Moeketsi Letseka

• D.Ed. (Philosophy of Philosophy)
• Editor at University of South Africa

The trends in open distance learning over the years and its evolution to higher education are interesting phenomena that continue to gain acceptance. While open distance learning serves as an intervening solution, initiated by most African higher institutions for students that missed out on the opportunity of studying in mainstream institutions, th...

An exploratory study of the status of innovation in South Africa's fifty technical and vocational education and training colleges. The work draws on the extensive TVET literature, then locates TVET as a component actor in the national system of innovation. Findings of an innovation survey are presented, along with a set of twenty-five innovation in...

Background: This study explores a youthbased initiative effort, offering a student-centred approach and an experiential learning strategy to develop critical thinking abilities and practical-based education among youths. It investigates the role that a student-centred approach and experiential learning strategies can play in the development of lear...

Bloom’s Taxonomy serves as an important guide for teachers in building their student’s cognition from low to high order thinking. This taxonomy has been widely implemented in face-to-face settings worldwide. With the increased use of technology and blended and online learning on the rise, there is a need for teachers to warm up to digital learning....

Historically feedback is perceived as a unidirectional flow of information from e-tutor to student, however, the feedback mechanisms ecology highlights the significance of establishing links between students and lecturers, as well as students and institutions. This study examines the various types of feedback, their efficacy, and the preferences of...

Digital storytelling (DST) has become a significant technological tool and multimodal genre in recent years to capture the life experiences of students in the process of teaching and learning. It improves the acquisition of knowledge and skills in lessons, enhances student engagement, and elucidates highly convoluted instructions in a simple visual...

Abstract The chapter interrogates the nexus between the COVID-19 pandemic that has resulted in the loss of lives, panic and despair, on the other hand and the overwhelming avalanche of information with which [people fail to grapple, on the other hand. This scenario, the authors maintain, has been exacerbated by the proliferation of digital technolo...

Education is a major tool for development and equalizer. This somewhat accounts for the quest for education, at various levels, including adults who were unable to attain an education degree earlier in life. Thus, Adult Education and Training (AET) programmes are established in different community centres to promote adult literacy in different part...

There have been manifold thrilling studies strikingly conducted in recent years to explore factors influencing student acceptance of massive open online courses (MOOCs). The principal goal was to determine future prediction and sustainable use of MOOCs for providing pervasive quality education services. This has led to the examination of different...

The South African government has made a significant progress in the area of policy development and practice for Adult Education since independence in 1994. Still, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of adults without education. For example, KwaZulu-Natal, one of the provinces in South Africa, still recorded an increased number of ill...

African societies have always had their traditional education. This evolved during the advent of missionary works when most societies were exposed to Western education, which sought to instil “reading of the Bible”. In traditional African education, teaching and learning were done orally, through open gatherings around the fire where the elders tol...

This chapter is conceptual in nature. It problematizes the being-ness of diversity and diversity management in the University of South Africa’s open distance learning (ODL) as both a human resource management (HRM) policy imperative and a philosophical challenge. The chapter proposes that diversity management can be viewed through Basil Bernstein’s...

Quality assurance has become critical to Open Distance Learning (ODL) worldwide. Yet the ODL environment is marked by cultural hegemony. An elite group of individuals strategically dominate the educational arena in order to advance the supremacy of gender, race and socioeconomic status. This chapter highlights a divide between theory and practice....

This study investigated the possible factors that predict e‑learning integration into the teaching and learning of science subjects among preservice science teachers. A unified e‑learning integration model was developed in which factors such as attitude, intention, skill and flow experience served as precursors of e‑learning integration. This was d...

This chapter explores the relationship between higher education leadership and humanizing pedagogy. It is premised on the assumption that higher education leadership, as a social construct, is both a philosophical problem and policy imperative. Yet, the fourth industrial revolution and artificial intelligence (AI) imperatives have far-reaching impl...

The chapter explores the notions of quality and/or quality assurance in scholarship through peer assessment or peer review. It takes peer assessment or peer review as critical components of quality control in scholarly publishing. While there is tacit knowledge that philosophically ‘quality’ is a notoriously elusive and value-laden term, there is a...

This chapter is conceptual in nature. It problematizes the being-ness of diversity and diversity management in the University of South Africa’s open distance learning (ODL) as both a human resource management (HRM) policy imperative and a philosophical challenge. The chapter proposes that diversity management can be viewed through Basil Bernstein’s...

