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Retention of students with disabilities:  a holistic student-centred  support practice framework for academic success.

Presenter

An Alumna of the University of the Free State and the University of South Africa, Michelle-Heidi Frauendorf has been a professional learner support practitioner for the past thirty (30) years. She currently holds the position of Deputy Director at the University of South Africa: Western Cape campus. 

Her vision is to constantly enhance the delivery of a pro-active, efficient and relevant student support model at centres of teaching and learning within regional ambits of open and distance learning institutions. 

An activist by nature, she embraces unlimited enthusiasm and passion towards people and believe in the synergy created through collaboration and effective teamwork. Michelle-Heidi believes in the potential of human capital through agency, to which her personal values resonate well with the Unisa values of integrity, ethical work conduct and behaviour. 

Abstract

The South African White Paper for Post-School Education and Training was approved by the South African Government in November 2013. This White Paper contains important guidelines for the development and transformation of the higher education and training system. 

People with special needs form part of the transformation agenda in South Africa. Within the education sector, the Higher Education Act (1997) called on educational institutions to ensure that learners with special needs access a range of platforms to access education. The National Plan for Higher Education (2000) also obliges universities to increase access for learners with special needs. 

The changing Higher Educational landscape requires changes in the future business model at the University of South Africa (Unisa). It would require Unisa to be established as an e-university or virtual university.  It would also include the establishment of enabling teaching and learning policies and practices within Unisa to enhance effective access and efficient support for students with special needs in an attempt to optimise their academic performance in a student-centred supportive and enabling learning environment.   

The primary functions of student support as proposed by Alan Tait (2000):

1. cognitive: supporting and developing learning through the mediation of the standard and uniform elements of course materials and learning resources for individual students;

2. affective: providing an environment which supports students, creates commitment and enhances self-esteem; 

3. systemic: establishing administrative processes and information

The position of student support originates primarily out of a social constructivist approach where knowledge is created cognitively through participation in the learning process (the creation of meaning through participation). An enabling learning environment where students feel comfortable and valued is often a minimum requirement for such environments. The three student support focus areas are interrelated and interdependent, according to Tait (2000). 

The student profile with specific demographic criteria and characteristics is also an important factor to be taken into account in the development of student support services and enabling environments for students with disabilities to perform optimally in an academic environment.

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