Reflexive Ubuntu and Transforming Higher Education: Introducing Self-Study Research at a Rural University

• In Event: 65.070 - Translating and Transforming Self-Study Into Languages Other Than English

Abstract

Objectives

In this paper we share the experiences and approaches adopted in introducing self-study research at a rural-comprehensive university in country 4. To do this, we have had to draw from our values and cultural ideals, as people working in a university with many challenges. We reflect on this ‘mission’ and pose three questions: (a) how did we as country 4 women scholars with multiple backgrounds negotiate different personal and scholarship landscapes in establishing self-study scholarship at our university? (b) how has the university community received this? and (c) what have we learnt and unlearned for us to have had some results?

Theoretical Framework

The reciprocity between self-study research and forms of knowing is now widely acknowledged. Drawing from LaBoskey (2004); Kirk (2005); Samaras (2011); Pithouse-Morgan & van Laren (2012), our commitment has been driven by the quest to generate knowledge, and make a contribution towards meaningful social transformation at the university. The work of these scholars encapsulates the theoretical lens used in this presentation. This includes situated perspectives, care and unlearning; borrowing heavily from the reflexive ubuntu philosophy (Harrison et al., 2012; van Laren et al., 2014) which was “renaissanced” by Mandela, South Africa’s first democratically-elected president. Our analysis shows that our cultural backgrounds and religious affiliation have affected not only our approach to our self-study work, but also our thought processes. These in turn have affected how we have engaged in different contexts with our students and colleagues.

Method

In this section we explain how our personal journeys and stories brought us together through the Transformative Education/al Studies (TES) project. We examine the challenges and contradictions of introducing self-study research to a cynical audience in an environment that ironically needed something like S-study for revival and transformation. We look at the process of our own self-study journey, attending the TES workshops, taking part in conferences, and eventually doing our own self-study research, forming a TES-Self-study research group at our university and publishing and sharing our experiences.

Findings

In this section we reflect on how we, individually and as a group, have become active collaborative researchers, publishing with our students as well as with colleagues in our supervisors’ group. This is in addition to many presentations at local and international conferences and workshops. The TES project now has an active group of about 20 staff and staff students with a number of research activities (one publication and a few in the pipeline). They meet regularly, share and collaborate on research projects. Many are now enthusiastic about research and the relevance of their personal stories in improving their practice. We draw on some of these stories and how S-study has transformed us and the whole team.

Implications and scholarly significance

The research culture of our university and the self-study scholarship has had to be adapted in order to find the middle ground. We argue that more reflexivity and self-revelation are required in advancing this kind of scholarship, born outside of country 4 but inherent in Ubuntu philosophy.

Authors

• Theresa Chisanga, Walter Sisulu University

• Thenjiwe Meyiwa, Durban University of Technology