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Establishing a transformative institutional culture at a comprehensive South African university: the role of the arts

Universities in South Africa have emerged from an exceptionally fragmented and divided past and are responding to this by reconceptualising and restructuring their institutional governance structures. This is been done through the introduction of policies and strategies aimed at transforming institutional landscapes and creating environments that are conducive to meeting the demands and pressures of a transformed SA. Previous studies have indicated that there is a need for institutional transformation and change at newly merged universities in SA. However, very little is known about the possible role the arts could play in institutional change and transformation processes and what Badat refers to, when referencing the process of institutional transformation, as “the dissolution of existing social relations and institutions, policies and practices, and their re-creation and consolidation into something substantially new” (2009:456). The goal of this research study is to explore the views, opinions and perceptions of key stakeholders and decision-makers at a comprehensive South African university, in this case, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), in order to gain their insights into the role the arts could play in creating and consolidating a transformative institutional culture at a merged university in SA. The data was obtained from semi-structured interviews with 16 key decision-makers and stakeholders at NMMU. Based on the thematic data analysis, the responses from these key stakeholders indicate that there is wide support for the arts to play a role in the establishment of a transformative institutional culture and it appears that not only should the arts play a role, they should play a central role.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:9561
Date January 2013
CreatorsBarry, Michael Peter
PublisherNelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Education
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis, Masters, MEd
Formatvi, 113 leaves, pdf
RightsNelson Mandela Metropolitan University

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