Moving towards Curriculum Intellectualising in the Context of Divergent Notions of African Scholarship

Abstract

This article provides a reflexive narrative account of a collaborative process of moving towards curriculum intellectualising in the context of diverse understandings of African scholarship in a South African university. We reflect on the journey we took in trying to make collective sense of postgraduate students' conceptions of African scholarship. The article illustrates how we came to see that our own implicit notions of African scholarship constrained our meaning-making. The article contributes to re-imagining of curriculum as a complex conversation that elicits uncomfortable questions, interrogates our own taken-for-granted ideas, and encourages divergence and dissidence (rather than conformity) in ways that offer valuable opportunities for discovery and growth. We draw attention to the centrality of polyvocality, reflexivity, provision of space and time, and the creation of comfortable, yet discomforting relationships as conducive conditions for curriculum intellectualising.

Key words:

• African scholarship
• collaborative educational research
• curriculum intellectualising
• postgraduate education
• reflexivity

Note on Contributors

Inbanathan Naicker is a Lecturer in Educational Leadership and Management in the School of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. His research interests include leadership development, human resource management, school governance, internationalisation of higher education and self-reflexive research. He has presented papers at local and international conferences and has published both locally and internationally.

Pholoho Morojele is an Associate Professor and Academic Leader for Research. His research interests are in gender and social justice education. He has published nationally and internationally on gender violence, masculinities and femininities and schooling in rural communities.

Kathleen Pithouse-Morgan is a Senior Lecturer in Teacher Development Studies in the School of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal. Her research interests include teacher development, self-study, memory-work, HIV&AIDS education, collaborative scholarship, and creative and participatory approaches in education and research.

Daisy Pillay is a Senior Lecturer in Teacher Development Studies and her research interests include teacher identity studies, rurality and rural education, life history and narrative research, memory work, visual and participatory methodologies and higher education – pedagogy and professional development.

Vitallis Chikoko is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership. His research interests include leadership development, leadership in trying contexts, education reform, and higher education studies.

Notes

1. We discuss our use of arts-based and participatory data generation methods in Pithouse-Morgan et al. (2012).