The Fourth World Conference on Transformative Education (WCTE), held from 2 to 4 July 2025, provided a powerful global platform for scholars to reimagine community-building spaces and to develop actionable strategies for dealing with global challenges in transformative education. Sponsored by the Global Institute for Transformative Education, the conference featured research papers that fostered multi-layered discussions and connections, advocating for educational change that is both deeply human and systemically supportive in the basic and tertiary education sectors. 

In line with this year’s conference theme, "Transformative education for sustainable social and economic development", five staff members from Unisa Western Cape presented a cohesive and critical body of work. Their presentations highlighted how digital and human divides are addressed to drive innovation that meets the needs of both staff and students at the forefront of open and distance e-learning (ODeL).

Adéle Blacker and Jacques du Toit presented a paper titled "Engaged scholarship for inclusive transformation: leveraging digital innovation to address compounded marginalisation in ODeL". Building on their 2024 work, they dissected the intricate layers of exclusion faced by students in resource-constrained communities across the Western Cape. Using Harrison and Atherton’s (2021) framework of four dimensions of marginalisation – society, systems, time and space – they demonstrated how these factors compound to limit learning success.

In the post-presentation discussion, Du Toit noted, "It is not about students not having a laptop. It is also not about them having mobile phones. It is about access and the South African education system that assumes universal access." Blacker added that "geographical distances isolate students and that specific local contexts make generic solutions to ODeL challenges ineffective. It is therefore important to acknowledge that compounded marginalisation affects every facet of students’ learning experience."

The research paper, "From face-to-face to fully online: digital transformation in learning support services: a reflection on higher education post-Covid", by John Abrahams, Blacker, Bronwyn Wright and Du Toit, provides a critical analysis of the catalytic role of the Covid-19 pandemic in decentralised regional centres, particularly how it forced a rapid transition to fully online support in open and distance learning (ODL). The study confirms that this shift disproportionately disadvantaged students from low socio-economic backgrounds. The pandemic intensified the digital divide to the point where it became an educational chasm. Nonetheless, the paper offers a positive perspective on ODL decision-making, highlighting that the systematic integration of digital processes has placed greater emphasis on innovative support structures and underscoring the need for a sustainable, holistic approach that gives greater consideration to marginalised learners.

While students are central to transformation, academics are indispensable architects of the process. In the paper, "The psychological impact of modern transformations in higher education: academic well-being, stressors and coping strategies", Wright places the focus on the role of academics in driving change. This qualitative enquiry examines the psychological and emotional effects of modern transformation on academics. The study highlights key stressors but also identifies potential solutions, including resilience-building strategies, mindfulness practices and structured workload management. Wright argues that higher education institutions cannot achieve transformative education without academics who are transformed and supported.

As is customary at conference presentations, workshops also featured facilitators. Dr Shahieda Jansen’s interactive workshop, "Knowledge is who we are: a pedagogy of presence for transformative education", drew on the work of Klaasen (2017), centring on the principle that true teaching and learning extend beyond information transmission to the shaping of whole persons. Jansen introduced the concept of Afro-Eastern multidimensional personhood (AEMP), a framework that recognises the integrated, embodied, intellectual, emotional and socio-spiritual nature of human identity. Linking this concept to real-world applications, she asserted that presence is a political act, and by engaging with the lived realities and aspirations of individuals, we can transform society.

The papers presented by the Unisa Western Cape Region staff offered a comprehensive vision for transformative education in open learning, underscoring the critical importance of educator well-being, the need for targeted and context-aware societal solutions, the foundational role of authentic human presence and the risks associated with digital adoption. Through their contributions at the WCTE, the staff members did more than just share research – they positioned Unisa’s decentralised regional offices not merely as administrative centres but as dynamic hubs for research and engaged scholarship. Collectively, these papers call on ODL institutions to integrate on-the-ground insights into their core academic support strategies, ensuring that digital innovation narrows rather than deepens existing inequalities.

As the Cape Town conference baton passes to Chile for 2026, the insightful work of the Unisa Western Cape Region will serve as a critical reference point for future research projects through collaborative efforts.

* Submitted by Jacques du Toit, Regional Academic Coordinator: Tuition and Facilitation of Learning, Western Cape Region