Browsing by Author "Wilson, Lizane"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Community-engaged curricula in higher education : the case of a master's programme in play therapy
    (UNISA Press, 2015) Bitzer, Eli ; Wilson, Lizane; Newmark, R.
    This article presents the results from research on community-engaged curricula using feedback from international and South African academics who teach on postgraduate programmes with a community engagement component. It also includes the findings from a sample master’s programme in Play Therapy at a South African university. The findings indicated that at least five important issues are related to community-engaged master’s programmes in Play Therapy, namely: programme relevance, integrated scholarship, community based research, reciprocal learning, and close academic staff involvement. Based on these findings a curriculum framework is suggested which caters for an integrated scholarship approach in master’s programmes in Play Therapy that closely engage with community needs. Such a framework may relate to similar or other professional master’s programme curricula.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A framework for effective practice in community engagement in higher education in a postgraduate programme at North-West University
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013-03) Wilson, Lizane; Newmark, Rona; Bitzer, E. M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: During the past number of years, the pressure on universities worldwide, including universities in South Africa, has increased to bridge the gap between higher education and society. This includes becoming active partners with its communities. Therefore, the importance of community engagement as one of the three pillars of higher education, alongside teaching and learning, and research, has gained considerable momentum. Higher education institutions in South Africa are also increasingly challenged to elevate the status of their teaching and to raise their levels of community engagement. This also pertains to the area of postgraduate education, which points to the need for a close relationship between teaching, learning and research. The aim of this study was to develop a contextualised and integrated curriculum framework for community-engaged teaching, learning and research in a postgraduate Play Therapy programme. This was done using a contextualised perspective on higher education with reference to current higher education legislation in South Africa as well as curriculum development in general. A literature review of community engagement provided a perspective on the current state of community engagement - nationally, as well as internationally. The study used a qualitative single case study design and an interpretive paradigm to generate empirical data. The first phase of the empirical part of the study focused on determining the current state of community engagement within the postgraduate Play Therapy programme. Data was generated using questionnaires completed by current students and lecturers. In the second phase of the empirical study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with lecturers from 13 national as well as international higher education institutions to review curriculum frameworks and content from other higher education community engagement models. The last empirical phase included two focus groups, one with current students and one with current lecturers in the postgraduate Play Therapy programme under investigation. From the findings of the study, a curriculum framework emerged which outlines community engagement within the postgraduate programme. The emerging framework points to the need for a stronger integration of teaching and learning with community engagement (service component) through service learning. In the South African context and within the programme that was investigated, service learning provides for engaged learning which includes experiential learning and opportunities for students to engage in interactive and experiential processes. The study has also pointed out that research within the postgraduate programme should reflect, in a much stronger way, links to community-based research. Such links may benefit a scholarship of engagement. Also, the research component of the programme needs to be linked more closely to teaching and learning in order to better inform the curriculum in terms of trends, needs and priorities. These activities need to take place within community partnerships with a reciprocal benefit to both the programme and the communities involved.