The chapter explores the notions of quality and/or quality assurance in scholarship through peer assessment or peer review. It takes peer assessment or peer review as critical components of quality control in scholarly publishing. While there is tacit knowledge that philosophically ‘quality’ is a notoriously elusive and value-laden term, there is a...

This paper offers insights into the establishment of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Chair of Open Distance Learning (ODL) at the University of South Africa (UNISA). The aim of the UNESCO Chair is to stimulate ODL research at UNISA. The paper briefly describes UNISA, which is the largest dedicated dista...

Notwithstanding the social gains of the post-apartheid dispensation in South Africa, the country remains an unequal society in terms of race, class, gender and socioeconomic status. In this chapter, we provide an overview of access to success and widening participation in higher education (HE) in South Africa. Our thesis is that open distance learn...

Quality assurance has become critical to Open Distance Learning (ODL) worldwide. Yet the ODL environment is marked by cultural hegemony. An elite group of individuals strategically dominate the educational arena in order to advance the supremacy of gender, race and socioeconomic status. This chapter highlights a divide between theory and practice....

This review provides a critical appraisal of Kubow and Min’s paper. It teases out their conception of liberalism and argues that the classical notion of liberalism as a political theory that advocates individual liberty based on assumptions of the unencumbered autonomous individual has lost currency. This is because over the years liberalism has mu...

Quality assurance and its management are common practices in higher education. However, they have only recently become a major concern in open and distance learning (ODL), especially in developing contexts. South Africa has identified ODL as a strategic avenue for expanding access to higher education, and has recently transformed a policy on ODL pr...

Open Distance Learning (ODL) through the Philosophy of Ubuntu interrogates the nexus between the field of ODL and the philosophy of Ubuntu. The 16 chapters that comprise the book attempt to understand ways in which ODL offerings can be made more humane were they to be grounded on the values and principles implicit in the philosophy of Ubuntu.

In this article, we explore the impact of the nation-building and global demands on teachers’ work and how they survive the pressure of, and reconcile, these various demands that impact their work. We draw on two separate data sets that emerged from studies undertaken in the Eastern Cape Province (EC), South Africa. Findings reveal a rift between t...

This chapter examines the history of teacher education in five nations – South Africa, Singapore, Chile, Finland, and United States – representing different continents, histories, political structures, cultures, levels of wealth, and economies. The nations were selected, in fact, because of this variability; Table 2.1 shows how widely they differ o...

The 21st century imperatives have far reaching implications for the dominant ODL assessment theory and practice. With this in mind, we advocate for a broader and culturally inclusive understanding of ODL student assessment. Among others, our thesis is that Western (dominant) ways of assessment are insufficient and should be informed and guided by t...

This chapter explores the imperative for the University of South Africa’s (UNISA) scholars to conduct research in an open distance learning (ODL) environment cognizant of the imperative to ground their conceptualizations in the values and principles that are implicit in the philosophy of Ubuntu. That imperative is sine qua non given that UNISA’s vi...

This chapter explores the link between conceptions of ‘quality’ and ‘research’ in the open distance learning (ODL) context of the University of South Africa (UNISA). It argues that ‘quality’ is ‘a philosophical concept’ that is ‘multifaceted’, ‘ambiguous’, and ‘vague’. It posits that like ‘freedom’ or ‘justice’, ‘quality’ is an elusive concept’ abo...

Globally, the notions of “quality” and “quality assurance” remain the fundamental pillars of higher education development. As a result, ODL institutions are also coming under pressure to ensure that their practices are anchored by credible quality assurance policies. In this chapter we will argue that quality assurance is both a philosophical probl...

This paper juxtaposes John Rawls’s ‘justice as fairness’ as articulated in A Theory of Justice and Political Liberalism, with an African worldview knows as Ubuntu with a view to ascertaining whether Ubuntu can deliver ‘justice as fairness’ in South Africa, which is liberal and egalitarian, while also deeply influenced by indigenous African values a...

Access to higher education and the prospect of obtaining a higher education qualification through full time contact institutions seems a remote reality for the majority of black South Africans who were denied opportunities for higher education during apartheid. The majority of this group is either in full-time employment, part-time employment, temp...

This chapter interrogates the challenges of poor pass rates at UNISA and the associated trend by which students do not graduate within the specific duration required to complete their designated study program. It briefly describes the ODL framework with a view to providing readers with some understanding of how a distance education institution like...

This chapter explores the University of South Africa (UNISA)’s immanent shift from open distance learning (ODL) to open distance e-learning (ODeL). It considers UNISA’s initial mandate as an ODL institution that provides higher education opportunities to previously disadvantaged, predominantly African students who would otherwise not be able to obt...

