Multi-scale analysis of timber framed structures filled with earth and stones

This paper deals with the seismic analysis of timber framed houses filled by stones and earth mortar using a multi-scale approach going from the cell to the wall and then to the house. At the scale of the elementary cells, experimental results allow fitting the parameters of a new versatile hysteretic law presented herein through the definition of a macro-element. Then, at the scale of wall, the numerical simulations are able to predict its behavior under quasi-static cyclic loading and is compared to experimental results allowing validating the macro-element model

(Individual) Responsibility in decolonising the university curriculum

Since the “#RhodesMustFall” and “#FeesMustFall” student protests of 2015 and 2016 there has been much written about decolonisation in South Africa, particularly in relation to the curriculum. However, not much has been written about individual responsibility in the process of decolonisation, which Fanon (1967) argued is a necessary condition for decolonisation. In this article I argue that the autobiographical method, currere is one form of decolonisation. I use currere to document my own journey of decolonisation. I conclude that taking individual responsibility in decolonising the university curriculum involves a lifelong affair of unlearning and relearning from which no one is exempt because even those leading the decolonial project take in coloniality on a daily basis. Such a lifelong affair will involve multiple cycles of currere’s four steps so that currere, as a form of decolonisation, becomes a spiral of multiple cycles

Viewpoint: Environmental Justice: Order-words and pass-words

Environmental justice, along with constructs such as environmental rights, has gained prominence in environmental discourse over the last three decades. These constructs have also migrated into education discourses including education policies. In South Africa environmental justice is a component of one of the key principles supporting South Africa’s recently implemented National Curriculum Statement. Despite these developments, there is still uncertainty as to what environmental justice means. Vincent (1998) analyses the term and concludes that it is a double category error since it does not rest well with either environmental theory or justice theory. I suggest that the angle of vision should shift from a focus on what environmental justice means to a focus on what it does and what it produces

Decolonisation and a third possibility for the university

Decolonisation has recently captured the attention of those who inhabit South African universities, mainly sparked by student protests of 2015 and 2016. In this article writing is used as a mode of inquiry to explore what it means to decolonise the university in a contemporary world that is confronted with crises of all kinds; political, economic, environmental, health, education, and so forth. A third world university is pitted against a first world university (the neoliberal university that accumulates) and a second world university (the university that critiques), not as a new utopian idea but as a university that scavenges on the scrap material of the first and second world universities to retool them for decolonial purposes. In doing so the article changes the angle of vision on decolonising the university in South Africa and elsewhere. The author thinks with la paperson’s ideas including hir notion of scyborg, which refers to people who use their agency to retool material of the first and second world universities to garner decolonial desires. A third possibility for the university jettisons the idea of a totalizing, utopian, decolonised university. What is possible is that the university can operate like a decolonised university, without being disengaged from the first and second world universities, signifying new ways of thinking/doing research, teaching, learning and community engagement. Keywords: critique, decolonial desires, decolonization, neoliberal university, third possibility, scyborg

Viewpoint: Against Environmental Learning: Why we need a Language of Environmental Education

As witnessed at the 2004 EEASA Conference, environmental learning is emerging as a popular term in environmental education discourses in South Africa. There are those who argue that there is no need to speak about environmental education in South Africa anymore since environment is embedded in the new curriculum frameworks for General Education and Training and Further Education and Training. All that is required is the (environmental) learning of what is defined in various education policies. In this viewpoint paper I contextualise ‘environmental learning’ within the emergence of a language of learning internationally. I raise some concerns about a language of learning and argue for a language of environmental education

Leading article: (Trans)disciplinary research (re)considered

In this article I review the emergence of transdisciplinary research and in particular the integrative approach to this category of research. I examine the potential of the integrative approach to achieve cognitive justice – whether it decentres Western science and gives equitable treatment to other ways of knowing such as indigenous knowledge. I aver that transformations that have occurred within discourses on transdisciplinary research have not changed the Western cultural archive itself and that Western science continues to dominate other ways of knowing in the integrative approach in transdisciplinary research. I draw on insights from Deleuze and Guattari to open up ways of reimagining transdisciplinary research as a decolonising process

