Bonginkosi Hardy Mutongoza

• Doctor of Philosophy
• University of Fort Hare

This paper argues that epistemologies of woundedness are essential for transforming knowledge systems historically shaped by Eurocentric and exclusion­ary frameworks. It explores how wounded epistemologies disrupt traditional knowledge paradigms by centring the lived experiences of communities impacted by colonialism, systemic racism, and historica...

The transformation of higher education in South Africa remains an ongoing challenge that has been progressively shaped by historical inequities, structural inefficiencies, and socio-political dynamics. This study examines the barriers hindering transformation and highlights persistent disparities between historically White institutions (HWIs) and h...

Globally, universities have traditionally been viewed as sanctuaries of peace, devoid of violence. However, the increase in campus-related violence in South Africa has dispelled this assumption. Recently, there has been a rise in the incidence of murders, violent protests, and self-directed violence at several universities in South Africa, raising...

Decolonisation aims to create a more just, inclusive, and equitable academic landscape in Africa by centring marginalised voices and embracing diverse epistemologies. Despite the clamour for truly decolonised universities and the incessant calls for transformation, several studies have demonstrated the pervasiveness of epistemic injustice and the l...

Education and Social Cohesion Towards Sustainable Learner Success in South Africa offers a thought-provoking and deeply researched exploration of the critical intersection between education and social cohesion in one of the world’s most historically complex societies. South Africa’s education system continues to grapple with the legacies of aparthe...

Higher education institutions are often considered inclusive institutions where difference and diversity are respected and celebrated. However, the experiences of queer persons have revealed that there is still a long way to go in achieving truly inclusive campuses. In the case of South Africa, regardless of the significant strides made in acknowle...

There has been a recent upsurge in debates about the role and potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in transforming traditional learning environments globally, and more recently, these discussions have expanded to include developing countries. While proponents of AI praise it as a new normal that educators must embrace or risk falling behind, s...

While universities have been lauded as sanctuaries of peace where students and staff pursue educational goals, there has been a marked increase in the victimisation of students by staff members who have been known to hound students for sexual favours. This increase in unethical conduct continues regardless of "sound" policies regulating university...

In most post-colonial African states, colonial languages occupy prominent teaching, learning, and research spaces. While South Africa has made significant strides in recognising Indigenous languages through policies and restorative legislation, the level of uptake of Indigenous languages has remained a thorny issue. The marginalisation of indigenou...

Violence is increasingly becoming commonplace in South African universities despite the many initiatives to reduce it. While violence is usually blatant and direct, perpetrators have increasingly taken to more subtle verbal, behavioral, or environmental microaggressions that have devastating effects on their victims. The incidences of such microagg...

Community-gown projects are primarily intended to address the multi-faceted challenges in the developing world where vices such as poverty and inequality are exceptionally high. These projects thus present developing communities and the Global South as a whole with a potential pathway to development because their proponents argue that they are aime...

The continued faltering of global South governments to entrench community development has resulted in the clamour for alternative development paths. Corporates are seen as being well-suited to deliver the development needs of communities in the developing world through the agency of corporate social responsibility. This study sought to elicit stake...

In the pursuit of an environment conducive to effective teaching and learning, schools are universally regarded as sanctuaries of nonviolence for all stakeholders. However, the South African education landscape has witnessed a distressing trend as schools have increasingly transformed into arenas of criminal activity and violence. Against this back...

Universities are frequently considered ivory towers where students and staff freely pursue their ambitions in a peaceful environment. Nevertheless, the experiences of students and staff have revealed that violence is commonplace in most universities. Violence is especially pervasive in South African universities, where students and staff sometimes...

There have been multiple contributions to the decolonisation agenda in Africa since the onset of calls to decolonise education under the auspices of the #RhodesMustFall protests in South Africa. Nevertheless, these efforts have not resulted in the realisation of a truly decolonised higher education. The present study was built on the premise that d...

Education for sustainable development (ESD) presents developing countries with a potential pathway to development by seeking to nurture students and learners to build sustainable communities. Arguably, through knowledge production, dissemination and research, higher education institutions (HEIs) are strategically poised to deliver ESD by promoting...

Studies have shown that self-efficacy is the belief in one's ability to complete a task or achieve a goal, and that this belief can have a significant impact on teaching methods and learning outcomes. Yet, in the context of South Africa, despite the promotion of indigenous languages in Foundation Phase (FP) classrooms, learners continue to struggle...