The chapter begins with a set of guiding questions, followed by accounts of the history of teacher education in five nations: South Africa, Singapore, Chile, U.S., and Finland. The dialogic Discussion involves all of the authors in an attempt to draw comparisons and contrasts among the accounts. The Conclusion proposes recommendations for further c...

In this chapter we argue that, given the complex and culturally diverse nature of students in ODL, for assessment in ODL to be effective, efficient and have a positive impact in teaching and learning, it should be underpinned by the notions of 'best practice', 'reflective practice' and 'culturally relevant pedagogy'. We note that these notions in O...

Discipline in schools, as a thorny issue facing the current South African education system, has been and continues to be a global concern. With the advent of the new democratic dispensation in 1994, adoption of South Africa’s 1996 Constitution, ratification of human rights and children’s rights, and banning of corporal punishment, disciplinary prob...

The paper offers a rebuttal of the claim that amalgamation of traditional African values and liberal democratic values in South Africa is a contradiction. South Africa is a liberal democracy whose constitution recognizes the institution of traditional leadership, or ‘chieftaincy’. Japan is a good example of a non-Western liberal democracy that has...

More recently, attention has been given to the area of Teacher Professional Development (TPD). It is widely recognised that TPD is a key mechanism for improving classroom instruction and student achievement. Despite the fact that much has been written about TPD, there exist gaps in many contemporary texts on TPD – failure to see (TPD) as a discours...

South Africa’s constitution is hailed as ‘liberal and egalitarian’ because ‘it values human dignity and frames human rights at its heart’ But the country’s public education is ‘a national disaster’ that is ‘essentially dysfunctional’. In this paper I sketch this ‘essential dysfuctionality’. I appeal to the notions of ‘redesigning’ and ‘reengineerin...

20 years into democracy, are the lofty ideals of the constitution translated into practical success?

The article explores the challenges of assessment in open distance learning (ODL). The authors argue that ultimately assessment should be about improving the quality of teaching and effective learning. It should be based on making expectations explicit and public, setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality, systematically...

This paper debates the ideological tension in South Africa between, one the one hand, liberalism, and on the other hand both the radical Africanist Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) of the 1970s, and the hard-line Marxism-Leninism inclined South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). The paper’s cen...

This article debates access and success at the University of South Africa (UNISA). UNISA is an open distance learning (ODL) institution that provides higher education opportunities to working adults who would otherwise not have the opportunity to acquire a higher education qualification at full-time contact institutions. The article sketches the ch...

This article explores ways in which Ubuntu morality might be anchored in the community, the family, and in personhood. It draws on the main tenets of tribal critical race theory (TribalCrit), whose aim is to unmask, expose, and confront continued colonisation within educational contexts and societal structures. The article recognises that Africa is...

This paper debates the ideological tension in South Africa between, one the one hand, liberalism, and, on the one hand both the radical Africanist Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) of the 1970s, and the hard-line Marxism-Leninism inclined South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). The paper’s cent...

In this article we draw on John Dewey’s (1910) classic book How We Think to reflect on the absence of a culture of ‘critical thinking’ and/or ‘reflective thinking’ at Morgenster Teachers’ College. ‘Critical thinking’ and/or ‘reflective thinking’ are central to John Dewey (1916, 1910) and Paulo Freire’s (2005, 1995) teachings. But they are also embe...

This article explores obstacles to the development of critical thinking dispositions at Morgenster Teachers’ College (MTC) in Zimbabwe. MTC is a private college of the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe (RCZ) with an enduring history of evangelism. An estimated 50 per cent of the students are admitted on the strength of their exemplary participation in th...

This article reflects on shocking and horrifying incidents of moral indiscretion that have become com- monplace in South Africa. The aim is to understand why human beings would carry out such shocking and horrific acts on fellow human beings. The article draws on Dismas Masolo’s book Self and Commu- nity in a Changing World to unpack the notion of...

The South African constitution enshrines the right to education for everyone, but the reality is that, almost 20 years after the transition from apartheid to democracy, the country’s education system remains highly differentiated. Schools that serve the majority of poor and previously disadvantaged blacks suffer from systemic inefficiency and dysfu...

This article picks up on Foucault's radical reconceptualisation of concept "power", and presents a signifi-cant challenge to contemporary discourses surrounding instructionist classroom management. We critique his approach to instructionist classroom management on the basis that it conceptualises power as domina-tion in dealing with disruption in t...

This article picks up on Foucault’s radical reconceptualisation of concept “power”, and presents a signifi- cant challenge to contemporary discourses surrounding instructionist classroom management. We critique his approach to instructionist classroom management on the basis that it conceptualises power as domina- tion in dealing with disruption in...

