3 - Performative Injunctions in the Higher Education Body: The Discursive Career of Research Capacity Development in a South African University Faculty of Education
Corresponding Author(s) : Aslam Fataar
Journal of Higher Education in Africa,
Vol. 15 No. 2 (2017): Journal of Higher Education in Africa
Abstract
This article discusses Research Capacity Development (RCD), in a Faculty of Education at a South African university. It employs the notions of performativity and performance to argue that specific local sites at universities have complex stories to tell about their responsiveness to research output imperatives. The article emphasizes that there is a formative relationship between the specific RCD discursive text of this Faculty and the performance- based activities of its management and academics. The career of RCD in the Faculty is established in the light of specific activities against the background of a small Faculty environment. The article specifically considers the basis for its relative success in the area of doctoral completion by its academic staff and its diminishing article writing output. It draws the conclusion that efforts to secure a vigorous RCD platform depend on the ability to establish a nurturing institutional environment in which a scholarly culture can be encouraged and protected.
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- Anderson, G., 2002, Building a People’s University: Race, Compensatory Education and the Limits of Democratic Reform, New York: Peter Lang.
- Balfour, R. J. and Lenta, M., 2009, ‘Research capacity development: A case study of the University of Kwazulu-Natal, 2003-2007’, South African Journal of Higher Education 23 (1): 8-20.
- Ball, S., 1994, Education Reform: A Critical and Post-Structural Approach, Buckingham: Open University Press.
- Ball, S., 2001, ‘Performativities and Fabrications in the Education Economy’, in D. Gleeson and C. Husbands, eds, The Performing School: Managing, Teaching and Learning in a Performance Culture, London: Routledge Falmer.
- Ball, S. 2003. ‘The teachers’ soul and the terrors of performativity’, Journal of Educational Policy 18 (2): 215-228.
- Becher, T. and Trowler, P. R., 1989, Academic Tribes and Territories: Intellectual Enquiry and the Cultures of Disciplines, Buckingham: SRHE and Open University Press.
- Bitzer, E., 2006, ‘Restoring the status of teaching scholarship at a research-orientated university’, South African Journal of Higher Education 20 (4): 372-390.
- Butler, J., 1990, Gender Trouble, London: Routledge.
- Castells, M., 2001, ‘Universities as dynamic systems of contradictory functions’, in J. Muller, N. Cloete and S. Badat, eds, Challenges of Globalisation: South African Debates with Manuel Castells, Cape Town: Maskew Miller Longman.
- Chetty, R., 2003, ‘Research and development in technikons: lacunae and challenges’,South African Journal of Higher Education 17 (1): 9-14.
- Cloete, N., Maassen, P., Fehnel, R., Moja, T., Gibbon, T. and Perold, H., eds, 2006, Transformation in Higher Education: Global Pressures and Local Realities, Dordrecht: Springer.
- Cloete, N., Mouton, J. and Sheppard, C., 2015, Doctoral Education in South Africa: Policy, Discourse and Data, Cape Town: African Minds.
- Collins, R., 2000, The Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of Intellectual Change,Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
- Cowen, R., 1996, ‘Performativity, Post-Modernity and the University’, Comparative Education 32 (2): 245-258.
- Dison, A., 2004, ‘“Finding her own academic self ”: Research capacity development and identity formation’, Perspectives in Education 22 (4): 83-98.
- Fataar, A., 2003, ‘Higher Education policy in South Africa: a struggle for alignment with macro development policy’, South African Journal of Higher Education 17 (4): 31-39. Gole, N., 2002, ‘Islam in public: new visibilities and new imaginaries’, Public Culture14 (1): 173-190.
- Hanlon, G., 1998, ‘Professionalism as Enterprise’, Sociology 32 (1): 43-63.
- Heath, T., 2002, ‘A quantitative analysis of PhD students’ views of supervision’,Higher Education Research and Development 21 (1): 41-53.
- Ilorah, R., 2006, ‘The dilemma of the HBUs in South Africa’, South African Journal of Higher Education 20 (3): 79-96.
- Koen, C., 2007, Postgraduate Student Retention and Success: A South African case study, Cape Town: HSRC Press.
- Kohli, W., 1999, ‘Performativity and Pedagogy: The Making of Educational Subjects’,Studies in Philosophy and Education 18: 319-326.
- Lues, L. and Lategan, L., 2006, ‘Research development at a South African university of technology: A case study’, South African Journal of Higher Education 20 (3): 108-121.
- Lyotard, J., 1984, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
- Maassen, P., Neave, G. and Jongbloed, B., 1999, ‘Introduction: Organisational adaptation in higher education’, in B. Jongbloed, P. Maassen and G. Neave, eds, From the Eye of the Storm: Higher Education’s Changing Institution, Dordrecht: Kluwer.
- National Commission on Higher Education, 1996, A framework for transformation,NCHE, Pretoria.
- National Research Foundation, 2008, NRF Vision 2015: Strategic Plan of the National Research Foundation, NRF, Pretoria.
- National Research Foundation, 2009, Incentive Funding for Rated Researchers: Framework Document, NRF, Pretoria.
- Reed-Danahay, N., 1997, Auto/Ethnography: Rewriting the Self and the Social, New York: Berg Publishers.
