Authors:Gisela H. van Rensburg, Johanna M. Esterhuizen First page: 8 Abstract: Historical inquiry is seldom used in South African nursing research and South African historians seldom conduct research into the historical contributions nurses made in South African healthcare, specifically the nursing discipline. In this article, the authors discuss the challenges of conducting historical inquiry within a South African nursing (health sciences) context and from nurses’ perspectives. Several challenges relating to the compilation of the research report were identified, as the traditional nursing research format differs from the typical historical inquiry format. The authors explain how critical realism philosophy influenced the research objectives and deepened their understanding of historical inquiry as a research methodology and thus assisting them in gaining new insight into historical events in South African nursing and guiding the writing of the historical narrative. The authors concluded that an interdisciplinary approach to research that allows for flexibility in report writing is recommended to contribute to the historical inquiry of discipline-specific histories. Such flexibility encourages fresh viewpoints and insights into historical inquiry as a research method.Transdisciplinary contribution: This article illustrates how historical inquiry as a methodology, informed by critical realism philosophy, was applied in the health sciences field of research. PubDate: 2023-08-24 DOI: 10.4102/td.v19i1.1325 Issue No:Vol. 19, No. 1 (2023)
Authors:Aletta J. Van As, Lorayne Excell, Naseema Shaik First page: 8 Abstract: This article explores parents’ perceptions of their children’s belongingness in early childhood care and education (ECCE) centres. It stems from the unexpected findings of a transformative ECCE pedagogy research project, which was characterised by multicultural, multiracial and varied economic conditions. As such, the authors expected controversial parental perceptions of the quality of the care and education their children experienced in these centres. However, this was not the case. Drawing on the theory of salutogenesis and its key concept, namely a sense of coherence, parents’ responses about their children’s early learning and well-being across diverse ECCE contexts were overwhelmingly positive. This prompted the question: what was it in these centres that allowed parents to experience a strong sense of belonging and such positive sentiments concerning their children’s sense of well-being' This phenomenological study was informed by the narratives of 19 parents, collected through the transformative pedagogy project, set in rural and urban situations, and at well-resourced and under-resourced centres. Findings reflected four identifiable themes. Firstly, parents favoured the diversity of influences at the centres, viewing these as rich opportunities for their children’s development and learning. Secondly, parents felt a strong conviction that the ECCE teachers were genuinely concerned about and sensitive towards their children. Thirdly, parents believed that their children were learning playfully in safe, loving spaces, and fourthly, parents were confident that their children were happy in the centres. These findings are particularly welcomed in the ECCE space, which is often demoralised and marginalised within the broader schooling system.Transdisciplinarity Contribution: The article shows that quality early childhood learning and teaching can take place across disparate contexts, be they urban or rural, well-resourced or under-resourced. This study identified factors that led to parents perceiving that their children experienced happiness and a sense of belonging in different centres. PubDate: 2023-05-17 DOI: 10.4102/td.v19i1.1225 Issue No:Vol. 19, No. 1 (2023)
Authors:Tharina Spoelstra, Gary W. Collins First page: 10 Abstract: Developing competencies in language and communication is becoming increasingly important for the contemporary engineering student if career success and community engagement are to be enhanced. The integration of language, and other ‘soft-skills’, into broader engineering education could assist in preparing students to become more employable and improve their overall engineering ability. This study adopted a design-based research strategy to develop design principles regarding the integration of language and communication skills into engineering education. Eleven participants were purposefully sampled to form part of a design team that became responsible for this development. The principles that emerged emphasised the role culture plays in the process of learning, highlighting the importance of embracing cultural diversity in ways that frame it as a strength to be exploited. Differing abilities and levels of English language proficiency need to be accommodated, requiring lecturers to build in a feedback process to manage progress and effective student engagement. It is advisable to adopt a holistic approach to teaching and learning, and to pay careful attention to appropriate learning strategies. An integrated learning environment necessitates the dismantling of the traditional silos that have characterised engineering education and greater cooperation among various disciplines needs to be encouraged.Transdisciplinary contribution: The integration of language and communication into engineering education goes beyond the boundaries of individual disciplines and involves collaboration between the faculties of engineering and humanities as well as industry partners, and accreditation bodies. The diverse range of expertise required, range from linguistics and pedagogy to engineering and instructional design. PubDate: 2023-11-13 DOI: 10.4102/td.v19i1.1369 Issue No:Vol. 19, No. 1 (2023)
Authors:Dirk Rossouw, Geoffrey A. Goldman First page: 10 Abstract: Strategic drivers are the most powerful agents of change not only altering industries, but also the strategic landscape of South African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Within this volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world, technology and collaboration and its interrelatedness seems most profound for HEIs. Therefore, exploring the impact of technology and collaboration as strategic drivers would allow South African HEIs to serve its socio-economic purpose more effectively. In support of this aim, an interpretive paradigm, employing qualitative methods, was pursued. A qualitative survey design was utilised whereby semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 research participants occupying senior management positions at seven public and one private South African HEI. Data were analysed in applying conventional content analysis with the assistance of Atlas ti. The results confirmed technology and collaboration as strategic drivers and to be critical for South African HEIs. Especially the importance technology was emphasised by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, while technology also render collaboration more accessible for HEIs. To this end, South African HEIs have to rethink strategy post COVID-19 in using technology to enhance technology integrated teaching and learning practices within the realm of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). Furthermore, to also collaborate nationally and internationally to ultimately develop the higher education sector. PubDate: 2023-06-23 DOI: 10.4102/td.v19i1.1307 Issue No:Vol. 19, No. 1 (2023)