The prevalence of gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa has attracted public attention. Although attempts have been made at various levels to address this widespread violence, GBV remains prevalent in most communities. Technology-enabled gender-based violence (TEGBV) has begun to come to the forefront of efforts to combat GBV in South Africa,...

The 2015/6 #Rhodes Must Fall student protest reignited the debate to decolonise higher education in South Africa and many parts of the world. One way of achieving this is through decolonising the language of teaching and learning to increase access to higher education. Within this caveat, we anticipate that this article will add a crucial contribut...

A growing body of work suggests that junior researchers in universities are often confronted by pressure to conduct research and get published in order to move up the academic ladder. These pressures are often loaded with little to no regard for the welfare of the junior academics and no concern for the career paths they wish to take. Against this...

Introduction: Although universities have traditionally been regarded as ivory towers that are safe spaces for learning and personal development, recent trends in South Africa have revealed that universities are increasingly becoming recognized as sites for violence, including student-on-staff violence. Against this background, this study sought to...

While the global South universities have made significant strides in adopting digital technologies, there remain huge gaps, particularly when it comes to the acceptance of artificial intelligence (AI) in institutions of higher learning. As such, this studysought to explore global South academics’ reported AI-related challenges in the language educa...

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions (HEIs) globally were forced to abruptly transition from traditional face-to-face classrooms to online classrooms in order to salvage teaching and learning. This was especially tougher for HEIs in the Global South where little to no infrastructure and technologies had been rolled-ou...

Globalisation and international student and staff mobility are not new phenomena, and South African universities have been fairly successful in the recruitment of internationals-particularly from other African countries, yet the challenges associated with internationalising universities remain persistent. This study sought to examine the challenges...

This study utilises the democratic theory of education to examine the perceptions of mandatory vaccination in South African higher education institutions. Underpinned by an interpretivist paradigm, the study employs a qualitative research approach and a case study design. Data were collected using structured interviews with university managers, lec...

While higher education is crucial for the development of ideals and skills necessary for democratic societies to take root and prosper, higher education institutions’ missions have been tested during this time of uncertainty. The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the instabilities and disparities in global higher education by exacerbating profound soc...

Gender constitutes an integral part of both individual and collective uniqueness, and it is distressing that gender-based violence (GBV) remains persistent in education. Gendered violence is a scourge globally, more particularly for educational institutions-which are often imagined to be peaceable and immune to acts of aggression. Around the world,...

With the operationalisation of lockdowns and restrictions on public gatherings, education systems across the entire globe were confronted with an urgent need to reconsider alternative forms of teaching, learning and assessment. Some institutions in developing countries were especially hard-hit by the shift owing to inadequacies in training and infr...

The COVID-19 pandemic has induced an enormous effect on educational institutions globally. Rural institutions are at a greater disadvantage when compared to their urban counterparts which are better resourced with systems that enable the shift to emergency online learning. Challenges were particularly compounded for students with disabilities who a...

Owing to the significant disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on all sectors of society, education institutions have been forced to rethink how they conduct their operations. To continue with teaching and learning, most institutions were forced to adopt more blended methods of instruction as opposed to the previously dominant traditional fac...

Although the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education and mental health of the university environment is relatively unknown, it is expected to be very significant considering the high incidence of emotional reactions amongst university students and staff. While fears around COVID-19 exposure, anxieties, and the challenges of support...

The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed an abrupt digital transformation in the education sector. As such, it will be difficult for higher education institutions (heis) to go back to the old ways of teaching and learning as social distancing precaution will remain as an active measure to avoid the spread of the coronavirus. Thus, given that the fourth...

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic experience has brought to the forefront the importance of leadership as institutions across the world are now trying to emerge from hibernation and rebuild broken academic practices. As such, this study sought to examine school principals' experiences on school management in the context of COVID-19 stringency in four...

While education institutions around the world are attempting to salvage teaching and learning operations in their institutions, the most debilitating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been in the global south countries which have little or no resources at their disposal. South African higher education institutions are not exempted from the devast...

The COVID-19 pandemic poses unparalleled challenges to education systems around the world, all of which have devastating effects. While these effects have been troubling in developing and developed countries, rural education systems in developing countries have particularly been most susceptible to collapse. The unique context of rural universities...

The COVID-19 pandemic poses unparalleled challenges to education systems around the world, all of which have devastating effects. While these effects have been troubling in developing and developed countries, rural education systems in developing countries have particularly been most susceptible to collapse. The unique context of rural universities...