The #FeesMustFall and #RhodesMustFall student protests accelerated the call for a decolonised higher education space. Much complexity and debate exists around the notion of a decolonised curriculum, ...how to frame it, describe it and/or enact it. Within this debate, the positionality and identity of individuals who design, implement, and evaluate curricula are important. The purpose of this article is to reflect on how theory-informed pedagogical reflections can assist in our understanding of decolonisation. The four educator reflections include our personal accounts of pedagogical philosophies, methodologies, and practices. A major focus is social work, which aims to enhance the well-being of all persons especially the disadvantaged, the marginalised and the voiceless. Through belonging to a community of practice, we embarked on the process of articulating our voice, positionality, and identity and how this informs our teaching, which is both personal and political within a South African higher education context. We provide our ways of knowing regarding how we (try) to contribute to social justice and equity ideals. We conclude with our consolidated view on an envisioned, decolonised education in the global South context. We recommend an approach that values ongoing, collective reflection, critical questioning, and agitation of how a decolonised curriculum can be envisaged. The contribution that this article makes is in the value of collective reflection, coupled with embracing personal stories/biographies to theorise decolonisation.
Despite increasing recognition that health-systems constraints are the fundamental barrier to attaining anti-retroviral therapy (ART) scale-up targets in Sub-Saharan Africa, current discourses are ...dominated by a focus on
sustainability. Utilizing the health system dynamics framework, this study aimed to explore the interactions in health system components and their influence on the sustainability of ART scale-up implementation in Uganda.
This study entailed qualitative organizational case-studies within a two-phased mixed-methods sequential explanatory research design. In Phase One, a survey of 195 health facilities across Uganda which commenced ART services between 2004 and 2009 was conducted. In Phase Two, six health facilities were purposively selected for in-depth examination involving i) In-depth interviews
ii) and semi-structured interviews (
). Qualitative data was analyzed by coding and thematic analysis. Descriptive statistics were managed in STATA (v 13).
Five dynamic interactions in ART program sustainability drivers were identified; i) Failure to update basic ART program records contributed to chronic ART medicines stock-outs ii) Health workforce shortages and escalating patient volumes prompted adaptations in ART service delivery models iii) Broader governance issues manifested in poor road networks undermined ART medicines supply chains iv) Sustained financing for ART programs was influenced by external donors v) The values associated with the ownership-type of a health facility affected ART service delivery and coverage.
The sustainability of ART programs at the facility-level in Uganda is a function of a complex interaction in elements of the health system and must be understood beyond sustaining international funding for ART scale-up
South Africa has the highest number of HIV-infected people in the Southern African Region, and of great concern is the fact that cases of new infections among young people, especially young women and ...girls, are on the increase. The prevalence of HIV and deaths caused by AIDS are still on the increase, whereas condom use, particularly in rural areas, remains low. Consistent condom use is central to the prevention of unwanted pregnancies, HIV, and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs); yet, young men and women alike are hesitant to use condoms because of threats to their relationships, cultural roles, and, at times, economic survival. This study explored the views of customarily married housewives regarding condom use negotiation with their husbands. The findings point toward the need to empower women while they are still young so that they can be assertive, financially independent, and able to make their own decisions with regard to their sexuality.
Caregivers hold different attitudes and feelings towards their children. Consequently, interactions between caregivers and their children differ from child to child, thereby perpetuating differential ...parenting. The act of favouring one child over the other is regarded as differential parenting, and it causes animosity between siblings, parents and within the entire family. This study explored the views of caregivers concerning factors that instigate differential parenting in Katlehong, Johannesburg. The study was qualitative in nature and an exploratory design was employed in the study. A snowball sampling technique was utilised and one-onone interviews were conducted to gather data. A semi-structured interview schedule was used to guide the interviews. Findings indicated that differential parenting is an unequal treatment of children, and that, it is perpetuated by a number of factors including behaviours of children and the socio-economic status of the family. The study proved that differential parenting has more negative effects than positive, as such caregivers need to be equipped with skills on parenting.
