Access to university in South Africa has been, and continues to be, a highly contested area that is plagued with many layers of complexity rooted in the social, political and educational past and present. Situated within an overarching commitment to fair and just higher education, in this thesis I have attempted to understand the complex field of access to university. I have done this by focusing on the transition from school to university, through the lens of the capabilities approach as developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum. The capabilities approach provides a framework for seeking to understand what young people entering universities are able to be and to do and what limits their being and doing. As such, the capabilities approach requires us to move beyond measurable access statistics to a more nuanced understanding of the agency and well-being of students admitted to university. Four research questions guided the study. 1. How do first-year students at the UFS experience the transition to university in their first year of study? 2. How do learners in Grades 10, 11 and 12 from local UFS feeder high schools experience the process of preparation for and access to university? 3. How can these experiences of the interface between school and university be theorised using a capabilities-based social justice framework? 4. Based on the evidence from the research, what interventions could support efforts towards a more socially just transition for these students? Working within a pragmatic paradigm, the study employed a mixed methods research design. My starting assumption was that in order to thoroughly understand the transition to university, it is necessary to study both the final years of schooling and the first-year at university. As such, the study focused on the University of the Free State (UFS) and a sample of 20 feeder schools. A total of 2816 learners in Grades 10, 11 and 12 completed the quantitative South African High School Survey of Learner Engagement (SAHSSLE) (adapted from the version used in the United States) in September 2009. The SAHSSLE provides a wealth of data regarding educational practices at school as well as learnersâ experiences and attitudes towards their education. A smaller sample of 33 learners also completed qualitative reflections on their school experience, plans for universities and their âuniversity knowledgeâ. At the university level, I collected qualitative data from 128 first-year students in 2009 using focus group methodology. In 2010 an additional sample of 142 first-year students were asked to provide a written description of their first month at university and to draw a picture of how they experienced the transition. The thesis covers much theoretical ground related to higher education and social justice as well as in the specific study area of access. In the access domain I make use of Conleyâs multidimensional model of university readiness together with research on effective educational practices that underpins the student engagement literature and instruments. Drawing on the theory and literature, I propose an ideal theoretical capabilities list for the transition to university. Following a detailed presentation of the empirical results structured in two main sections, namely: transition to university experiences and readiness for university; I then make use of the capabilities framework to theorise the transition to university. Taking the well-being of students as the starting point, the capabilities framework for the transition to university asks what the outcome of a successful transition should be. Rather than defining success merely as measurable performance (such as changing enrolment demographics, credits passed in the first-year or progression to the second year of study for example) which does not take student well-being into account; the capabilities framework presented argues that educational resilience should be regarded as the outcome of a successful transition to university. In this context, resilience is defined as follows: ⢠Being able to navigate the transition from school to university within individual life contexts; ⢠Being able to negotiate risk, to persevere academically and to be responsive to educational opportunities and adaptive constraints; and ⢠Having aspirations and hopes for a successful university career. A pragmatic capabilities list and framework for the transition to university is proposed and defended, together with specific recommendations for how this framework could be applied to facilitate the transition to university. The seven capabilities for the transition to university are as follows: 1. Practical reason 2. Knowledge and imagination 3. Learning disposition 4. Social relations and social networks 5. Respect, dignity and recognition 6. Emotional health and reflexivity 7. Language competence and confidence. These seven capabilities encompass the lessons learned from the literature review of university access and the first-year at university, the capabilities literature, and the empirical data within an overarching commitment to social justice and the promotion of the well-being of students. The thesis ends by considering what the UFS could do differently to facilitate the transition as well as what the UFS could do in partnership with schools.

