Southern African Rurality in Higher Education

SARiHEProjectOverviewFinalColloquium

29thMay2019,Johannesburg

SueTimmis,PatriciaMuhuro,KibbieNaidoo

Southern African Rurality in Higher Education

PRINCIPALINVESTIGATORS:

SUETIMMISUniversityofBristolTHEADEWETUniversityofJohannesburgBRENDALEIBOWITZ(2016-April2018)UniversityofJohannesburg

CO-INVESTIGATORS:

EMMANUELMGQWASHURhodesUniversity

PATRICIAMUHUROUniversityofFortHare

SHEILATRAHARUniversityofBristol

LISALUCASUniversityofBristol

GINAWISKERUniversityofBrighton

KIBBIENAIDOOUniversityofJohannesburg

TheSARiHEprojecthasinvestigatedhowstudentsnegotiatethetranstionfromschoolandhomeinruralcontextsto‘universitylearning’Afocusonivedspaces,practices,artefacts1.Howlearninginruralcontextshelpedorinhibitedstudents’negotiationofthetransitionintoandthroughhighereducation2.ChallengesforstudentsfromruralareasfacingHEcurriculawhichremainimbuedwithcolonialism3.Howcanwedevelopinclusiveandlivingcurricula,buildingontheexperiencesofallstudents,includingthosefromruralcontexts?

Southern African Rurality in Higher Education

•  Socialencountersinwhichthepositionsofthosetakingpartmatter,theyaresociallyandculturallyorganisedandlocatedinparticulartimesandplaces.

•  Historicalphenomena-shapedbyactivitiesofparticipants

•  Howweactwhenencounteringandparticipatinginnew‘figuredworlds’givesrisetoandshapesouridentities

•  Positionalidentities-‘day-to-dayandonthegroundrelationsofpower,deferenceandentitlement,socialaffiliationanddistance–withthesocial-interactional,social-relationalstructuresofthelivedworld’(p127).

•  Figurativeidentities-‘thestories,actsandcharactersthatmaketheworldaculturalworld’(p127).

•  Improvisation–theinterplayofhabitusandagency

Identityandagencyinfiguredworlds(Hollandetal,1998)

Allowsustoexploretheinfluencesoftheruralfiguredworldsuponthenewworldsofhighereducationandtheimprovisationsstudentsmake

Decolonisation versus decoloniality

•  Decolonisation–‘acomplexlymutatingentity’(Mbembe,2016,32)

•  Mgqwashu(2016)-grandnarratives,includingthatof“decolonisation”tendtosilence“localnarratives”.

•  Decoloniality-dealingdecisivelywithcolonialvestigesinknowledgegenerationtraditionsandknowledgeitself,psychologicalenslavementandasenseofunworthinessengineeredformanycenturiesoverthecolonisedthroughcolonialinstitutionssuchasschoolsanduniversities

(Ndlovu-Gatsheni,2014).

Southern African Rurality in Higher Education

•  ‘CentringKnowledgeinRelationtoPlace’–centretheknowledgeinthecurriculumbyfocusingthatwhichismostfamiliarorrelevanttopeople,..inthecaseofAfricans,AfricanKnowledge’.•  ‘AnEcologyofKnowledges’-studentswouldberequiredtobecome‘multi-lingualthenmulti-epistemic’sothat‘studentswouldneedtobecomeproficientinarangeofknowledges,andhaveanappreciationoftheirpurposesandrelevance.•  ‘DecolonisingKnowledgefromtheOutside’–studentsfromdifferentsociallocationscometogethertolearn–withsomeuncomfortablelearningexperiences.

Non-hegemonizingApproachestoKnowledge(Leibowitz,2017)

SouthernAfricanRuralityinHigherEducation

INSTITUTIONALCONTEXTCooper(2015)classificationofHEIinSouthAfrica•  UniversityofJohannesburg

UrbancomprehensiveBalancedfocusonresearch,teachingandtechnology

•  UniversityofFortHareRural,previouslydisadvantagedTeaching-led

•  RhodesUniversityOnlyresearch–intensiveuniversityinaruralarea,Historicallywhiteuniversity,previouslyadvantaged

Southern African Rurality in Higher Education

•  ‘Co-researchermodelofparticipation’ina‘communityofinquiry’(Timmis&Williams,2013)

•  Participatoryresearch–isa‘decolonisingmode’(Bozalek,2011),asitavoidsadeficitpositioningofstudents.

