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South Africa K4C Hub (North)

LOCATION

The South Africa North hub is a partnership between the K4C mentors at the University of the Free State (central regions) and North-West University (northern regions).

PARTNERS (UNIVERSITY/COMMUNITY PARTNER ORGANISATION)

DESCRIPTION

The main aim of the hub is to support community-based research aimed at the development of methodologies, theory, and practice based on a holistic, systematic, and integrated approach to the promotion of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly, but not exclusively, SDGs 1, 3, 4, 10, & 17. The knowledge generated will contribute to social transformation applicable to a local as well as a global scale. Specific objectives to reach this aim are to partner with community to:

  • To develop theory to enable an improved systematic and critical understanding of how multiple systems interact to impact on the learning and development of various forms of community.
  • To develop process-oriented, community- and evidence-based strategies to enhance the learning and development of diverse communities, particularly those recognised to be most vulnerable.
  • To develop holistic integrated strategies to facilitate enabling and inclusive spaces across all levels of interrelatedness in communities,
  • To develop the expertise of academics involved to enable them to practise community-based research.
  • To take the research to scale whereby communities adopt and adapt processes that are informed by the knowledge generated by this hub.

MENTORS

Lesley Wood: Professor and Director of Community-based Educational Research, North-West University. Lesley is the supervisor the Northern Office. She conducts action research of various genres to bring about transformation in diverse educational contexts.

Karen Venter: Karen is the head of the Service-Learning Division, within the Directorate of Community Engagement, at the University of the Free State. Under supervision of Professor Lesley Wood, she leads the K4C partnership at the University of the Free State. She works under the Vice-Rector: Institutional Change, Strategic Partnerships and Societal Impact, Dr Molapo Qhobela, and the Director of Community Engagement, Mr Billyboy Ramahlele.

Michael Matlapeng: Founder of Gatelepele Youth Skills Development and Consultancy, in Khuma, North West province. Gatelepele NPO aims to support youth to develop the skills, attitudes and values to enable them to create a meaningful life for themselves and make a positive contribution to society.

Alfi Moolman: As a community champion for change, Alfi is passionate about community engagement initiatives that improve people’s lives, having more than 20 years of experience in community and youth development.  She has worked in various sectors including government, donor, private and tertiary education, which equipped her with strategic, collaborative and proactive skills for facilitating organisational and community development

Hendri Coetzee: Manager of engaged research in the support office for Sustainability and Community Impact (SCI) and extraordinary associate-professor in Community Psychosocial Research (COMPRES), North-West University. As an engaged scholar, Hendri’s main research focus area encompasses community, conservation and social-environmental topics, e.g. community well-being, sustainability, community impact (e.g. in the context of M & E), human-environment interactions, community-based conservation/ natural-resource management, human-wildlife conflict and the conservation of the ground-hornbill, to mention but a few.

PROJECTS OF THE HUB WITH BRIEF DESCRIPTION

Short Learning Programme (SLP) for academics to capacitate them to conduct CBR.

Offered twice (2020/2021), with 25 academic researchers/post graduate students successfully completing the course. The course runs over 8 weeks and covers the basic principles of CBR, critical reflection on own paradigms and attitudes, ethical considerations, setting up and nurturing partnerships, conducting the research and disseminating the knowledge. Due to COVID, it was presented online. Feedback indicates that this course is very helpful in helping researchers to embrace CBR:

  • I wish I did this program years ago. To me CBR feels more like “useful” research. The results are implemented while the research project is executed.
  • Thank you, I really learnt a lot and I am excited to take on my first real CBR project!

Workshop on Visual Methodologies for CBR presented by Lesley Wood to University of Johannesburg, 5 June 2021.

Webinars

We presented two webinars in 2021. The first was a combined launch with the South Hub (DUT/Rhodes) to introduce the K4C concept to interested parties. The second was a webinar entitled HOW CAN WE MAKE HIGHER EDUCATION MORE RESPONSIVE TO THE SDGs? with a panel consisting of Dr Rajesh Tandon (Unesco chair), Prof Catherine Odora-Hopper (GULU hub), Prof Mary Brydon-Miller (COMBER and University of Louisville), Prof Petra Bester (NWU), Dr Bruce Damons (Nelson Mandela University) and Ms D Hornby (Rhodes University and South hub). We received 92 registrations. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1z7fPPAUQdJroGmP8pFc0UMmtMyxvBBVT?usp=sharing

Presentation
Re-imagining University Social Responsibility in the digital opportunity space provided by the Covid-19 Pandemic at the USR Summit 2021 on 4 February 2021, as part of the University social responsibility in the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic session, Karen Venter and Alfi Moolman

