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Research Publications (Arts and Design)

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    On the value of vandalism: an appraisal of art and the politics of defacement
    (Informa UK Limited, 2025-1-1) Adewumi, Kehinde Christopher
    Monuments of culture and history have been either catalysts or casualties of war and crises; they are often vandalised as reactionary acts of protest against dominant powers and oppressive states and history. This reality, juxtaposed with the ongoing vandalism of monuments during global crises, prompts the following questions: Why do cultural monuments bear the brunt of vandals and protesters? What drives vandalism? Is there any value in vandalism? This article explores the tensions between art and vandalism, focusing on elucidating any potential value in the act of destruction. I begin by presenting various theoretical perspectives on art and vandalism to provide a multidimensional view of the act. Next, I delve into the drivers of vandalism, examining the motivations and psychology behind these actions. Finally, I discuss the concept of value in the context of art and vandalism. While vandalism has traditionally been viewed in a negative light, I conclude that it possesses intrinsic value, particularly in how artists have conceptually explored the aesthetics of destruction in their creative processes and in the impact of vandalism on sociopolitical structures of communication.
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    Rereading art workshops as an interaction ritual for knowledge formation and artists’ development
    (Informa UK Limited, 2024-12-31) Adewumi, Kehinde Christopher
    Art workshops are organised as a space for artists to share ideas and collaboratively create artwork within a period of two to four weeks. I argue that Collins’ theory of interaction ritual can be adapted in the explanation and understanding of the aims, particularities and developmental impacts of art workshops on participating artists, who are integral members and collaborators in the knowledge and identity formations in the creative community. I draw on the experiences of two Professors of art–Tonie Okpe and Jacob Jat Jari, in their participation in art workshops in different parts of Africa, Europe and the United Kingdom (U.K.), as well as their organisation of art workshops in Nigeria. Collin’s theory offers fresh insights into the participation of artists like Okpe and Jari in these workshops, showcasing how continuous engagement in such intellectually stimulating and culturally rich communities enhances their knowledge and cultural capital. A major recommendation of the study is that artists can strategically supplement their learning through these informal intellectual platforms, given the impacts of art workshops and the rising costs of formal art education globally. The diverse array of experiences gained from such workshops can significantly expand their horizon and shape their worldview.
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    Understanding the contributing factors of school violence and intervention strategies used in the SADC Region : a scoping review protocol
    (Noyam Publishers, 2024-12) Khumalo, Gift; Makhakhe, Nosipho Faith; Lipholo, Bokang Nephtali
    Access to quality education, as per the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) vision is essential for improving the overall economic growth and development of the region. However, this vision is severely hindered by school violence, a pervasive contextual issue across multiple SADC countries. Guided by Arksey and O’Malley’s five-step framework, this proposed scoping review sought to explore the contextual factors that contribute to school violence and examine intervention strategies that have been used to mitigate school violence. Six databases will be used to search for empirical articles, including ProQuest, PubMed, Web of Science, Academic Search Ultimate, PsycINFO and MEDLINE Ultimate. Screening at the abstract, title and full-text level will be conducted by all authors, with further articles being searched on the research list of the final included full-text publications. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) will be used to report on the scoping review processes. It is hoped that this scoping review will contribute to the overall understanding of the contextual factors that contribute to school violence in the context of SADC and the intervention strategies used to curb this phenomenon. The scoping review will also identify gaps in knowledge in literature and gaps in the current intervention practices, as well as influence future research on school violence in the SADC region. Keywords: School Violence, Southern African Development Community, Contextual Factors, Intervention.
