Political symbolism as policy craft : explaining non-reform in South African education after apartheid

The policy literature in developing countries is replete with narratives of 'failure' attributed to the lack of resources, the inadequacy of teacher training, the weak design of implementation strategy, and the problems of policy coherence. This research on education policymaking after apartheid presents the following puzzle: what if the impressive policies designed to change apartheid education did not have 'implementation' as their primary commitment? Drawing on data from seven detailed case studies, the construct of 'political symbolism' is proposed as a first step towards developing a more elaborate theory for explaining one of the most intractable problems in policy studies: the distance between policy ideals and practical outcomes

Mergers in South African higher education: theorising change in transitional contexts

Drawing on a study of five merger cases in recent South African higher education, this article examines why in each case, the mergers proceeded despite intense opposition from the entities affected and in a form and manner different from that envisaged by their state designers. It considers too, the inadequacies of existing merger theories to explain these two factors and draws on contingency theory to show how the merger outcomes were the product of a complex interplay between governmental macro-politics and institutional micropolitics in a context of political transition. It also exposes the assumption that policy implementation is a rational process in which institutional practice mirrors the formal intentions of government planners, arguing that the merger process in South Africa has to date been marked by behaviour and action that has been both irrational and incoherent as well as not necessarily in the interests of the higher educational process

Curriculum reform in South Africa : a critical analysis of outcomes-based education

Provides an analysis of outcomes-based education in South Africa. Issuance by Government of National Unity of curriculum-related reforms intended to democratize education; Elimination of inequalities in the post-apartheid education system; Criticism of the proposals given the social and educational context of South African schools

Mode 2 knowledge and institutional life: taking Gibbons on a walk through a South African university

This paper examines the response of a black university in South Africa to the challenges posed by the mode 2 knowledge thesis of Michael Gibbon. The case material is based on the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Durban Westville, which in the period 1999 - 2000 grappled with the implications of Gibbon's thesis for knowledge, inquiry and professional identity in a proposed university-industry partnership. The author argues that entrenched institutional rules and behaviours threaten to undermine any attempt to rethink the research and practice of engineering education even when such restructuring appears to work in the best interest of students

On the power of restraint in the writing of lives: Humanities Book Award 2018

CITATION: Jansen, J. D. 2018. On the power of restraint in the writing of lives : Humanities Book Award 2018. South African Journal of Science, 114(11/12), Art. #a0295, doi:10.17159/sajs.2018/a0295.The original publication is available at http://sajs.co.zaNo abstract available.https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/5818Publisher's versio

Probleem met die Afrikaner

Speech delivered at Cafe Riche 26 August 2005

Living in South Africa after apartheid

Until we can feel the pain and understand the pathologies of those whom we think are different from us, we cannot begin to bridge these huge social divides that still separate us as ordinary citizens

Autonomy and accountability in the regulation of the teaching profession : a South African case study

This article examines the struggles of the South African government to establish school-wide evaluation policies within post-apartheid institutions. It is demonstrated that even when such evaluation policies promise teacher development and whole-school improvement, there is significant resistance to government intervention in the school environment. It is also shown that even when individual schools express a willingness to participate in such evaluation actions, they remain deeply suspicious of, and even subvert, the original goals of these policies. The explanation for such behaviour is lodged within the troubled history of the apartheid inspection system, on the one hand, and on the underestimation in policy design of the deep-rooted suspicions of state surveillance systems even under the terms of a new democracy. In conclusion, the article shows how this fierce--though understandable--contestation of school-level autonomy actually works against the long-term developmental interests of both teachers and learners in South Africa's 29,000 schools

Response to the Second Steve Biko Colloquim (SBC)

Prof Jonathan Jansen honors the remembrance of one who had a profound influence on his life - Steve Bantu Biko.This speech was delivered Sunday 11th September 2005 at the Parktonian Hotel, Braamfontein, Johannesburg