Published Article / In 2005 the third-year facilitators of the generic degree in nursing embarked on an action research initiative within a service learning pedagogy to revitalise the nursing process related to wound care.As a result of the action research a unique wound care project unfolded. This project embraced an integrated assessment approach in order to assess the competence related to wound care and to develop health care practitioners with generic- and field-specific competencies. Action research as mode of delivery for this project created an opportunity for producing Mode 2 knowledge where all participants contributed to the production of knowledge relevant to the wound care context.

The notion of Mode 2, as a shift from Mode 1 science-as-we-know-it, depicts science as practically relevant, socially distributed and democratic. Debates remain over the empirical substantiation of Mode 2. In particular, our understanding has been impeded by the mutually exclusive framing of Mode 1/Mode 2. Looking at how academic science is justified to diverse institutional interests – a situation associated with Mode 2 – it is asked, “What happens to Mode 1 where Mode 2 is in demand?” This study comprises two sequential phases. It combines interviews with 18 university spinout founders as micro-level Mode 2 exemplars, and macro-level policy narratives from 72 expert witnesses examined by select committees. An interpretive scheme (Greenwood and Hinings, 1988) is applied to capture the internal means-ends structure of each mode, where the end is to satisfy demand constituents, both in academia (Mode 1) and beyond (Mode 2). Results indicate Mode 1’s enduring influence even where non-academic demands are concerned, thus refuting that means and ends necessarily operate together as a stable mode. The causal ambiguity inherent in scientific advances necessitates (i) Mode 1 peer review as the only quality control regime systematically applicable ex ante, and (ii) Mode 1 means of knowledge production as essential for the health and diversity of the science base. Modifications to performance criteria are proposed to create a synergy between modes and justify public investment, especially in the absence of immediate outcomes. The study presents a framework of Mode1/Mode 2 coexistence that eases the problem with the either/or perception and renders Mode 2 more amenable to empirical research. It is crucial to note, though, that this is contingent on given vested interests. In this study, Mode 1’s fate is seen through academic scientists whose imperative is unique from those of other constituents, thereby potentially entailing further struggles and negotiation.

The study explores, through a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, the existence of Mode 2 knowledge and programmes in the South African higher education sector. It begins by theorising about knowledge and takes as a point of departure the propositions about theory-building which state that to explain social phenomena, a system of ideas is required, the conceptual tools of which are able to explain the essential dynamics of such phenomena. It goes on to describe a crisis in a system of ideas that, together with valid critiques, demands to be re-examined as well as the potential for advancing alternative lines of thought. A critical reading and understanding of existing theories leads me to believe that independently, they are all inadequate to explain the relationship between knowledge production and South African higher education in an era of globalisation. This includes the all-encompassing framework of neo-Marxism, the excessive consumerism of academic capitalism, the equation of the worker with modern technology in post-industrialism and the`lax relativity', complacent and, indiscriminate celebration of diversity in post-modernism. By combining the `culturally sensitive' critical post-modernism of William Tierney and George Subotzky with the concept of `late capitalism' as proposed by Frederic Jameson, it is possible to establish a relationship between globalisation and South African higher education on the one hand, and between its' policy and knowledge production on the other. Against the features of the newly proffered theoretical framework of `critical postmodernism in late capitalism', the study examines the new higher education policy and legislation and ensuing discourse, with particular reference to the Gibbons thesis. It then explores, by using an empirical investigation, the extent to which Mode 2 knowledge production exists in South African higher education. This is done through a selected programme from a former technikon in that demonstrates the key assumptions and perceptions about Mode 2 as held by lecturing staff and as embedded in the structure, design and content of the programme. With the results obtained the study finally makes recommendations for the establishment of a paradigm-shift and for new practices in knowledge production in higher education in South Africa. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Comparative Education)

The study explores, through a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, the existence of Mode 2 knowledge and programmes in the South African higher education sector. It begins by theorising about knowledge and takes as a point of departure the propositions about theory-building which state that to explain social phenomena, a system of ideas is required, the conceptual tools of which are able to explain the essential dynamics of such phenomena. It goes on to describe a crisis in a system of ideas that, together with valid critiques, demands to be re-examined as well as the potential for advancing alternative lines of thought. A critical reading and understanding of existing theories leads me to believe that independently, they are all inadequate to explain the relationship between knowledge production and South African higher education in an era of globalisation. This includes the all-encompassing framework of neo-Marxism, the excessive consumerism of academic capitalism, the equation of the worker with modern technology in post-industrialism and the`lax relativity', complacent and, indiscriminate celebration of diversity in post-modernism. By combining the `culturally sensitive' critical post-modernism of William Tierney and George Subotzky with the concept of `late capitalism' as proposed by Frederic Jameson, it is possible to establish a relationship between globalisation and South African higher education on the one hand, and between its' policy and knowledge production on the other. Against the features of the newly proffered theoretical framework of `critical postmodernism in late capitalism', the study examines the new higher education policy and legislation and ensuing discourse, with particular reference to the Gibbons thesis. It then explores, by using an empirical investigation, the extent to which Mode 2 knowledge production exists in South African higher education. This is done through a selected programme from a former technikon in that demonstrates the key assumptions and perceptions about Mode 2 as held by lecturing staff and as embedded in the structure, design and content of the programme. With the results obtained the study finally makes recommendations for the establishment of a paradigm-shift and for new practices in knowledge production in higher education in South Africa. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Comparative Education)