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    Open educational resources as the panacea for the decolonisation of e-learning content in South Africa
    (Informa UK Limited, 2024-7-2) Mncube, Siphamandla
    Higher education institutions have been following the global trend of advocating open educational resources (OER) for tuition and learning. In the South African context of higher education, there is also an increasingly strong call for decolonisation in educational content. However, there is a lack of knowledge and theories for the decolonisation of learning content. This study sought to establish the possibilities of decolonisation of OER in digital learning. To employ the appropriate lens for the decolonisation of content, the study opted for contextualised theory, contextual knowledge world views, and the African indigenous knowledge frameworks, while following the Transformative Learning Theory. This theory made it possible to follow the decolonisation elements relevant to low-income contexts. Consequently, the decolonisation lesson guided the appropriate systems for the decolonisation of the tuition content. After decolonisation, the concepts of Africanisation and transformative learning were considered by using the Technology Appropriation Model as a guide for adopting and developing OER appropriate for the African context. The study employed the qualitative approach and case study strategy by focussing on one of the largest comprehensive open distance e-learning (CODEL) institutions in South Africa and on the African continent. The study established that CODEL encourages the use of OER for the decolonisation of tuition content. However, there is still a lack of strategies, models, policies, and practical guidelines for the decolonisation of OER. Therefore, the study proposed the decolonisation of an e-learning content model that academia can use to advance the decolonisation of e-learning content.
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    Theorising the politics of curriculum responsiveness in a Cameroonian university
    (University of Johannesburg Press, 2024) Kehdinga, George Fomunyam; Nnenna Fidelia Ezeonwuachusi; Kehdinga, George Fomunyam
    Content is the epicentre of the educational experience without which no meaningful learning can take place. Curriculum is what gives direction to teaching and learning in higher education and helps in the shaping of academic life for all students, the direction their future would take as well as the society they live in. As such, it is critical to explore the curriculum of higher education courses to ascertain whether what is being taught and why it is being taught contribute to the overall goal or purpose of responsiveness. Under such circumstances, this research was designed as a qualitative case study of three literature modules. Data was generated using semi-structured interviews, document analysis and observation. Two major themes emerged from the data generated: resistance to change through praise singing; and advocates of change in leadership. The analysis of these themes reveal that lecturers selected content based on their ideological and political stance in society. While the one resisted change through what they teach, the other advocated for change in the same manner. The paper concludes with three key thoughts: first, curricula charges like educational integrity and moral commitment are vital for the continuous blossoming of the higher education; secondly, those in the higher education sector must distinguish between their moral and intellectual responsibility to train students who possess the right kind of knowledge and skill to lead the nation in the way it should go; thirdly, curriculum developers, content selectors, lecturers, researchers, university management, higher education governing bodies and quality assurance entities must work hand in hand for the sustainability of the higher education system.
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    Deconstructing decolonising in the context of a South African higher education institution
    (Noyam Publishers, 2023-10) Fomunyam, Kehdinga George
    Decolonisation at its different levels and stages is a movement that started around the sixties and has swept across all continents of the world. However, there has been a re-invigoration of this movement in recent years on the African continent, particularly in the education sector. This took a different turn in South Africa in late 2015 when the #Mustfall movement started. Different institutions responded to this in a frenzy and the result was absolute chaos in both the understanding of the subject and response to it. About eight years later many academics are still grappling with the meaning of the consult and how to go about decolonising in higher education. Though there is a dearth of academic writing on the subject particularly in South Africa, this has translated to little action and the vestiges of colonialism remain. This paper sought to deconstruct decolonisation from an institutional perspective and theorise how the same can be made to unfold within the stratosphere. This study was designed as a qualitative case study of a South African University and used interviews as the data generation method. The findings indicated that decolonisation is about politics, language, and identity, not forgetting an element of confusion. The paper concluded that decolonisation has to transcend individual understandings of the same to deal with all facets of the higher education sector. It, therefore, recommended the adoption of a holistic approach to dealing with decolonisation and an overall improvement in the understanding of lecturers on decolonisation. This paper makes a vital contribution to the body of knowledge by articulating the conflicting understandings that exist and the confusion it breeds. It also points to the lack of decolonisation within the higher education space.