Projects

  • Bridging knowledge cultures – In August 2021 we generated data with our partners in the Free State for our case study. Digital storytelling as a tool for bridging knowledge gaps in rural health education: The University of the Free State’s Trompsburg project as a case study.
  • The profile and impacts of the University of the Free State’s community-engaged scholarship activities.
  • The Impact and Sustainability of the North-West University’s Community-engaged Activities 2019/20. Report presented to all faculties.
  • The NWU’s community baseline project: A guide for future community-engaged activities
  • Taung book project. Needs, challenges and assets in the Taung community
  • There are various community-based projects in COMBER – https://education.nwu.ac.za/comber
  • Conducted CBR training pilots (Sep – Oct 2020) in Bloemfontein, Free State.  We trained 12 Bloemshelter community members as Trainers and three as Coaches to explore blended learning approaches with community partners.  The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic created opportunities to re-imagine practice, platforms and partnerships, which required a paradigm shift from working face-to-face towards creating a blended E-Community engagement environment.
  • The Common Good First Digital Storytelling LAB, enabled us to apply digital storytelling as an Arts-based method to capture research stories and mobilize knowledge.  The Free State’s K4C study findings was presented at the Comman Good Symposium Feb 2020 (https://project.commongoodfirst.com/teams/ufs/).

Publications 2020-2021

  • Damons, B. & Wood, L. 2020. Transforming traditional views of school leadership for school-community collaboration: a PALAR approach. Action Learning: Research and Practice, 17(2): 186-199. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767333.2020.1755825.
  • Luthuli, A. & Wood, L. 2020. “Nothing about us without us!” A collaborative action research approach to improving inclusion in a Zimbabwean College of Education. International Journal of Inclusive Education. DOI: 10.1080/13603116.2020.1766124
  • Zuber-Skerritt, O., Wood, L., & Kearney, J. 2020. The transformative potential of action learning in community-based research for social action, Action Learning: Research & Practice, 17:1, 34-47, https://doi.org/10.1080/14767333.2020.1712840  .
  • Meyer, M. & Wood, L. 2020. Participatory artist, researcher and teacher:(P)ART: My living theory of a professional framework for art education. Action Research, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1476750320971013
  • Wood, L. 2020. Youth leading youth: a PALAR approach to enabling action for sustainable social change. Educational Action Research, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650792.2020.1858913.
  • Wood, L. 2020. Participatory Action Learning and Action Research: Theory, Practice and Process Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
  • Schoonen, A., Wood, L. & Kruger, C., 2020. Building a vision for social justice praxis for teacher education through service-learning. In C.C. Wolhuter (ed.), Education Studies in South Africa: The Quest for Relevance, Rigour and Restructuring, pp. 195–224, AOSIS, Cape Town. https://doi.org/10.4102/aosis.2020.BK155.08 .
  • Wood, L. 2020. The principles, possibilities and politics of community-based educational research. Oxford University Press. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.948
  • McAteer, M. & Wood, L. 2021. Moderating epistemic injustice in teaching: A case study of the role of teaching assistants. In C McNaught & S. Gravett, Embedding Social Justice in Teacher Education and Development in Africa, pp. 1-16. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429341212
  • Mathikithela, M., & Wood, L. (2021). Youth Participatory Action Research as a Catalyst for Health Promotion in a Rural South African School. Qualitative Research in Education, 10(2), 144–171. https://doi.org/10.17583/qre.2021.7166
  • Schoonen, A., Wood, L., & Kruger, C. (2021). Learning To Facilitate Community-Based Research: Guidelines From a Novice Researcher. Educational Research for Social Change, 10(1), 16-32. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2221-4070/2021/v10i1a2
  •  Wood, L., & McAteer, M. (2021). The affordances of PAR for a school-community partnership to enhance learner support in socio-economically challenged communities. Action Research, 14767503211023133. https://doi.org/10.1177/14767503211023133
  • Van Rooyen, D., & Venter, K. (2021). Facilitating Local Social Innovation by Appreciating Glocal Community–Higher Education Partnerships. In J. Bezerra., C.Paterson & S.Paphitis (Eds.), Challenging the Apartheids of Knowledge in Higher Education through Social Innovation, pp. 317-338, African Sun Media. https://doi.org/10.52779/9781991201058 .
  • Nell W. & Coetzee HC. (2021). Conducting fieldwork in South African communities: Challenges and best practices (new book chapter).
  • Heyser M, Nell W & Coetzee H. (2021). Development and evaluation of a littering intervention program among a group of South African university students. (Accepted for publication in Ecopsychology).
  • Heyser M, Nell W & Coetzee H. (2021). Environmental attitudes among undergraduate students at the North-West University, South Africa (Accepted for publication in Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education)
  • Wood, L. (Ed.) (in press). Community-based research with vulnerable populations: Ethical, inclusive and sustainable frameworks for knowledge democracy. Palgrave McMillan.

CONTACT DETAILS OF THE HUB COORDINATOR
Prof Lesley Wood: Lesley.wood@nwu.ac.za

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