Article 1 The University of the Free State (UFS) experienced extreme pressure to ânormaliseâ all aspects of the institution in the aftermath of the Reitz debacle in 2008. This urged me to undertake a journey juxtaposed with Alice in Wonderland as a UFS staff member experiencing some dissonance about the changes in leadership. Being involved in marketing and publicity, I realised how my personal consciousness contributed to the collective consciousness, enabling me to share the unifying identity of my institutional environment. During this period of turmoil and change, the UFS had to revisit its identity and, like Alice, my institution and I had to embark on a journey in search of an authentic identity and to develop a consciousness of what that identity might be. Characters, sites and experiences served as Metaphor Positioning System (MPS), and not Global Positioning System (GPS), coordinates that assisted me in my journey towards identity consciousness. I also used observations, visual culture, literature and auto-ethnographic work to break down disciplinary boundaries as I unpacked the development of an institutional identity consciousness with aspects of the narrative genre â characters, time, space, themes, intrigues and the narratorâs perspective. This study, therefore, provides insights that might add value to other institutionsâ processes of being conscious of their identities, and supplies beacons that will illuminate their journeys. Article2 Geographical settings contribute greatly to the unique identity of the institution. The urban campus is perceived as superior because of the access to technological, educational and recreational resources. The opposite is perceived of the rural campus, which often desires to copy the institutional identity of the urban campus. Directive documents and developmental programmes urge governments, urban HEIs, HE practitioners, and the global community to change their perception of rural campuses. However, self-image, self-esteem and individuality are internal processes of strategic self-appreciation and are applicable to the authentic institutional identity development of rural HE settings, as well as the conscious and unconscious branding of the HEI, as presented in this psycho-social perspective. Metaphors from Alice in Wonderland illustrate the pointlessness of an unauthentic identity. By synergising theories from the disciplines of social and developmental psychology and internal branding, and applying AI principles, the researcher re-conceptualises strategic authentic institutional identity formation. Article 3 A vision is perceived as a valued and strategic tool for a leader, but a dreaming leader might be frowned upon. However, Appreciative Inquiry (AI) and Appreciative Leadership (AL) employ âdreamsâ as one of the crucial elements of this qualitative research method. This conceptual article differentiates between a predominantly conscious-mind or preconceived dreaming (where the vision is restrained and directed by components of strategy formation) and a predominantly subconsciousmind or free-range dreaming (where the vision unveils a future unlimited by conscious constraints). An alternative concept of vision that might assist leaders drive creative transformation, instead of merely adjusting and upgrading existing strategies and practices, is conceptualised. Theoretical support is supplied by the Alice in Wonderland chronicle (Carroll, 1969) as well as by research conducted by Harvardâs Medical and Business Schools. The article forms part of a larger research project within a post-critical paradigm, whereby the reflective and theoretical epistemology of leadership includes metaphors from Alice in Wonderland. These metaphors are juxtaposed with the UFS â where an internationally awarded transformation took place after a debacle that was covered by various major international news agencies. Article 4 This study documents the apparently devastating Reitz debacle â where four White students humiliated four Black service workers while capturing the incident on video â from one week prior to the incident which occurred in February 2008 to only 30 months later when the UFS received the World Universities Forumâs 2011 Award for Best Practice in Higher Education. The purpose of the research was to apply the Appreciative approach to what seems to be an enormous disaster in the existence of the UFS. Motivation for the study manifested in a journey about sense-making of the defining factors that accomplished the transformation on the UFS campus. Intuitive as well as scholarly consideration determined the selection of the research design, approach and method. The Appreciative approach is applied within action research methods, especially participative and juxtaposed by an insider-author. The dynamics and opportunities that resulted from the Reitz debacle and the application of an Appreciative approach to leadership facilitated transformation on the campus and within its community. Data was collected by means of personal observations, interviews, photographs and documentation. The international media documented this uncontrolled case study extensively. To illuminate this study, traditional problem-based and appreciative strength-based leadership styles and images are juxtaposed with aspects in logician Lewis Carrollâs fantasy novel Alice in Wonderland (1865). By applying an Appreciative approach, a life-giving transformation may develop from a seemingly disparaging debacle. This finding suggests some practical and/or managerial implications. Extensive international exposure not only contributes to the relevance, reality and validity of this case study on the Reitz debacle, but also illustrates the possibilities of alternative approaches to a global audience of leaders. The extraordinary success of the Appreciative approach may contribute and add value by challenging other institutions to employ this approach in order to heal, unite, and invigorate troubled and diverse communities. Article 5 The University of the Free State (UFS) underwent a well-publicised transformation process following a well-publicised dilemma. Over the past few years, the author experienced an unpublicised transformation process after one of those everyone-knew-but-you dilemmas. Auto-ethnography (AE) was my travel vehicle on my journey from institutional awareness to personal transformation. Through self-reflection, qualitative research methods and observation, travel-related metaphors, theories on transformation, personal development, personal transformation and authentic leadership were used as a vehicle to connect Self, Others and Culture in institutional and personal identity consciousness. The authorâs travel companion, the unpretentious and individualistic Alice of Wonderland, provides insight into and understanding in complex circumstances. The readers are taken along a ten-phase journey to experience the practical and theoretical processes of transformation, during which they will be allowed to linger among the locals at various Wonderland stations.