This paper reflects on public-sector unions in South Africa with a view to highlighting teacher unionization’s contribution to South Africa’s education crisis. South Africa’s teaching profession is highly unionized. The largest teacher union, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) is affiliated to the Congress of South African Trade Un...

The article defends ubuntu against the assault by Enslin and Horsthemke (Comp Educ 40(4):545–558, 2004). It challenges claims that the Africanist/Afrocentrist project, in which the philosophy of ubuntu is central, faces numerous problems, involves substantial political, moral, epistemological and educational errors, and should therefore not be the...

The quality, and quality assurance, movements have become highly contested issues in the advent of new managerialism1 in higher education. This is because while the notion of quality is critical to institutional autonomy and academic freedom, there are no universal criteria to determine quality in the current conditions of global competitiveness an...

This article interrogates early childhood development (ECD) provisioning in the province of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It argues that while well-structured and integrated early childhood development (ECD) programmes are at the epicentre of sustainable national human resource development (HRD) strategies, the Eastern Cape’s infant mortality rat...

This article interrogates early childhood development (ECD) provisioning in the province of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It argues that while well-structured and integrated early childhood development (ECD) programmes are at the epicentre of sustainable national human resource development (HRD) strategies, the Eastern Cape’s infant mortality rat...

This monograph comprises seven chapters commissioned by the principal investigator (Moeketsi Letseka) of the Student Retention and Graduate Destination Study, which was conducted between 2005 and 2006 by a team in the erstwhile Human Resources Development research programme of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). In this introduction we disc...

This monograph comprises seven chapters commissioned by the principal investigator (Moeketsi Letseka) of the Student Retention and Graduate Destination Study, which was conducted between 2005 and 2006 by a team in the erstwhile Human Resources Development research programme of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). In this introduction we disc...

The quality, and quality assurance, movements have become highly contested issues in the advent of new managerialism1 in higher education. This is because while the notion of quality is critical to institutional autonomy and academic freedom, there are no universal criteria to determine quality in the current conditions of global competitiveness an...

Incl. bibl., abstract We report on the 2008 study by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) on teacher retention and attrition in South African public schools, with a focus on North-West Province. Data from the study show that some teachers prefer to leave the teaching profession for promotion posts in non-teaching areas within the education se...

The paper debates the challenges of university teaching in the era of managerialism. It teases out current institutional reconfigurations, and argues that challenges of teaching and learning are integral to the university as a complex institution in the era of supercomplexity. It argues that the university should shed its ‘ivory tower’ mentality, a...

Data on higher education (HE) trends in South Africa indicate that 50% of students enrolled in higher education institutions (HEIs) drop out in their first three years, with about 30% dropping out in their first year (see Table 6.3). 1 This is despite the fact that some of these students will have passed their Senior Certificate with endorsement, m...

The socio-economic status of families of students who do not complete their university qualifications played a significant role in the students’ ability to persevere in their studies, concludes Moeketsi Letseka, project leader of a groundbreaking new study on the question of why students leave prematurely.

Worldwide, innovation policy is perceived to be at the heart of economic growth and global competitiveness, and nations invest vast amounts of money to give effect to innovation. Higher education institutions, in partnership with industry, are expected to play a key role in supporting the national system of innovation and developing the nation's gl...

The nine articles assembled here are conceptual pieces and reports on case-study research that not only highlight efforts to locate South Africa’s national system of innovation in the highly differentiated global playing field, but offer critical debates on innovation capabilities and what it really means to be competitive in the global arena. In a...

Moeketsi Letseka outlines the historical reasons for the dysfunctional skills development system inherited by the ‘new’ South Africa and discusses recent policy mechanisms designed to address the country’s skills deficiencies

This paper set out to provide a skeptical perspective to the view that IT has the potential to bring people into the global community. While not doubting the merits of IT’s capabilities it proposed that such claims be qualified in view of disparities in the distribution of wealth between nations and between peoples. It focused attention on the plig...

The article examines the root cause of learning found to be characteristic of first year students in South African universities. This problem largely manifests itself in two forms. First is the linguistically based inability to receive and communicate information. The second is the inability to manipulate information adequately to transform it into...

Data on higher education (HE) trends in South Africa indicate that 50% of students enrolled in higher education institutions (HEIs) drop out in their first three years, with about 30% dropping out in their first year (see Table 6.3).1 This is despite the fact that some of these students will have passed their Senior Certificate with endorsement, me...