Authors:Irvine Langton, Chengedzai Mafini First page: 11 Abstract: The performance-related problems facing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa are well known. Efforts to find lasting solutions are ongoing and include empirical research focusing on various business practices and models. Applying leadership practices and supply chain management to SMEs provides fertile ground for groundbreaking solutions. This study tested the relationship between transformational leadership, supply chain execution and supply chain performance in manufacturing SMEs in South Africa. The study uses structural equation modelling to examine this empirical connection using data collected from 411 professional employees drawn from SMEs in three South African provinces. The study found that idealised influence and intellectual stimulation exert a positive impact on supply chain execution. Supply chain execution is positively linked to four supply chain performance factors, namely agility, reliability, cost optimisation and responsiveness.Transdisciplinary contribution: The study connects transformational leadership, which is an organisational behaviour construct to supply chain management, the latter of which is an emerging business discipline. The study recognises that business strategy is implemented by people whose conduct and practices are pivotal to strategic success. In addition, the study has an entrepreneurship orientation as it addresses the challenges facing manufacturing SMEs in South Africa. PubDate: 2023-10-30 DOI: 10.4102/td.v19i1.1347 Issue No:Vol. 19, No. 1 (2023)
Authors:Nonhlanhla P. Khumalo, Nyamadzawo Sibanda First page: 11 Abstract: The number of university students coming from rural areas has significantly increased in South Africa in the last two decades. While this is a positive sign of inclusive social growth and development, the fact that 70% of South African universities are still located in urban areas creates challenges for a number of these students. This is also compounded by the fact that most rural schools in South Africa offer sub-optimal preparation for post-school activities. As such, the first barrier for most of these students is negotiating various levels of access to higher education (HE), using forms of social and cultural capital that may be incommensurate with urban-based HE institutions. Using an in-depth review of literature on the subject of rural education, transition to higher education, student success and reflections on the professional experience of the authors in student support services in higher education. This study argues that since most South African universities are “urban enclaves”, students from rural areas take time to adapt and accumulate relevant socio-cultural capital to enable them to thrive and succeed. The transition of students from rural schools to urban-based universities is a socio-cultural as much as it is an epistemological mobility. As such, this “troubled transition” of rural students can be ameliorated through a trans-sectoral or transdisciplinary transitional intervention to simultaneously enable epistemological access and create commensurate socio-cultural capital. However, previous interventions on student transition have been generic and lacked the nuanced intersectional analysis of rurality on student access and success.Transdisciplinary contribution: The study proposes a trans-sectoral or transdisciplinary transitional space in which education institutions (basic and HE) collaborate with government and non-state partners to ensure sufficient and effective transition, especially for rural school learners. PubDate: 2023-08-31 DOI: 10.4102/td.v19i1.1321 Issue No:Vol. 19, No. 1 (2023)
Authors:Mark Rathbone First page: 11 Abstract: The purpose of this article is to argue that Adam Smith’s assessment of agrarian economics is based on the transdisciplinary engagement between moral theory and economics in An inquiry into nature and causes of the wealth of nations (first published in 1776). This assessment draws on recent scholarship that underscores that Smith’s earlier work The Theory of Moral Sentiments (first published in 1759) is not in conflict with Smith’s economic theory; it rather presents the moral point of departure of his economics. This transdisciplinary interaction derails the divergent perspectives of contemporary scholars that either view Smith as an agrarian economist or an antagonist of industrialisation. The reason for this view of Smith’s economics is due to the failure to emphasise the engagement between agrarian economic and Smith’s moral theory that championed liberty. Secondarily, this engagement between economics and moral theory highlights Smith’s contribution to sustainable economics that can play an influential role in contemporary society.Transdisciplinarity Contribution: The article highlights the transdisciplinary interaction between Adam Smith’s free market economic theory and his moral theory as a function of liberty with special reference to agrarianism. PubDate: 2023-05-03 DOI: 10.4102/td.v19i1.1317 Issue No:Vol. 19, No. 1 (2023)
Authors:Aisha M. Abdullahi, Bester Chimbo First page: 14 Abstract: Goal five of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals calls for increased female participation in socioeconomic growth and development. Achieving this goal requires promoting females’ participation in fields such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) which facing a dire shortage of personnel. However, existing efforts to increase female participation in STEM professions in Nigeria are limited in two ways: firstly, they are not focused on young females between the ages of 11 and 18. Secondly, most existing studies are not focused on the affective aspect of learning. Given the claims in existing literature that females’ disinterest in STEM professions is affective rather than cognitive, this article employs the attitude-change approach, also known as the persuasion approach, to motivate females to pursue STEM pathways. We conducted an empirical study among young female students, STEM teachers and STEM professionals from Nigeria. Based on the empirical study, a framework indicating the key components that educational technology designers should consider when developing technologies to motivate young females in Nigeria to pursue STEM professions is presented.Transdisciplinary contribution: This study is unique in that it combines strategies from various fields. The framework’s persuasive strategies are drawn from the field of psychology, the innovative pedagogies are drawn from the field of education and the design science research approach is drawn from the field of information systems. This implies that increasing female participation in socioeconomic growth requires transdisciplinary research. This also has implications for how other United Nations Sustainable Development Goals can be met through transdisciplinary research. PubDate: 2023-07-11 DOI: 10.4102/td.v19i1.1349 Issue No:Vol. 19, No. 1 (2023)
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