- Ruth, D., 2001, ‘Staff perceptions of teaching and research at the University of the North’, South African Journal of Higher Education 15 (1): 154-170.
- Small R., Smith, R., Williams, C., and Fataar, A., 2009, ‘Social regulation and shifting institutional culture in higher education: A reflective account of a Faculty of Education’, South African Journal of Higher Education 25 (3): 554–567.
- Wright, T. and Cochrane, R., 2000, ‘Factors influencing successful submission PhD theses’, Studies in Higher Education 25 (2): 181-195.
References
Anderson, G., 2002, Building a People’s University: Race, Compensatory Education and the Limits of Democratic Reform, New York: Peter Lang.
Balfour, R. J. and Lenta, M., 2009, ‘Research capacity development: A case study of the University of Kwazulu-Natal, 2003-2007’, South African Journal of Higher Education 23 (1): 8-20.
Ball, S., 1994, Education Reform: A Critical and Post-Structural Approach, Buckingham: Open University Press.
Ball, S., 2001, ‘Performativities and Fabrications in the Education Economy’, in D. Gleeson and C. Husbands, eds, The Performing School: Managing, Teaching and Learning in a Performance Culture, London: Routledge Falmer.
Ball, S. 2003. ‘The teachers’ soul and the terrors of performativity’, Journal of Educational Policy 18 (2): 215-228.
Becher, T. and Trowler, P. R., 1989, Academic Tribes and Territories: Intellectual Enquiry and the Cultures of Disciplines, Buckingham: SRHE and Open University Press.
Bitzer, E., 2006, ‘Restoring the status of teaching scholarship at a research-orientated university’, South African Journal of Higher Education 20 (4): 372-390.
Butler, J., 1990, Gender Trouble, London: Routledge.
Castells, M., 2001, ‘Universities as dynamic systems of contradictory functions’, in J. Muller, N. Cloete and S. Badat, eds, Challenges of Globalisation: South African Debates with Manuel Castells, Cape Town: Maskew Miller Longman.
Chetty, R., 2003, ‘Research and development in technikons: lacunae and challenges’,South African Journal of Higher Education 17 (1): 9-14.
Cloete, N., Maassen, P., Fehnel, R., Moja, T., Gibbon, T. and Perold, H., eds, 2006, Transformation in Higher Education: Global Pressures and Local Realities, Dordrecht: Springer.
Cloete, N., Mouton, J. and Sheppard, C., 2015, Doctoral Education in South Africa: Policy, Discourse and Data, Cape Town: African Minds.
Collins, R., 2000, The Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of Intellectual Change,Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Cowen, R., 1996, ‘Performativity, Post-Modernity and the University’, Comparative Education 32 (2): 245-258.
Dison, A., 2004, ‘“Finding her own academic self ”: Research capacity development and identity formation’, Perspectives in Education 22 (4): 83-98.
Fataar, A., 2003, ‘Higher Education policy in South Africa: a struggle for alignment with macro development policy’, South African Journal of Higher Education 17 (4): 31-39. Gole, N., 2002, ‘Islam in public: new visibilities and new imaginaries’, Public Culture14 (1): 173-190.
Hanlon, G., 1998, ‘Professionalism as Enterprise’, Sociology 32 (1): 43-63.
Heath, T., 2002, ‘A quantitative analysis of PhD students’ views of supervision’,Higher Education Research and Development 21 (1): 41-53.
Ilorah, R., 2006, ‘The dilemma of the HBUs in South Africa’, South African Journal of Higher Education 20 (3): 79-96.
Koen, C., 2007, Postgraduate Student Retention and Success: A South African case study, Cape Town: HSRC Press.
Kohli, W., 1999, ‘Performativity and Pedagogy: The Making of Educational Subjects’,Studies in Philosophy and Education 18: 319-326.
Lues, L. and Lategan, L., 2006, ‘Research development at a South African university of technology: A case study’, South African Journal of Higher Education 20 (3): 108-121.
Lyotard, J., 1984, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Maassen, P., Neave, G. and Jongbloed, B., 1999, ‘Introduction: Organisational adaptation in higher education’, in B. Jongbloed, P. Maassen and G. Neave, eds, From the Eye of the Storm: Higher Education’s Changing Institution, Dordrecht: Kluwer.
National Commission on Higher Education, 1996, A framework for transformation,NCHE, Pretoria.
National Research Foundation, 2008, NRF Vision 2015: Strategic Plan of the National Research Foundation, NRF, Pretoria.
National Research Foundation, 2009, Incentive Funding for Rated Researchers: Framework Document, NRF, Pretoria.
Reed-Danahay, N., 1997, Auto/Ethnography: Rewriting the Self and the Social, New York: Berg Publishers.
Ruth, D., 2001, ‘Staff perceptions of teaching and research at the University of the North’, South African Journal of Higher Education 15 (1): 154-170.
Small R., Smith, R., Williams, C., and Fataar, A., 2009, ‘Social regulation and shifting institutional culture in higher education: A reflective account of a Faculty of Education’, South African Journal of Higher Education 25 (3): 554–567.
Wright, T. and Cochrane, R., 2000, ‘Factors influencing successful submission PhD theses’, Studies in Higher Education 25 (2): 181-195.