<p> Shared governance is seen by higher education professionals as a necessity to effectively run a university. This form of governance requires that faculty at institutions of higher education have the primary responsibility over curriculum, subject matter, methods of instruction, research, faculty status, and aspects of student life which relate to the education process (American Association of University Professors [AAUP], 2011). </p><p> In order to garner the benefits of shared governance, faculty and administrators, plus governance boards should exchange information and opinions freely and often. Governance bodies should be created that facilitate communication among faculty, administrators, and governance boards (AAUP, 2011). In addition, Jenkins and Jensen (2010) argued that faculty members must be willing to commit time and energy to work and cooperate with the administration. Unless faculty members work on committees, spend hours reviewing documents and express informed points of view, sharing responsibility for governing the institution cannot succeed. Today shared governance may be weakened by the increased reliance on adjunct faculty members who may rarely be expected or given the opportunity to participate in institutional governance. This often leads to situations in which there are too few full-time faculty members to share the responsibility of governing the institution. The goal of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between academic administrators' leadership styles and two variables. These variables included faculty's level of participation in governance and faculty's satisfaction of shared governance. In addition, this study compared levels of participation in governance and the satisfaction of shared governance between full-time and adjunct faculty members.</p>

It has been the work of many science educators all over the world to try and design curricula that could help encourage intellectual growth in students. One influential work in this area was done by William Graves Perry, who managed to use students' own experiences to map out a scheme elaborating the different phases through which college students pass as they progress from year to year. This showed that students' thoughts develop from a state of basic dualism, where all is viewed as qualitative extremes without intermediates, to acknowledgement of multiplistic perspectives, through to recognition of the relativistic nature of knowledge. Perry suggests that instructors have to find out about their students' positions along this developmental continuum in order to carve around these proper support, encouragement, and challenges necessary for ensuring further development. Communication of expectations and aims of courses is also imperative. Research has shown that students' approach to learning is usually modelled around what they perceive as being expected of them. Perry's scheme is a suitable tool for ensuring this communication, because through it, students get to relay their expectations to the staff. Based on Perry's scheme, an attempt was made to develop a questionnaire that could be used for the investigation of intellectual growth in undergraduate biology students. This comprised of one section with opposing typical Perry 'A' (least advanced) and 'C' (most advanced) type statements, and a second free-response section where students had to justify their positions to given Perry 'A' and 'C' type statements. It was administered at universities of Botswana and Glasgow, Modified versions were also administered to pupils in two Glasgow High Schools and staff at the University of Glasgow. The aim was to find out if intellectual thought improved with progress from lower to higher educational levels and whether the staff's expectations matched those of students. The results from the two universities were also compared to find out if progress in the two universities followed the same pattern, and to see if Perry's scheme could be applied to students coming from totally different backgrounds.

This dissertation analyses the research funding resource allocation mechanism (the Research Assessment Exercise) in England to assess its viability as a resource allocation tool and a performance control measure, to form a view on both the internal consistency of the exercise and to explore possible unintended consequences. Case study interviews were carried out with university administrators to investigate the institutional impact. The academics' behaviour was researched by a questionnaire survey. A survey of journal editors was also carried out. Logistic regression was applied to the survey of academics to analyse the data. The RAE has resulted in a "publication culture", where academics are concentrating on research that produces early publishable results and a tendency to publish as many papers, as possible, from the same research project. The impact of the RAE on academics was not independent of their characteristics. The level of self-assessed research activity was a significant predictor variable. The 'middle-tier' academics were the most influenced by the RAE "four-paper" effect. Overall, the RAE lacked coherence and consistency as a resource allocation methodology, and had unintended consequences as a performance measure.