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    South Africa’s adult educators in the community college sector : who they are and how they view their training, their work and their position
    (University of the Western Cape Library Service, 2021) Land,Sandra Jane
    This article examines the work context of South Africa’s state-employed adult educators. It is based largely on a recent cross-sectional study of adult educators commissioned by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), which draws on the DHET’s database of adult educators and qualitative information gained from visits to adult education and training centres in all nine provinces. The study enquired into adult educators’ working lives, their qualifications, their sense of whether their training was adequate, the issue of further training, their understanding of their work, their conditions of service and the support they believe they need. The study showed that the number of adult educators employed by the DHET is declining steadily and that the working conditions of adult educators are uneven: a few work in fairly well-resourced urban centres, but many work in poor conditions, with little support. Nevertheless, the study indicated that almost all the adult educators view their role in a positive light. Confident of support from one another, they have a definite shared identity as a social group and express a strong commitment to their learners and the communities in which they work. Overall, they constitute a group with strong, yet poorly tapped, potential to contribute to positive community development.
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    Secured, not connected : South Africa’s adult education system
    (University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2019-11) Land, Sandra Jane; Aitchison, John
    This paper addresses an area that has been largely neglected by researchers: state provision of adult education in South Africa. It argues that there have been decades of neglect, or at best, token support for our country’s adult education system, and looks at how the system could be revitalised, both in terms of minimal requirements for immediate basic improvement as well as for a more radical and forward looking transformation of the system. South Africa has a history of attempts to provide school equivalent education to black adults through night schools. Suppressed in the 1950s and 1960s, they resurfaced after the 1976 Soweto revolt, and in 1996 the Constitution secured adult basic education as a right. State night schools were renamed ‘Public Adult Learning Centres (PALCs)’, and seemed poised to become a powerful delivery mechanism, but continued as inadequate night schools. In 2015 the PALC system was ostensibly transformed into a community college one, but this transformation was based on the weak foundation of inadequate PALCs. A new 2019 plan for the Community Education and Training College System includes long needed major overhauls that must be made if adults’ right to effective and relevant education is to be finally realised.
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    Finding the plot in South African reading education
    (AOSIS, 2017-09) Rule, Peter; Land, Sandra
    This article argues that we have lost the plot in South African reading education. To find it, we need to move beyond the predominant mode of reading as oral performance, where the emphasis is on accuracy and pronunciation, to reading as comprehension of meaning in text. While reading research in South Africa has been conducted mainly in school contexts, this case study is of a school and Adult Basic Education and Training Centre in a rural KwaZulu-Natal community near Pietermaritzburg. It found that an oratorical approach to reading dominated in both settings. It suggests that developing the way in which teachers understand the teaching of reading and transforming the teaching practices of those who teach as they were taught in the education system of the apartheid era are key to improving the teaching of reading.
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    The effects of COVID-19 on the rehabilitation of persons with aphasia : a scoping review
    (AOSIS, 2022-08) Masuku, Khetsiwe P.; Khumalo, Gift; Shabangu, Nontokozo
    Background The impact of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was more pronounced on the well-being of persons with disabilities, especially in low- and middle-income countries. There is documented evidence of the rippling effects of COVID-19 on persons with disabilities. However, not much is known about the impact of COVID-19 on the rehabilitation of persons with aphasia.

    Objective

     The scoping review explores how COVID-19 affected the rehabilitation of persons living with aphasia.

    Method

     A scoping review was conducted using Arksey and O'Malley's framework. A search was conducted on Science Direct, PubMed, Medline, Scopus, ProQuest and Google Scholar, to identify relevant studies published between 2019 and 2022. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.

    Results

     Most studies regarding the effects of COVID-19 on persons living with aphasia were conducted in the United Kingdom. Five themes emerged from the data, namely, (1) negative impact on rehabilitative care, (2) telehealth and its limitations, (3) impact on social participation, (4) compromised caregiver involvement and (5) mental health challenges.

    Conclusions

     Findings highlight the need for healthcare professionals to pursue innovative ways in which aphasia rehabilitation and conversational support programmes can be made accessible to persons with aphasia, despite the limitations brought about by a pandemic. Telerehabilitation programmes need to be tailored to the needs of persons with aphasia if they are to be successful. This study highlights the importance and need for the prioritisation of mental health services for persons with aphasia and their caregivers during a pandemic.
