A Foucauldian critique of the development and the implementation of South African National Qualifications Framework

This study investigates the development and implementation of the South African National Qualifications Framework (NQF) since its conceptualisation in the early 1980s, up to 2005. Premised on the concern that power struggles are having a negative effect on the development and implementation of the NQF, the purpose of the study is to support improved future development and implementation of the NQF by describing the amalgamation of the different and contradictory views that support the development of an NQF that replaces all existing and divisive education and training structures in South Africa - the NQF discourse. A further purpose of the study is to reveal this NQF discourse as a system in which power is exercised, and then to make recommendations on minimising the negative effects of the power struggles. Based within a Foucauldian theoretical framework, the study includes an extensive review of local and international literature on NQF development and implementation that is used to develop an NQF typology to describe and analyse the various aspects of the NQF. The literature review is followed by a qualitative analysis, using Foucauldian archaeology and genealogy, of an empirical dataset containing 300 interviews (including focus groups) with NQF stakeholders, 90 responses to discussion documents and 72 news articles published between 1995 and 2005. The findings of the study confirm the initial concern that power struggles are having a negative effect on the development and implementation of the South African NQF. The findings also show that the very same power struggles can have positive effects, but that in the South African NQF discourse, the balance of power is skewed towards the negative. Importantly, it was found that NQF development and implementation cannot be divorced from power, and that rather than attempting to undermine power within the NQF discourse, efforts can be better spent on three focused activities: 1. Inculcating an understanding of the NQF as a social construct. 2. Improving the compatibility between the NQF and the South African context. 3. Bridging the entrenched differences between educationalism and vocationalism.Educational StudiesD. Ed. (Philosophy of Education

Learning for a Better Future

Various international scholars and associates of the PASCAL (Place, Social Capital and Learning Regions) International Observatory (Africa hub), under the auspices of the Centre for Local Economic Development (CENLED) based at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), have contributed chapters in this scholarly book. The book aims to demonstrate how a combination of globalisation, pandemics and the impact of innovation and technologies are driving towards a world in which traditional ideas are being challenged. The book carries forward a dual context and relevance: to South African social, educational, economic and cultural development, and the broader international context and action directed at how lifelong learning for all can be fostered in communities as a foundation for a just, human-centred, sustainable world. The distinctive contribution of this book to the production of a local body of knowledge lies in the symbiotic relationships between these objectives, so that South Africa could serve as a test case in working towards approaches that have a wider international significance

Learning for a Better Future

Various international scholars and associates of the PASCAL (Place, Social Capital and Learning Regions) International Observatory (Africa hub), under the auspices of the Centre for Local Economic Development (CENLED) based at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), have contributed chapters in this scholarly book. The book aims to demonstrate how a combination of globalisation, pandemics and the impact of innovation and technologies are driving towards a world in which traditional ideas are being challenged. The book carries forward a dual context and relevance: to South African social, educational, economic and cultural development, and the broader international context and action directed at how lifelong learning for all can be fostered in communities as a foundation for a just, human-centred, sustainable world. The distinctive contribution of this book to the production of a local body of knowledge lies in the symbiotic relationships between these objectives, so that South Africa could serve as a test case in working towards approaches that have a wider international significance

Career development within the context of the South African National Qualifications Framework

This article presents a descriptive account of the national approach to career development that is being introduced in South Africa through the establishment of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and Career Advice Service by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and the Department of Higher Education and Training. The article attempts to reflect on the approach followed by arguing for the recognition of the underlying career development theory and also by inviting constructive engagement from both the South African and international career development community. By recognising the emerging (also referred to as qualitative) approach to career counselling that is gaining favour in the international context, the article explores the influences on this emerging South African career counselling model. In particular, consideration is given to the important influence on the model through learnings from a career counselling centre established in the 1970s during the apartheid era, similar developments in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, as well as the findings of a comprehensive review of the career counselling landscape commissioned by SAQA in 2009 (Flederman 2009). The unique association of the national approach to career counselling with the South African NQF is put forward as a distinguishing factor with significant potential that needs to be further exploited