This thesis examines what expert and experienced PhD supervisors in the social sciences do well and how they do it. It is set in the context of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) initiatives in the early 1990s to broaden the purposes of an academic research training and to promote timely PhD submissions. Many have claimed that PhD supervisors play a central role in the PhD process and this research aspired to achieve clearer understandings of the expertise involved in fulfilling that role. The research was informed by Schutz's phenomenological analysis of common sense and related concepts. It involved a student survey and six supervisor case studies. The survey aimed to determine the criteria in terms of which students judged supervision to be successful, and to identify those expert supervisors who most fully met these criteria. In going beyond criteria identified by students, the aim of the case studies was to ask how successful supervision could be achieved. 'Expert' supervisors agreeing to participate were observed over several supervision sessions and asked later in interview to talk about the various actions they took in the observed sessions. Conclusions drawn from the student survey and the case studies included a close match between student and supervisor criteria and priorities for supervision. A clear emphasis was placed by both supervisors and students on bridging gaps between student knowledge, skills and motivation at any stage and what was necessary to achieve success in their PhD studies. The distinctive nature of supervisory expertise and the willingness of supervisors to reflect usefully on their taken for-granted expert practices were thought to have important implications for the initial and continuing education of PhD supervisors, the relationships between supervision and formal research training, ESRC research training policy, and future research on the craft of PhD supervision.

To this day, the introduction of Higher Education tuition fees during the 1990s proves to be a contentious issue. Despite their financial implications few students actively oppose them. I conducted a detailed study on the issue of the £1000 tuition fees introduced in 1998. I aimed to explore why Higher Education students do not take part in campaigns opposing tuition fees. My research was guided by drawing upon the individualisation theory developed by Beck (1992, 2002) and Giddens (1991). The empirical element of the research is based on a sample of students taken from two universities in the same city. It is argued that many Higher Education students do not actively participate in campaigns against tuition fees because they perceive their education to be an investment and accept that debt is a fact of life. It is further argued that students see themselves as individualised consumers who, as a result pursue individual rather than collective solutions to resolving problems related to educational provision. Though the students who participated in this research overwhelmingly believed the state should pay university tuition fees few students actively oppose them. This research argues that they have a low sense of political efficacy and perceive themselves to be a socially marginalised group with little significance in the eyes of politicians and society. Findings of this research enable the lack of active opposition towards tuition fees to be understood in its social context. Beck and Giddens’ analytical framework provides a practical explanation of why many students do not take part in these campaigns. However, it needs to be developed to provide a more coherent explanation of why so few students actively oppose tuition fees.

