Faculty of Arts and Design
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Item Putting forward sustainability as a model for journalism education and training(Informa UK Limited, 2024-01-01) Booker, Nancy; Mutsvairo, Bruce; Baliah, Dinesh; Adjin-Tettey, Theodora Dame; Holt, Kristoffer; Tallert, Lars; Mujati, JeanAfrican journalism practice presents unique opportunities and challenges that require journalists to be equipped with the necessary skills, knowledge, and values to engage in sustainable journalism. Training institutions play a critical role in ensuring that journalists are not only professionally-ready to execute their mandate but also that they can safeguard and promote ethical values in their everyday work. Some of these values include “truth telling, independence, objectivity, fairness, inclusivity and social justice” (Gade, Nduka, and Dastger 2017, 10). Africa, like other regions of the Global South, has several journalism training institutions that provide an opportunity to challenge “hegemonic epistemologies and ontologies of Western-centric journalism studies” (Mutsvairo et al. 2021, 993). In the context of this submission, the present study investigates the current state of sustainable journalism in Africa. We examined data based on a syllabi analysis of journalism programs in Kenya, South Africa and Ghana to appraise what role sustainable journalism education and training could play in Africa. Findings show that efforts are already in place across select learning and training institutions but also point to profound gaps in the curriculum, pedagogy and resources needed to prepare journalists for sustainable journalism.Item A museum theatre approach to museum communication in Durban, South Africa(Durban University of Technology, 2024) Omoruan, Daniel; Omoera, Osakue; Usadolo, Sam ErevbenagieThis article explores how museum communication can be enhanced in museums in Durban, South Africa, using the Old Court House Museum (OCHM) in Durban, South Africa, as a point of departure for analysis and discussion. The aim is to close the gap between the humanities disciplines through disciplinary hybridisation while focusing on exploring the intersection of theatre arts and museums through applied theatre (AT) strategies to enhance museum communication. Grounded in Richard Schechner’s multidisciplinary approach to performance studies (PS), it incorporates the viewpoints of Dwight Conquergood on PS. The argument is that the humanities disciplines are historically and conceptually linked through cultural performance. The research employs qualitative methods, including historical-analytic analysis, key informant interviews (KIIs), and direct observation. The findings suggest the practice of the museum theatre (MT) concept in some parts of the South African cultural ecosystem, but with scant attention on Durban municipal museums.Item Unveiling shadows : tracking youth disengagement from the church(Diligentia: Journal of Theology and Christian Education, 2024) Ntsanwisi, SamuelThe idea of human belief in curses poses a problem for the curse part in Psalms. Problem of misunderstanding the curses part of Psalm 83:1-19 arises among believers. Quite often, critical evaluation addresses the correct understanding of the curse part of Psalms because it contains such complex values. Critical evaluation is a part of revelation that creates ethical issues in the lives of believers. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to provide a critical evaluation to understand the curse part of Psalm amidst the phenomenon of ethical issues in the lives of believers in order to knows the purpose of a psalmist in the actualization of God's morals through this study and enrich the church's understanding of the curse part of Psalm that are rarely understood correctly.Item The changing landscape of teaching and learning : how adult students view online approaches at a university in South Africa(2023-11-17) Thusi, Zamalotshwa Florence Thembisile; Tawiah, SampsonAs university lecturers of an education program, we aim to enhance community college lecturers' social and economic well-being, empowering them with skills for employment and community development. We respond to the need to train lecturers and prospective Adult and Community Education lecturers in South Africa. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our traditional content delivery method has shifted to online teaching and learning. This shift can negatively and positively impact adult students' learning processes. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the perceptions of students involved in online teaching and learning approaches. To achieve this, we adopted a qualitative approach and an experimental design, collecting data from 22 students deemed information-rich. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze the data collected, and the results positively reflected the relevance of the education program and online teaching and learning. Based on the emergent results, we recommend proper funding and close monitoring of the entire education programme to ensure quality delivery using online approaches.Item Value and limitations of broad brush surveys used in community-randomized trials in Southern Africa(SAGE Publications, 2019-04) Bond, Virginia; Ngwenya, Fredrick; Murray, Emma; Ngwenya, Nothando; Viljoen, Lario; Gumede, Dumile; Bwalya, Chiti; Mantantana, Jabulile; Hoddinott, Graeme; Dodd, Peter J.; Ayles, Helen; Simwinga, Musonda; Wallman, Sandra; Seeley, JanetWe describe and reflect on a rapid qualitative survey approach called "Broad Brush Survey" (BBS) used in six community-randomized trials (CRTs)/studies in Zambia and South Africa (2004-2018) to document, compare, classify, and communicate community features systematically for public health and multidisciplinary research ends. BBS is based on a set sequence of participatory qualitative methods and fieldwork carried out prior to a CRT intervention and/or research by social scientists to generate rapid community profiles using four key indicators: physical features, social organization, networks, and community narratives. Profiling makes apparent similarities and differences, enabling comparison across communities and can be facilitated by an ideal model of open-closed systems. Findings have provided practical outputs (e.g., community profiles) and academic opportunities (e.g., community typologies). The BBS approach enables complex social landscapes to be incorporated in CRTs. This method has proven to be useful, adaptable and to have multidisciplinary appeal.Item A reflection on ethical and methodological challenges of using separate interviews with adolescent-older carer dyads in rural South Africa.(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2019-07-08) Gumede, Dumile; Ngwenya, Nothando B.; Namukwaya, Stella; Bernays, Sarah; Seeley, JanetThis article discusses our reflections on ethical and methodological challenges when conducting separate interviews with individuals in dyads in the uMkhanyakude district, South Africa. Our work is embedded in an ethnographic study exploring care relationships between adolescents and their older carers in the context of a large-donor funded HIV programme. We use these reflections to discuss some of the challenges and present possible management strategies that may be adopted in conducting dyadic health research in resource-poor settings.Methods