•  NarrativeInquiryprinciples•  Unitofanalysis-practices

•  Datagenerationwithco-researchers•  Longitudinal(ApriltoDec2017)at3

sites(UJ,RhodesandFortHare)•  Approx24studentsfromSTEMand

Humanitiesateachsite(72intotal)•  Sevendatagenerationsessions

(plusexternalsettings)•  Allco-researchersgivenanipad–

producingmulti-modalartefacts(Evernote)

•  2daycollaborativedataanalysisandpublishinginitiative

•  DatagenerationwithAcademicsandSeniorManagers

Methodology

SouthernAfricanRuralityinHigherEducation

MethodologicalReflectionsonusingparticipatorymethodologyintheSARiHEProject

Sampling strategy

SouthernAfricanRuralityinHigherEducation ATTRIBUTESOFPARTICIPATORYMETHODOLOGY

MultimodalMethods

SouthernAfricanRuralityinHigherEducation

DATACOLLECTION

•  Selectionofco-researchers–snowballsamplingusingthematrix(firstpresentation)•  Purposivesampling–firstgenerationintouniversity,secondyearintheuniversity,STEMandHumanitiesdisciplines•  Questionnairetodeterminesuitability

Southern African Rurality in Higher Education

WelcomingEvent(rulesof

engagement,ruralityis)

LearninginruralareasP1(iPads),formSARiHE

researchcommunity

Learninginruralareasp2(critical

incident)(collectionofartifacts)

Transitiontohighereducation

Learningatuniversity

LearningandValues Sharingdocumentaries

SouthernAfricanRuralityinHigherEducation DEALINGWITHCHALLENGESEXPEREINCED

• Differentinstitutionalcontexts(constraintandenabling)•  Expertiseofco-investigators• Gainingentryanddifferingexpectations• UseofiPadsduringtheinitialdatagathering• Developingrapportandhandlingethics• Dedicatingtime

SouthernAfricanRuralityinHigherEducation LESSONSFORFUTURERESEARCHINSIMILARCONTEXTS

• Ruralstudentsarenothomogenous,neitherareuniversitycontexts-needtoadapt• Useofauniformdatagatheringguideoffsetsomecontextualchallenges–butbringsupothers• Multimodalresearchisidealtooffsetlanguagechallenges•  Longitudinaldatacollectionisidealinenablingrapportandtrust

Southern African Rurality in Higher Education

TheSARiHEproject:KeyFindings

Southern African Rurality in Higher Education

Strengthsandopportunitiesfromrurallife•  Responsibilityforareasofworkwithinthefamily

andcommunity.

•  Livinginresource-constrainedenvironmentshelpstomanageresourceconstraintsinuniversitylife.

•  Strongsupportfromsomemembersofthecommunitysuchasfamilymembers,principals,teachersandsiblings.

•  Tasksandpracticestypicalofrurallife,suchascattleherding,mayprovideopportunitiestoacquireskillsthatcanbecarriedoverintoschoolingoruniversity.

•  Morecommunalandgroup-orientedapproachesencourageacademicsuccessatschoolandatuniversity(butsometimesconflictwithuniversityethos-achallengeaswellasastrength).

Southern African Rurality in Higher Education

•  Perceptionbyruralstudentsthattheyneedto‘adapt’,‘adjust’or‘fitit’,andformany,thetransitionfromruralareastoHEischallenging:

•  ‘...itischallengingformepersonallybecauseIfeltlikeIwasnotaccommodatedasyouknow,achildfromtheruralareas,butatthesametimeuniversityisuniversity,lifemustgoon,youmustjusttrytofindawaytofitin.’(discussiongroup,R.U.,25March2017,F.)

•  ‘Youhavetochangeandthecurriculumjuststaysthesame.’(discussiongroup,R.U.,2May2017,F).

