Prof. Julialet Rens
Moving in, moving through, moving beyond – educational transitions and the values that shape our journey...read more
Prof. Julialet Rens
Moving in, moving through, moving beyond – educational transitions and the values that shape our journey
Although the topic suggests an academic focus, this speech shares my personal story about how a long history of focusing on values has contributed to all the transitions made in my academic career. I applied these transitions to my own life, focusing on the values that guided my career. It also reflects on the projects that emerged from these transitions. These projects aligned with my own research foci, namely cultural diversity, culturally responsive teaching and social justice, which resonate in my teaching as well. “Moving in” reflected on my introduction to academia and my own studies, which expanded to projects that shaped my academic career. “Moving through” focused on my research, which also resonated in my teaching in the Faculty of Education and provided me with wonderful opportunities to work collaboratively with colleagues – nationally and internationally. I employed the knowledge and skills I had gained through projects on transition, social justice and equity, cultural diversity and values in education to shape my own journey of almost 35 years in the faculty. “Moving beyond” is the continuation of the projects in which I am involved and my collaboration with colleagues to develop these projects further.
Prof Eunice Ivala
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Towards holistic student success...read more
Prof Eunice Ivala
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Towards holistic student success
The use of technology in teaching and learning is implemented differently in different contexts. In some contexts, academics are trained into how to appropriately infuse technology in teaching and learning, while in other contexts academics are left to navigate the use of technology in teaching and learning without training ( Theodorio, Waghid & Wambua,2024). In the latter context, self-directed learning plays a big role, where academics need to formulate professional development (learning) goals for themselves to effectively integrate technology in their teaching (Wittmann & Olivier, 2019). Furthermore, research into the impact of staff development in integrating technology in teaching and learning and the impact of use on students’ learning is not conducted to inform practice. For instance, one wonders how staff members address the elements of the Community of Inquiry framework proposed by Fiock (2020), namely cognitive presence, social presence and teaching presence to ensure meaningful online experiences for students. This is partly because, globally, not every scholar accepts that scholarship of teaching and learning (scholarship of teaching) is research ( Gilstrap et al., 2023) and as a result, research, which could lead to improved teaching and learning and student success is undermined and not carried out. I add to this debate in this lecture, and I argue that all types of scholarships are research. I demonstrate how my over 90 research outputs, some published in Q1 and Q2 journal and by reputable publishers such as Routledge, Taylor and Francis were conceptualized, and how they have contributed to access to knowledge for both academics and students, advanced educational and technology acceptance theories, developed frameworks and resources for ensuring good capacity development to academics and equal access to knowledge for all students.