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    Mapping evidence on strategies used that encourage Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake and adherence amongst female sex workers in South Africa
    (MDPI AG, 2025-01) Makhakhe, Nosipho Faith; Khumalo, Gift
    Female sex workers (FSWs) in South Africa have a high HIV prevalence. To reduce the rate of new infections, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) was introduced to FSWs; however, studies show that FSWs’ uptake and adherence to PrEP has been inconsistent. This study explored existing evidence related to strategies used to encourage PrEP uptake and adherence. Utilizing the scoping review framework, seven peer-reviewed articles were analyzed thematically. The themes were (1) PrEP promotion and distribution, (2) PrEP counselling and using educational resources, and (3) using instant messaging and rewards programs. The suggestions from the literature include a generalized PrEP promotion and distribution approach not aimed towards high-risk groups to avoid stigma. PrEP pick-up points should include sex work-friendly healthcare facilities as well as community-based venues. PrEP counselling should be conducted prior to PrEP administration to prepare users on how to deal with side effects. Information, education, and communication materials should be colorful and consist of catchy phrases targeted to the whole population. Instant messaging has been found to be effective in encouraging adherence. FSWs should be instrumental in informing intervention best practices. Future interventions aimed at FSWs should focus on holistic wellness that incorporates the psychosocial aspects of HIV prevention.
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    Autobiography reflecting on academic leadership and management and doctoral supervision : from childhood to academia
    (Academic Journals, 2025-01-31) Thamae, Mamothibe
    My academic leadership journey was challenged by multiple factors, ranging from underprivileged households, poor school, inadequacy of academic writing skills, heavy university loads, and full-time job responsibilities. My academic journey influenced my supervision. It was marred by delayed completion of academic projects and throughput. The primary objective of this autobiography is to reflect on my lived experiences of academic leadership and management, and doctoral supervision journey using Ubuntu Pedagogy. This autobiography is undergirded by an interpretive paradigm, adopting a qualitative case methodology to unpack my lived experiences in academic and postgraduate studies and supervision. I used a mental map to reflect on my lived experiences and revisited my previous diaries, notes, and reflexive reports to compile this autobiography. The research findings reflect a limitation and impediment to doctoral students’ success caused by changes from a well-resourced research environment to a constrained one. I strongly believe in a (modified) one-to-one peer learning approach, as shaped and influenced by my lived experiences from childhood on one-to-one peer learning, as the best method of supervision pedagogy. I recommend that universities should improve the research environment and research provisioning. Furthermore, supervisors should be capacitated and encouraged to adopt Ubuntu Pedagogy in their doctoral supervision journeys.
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    Information and communications technology in engineering graphics and design classrooms : a post COVID-19 era
    (Lembaga Penelitian dan Pemberdayaan Masyarakat - LITPAM, 2023-07) Mlambo, Philani Brian
    The integration of information and communications technology in teaching and learning is growing at an exponential rate due to many factors we have observed lately, such as the outbreak of COVID-19. The unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19 took the world by surprise. Many sectors such as health and education were left shattered due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The outbreak compelled the educational sector to come up with alternative majors to keep the teaching and learning process alive as the physical classes were suspended as means to curb the spread of COVID-19. In an attempt to investigate different ways Engineering Graphics and Design teachers used to conduct lessons during the COVID-19 lockdown, this study employed a qualitative approach. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings of this study indicate that COVID-19 did influence the way teachers are teaching post-COVID-19.  The study findings further reveal that WhatsApp was the tool most teachers relied on to keep teaching and learning alive, however, some teachers were experiencing problems. The study recommends that teachers should continue using WhatsApp as a way of extending lessons during home hours.
