The Archival Platform, a New Networking, Advocacy and Research Initiative

The Archival Platform is a new research, advocacy and networking project in South Africa, initiated in May 2009 and formally launched in November 2009. The “archive” is understood in this project as material traces of the past in public/private archives and collections, heritage sites and cultural practices. The Archival Platform aims to promote public engagement with and investment in the archive through networking and information sharing. It is fostered and supported by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the University of Cape Town (UCT) Archives and Public Culture Programme, and funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies

Perpetrating disaffection: Schooling as an international problem

This paper argues that, despite evidence of widespread disaffection, school is often regarded as the default position for educational provision, a given good. If there is disaffection with, and resistance to, schooling, then it is pupils and parents that are the problem, not school itself. Yet there is considerable evidence that schooling does not necessarily or automatically benefit either society as a whole or the individuals who attend and that, as a result, it creates disaffection with itself. Rejection of schooling is therefore very far from being an irrational or ill-considered act. The paper reviews evidence supporting this argument including both the failure of schools to protect young people from danger and violence and also their direct role in actively perpetrating violence and threatening the safety of those they are there to protect. The paper ends by arguing that disaffection with schooling stems from its fundamental nature and purposes which have been shaped by its historical origins. While schooling remains as it is, disaffection and resistance will continue to be an inbuilt and often logical response

The TESSA OER Experience: Building sustainable models of production and user implementation

This paper offers a review of the origins, design strategy and implementation plans of the Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA) research and development programme. The programme is working to develop new models of teacher education, particularly school based training, including the creation of a programme webspace and an extensive bank of Open Educational Resources. This paper identifies key research findings and literature which informed the TESSA approach and activity design. Drawing on participant experiences in different development activities and data generated in development testing activities, I offer a personal account of the programme to date. The paper concludes by suggesting a pattern of resource making and design that could be adopted by other programmes serving parallel development needs

Opening Spaces through Exhibiting Absences: Representing Secretive Pasts

This is the final version. Available on open access from Rowman & Littlefield via the ISBN in this recor

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - 2001 Annual Report

Contains President's message, program information, grants list, and financial statements

Were ethical and legal issues violated, or was the book Mandela’s Last Days censored?

No Abstrac

Educational access in south Africa: country analytic review

Meaningful access to education requires more than full enrolment; it requires high attendance rates, progression through grades with little or no repetition, and learning outcomes that confirm that basic skills are being mastered. This Review describes and explains patterns of access to schools in South Africa for children between the ages of 5 and 15 years. It outlines policy and legislation on access to education and provides a statistical analysis of learners enrolled in school, out-of-school children and learners vulnerable to exclusion. The quantitative data is supported by a review of research which explains the patterns of access and exclusion. The Review also analyses the way in which educational access is conceptualised, and identifies areas for future research