Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this thesis is to explore the relationship between research and
policymaking in South African higher education, using the Education Policy
Unit at the University of the Western Cape (UWC-EPU) -recently renamed the
Centre for the Study of Higher Education - as a case study. The study begins
by examining the various models that explain the nature of policymaking in
Western democracies, as well as the main theoretical frameworks - namely
the "two communities" theory and the enlightenment model of knowledge
utilisation - that explain the relationship between the production of knowledge
and its utilisation in policymaking. It is argued that, although most of these
models were developed to analyse the policymaking process within the
context of mature democracies, they nonetheless raise important issues for
developing countries like South Africa.
The study proceeds to provide an overview of the process of policy
development in South Africa. It is suggested that a better way of
understanding the evolution of higher education policy development in South
Africa is to see it as having gone through four phases, each of which marks a
significant turning point within higher education itself, as well as in the broader
political context. The process of the policy development, and in particular the
role of (higher education) research within it, is shown as one that was largely
driven by political and ideological imperatives.
The study then shifts to a discussion of the CSHE, commencing with an
overview of its organisational history, and highlighting the main objectives of
its research programme and the changes that occurred with regard to its
research orientation. These are examined in relation to external factors - for
example the shift from the development of policy frameworks to the focus on
implementation - and in terms of the dynamics that were internal to the
University of the Western Cape. This discussion also highlights the challenges that were faced by the EPUs and other progressive academics in
the early phases of the policy development process, namely that of engaging
in a 'reconstructive' agenda on the one hand, while undertaking
intellectual/scientific work on the other hand. In the case of the CSHE, there
was also the added challenge of contributing to the development of the
nascent field of higher education studies.
One of the key issues that emerge in the analysis of the interviews, which
form the core source of data collection for this study, is the multifarious
understanding of the way in which the research undertaken by the CSHE was
to be utilised. The three notions of 'use' that are highlighted - which are also
embedded in the objectives of the CSHE as set out in its constitution - are the
following:
• Utilisation as generation of ideas, and particularly as a contribution to
the debates on social reconstruction
• Utilisation as input into the policymaking process
• Utilisation as contribution to scholarship
The study shows that there is a mixed assessment of the extent to which the
CSHE was able to address these competing - and sometimes contradictory -
challenges. In the main, its efforts were hamstrung by a confluence of factors,
ranging from its inability to recruit or attract experienced researchers, to the
orientation of its research towards critique, something which was a feature of
the scholarship emanating from the progressive academic community at the
time. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie tesis is om die verhouding tussen navorsing en
beleidsvorming binne die konteks van die Suid- Afrikaanse hoër
onderwysomgewing te ondersoek. Met die oog hierop word die Education
Policy Unit aan die Universiteit van Wes-Kaapland (UWC-EPU), onlangs
herdoop tot die Centre for the Study of Higher Education (CHSE), deur middel
van 'n gevallestudie beskryf. Die studie begin met 'n ondersoek na die
verskillende modelle wat poog om die aard van beleidsvorming binne
Westerse demokrasieë te verduidelik. Verder word die hoof teoretiese
raamwerke, tewete die "two communities" teorie asook die "enlightenment
model", wat die verhouding tussen die skep van kennis en die aanwending
daarvan binne 'n beleidskonteks wil verduidelik, ook ondersoek. Hoewel die
meeste modelle van hierdie aard ontwikkel is om die proses van
beleidsvorming binne volwasse demokrasieë te analiseer, word aangevoer
dat hulle desnieteenstaande belangrike kwessies na vore bring vir
ontwikkelende lande soos Suid-Afrika.
Die studie gaan verder deur 'n oorsig te gee oor die proses van
beleidsontwikkeling in Suid- Afrika. Daar word gesuggereer dat 'n meer
verantwoorde wyse om die evolusie van hoër onderwysbeleid in Suid-Afrika te
verstaan, sou wees om erkenning te gee aan 'n vier-fase-benadering,
waarvan elk 'n betekenisvolle rigtingverandering aangedui het, sowel as die
invloed van die breër politieke konteks. Die proses van beleidsontwikkeling,
en meer spesifiek die rol van (hoër onderwys) navorsing daarbinne, word
aangetoon as synde hoofsaaklik gemotifeer deur politieke en ideologiese
imperatiewe.
Hierna verskuif die fokus van die studie na 'n bespreking van die CSHE deur
te begin met 'n oorsig oor die geskiedenis van die sentrum. Die hoof doelwitte
van die sentrum se navorsingsprogram asook die veranderinge wat onlangs
plaasgevind ten opsigte van navorsingsoriëntasie, word bespreek. Hierdie aspekte word ondersoek aan die hand van eksterne faktore - byvoorbeeld die
verskuiwing wat plaasgevind het vanaf die klem op ontwikkelingsraamwerke
na 'n fokus op implimentering - en in terme van die dinamika wat eie is en
was aan die Universiteit van Wes Kaapland. Die gesprek poog verder om lig
te werp op die tipiese uitdagings waarmee Education Policy Units en
navorsers in hierdie veld mee te doen gehad het in die beginjare van die
beleidsontwikkelingsproses, naamlik om vanuit 'n rekonstruktiewe agenda te
opereer en terselftertyd betrokke te wees met navorsing op 'n akademiese en
wetenskaplike vlak. In die geval van die CSHE, het die verdere uitdaging om
deurlopend bydraes tot die veld van hoër onderwysstudies te lewer, hoë eise
aan die eenheid gestel.
'n Sleutelaspek wat na vore gekom het tydens die analise van die onderhoude
(laasgenoemde vorm die sentrale bron van vir die data-versameling van die
studie) is dat uiteenlopende interpretasies bestaan van hoe die navorsing
soos deur die CSHE onderneem, benut behoort te word. Die drie
perspektiewe op benutting ("use") wat uitgelig word, en wat In sentrale deel
van die doelwitte van die CSHE uitmaak soos in die grondwet van die sentrum
vervat, is die volgende:
• Benutting as die skep van idees, en in die besonder as 'n bydrae tot
debatte oor sosiale rekonstruksie
• Benutting as inset tot die proses van beleidmaking
• Benutting as bydrae tot navorsing
Die studie toon aan dat die maniere waarop die CSHE in staat was om hierdie
kompeterende, en soms teensprekende, uitdagings te hanteer, op
uiteenlopende wyses geëvalueer was. In hoofsaak is die pogings van die
sentrum aan bande gelê deur 'n sameloop van verskillende faktore wat
gestrek het vanaf die probleem om ervare navorsers te lok en aan te stel tot
met die probleem om sy navorsing aan te pas en te heroriënteer gegrond op
kritiese stemme, dikwels die gevolg van die progressiewe akademiese
gemeenskap van die tyd.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/50437 |
| Date | 04 1900 |
| Creators | Kulati, Tembile |
| Contributors | Mouton, J. (Johann), Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | Unknown |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 126 pages |
| Rights | Stellenbosch University |
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