Drawing from the relational agency, three rounds of separate interviews and participant observation were undertaken with dyads of adolescents aged between 13 and 19 and their older carers aged 50+ from October 2017 to September 2018. A reflexive journal was kept to record the interviewer's experiences of the whole research process. We identified methodological and ethical challenges from these data during the thematic analysis.Results
A total of 36 separate interviews were conducted with six pairs of adolescent-older carer dyads (n = 12 participants). Five themes emerged: recruitment of dyads, consenting dyads, confidentiality, conducting separate interviews with adolescents and older carers, and interviewer-dyad interaction. We also illustrated how we dealt with these challenges.Conclusions
Results from this study can guide the recruitment, consenting and collecting data for health studies that employ a similar form of enquiry in LMICs. However, ethical and methodological challenges should be recognised as features of the relationships between cross-generation dyads rather than weaknesses of the method.Item Linguistic landscaping in selected South African universities : case studies of University of Cape Town (UCT) and University of the Western Cape (UWC)(2019) Adekunle, Temitope Oluwakemi; Mheta, Gift; Maleshoane Rapeane-Mathonsi, Ernestina"Language is, then, positively a distinctly human opening of an opening to the world: Not just a distinguishable or instrumental but a constitutive faculty." Williams (1977: 23) The dissertation explored the linguistic landscaping (LL) of University of Cape Town (UCT) and University of the Western Cape (UWC). The study’s purpose was to analyse language forms or modes as they are utilised in disseminating information in the public places of the Main Campus (UWC) and the Upper Campus (UCT), since Kress (2012: 205) asserts that modes are interactive channels of communication. The study was guided by five objectives (the usage of modes as forms of communication in the selected universities, the modes used to represent signs in the selected universities, the influence of cultural overtones on language use and choice, the historical and current significant semiotic symbols and signs used in the selected South African universities, and the depiction of power relations in the LL of the selected universities), which ultimately guided data collection and analysis. The interpretive paradigm was employed and it informed the researcher’s choice of Multimodality (MDA - Pienaar and Becker 2007) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA - Kress 2003b) as theoretical frameworks and methods of analysis. They enhanced the structuring, collection, analyses and interpretation of data (written, drawn, images, among others), while also providing several means of interpreting and detecting hidden patterns in modes. An in- depth qualitative study was conducted using an explorative case study design and data were collected by means of visual-photography. A digital camera and a phone camera were used to take photographs of signs/texts inside the campuses. A total of 400 data were initially, purposively collected, however, 200 were finally selected for analysis (100 from each university), as they were deemed suitable for the study’s scope, aim, objectives and questions. The research revealed the services, and schools of thought that exist on both campuses, which may also be true reflectors of ‘the norm’ at the universities. There were inconsistencies in the linguistic structures, with regard to language practice and policy, as well as the observed political, social, and religious dynamics on the campuses. This raised curiosity regarding the effectiveness of language policy (the nation/institution), in relation to the language practices of the institutions. Furthermore, the researcher determined the influence of language as a door that opens other doors, due to the utilised modal resources. Authors seem to deliberately select texts envisioned to attract a specific audience. A few texts were resemiotised, while others were modified ideas/concepts - adopted from foreign or different texts, and languages (intertextuality). The researcher additionally identified elements of discursive silence, which facilitated a broader analysis of some identified power dynamics, relevance of time and space, as well as their impact on the LLs of the universities. Degenderisation of the disabled was also one of the key findings and it was examined from the perspective of the services (for instance, toilet spaces) rendered, as opposed to the beneficiaries of those services. Recommendations focused on the definitive promotion of genuine language practices in accordance with the language policy of the country and province in which both universities are located. Emphasis was placed on the reformation of language practice at the universities, which could impact the observed power dynamics, authorship autonomy, and unbiased and accurate historical/political information. This move can possibly promote inclusivity, racial integration, international recognition, and global marketing for the universities and South Africa (SA) as a whole. The findings provide enlightenment about the current LLs at the universities and contribute to knowledge on language practice in multicultural/ multilingual settings. A framework for LL was created based on the study’s findings, which could be relevant to the South African multicultural and multilingual context. It accentuates the need for a conscious production of texts (to accommodate a broad readership) and an adequate examination of modes (to determine both the existing and hidden elements of discourse and/or discursive practices) in the LLs of SA’s public and private establishments.