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How agile/responsive are post-school institutions to the dynamic South African higher education landscape?

Presenter

Professor Joy Papier is the Director of the Institute for Post-School Studies (IPSS) in the Faculty of Education at the University of the Western Cape (UWC).  She has been active in education, policy and development for about 25 years, as a school-teacher, university teacher educator, trainer, development worker and researcher. She holds the degrees of M.Phil (University of the Western Cape), M.Ed. (Harvard Univ, USA) and PhD (Education Policy) from the University of Pretoria. Her current research interests include TVET teacher education, TVET policy and development, vocational curricula policy, workplace and institutional cultures. She has published on vocational and general teacher education in several academic journals, presented at conferences and on public panels, participates in national government task teams and is an external examiner for numerous postgraduate dissertations in the field of post-schooling. Prof Papier was recognized for her work in education by the prestigious South African Mail and Guardian Book of Women in 2011. She was recently appointed South African Research Chair in Post-School Studies: TVET, a Chair which will be hosted by the IPSS at UWC. The South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) is funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and administered by the National Research Foundation (NRF).

Abstract

South African higher education has undergone significant change in the past decade, and largely the experience has been one of shifting ground where old certainties can no longer be relied upon. In this paper, the understanding of ‘post-schooling’ in SA is problematized to show the broadening of the higher education landscape beyond the traditional university, and the implications of this for student aspirations inter alia. Institutional responses at various levels have been cautious, partly due to the many official policies, which remain in progress. Proposals made in the White Paper for Post-School Education and Training (2013) have yet to be finalised, and will have to be tested in their implementation. While it would be desirable to make good decisions based on research, there is not sufficient empirical evidence, which can inform definitive decisions for our institutions; hence, some trial and error as we move forward will be inevitable. 

Questions that will be pursued in this presentation are as follows: 

• • What is post-schooling and who are these post-school institutions? 

  • What makes the South African higher education landscape so dynamic? 

  • How are agile or responsive institutions supposed to respond to the changing landscape? 

Presentation & Resources