UP part of global research team to present the first image of Sagittarius A*

Astronomers have unveiled the first image of the supermassive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy. The announcement was made at simultaneous press conferences around the world. Professor Roger Deane, an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria and Director for the Centre of Astrophysics at the University of Witwatersrand and Wits Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr Iniyan Natarajan, were part of this global collaboration with the Event Horizon Telescope team. They are the only two African-based representatives who are part of the global team of more than 300 astronomers.

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Welcome to Research Matters

Research Matters shows how the University of Pretoria creates a world of answers by highlighting some of our most impactful and innovative research, all of which addresses society’s most pressing concerns in order to transform lives and communities.

Education

Xenophobia: Time to go to school

Problem

Did you know that legal migration from other Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries has increased almost tenfold since 1990 to over four million people per year? And that’s only individuals from the SADC who enter South Africa legally.

As the numbers have increased, intolerance and animosity towards black immigrants have too, leading to violent incidents of xenophobia. They are seen as a threat to social and economic progress, and as unfair beneficiaries of local resources.

Linked to our history of inequality and deeply complex, xenophobia isn’t just taking place in the ‘adult world’. In-depth research by Saloshna Vandeyar, Professor in the Department of Humanities Education, has shown that it is also happening in our classrooms and on play grounds. The consequences for our society can be far-reaching.

Solution

“Racism and xenophobia in all its horrific forms is transmitted across generations and is manifested in individual behaviours, institutional norms and practices, and cultural values and patterns. As such, it disrupts the mental health and psychological functioning of both victims and perpetrators,” says Prof Vandeyar.

She adds that we are currently witnessing the repercussions: “A society that is socially destructive, destabilises good community relations, works counter to the social cohesion and national unity agenda of South Africa and ultimately, decreases productivity in all spheres of society.”

Reflecting on her research, Prof Vandeyar says: “It is time for a concerted effort by both parents and educators to teach students to value human dignity and to view each other as cosmopolitan citizens of the world to break the vicious cycle of racism and xenophobia. However, if we agree that schools are a microcosm of society then the experiences of immigrant children are reflections of the ills in society at large. Perhaps we should begin re-educating adults.”

Prof Saloshna Vandeyar

Progress

Prof Vandeyar has devoted her career to understanding the implications of teacher and student identities in constructing classrooms inclusive of racial, linguistic, gender and ethnic identities.

Her research has led to the groundbreaking book (2015) The construction, negotiation, and representation of immigrant student identities in South African schools, co-authored with Dr Thirusellvan Vandeyar, as well as an edited book (2014) titled Good practice in culture-rich classrooms: Research informed perspectives.

For more information, contact Prof Vandeyar on:[email protected]

For an overview of her research:https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Saloshna_Vandeyar