Child and Youth Care Centres (CYCCs) play a significant role in accommodating children who are victims of abuse, neglect and abandonment in South Africa. However, professionals in these settings face ...a dilemma, as they often cannot accommodate every child's cultural needs. This study explored the cultural challenges experienced by adolescent boys living at a CYCC in Ekurhuleni. Findings indicate that CYCCs are doing an excellent job at ensuring a nurturing environment for the children. However, it also emerged that there are challenges related to preserving the culture of children as a result of constraints of resources and limited staff diversity.
Informal social security, particularly Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs), popularly known as stokvels in South Africa, are widely used within the developing world, especially in ...sub-Saharan Africa due to the weak and/or non-existence of formal social security. These stokvels remain a major form of social protection for the poor, and their continued existence is a reflection of the absence of a comprehensive formal social security. The study explored the views of stokvel members on how stokvels, as a form of informal social security, can be strengthened to provide meaningful social protection. The study adopted a case study research design, located within a qualitative paradigm. The study population consisted of women members of stokvels with a minimum of five years in the stokvel. All participants were South African citizens residing in Johannesburg's Soweto Township, and were drawn from two different categories of stokvels, namely burial and accumulating savings and grocery stokvels. A key informant holding a strategic position in the National Stokvels Association of South Africa (NASASA) was recruited to be part of the study.. Regulation and integration of stokvels with formal institutions, provision of financial support to stokvels through subsidies, and training of stokvel members on financial management skills emerged as part of strategies to be considered in order to strengthen the social protection provisioning of stokvels. It was clear that formalizing stokvels might be one ofthe possible avenues that could be explored in order to strengthen their social protection provision.
In many societies, a girl child is often the one who bears the brunt of unplanned pregnancy. In some instances the pregnancy affects their education, since a decision has to be made on whether or not ...to continue schooling during and after the pregnancy. This study explored the challenges confronting teenage mothers when they reengaged with secondary school education post-pregnancy in Johannesburg. Qualitative interviews were used to collect data from the teen mothers. Data collected was analyzed using thematic analysis methods. Key findings indicated that some educators were hostile toward the teenage mothers, and treated them differently. This was due to the poor comprehension of applicable policies meant to protect the education interest of pregnant learners and teenage mothers in schools. Recommendations are made for the education authorities to ensure that relevant policies are followed by educators when confronted with learner pregnancy related complication.
Child and Youth Care Centres (CYCCs) play a significant role in accommodating children who are victims of abuse, neglect and abandonment in South Africa. However, professionals in these settings face ...a dilemma, as they often cannot accommodate every child's cultural needs. This study explored the cultural challenges experienced by adolescent boys living at a CYCC in Ekurhuleni. Findings indicate that CYCCs are doing an excellent job at ensuring a nurturing environment for the children. However, it also emerged that there are challenges related to preserving the culture of children as a result of constraints of resources and limited staff diversity.
Teenage girls who conceive while in school are often confronted with a number of health, social and economic hardships. As a result of the pregnancy related hardships, some of the teenagers drop out ...of school and fail to re-enter the school system after giving birth. However, a growing body of literature show some of these teenagers re-enter the school system after giving birth to continue with their studies. We employed qualitative approach to explore the coping strategies by teenage mothers’ when they returned to school following childbirth and the support mechanisms used by the schooling system to meet their learning needs. We adopted a single case study design of a South African township school in Gauteng Province, South Africa. We collected data using in-depth one-on-one interviews involving the teenage mothers. The findings revealed that consultations with educators and participating in after-school programmes, with the aim of catching-up on missed content was some of the coping strategies used by teenage mothers re-engaging with education following childbirth. In addition, sympathetic educators provided extra consultation time slots and also motivated the teenagers to persevere and focus on their studies. A call is made for schools to enhance learner support programmes, especially those aimed at supporting teenage mothers who decide to return to school to complete their studies after giving birth.
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