13 - Creating Effective Postgraduate Learning Environments: An Analysis of an Intervention from Realist Social Theory
Corresponding Author(s) : Sechaba Mahlomaholo
Journal of Higher Education in Africa,
Vol. 13 No. 1-2 (2015): Journal of Higher Education in Africa: Special Issue on Sustainable Rural Learning Ecologies: Border Crossing
Abstract
This paper analyses two illustrative reports of the external examiners on some of the manuscripts of the twenty postgraduate students who graduated at the University of the Free State between 2013 and 2014. The students were part of the twenty-eight PhD and twenty-two MEd students as well as fifteen supervisors working in a cohort approach within the Sustainable Postgraduate Learning Environments research project. The two reports are analysed in order to document, understand and illustrate how the Sus- tainable Postgraduate Learning Environments facilitate good academic performance. The focus is mainly on the working together of the actors’ emotional and cognitive aspects. The argument is that the two reports refer to two different sides of the same process, implying that improvements in the students’ academic performance are influenced by the extent to which they are validated through a caring learning environment. However, it should be noted that even poor academic performance seems to be a reflec- tion of the problems in this interaction. Both students and supervisors are affected in the same way. The paper uses Margaret Archer’s theory of social realism to generate an understanding of how the interaction between the students and the supervisors on the one hand, and between cognition and emotion on the other hand, produce particular academic performances that are central in the creation of sustainable postgraduate learning environ- ments. The argument put forth is that agency and structure can and should not be collapsed into each other, even though the two co-constitute each other. Tolerance of their separation enables individual agents to take charge of their own lives despite the constraints of their situations to construct particular meanings; hence, their good academic performance beyond the dictates of their contexts.
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- Akram, S., 2013, ‘Fully unconscious and prone to habit: the characteristics of agency in the structure and agency dialectic’, Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 43 (1): 45–65.
- Archer, A., 1995, Realist Social Theory: The Morphogenetic Approach, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Archer, A., 1996, Culture and Agency. The Place of Culture in Social Theory, Cam- bridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Basen, A., 2002, ‘The critical theory of Herman Dooyeweerd?’, Journal of Information Technology 17(4): 257–69.
- Buch-Hansen, H., 2005, ‘Critical realism in the social sciences’, Scandinavian Journal of Social Theory 6 (2): 59–69.
- Corson, D., 1991, ‘Bhaskar’s critical realism and educational knowledge’, Journal ofSociology of Education 12 (2): 223–41.
- Kahn, P., 2009, ‘Contexts for teaching and the exercise of agency in early-career academics:
- perspectives from realist social theory’, International Journal for Academic Development 14 (3): 197–207.
- Ladson-Billings, G., 1995, ‘But that’s just good teaching! The case for culturally relevant Pedagogy’, Theory into Practice 34 (3): 159–65.
- Mahlomaholo, M.G., 2012a, ‘Social communication towards sustainable physical science learning environments’, Communitas 17: 3–20.
- Mahlomaholo, M.G., 2012b, ‘Academic network and sustainable learning environ- ments’, Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology 5: 73–87.
- Mahlomaholo, M.G., 2013, ‘Indigenous research and sustainable learning environ- ments’, International Journal of Educational Science 5 (3): 317–22.
- Maton, K. and Muller, J., 2006, ‘A sociology for the transmission knowledges’. Avai- lable online at http://www.karlmaton.com/pdf/2006MatonMuller.pdf.
- Mutch, A., 2005, ‘Concerns with “mutual constitution”: a critical realist commentary’,International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction 13 (3): 60–72.
- Porpora, D.V., 2013, ‘Morphogenesis and Social Change’, in A. Archer, ed., Social Morphogenesis, New York: Springer Science and Business Media.
- Pratschke, J., 2003, ‘Realistic models? Critical realism and statistical models in the social sciences’, Philosophica 71: 13–38.
- Quinn, L., 2007, ‘A Social Realist Account of the Emergence of Formal Academic Staff Development Programme at a South African University’, Grahamstown: Rhodes University.
- South African Qualifications Authority, 2012, Level Descriptors for the South African National Qualifications Framework, Pretoria: SAQA Publications.
- Wheelahan, L., 2007, ‘Blending activity theory and critical realism to theorise the relationship between the individual and society and implications for pedagogy’, Studies in the Education of Adults 32 (2): 183–96.
- Wilson, W.J., 2010, ‘Why both social structure and culture matter in a holistic analysis of inner-city poverty’, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 629: 200–19.
- Zeuner, L., 1999, ‘Margaret Archer on structural and cultural morphogenesis’, ActaSociologica 42 (1): 79–86.
References
Akram, S., 2013, ‘Fully unconscious and prone to habit: the characteristics of agency in the structure and agency dialectic’, Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 43 (1): 45–65.
Archer, A., 1995, Realist Social Theory: The Morphogenetic Approach, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Archer, A., 1996, Culture and Agency. The Place of Culture in Social Theory, Cam- bridge: Cambridge University Press.
Basen, A., 2002, ‘The critical theory of Herman Dooyeweerd?’, Journal of Information Technology 17(4): 257–69.
Buch-Hansen, H., 2005, ‘Critical realism in the social sciences’, Scandinavian Journal of Social Theory 6 (2): 59–69.
Corson, D., 1991, ‘Bhaskar’s critical realism and educational knowledge’, Journal ofSociology of Education 12 (2): 223–41.
Kahn, P., 2009, ‘Contexts for teaching and the exercise of agency in early-career academics:
perspectives from realist social theory’, International Journal for Academic Development 14 (3): 197–207.
Ladson-Billings, G., 1995, ‘But that’s just good teaching! The case for culturally relevant Pedagogy’, Theory into Practice 34 (3): 159–65.
Mahlomaholo, M.G., 2012a, ‘Social communication towards sustainable physical science learning environments’, Communitas 17: 3–20.
Mahlomaholo, M.G., 2012b, ‘Academic network and sustainable learning environ- ments’, Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology 5: 73–87.
Mahlomaholo, M.G., 2013, ‘Indigenous research and sustainable learning environ- ments’, International Journal of Educational Science 5 (3): 317–22.
Maton, K. and Muller, J., 2006, ‘A sociology for the transmission knowledges’. Avai- lable online at http://www.karlmaton.com/pdf/2006MatonMuller.pdf.
Mutch, A., 2005, ‘Concerns with “mutual constitution”: a critical realist commentary’,International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction 13 (3): 60–72.
Porpora, D.V., 2013, ‘Morphogenesis and Social Change’, in A. Archer, ed., Social Morphogenesis, New York: Springer Science and Business Media.
Pratschke, J., 2003, ‘Realistic models? Critical realism and statistical models in the social sciences’, Philosophica 71: 13–38.
Quinn, L., 2007, ‘A Social Realist Account of the Emergence of Formal Academic Staff Development Programme at a South African University’, Grahamstown: Rhodes University.
South African Qualifications Authority, 2012, Level Descriptors for the South African National Qualifications Framework, Pretoria: SAQA Publications.
Wheelahan, L., 2007, ‘Blending activity theory and critical realism to theorise the relationship between the individual and society and implications for pedagogy’, Studies in the Education of Adults 32 (2): 183–96.
Wilson, W.J., 2010, ‘Why both social structure and culture matter in a holistic analysis of inner-city poverty’, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 629: 200–19.
Zeuner, L., 1999, ‘Margaret Archer on structural and cultural morphogenesis’, ActaSociologica 42 (1): 79–86.