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    ‘Where else can they go?’: violence, resistance and the socio‐cultural trajectories of Kashmiri women in Freny Manecksha's Behold I shine : narratives of Kashmir's Women and children
    (Wiley, 2024-10-09) Pal, Payel; Karmakar, Goutam
    Abstract In the armed conflict between Kashmiri militancy and the Indian state forces, Kashmiri women have been relentless victims of abduction, rape, molestation, and cruel objectification by the militaristic patriarchs of both sides. In the context of the state's unaccountability, the rebuttal of justice is horrific in Kashmir. Consequently, due to predominant masculine, state‐centric, absolutist, and neo‐realist perceptions, the majority of atrocities against Kashmiri women have gone unregistered and unreported, failing to reach the pan‐Indian masses through the dominant media and literary narratives. This article explicates Freny Manecksha's book Behold I Shine: Narratives of Kashmir's Women and Children (2017) as a unique retelling of Kashmiri women's physical violence, fears, trauma, and, most importantly, their fortitude and recuperation. Drawing on feminist views on rape and repression, it exposes how rape in Kashmir incessantly functions as a weapon of suppression, relegating women to the most precarious position. Simultaneously, the discussion demonstrates how rape and oppression render Kashmiri women docile and vulnerable to cultural and collective trauma by employing the Foucauldian notion of docility. The article further addresses how Kashmiri women repudiate the traditional divides of private and public, overturn the social expectations of womanhood, contest the patriarchal excesses of militaristic Kashmir vis‐à‐vis their resilience, and protest against state‐sponsored violence. Thus, the article posits Manecksha's writing as a counter‐historiographic narrative for the marginalized voices of Kashmiri women, whose ways of redressing their grievances constitute subversive modes of resistance.
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    The use of technology in African language pedagogy : a sociological approach
    (OpenED Network, 2024-10-31) Adedokun, Theophilus; Awung, Felix; Usadolo, Sam Erevbenagie
    Technology has brought about new knowledge forms in all aspects of human life. The new knowledge forms have transformed not only human lives but also human ways of doing things. Education has also benefited from technological transformation which is witnessed through the delivery of teaching and reception of learning with technology. The use of technology in teaching has been a fundamental theme in the 21st century as the world tends towards the fourth industrial revolution. Using Bourdieu’s social theory, this paper seeks to gain an understanding of how the use of technology is impacted by the social context of language lecturers. This study aimed to investigate how language lecturers’ social context influences their use of technology in teaching African languages. To pursue the above aim, an in-depth interview was conducted with 8 language lecturers across 3 universities in KwaZulu-Natal using stratified and snowball sampling methods. This study analyses lecturers' social context regarding technology use in teaching. It also examines the value lecturers place on technology for teaching African languages. Finally, it provides recommendations for lecturers and stakeholders to effectively implement technology for teaching African languages within the social context of language lecturers.
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    The influence of participative leadership on agricultural extension officers' engagement
    (SAGE Publications, 2020-07) Usadolo, Sam Erevbenagie
    Employee engagement has garnered a great deal of interest because of its positive effect on employee performance, but the interest has not resulted in in-depth studies on how variables such as participative leadership determine employee engagement. In this study, the role of participative leadership on the three dimensions of engagement experienced by agricultural extension officers is examined. Data from a cross-sectional survey of 189 agricultural extension officers from four provinces in South Africa are analyzed using regression analysis. As hypothesized, results show that participative leadership influences the three dimensions of engagement. The implications of the results are discussed, emphasizing possible ways participative leadership practices could be used to facilitate the engagement of agricultural extension officers.
