Rethinking Higher Education in Post-Apartheid South Africa by Woldegiorgis, Emnet Tadesse; Govender, Logan; Atibuni, Dennis Zami;

Short description:

This book explores the opportunities and epistemological and structural challenges facing higher education in postcolonial South Africa, and argues for a fundamental transformation to meet the needs of the 21st century. This book will be an essential read for researchers and policy makers working on higher education in South Africa.

Long description:

This book explores the opportunities and epistemological and structural challenges facing higher education in postcolonial South Africa and argues for a fundamental transformation to meet the needs of the 21st century.

Taking the concept of transformation as a unifying thread, this book discusses the evolving trajectories of higher education in South Africa, with particular emphasis on the decolonial initiatives that have emerged in the post-Apartheid era. During this time, there have been persistent calls for South Africa to move beyond Eurocentric education programmes and curricula in favour of a system that reflects the continent’s culture and identities of all South Africans. The book argues that incremental reforms of existing structures are insufficient and that instead a deeper, more fundamental shift in higher education structures, values, and systems is needed. Overall, the book calls for a comprehensive transformation to expand access for historically disadvantaged communities, enhance quality and competitiveness, address past injustices, and improve the quality and capacity to act together for a more sustainable and just future.

Also exploring the digital transformations which have accelerated in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this book will be an essential read for researchers and policymakers working on higher education in South Africa.

Table of Contents:

1. Higher Education Transformation in South Africa: Towards a Conceptual and Contextual Map for the 21st Century  2. The Decolonial Turn in South African Higher Education: Academic Leadership in Times of Crisis  3. Dismantling Neo-Colonialism at the (South) Afrikan University  4. Towards a Holistic Approach to Social Justice in Higher Education: Equity, Equality, Quality, and Relevance Across the Pre-, Intra-, and Post-COVID-19 Pandemic Phases  5. Whose Revolution? The Paradox Between the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Decolonisation in Higher Education in Africa  6. The Role of Student “Must Fall” Movements in Transforming Higher Education  7. Modelling Curriculum Change for South Africa’s Future: The Value of the Undefinable  8. “Leading in the Glass Cages”: Critical Perspectives of Leadership for Academic Performance Management in Higher Education  9. COVID-19 and the Digital Poverty Penalty in Higher Education in Southern Africa  10. Critical Reflections on Big Tech Corporations, Algorithms and the Transformation of Decision-making in the Post-pandemic University  11. The Student Domain and Epistemic Access in South African Higher Education: Michael Cross’s Legacy for Students with Disabilities  12. Higher Education Transformation in South Africa: Reflecting on Michael Cross’s Intellectual Legacy  13. Pathways to Transformative Higher Education in South Africa