•  Otherco-researchersactivelyresistadaptation:‘Adaptingtothechangesmeanschangingmylifestyle-thatisclosetoimpossible.ThereisaXhosasayingthatgoes"ungamkhuphaumntuezilalinikodwaawunakuzikhuphaiilaliemntwini".ThismeansthateventhoughI'mnolongerintherurals,thevaluesIgottherecanneverbeerased.Theeducationsystemherepurposelyorotherwisefavoursthosewhogrewupinsuchprivilegedlifestylesandthatisofgreatdisadvantagetoruralstudents…’(GoogleDocs,R.U.,April2018,F.)

Negotiatingthetransitiontouniversity

Southern African Rurality in Higher Education

Becomingauniversitystudent•  Outreachtosupportaccessintoruralschoolsandcommunitieswaspatchy

•  Widespreadreportsoflackofaccesstotechnologyandwifiinfrastructureinruralareas

•  Feelinginitiallypowerless–lossofagency•  Poverty,crimeandpersonalsafety,inabilitytopayfees,residencefacilities,lackoffood

•  Language/lackoffamiliaritywithEnglishasmediumofcommunicationatuniversity•  Significantchallengeswithtechnologyatuniversity–deficitledsupportmodels•  Lackofknowledge/experienceinpedagogicpractices,e.g.scientificexperiments,

equipment.•  Perceptionthatnon-ruralstudentsaremoreadvanced-oftenafraidtoaskforhelpfor

fearofseeming‘stupid’•  Perceptionofdifferentialtreatmentofblackandwhitestudentsbywhitelecturers

Southern African Rurality in Higher Education

‘…youknowwhattheDeansaidtosomepeopleatthebeginningoftheyearwhenyouwannatakeCompSci?“YoupeoplewilllikenottrytotakeCompSci…youdon’tevenknowhowtoswitchonthecomputer”…Yougetthere,theysay“designyourowngame”…’(discussiongroup,R.U.,1April2017).

Transitionsintonewworlds

‘IhadnophoneandIdidn’tevenknowinternetandgoogle,evenacomputer.IsawonewhenIwenttoapply[touniversity]...whenyougettotheinternetcafé,youaskstrangerstoassistyou.’(discussiongroup,R.U.,22July2017,F).‘I’mstudyingMicroBiologyandBiochemistryand..Youcometouniversityandlikeourpracticalsmostofthetimeweusethingslikemicroscopesandyouhaveneverseenamicroscopeinyourlifeandneverusedonebefore,andeveryoneissobusylikeyoudon’tknowwhattodo,youdon’tknowwhattotouch…..‘(discussiongroup,R.U.,25March2017).

Southern African Rurality in Higher Education

•  Someruralstudentsinitiallysocialisedwithpeoplefromsimilarbackgroundswhospokethesamelanguages,andthentheyintegratedwithstudentsfromdifferentbackgroundsandraces.

•  TheyjoinedarangeofsocietiesandgroupstoeasethetransitionfromruralareastoH.E.institutions.

•  Digitaltechnologiesenableinformallearningpractices:

•  ‘Learningatuniversityisnotaseasyasitwasbackinhighschool.Youcannotdoeverythingonyourownandneedthehelpofyourpeerseverynowandthen…myHumanPhysiologylaboratorygroupcreated[aWhatsAppgroup]sothatwecanhelpeachotherwithourwork...’(Evernote,U.J.,24August2017,F.)

Socialandtechnologicalresourcesdrawnupon

Southern African Rurality in Higher Education

•  Importanceofrecognisinglearningasoccurringacrossvariouslivedspaces–thisresearchpointstotheimportanceofruralexperiences

•  Howareruralstudentsmisrecognised?•  Howcanwe,inHEopenupspacesfortherecoveryofagencyofruralstudentsandwhatmightthosespaceslooklike?

•  Theexperiencesofruralstudentscanbegintomakeacontributiontoepistemicbecoming–butonlyiftheir‘largelyignoredstruggles’arelistenedto

•  …andtheknowledgesandpracticesthattheybringtouniversityfromtheirruralareasareacknowledged,celebratedandintegratedintocurricula/structures

Positioning,identitiesandagency

Southern African Rurality in Higher Education

Southern African Rurality in Higher Education

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