This mixed-methods study looks at the theory and practice of textbook selection, describing the criteria that teachers say they actually use when selecting textbooks in the Taiwanese tertiary context, exploring the reasons associated with these criteria, asking teachers to prioritize overall among these criteria, and finally comparing these with the suggestions for teachers which are put forward in the literature. To my knowledge, no studies have either systematically investigated teachers‟ actual criteria or, indeed, the reasons for these criteria and priorities among them. It is therefore not clear whether the criteria recommended in the literature are appropriate for helping teachers select a textbook for their own learners – indeed, the needs, objectives, backgrounds and preferred styles of learners will differ from context to context, and it is therefore likely that the criteria that have been suggested cannot necessarily be applied to different teaching contexts. This study employed an exploratory mixed-methods design, which first attempted to explore Taiwanese teachers‟ criteria and reasons for selecting a textbook through three-phase interviews, and second, based on the three-phase interview data, sought to assess what degree of importance teachers attach to the different evaluation criteria through an online questionnaire. The interviews were conducted with twenty-five teachers in six selected Taiwanese tertiary contexts in Phase One and nineteen from the same group in Phase Two. Also 138 questionnaires were completed and returned by a large group of teachers (15.5 per cent return rate). The main findings of this study are, first, that the use and role of the textbook described by teachers in this context match quite well with what has been previously identified in the literature. Second, the interview results show that the degree of teachers‟ involvement in evaluating and selecting textbooks varies. Their degree of involvement and procedures for selection vary from university to university and from individual to individual. Teachers do conduct pre-, in-, and post-use evaluation individually. However, they do not conduct in-use and post-use evaluation systematically and/or in a formal way. In some universities, post-use and pre-use evaluation as well as in-use and post-use evaluation even overlap. Third, I systematically investigated teachers' actual stated criteria in this context and explored reasons for their criteria in an in-depth manner. 70 criteria were identified as particularly important after being prioritised by teachers in the survey. The criteria in the categories of Authenticity, Self-instruction, and Cultural Issues attract considerable attention from teachers when they evaluate materials. The most important individual criteria were also identified. Finally, it was revealed that many teachers in this context have little or no training in evaluating materials. The significance of the study is, first, that this is the first study to systematically investigate teachers‟ own criteria for textbook selection with their associated reasons and priorities. Second, by reviewing the literature, I have provided a comparative analysis and, on this basis, an original synthesis of published materials evaluation criteria. This functioned to help me investigate the possible gaps between what teachers actually consider when evaluating materials and what it is suggested teachers should consider. The main gaps are in the category of Practical Concerns, which indicates that the set of criteria teachers employ for selecting a textbook must come from within the teaching context itself. Finally, the sequential exploratory mixed-methods design employed for this study provided a more comprehensive view than would any one method alone. This not only improved the quality of the final results in the present study, but can also serve as a model for future researchers to explore the issues of materials evaluation in their own, unique teaching contexts.

This thesis critically examines the discourse of government funded computer based learning (CBL) materials which have been introduced on undergraduate courses at UK universities with particular reference to CBL materials from the Teaching and Learning Technology Programme (TLTP). My study is based on a sample of pedagogic legal discourse from two undergraduate courses for law, one at Warwick University and one at the London School of Economics, and it presents a comparative analysis of the discourse of the TLTP materials for law and the established pedagogic legal genres which are used on these courses. The critical perspective on the analysis of the discourse seeks explanations of discursive change, represented by the introduction of the CBL materials, in the context of institutional and broader social change. The introduction of CBL materials in the 1990s has come at a time of extensive institutional change in UK higher education with large increases in student numbers at a time of static funding. This study explores the justifications for the introduction of such materials, academic, pedagogic and administrative and evaluates these in the light of the analysis of the discourse. The study shows that the academic justifications and the claims of the producers' of the CBL materials for a constructivist pedagogy are exaggerated, and that it is the economic and administrative imperatives of the funding bodies which predominate. The thesis goes on to argue that the CBL materials in this study both reflect and realise the marketisation of higher education and a commodification of pedagogic discourse itself.

This researcher investigated the professional experiences and development of trainee dental technicians and undergraduate dental students during a shared learning exercise in a combined UK university dental school and hospital. Two purposes framed the investigation: 1. To gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences of trainee dental technicians and undergraduate dental students during shared learning opportunities and 2. To examine whether interprofessional learning between trainee dental technicians and undergraduate dental students offered any professional and occupational specific disciplinary developmental benefits or disadvantages. Using a qualitative approach with a phenomenological framework, data sources included reflective diaries, focus group interviews and other salient material. Dialogue between the researcher and participants played a major part in ensuring the rigour of the study, participants having the opportunity to review the central concepts and excerpts within the thesis. Results indicated that both trainee dental technicians and undergraduate dental students were pragmatic but positive in terms of their expectations of shared learning. In particular, they regarded the exercise as useful in terms of communication and understanding each other‟s role. Overall there was little evidence arising from the data to support issues of power and perceived social and interprofessional hierarchies as impediments to learning. Findings from this study are consistent with previous research into interprofessional education, which demonstrate the significance of preconceptions based upon traditional and perhaps stereotypical perceptions of their own professional status. The students regarded the processes of shared learning as having a positive impact on future interprofessional teamwork. This empirical study assists in creating understandings about the benefits and limitations to shared learning between these two groups within the dental team. It also contributes to a currently under-theorised account of how relationships developed between these two groups may affect longer-term professional development. Implications are offered for future research involving the investigation that such learning may have on patient care.