Well done to Dr MJ Sethusha and Dr J Nyoni on completing their doctoral studies!
Dr J Nyoni and Prof KP Dzvimbo
The degree of Doctor of Education (D Ed) was awarded to Jabulani Nyoni for his thesis entitled Discourses of Multicultural Teams: Implications for Policy Practice in Open and Distance Learning. Jabulani Nyoni, through the analysis of the views and experiences of practising open and distance learning (ODL) multicultural academic lecturers, he investigates the formation of communities of practice (CoPs) in line with the institutional team approach (TA) framework for curriculum and learning development at Unisa. He proposes a post- (de)colonisation model to assist postcolonial transitional higher education institutions in overcoming the colonised modernity and the ambivalence of dualistic racism, and reconstructing a new way of coexistence given South Africa’s multicultural context. Prof KP Dzvimbo was his Supervisor.
In her thesis entitled “An Investigation of the Challenges Affecting Teachers’ Classroom Assessment Practices”, Mantsose Jane Sethusha investigates the challenges affecting teachers’ classroom assessment practices and explored how these challenges influence effective teaching and learning. She adopted a qualitative instrumental case study approach and used semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analyses in the investigation. Her study utilized the conceptual framework based on the model suggested by Hargreaves, Earl and Schmidt (2002) in which four perspectives – technological, cultural, political and postmodern were outlined with the intention of accounting for teachers’ assessment practices.
Dr MJ Sethusha, Prof KP Dzvimbo and Dr J Nyoni
The data collected allowed her to map out the different challenges encountered by teachers in their classroom assessment practices. Major challenges that emanated from this study were policy interpretation, overcrowding, support, parental involvement, moderation mechanisms (internal and external), assessment planning, implementation and communication as well as lack of resources. Prof MW Lumadi was her supervisor.
