated delivery of services. The programme ensures that the activities of the three spheres of government are coordinated and integrated to achieve a holistic delivery of services. The success of the programme is therefore dependent on the cooperation of the three spheres of government; hence intergovernmental relations (IGR) is vital to the success of the programme. Since its inception, the CDWP’s success in achieving its mandate is yet to be attested to, as witnessed by the ever increasing number of service delivery protests. As IGR has been identified as one of the major contributor to the programme’s inability to deliver on its mandate, this study was undertaken to understand the role of IGR in serviced delivery and also to investigate the IGR factors that affect the success of the CDWP. In exploring these factors, the study employed a qualitative research design wherein a case study method was used as a strategy of inquiry. The sample of the study consisting of senior managers for municipalities, Community Development Workers (CDWs), local councilors, ward committee members and ordinary community members were selected purposively from the population of Ugu district and Umsunduzi local municipalities. Data was collected using structured one-on-one and focus group interviews as methods of data collection. The data was analysed using thematic analysis technique. The findings of the study have indicated that IGR plays a vital role in promoting co-operative government amongst the three spheres of government within the CDWP. The findings further identify IGR factors and elements which affect the success of the programme. The study concludes by recommending the promotion of cooperative government by establishing strategies for continuous involvement of all employees in IGR activities. It further recommends the promotion of IGR as part the performance agreements for senior managers. Lastly, the study recommends the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation framework for IGR implementation

Transition, Decoding and Heutagogy; A strategy for improving undergraduate learning in sport, health and exercise.

Heutagogy, an established concept in educational literature, puts an emphasis on the development of a student’s ability to understand how they learn certain skills and abilities. To gain a clearer understanding on the implementation of heutagogy within the higher education environment, the present study considered the adoption of heutagogical approaches with students at University. A review of the literature was conducted to understand the use of pedagogy and andragogy in higher education and how a heutagogical approach could create a self-directed learning experience. Contemporary research has evidenced that the implementation of heutagogy at higher education encourages students to develop highly employable skills such as determination and initiative. In contrast, it has been discovered that students find heutagogy to be challenging, therefore a progressive development from pedagogy to andragogy to heutagogy is required. Nevertheless, the beneficial outcomes are apparent to educators and students, and increase employability rates. The beneficial learning outcomes of heutagogical learning such as employability and self-directed learning is discussed

The Animal Sexes as Historical Explanatory Kinds

Though biologists identify individuals as ‘male’ or ‘female’ across a broad range of animal species, the particular traits exhibited by males and females can vary tremendously. This diversity has led some to conclude that cross-animal sexes (males, or females, of whatever animal species) have “little or no explanatory power” (Dupré 1986: 447) and, thus, are not natural kinds in any traditional sense. This essay will explore considerations for and against this conclusion, ultimately arguing that the animal sexes, properly understood, are “historical explanatory kinds”: groupings that can be scientifically significant even while their members differ radically in their current properties and particular histories. Whether this makes them full-fledged natural kinds is a question I take up at the very end

Inclusive Pedagogies

Building on the principles explored in Foundations of Intercultural Teaching, this resource introduces educators to educational strategies that can foster more inclusive, equitable, and just classroom environments

Best Practices for Designing an Undergraduate Engineering Curriculum

This article offer examples of best practices for planning instructional learning within the naturalistic setting and based on real learning experiences. The inquiry, based on practices and strategies proven successful in an undergraduate engineering class is the focus of this best practices article. This article is also a useful guide for administrators, practitioners, and undergraduate educators who make decisions on instructional delivery and scholarship. The instructional activities offer core instruction and curriculum modules on best practices for effective college instruction