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    How far is the east from the west? : the role of social media and crisis communication approach in unifying the Igbo and Yoruba ethnic groups in the political landscape in Southern Nigeria : a review of issues around pre-1960, 1967-1970; 2014 and 2023 elections
    (2024-12-03) Akpan, Udoh James; Mkhize, Sazelo Michael; Usadolo, Sam Erevbenagie
    The political climate of southern Nigeria is examined in this concept paper along with the ongoing conflicts between the Igbo and Yoruba ethnic groups. The question "How far is the east from the west?" serves as a metaphor to highlight the historical and current obstacles to Igbo-Yoruba unification, reviewing the issues around pre-1960, 1967-1970; 2014 and 2023 elections. The paper explored the complicated history of these groups, including the effects of colonialism, their unique pre-colonial beginnings, and their common battles throughout the liberation fight, employing a methodical literature review. It subsequently looked at particular tense times, such as the Nigerian Civil War, and how these old differences still affect politics now, as shown by the results of recent elections. Beyond historical interpretation, the study suggested a fresh strategy for promoting Igbo-Yoruba unity. Based on the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), it made the case that social media may be a potent instrument for fostering cooperation and understanding when used wisely. Instead of focusing on the political elite, which is seen as a source of conflict, the study highlighted the vital role that dependable community leaders play. It suggested that apolitical stakeholders from both regions collaborate to plan and carry out intentional programmes that support socio-economic integration between the Igbo and Yoruba and encourage public discourse on common issues to cultivate a narrative of cooperation through social media. These stakeholders include traditional/cultural leaders, religious figures, women's groups, and academics. Using the SCCT paradigm and empowering these esteemed leaders, this study suggested a way to close the historical and current gaps between the Igbo and the Yoruba. Within the political environment of southern Nigeria, the "East" and "West" can get closer to a future of mutual respect and prosperity by using social media to shift narratives and promote cooperation.
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    Navigating COVID-19 : non-government actors’ communication interventions in South Africa
    (Taylor and Francis Group, 2024) Adjin-Tettey, Theodora Dame; Garman, Anthea
    During the COVID-19 outbreak, diverse groups and organisations in South Africa played an important communicative role which, alongside the government, collectively mitigated the spread of the disease. A previous study that we undertook to assess government communication revealed that there were organisations, groups, and actors that addressed gaps in official messaging. In this article, we explore the ways in which these actors recognised gaps in government communication and stepped in both to draw attention to these gaps and to devise timely solutions. Seven representatives of four groupings were interviewed. The groups and actors were identified because the researchers became aware of their non-governmental communications efforts. Their insights were transcribed and thematically analysed. The findings showed that although the government, through its agencies and presidential addresses to the nation, made concerted efforts to provide relevant information to the entire population, these actors were quick to identify the communications lacunae and stepped in where there was lack of reach. They identified inadequacies such as: non-optimal use of communication channels, neglected languages, a lack of scientifically based information, and a lack of context-driven information. The findings highlight the complexity of the challenge of talking to a nation when the country’s communications landscape is complex, multilingual, and multi faceted.1
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    Organizational factors influencing foreign African court interpreting in South Africa
    (Universitas Djuanda, 2024-11-11) Usadolo, Sam Erevbenagie
    Employee performance is influenced by organizational factors that require careful management by the human resource divisions of organizations. The involvement of human resources divisions is essential for managing court interpreters who require specific skills, such as understanding court hierarchies, proceedings, and discourse, remaining neutral concerning their language choices, and coping with hearing about sometimes horrific events without succumbing to secondary trauma. The organizational factors in the South African courtrooms were examined by interviewing foreign African court interpreters, magistrates, prosecutors, and attorneys. Observations of courtroom proceedings complement data collected through interview methods. The data analyzed show that the majority of foreign African court interpreters have employment on a casual rather than permanent basis, and organizational issues such as standardized employment procedures, in-service training, monitoring, induction, and orientation, amongst other factors, still require significant improvement to ensure quality foreign African court interpreting in South African courtrooms. The research contributes to the literature on human resources management of court interpreting. The implications of the findings and the limitations of the study are discussed.
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    The influence factor : a study of advertising and use of mobile phones by students of two universities in Ghana
    (2013) Adjin-Tettey, Theodora Dame; Bolfrey, Andy; Bugase, Carl Awetoga; Adotey, Theresa; Dodoo, Stephen. Jnr
    This study examined whether advertising influences the usage of telecommunication networks, using the students of the University Of Professional Studies Accra and Wisconsin University College in the Greater Accra Region as a point of reference. It was also to ascertain the media through which tertiary students received most advertising messages. The study found that, advertising was not the only variable that influenced respondents to use a particular network and that when matched up against other variables, ‘service quality’ comes on top as the number one influencing agent ahead of advertising. The traditional media was identified as the media through which most advertising messages are received. Finally, the study identified that advertising is a necessary but not sufficient condition that influences switching between telecommunication networks.