Guattari’s Philosophy of Environment and its Implications for Environmental Education in (Post)Colonial Africa

In this essay I introduce Guattari’s philosophy of environment and focus in particular on his ecosophy which comprises three interlocking dimensions of self, society and nature. Guattari argues that integrated world capitalism is concerned more than anything else with the production of human subjectivity. He suggests that through its technological arm, the media, integrated world capitalism is producing human subjectivities that are domesticated, that is, passive, dull and uninspiring. The symptoms of the homogenising and normalising effects of integrated world capitalism are evident in suffering occurring in the three ecologies: environment, social and mental. Creating new ways of living (alternative to those configured by integrated world capitalism) requires the (re)singularisation of both individuals and institutions – their uniqueness should be reclaimed. Guattari points out that new ways of living are not to be achieved through macropolitical consensus but rather through micro-political dissensus – vectors of dissent open up possibilities for substantive change in serendipitous ways. Furthermore, transformative events in one of the ecologies can have similar effects in the other ecological domains. In my essay I explore some implications Guattari’s expanded idea of ecological niche has for environmental education in (post)colonial Africa. In doing so I give particular attention to the notion of sustainable development

Think Piece. Learning of Environment(s) and Environment(s) of Learning

As we reflect on the 30 years that have passed since the first intergovernmental conference on environmental education that was held in Tbilisi, Georgia, it might be useful to review how learning of environment(s) has changed over time and also how environment(s) of learning have changed. And also, what challenges these changes present for contemporary societies. The Tbilisi conference took place at a crucial time in human history, following sharpened awareness in the 1960s of human activity impacting negatively on natural systems. But, also a time when humans were still optimistic that environmental destruction could be reversed and that education might play a role in achieving it. What transpired at the conference might therefore be understood as a meeting where representatives of governments proactively defined objectives, goals and principles for guiding environmental education activities, in view of an impending socio-ecological crisis (at the time) (UNESCO-UNEP, 1978). The focus of this short essay is on learning, therefore we first draw attention to some of the Tbilisi Principles pertinent to learning of environments and environments of learning. The first Tbilisi Principle suggests that environmental education should consider the environment in its totality, implying that learning about/in/for environments should involve all dimensions of environments and how these  dimensions interact with one another. This Principle is linked to Principle 4 which states that the approach to learning should be interdisciplinary. Furthermore, Principle 2 states that learning should be a continuous lifelong process and Principle 8 states that learners should be active participants in planning their own learning experiences, and that they should make their own decisions as well as take responsibility for their decisions

Personality and Cognitive Ability as Predictors of the Job Performance of Insurance Sale People

The purpose of this study was to determine whether personality and a measure of cognitive ability (’verbal reasoning ability’) would significantly predict the job performance (’managerial ratings’) of sales people in a large South African insurance company. The Customer Contact Styles Questionnaire (CCSQ 5.2) and the Verbal Evaluation Test (VCC 3) were administered to 170 broker consultants, and their managers rated their job performance on the Customer Contact Competency Inventory (CCCI). By making use of multiple regression analysis it was found that certain personality dimensions significantly predict job performance, and that ’verbal reasoning ability’ did not have any significant predictive power. These findings, the implications thereof and suggestions for possible further research are discussed

The Role of Place-based Education in Developing Sustainability as a Frame of Mind

As the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014) draws to an end, one could pose the  question: what might education’s response be to a deepening environmental crisis as we move beyond the decade? Sustainability as a frame of mind presents a different perspective to that of sustainable development as a policy (the focus of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development) and therefore cultivating it through education might be a response that could take us forward. In this article we argue for an expanded notion of sustainability as a frame of mind, viewed through the lens of place-based/place-conscious education  and also informed by the metaphysics of ubuntu. The aim of the article is to introduce place-based education  and sustainability as a frame of mind as conceptual avenues for challenging educators to rethink  environmental  education as we enter an era beyond the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. We  do this by conceptually exploring the concepts of place-based and place-conscious education and how these  fairly new educational notions might assist in developing sustainability as a frame of mind. We also discuss the  educational implications of practising a pedagogy of place with specific reference to sustainability