The University of Pretoria’s (UP) faculties of education, humanities and theology and religion recently shared their initiatives, goals and objectives in terms of curriculum transformation in an online lecture, five years after the Curriculum Transformation Policy Document was adopted by the UP Senate. The discussion was moderated by Professor Charles Maimela, Deputy Dean: Faculty of Law and Coordinator for the relaunch of the University’s Curriculum Transformation Drive.

The talk was the latest in the UP Curriculum Transformation Lecture Series whose aim is to reflect on what faculties have done and what they are aiming to do to realise the strategic objective of having a transformed curriculum which is inclusive and dynamic in the interests of UP students and the broader society.

“With growing numbers of students, the faculty is continuously responding to the needs of the teaching sector. For example, the visual arts in education; the way in which arts is taught and disseminated has changed significantly in recent years with the adoption of online platforms,” said Professor Chika Sehoole, Dean of the Faculty of Education. “Visual art is increasingly used as expression of human concern and thus we partner closely with communities in research projects. In these projects visual arts students identify environment challenges and shortcomings in and around a specific school community and address them by involving school learners in developing creative solutions,” he said.

Prof Sehoole said the Faculty of Education also has an innovative higher certificate in sports science programme. “Sport education had to undergo significant transformation to be responsive to the needs of diverse society.

“One of the development modules in sport incorporates indigenous games to promote indigenous pedagogies and an inclusive approach to sport education. The faculty embraces a progressive and flexible approach to teaching and learning that is aimed at meeting the needs of students in a complex and uncertain world. Our curriculum prepares our students to use technology optimally in their own learning as well in their teaching once they graduate and become teachers.

“For example, in design and technology, students are exposed to programmes that require them to think critically through an enquiry-led teaching approach. Technology in education content requires them to design an interactive learning intervention in which they integrate technology that introduces them to 21^st-century skills. Much of the transformation in the past year has focused on how to teach in an online environment.” 

Focusing on the swimming module, Professor Johan Wassermann, Head of Department: Department of Humanities Education, Faculty of Education, said the module was not designed for “super swimmers”. He explained that it is a module that is meant to serve the community at large and is a systematic move away from only having “super swimmers” in mind to understanding water safety and being educators in the water.

Said Professor Sandy Africa, Deputy Dean: Humanities: “We need to ask ourselves as lecturers what is it that we are teaching and is it relevant? And in the texts that are prescribed, whose voices matter and whose are silenced? And do we equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to impact the world?

“In the Faculty of Humanities at UP we have been asking probing and provocative questions searching for ways to encourage our staff and students to decolonise and transform our curriculum. One of the faculty’s major initiatives has been to lead a super institutional collaborative project, Unsettling Paradigms: The Decolonial Turn in the Humanities Curriculum at Universities in South Africa which is funded by the Andrew W Mellon Foundation.”

During the lecture, Professor Jerry Pillay indicated that in 2018 the Faculty of Theology and Religion formulated and adopted a new vision and mission statement which has become a priority for change and transformation at all levels, especially in the areas of teaching, learning and research. “We facilitate life-affirming theologies by seeking to teach theologies that are constructive, critical, relevant, contextual and engaging, undertake quality collaborative interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research, nurture transformative leaders that serve academic and society, serve justice and peace. The faculty established with other stakeholders some points of departure for transformation and change. These included a commitment to build neutral trust for the stakeholders and respect for others and being willing to be transformed by the others and engage about where we are and how to move forward.” 

Echoing the same sentiments was Dr Lerato Mokoena, Lecturer, Department of Religion Studies, Faculty of Theology and Religion. “How we drive curriculum transformation is important in our faculty and essential because if we do not delve deeply into it and discuss the work that we have done, we will end up with a case of having symbolic representation without any structural adjustments in our programmes.” 

Other speakers who shared their curriculum transformation actions within their respective departments and faculties were, Professor Saloshna Vandeyar, Director: Centre for Diversity and Social Cohesion & Full, Professor: Department of Humanities Education, Faculty of Education;  Dr Gerhard Wolmarans, Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Sciences, Faculty of Humanities; Dr Alecia Samuels, Senior Lecturer, Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication, Faculty of Humanities; Dr Zorodzai (Zoro) Dube, Senior Lecturer, Department of New Testament Studies and Related Literature, Faculty of Theology and Religion.