https://epubs.ac.za/index.php/cristal/issue/feedCritical Studies in Teaching and Learning2025-07-03T15:39:48+00:00Daniela Gachagocristaljournal@gmail.comOpen Journal Systems<p>Critical Studies in Teaching and Learning is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes scholarly articles and essays that describe, theorise and reflect on creative and critical teaching and learning practice in higher (university) education continentally and globally. The editors welcome contributions that are challenge hegemonic discourse and/or reconfigure higher education teaching and learning. We invite and well-researched, whether they are analytical, theoretical or practice-based, as well as contributions that deal with innovative and reflective approaches to higher education teaching and learning. We are particularly interested in articles that have relevance to the South African educational context.</p> <p> </p>https://epubs.ac.za/index.php/cristal/article/view/2848Book review2025-06-03T14:24:34+00:00Judith Reynoldsj.reynolds@ru.ac.za<p>Clift, B.C., Costas Batlle, I., Bekker, S., & Chudzikowski, K. (Eds.). (2023). Qualitative Researcher Vulnerability: Negotiating, Experiencing and Embracing (1st ed.). Routledge. <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003349266">https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003349266</a></p>2025-06-30T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2025 Judith Reynoldshttps://epubs.ac.za/index.php/cristal/article/view/2902Editorial2025-06-29T12:54:21+00:00Mlamuli Hlatshwayomhlatshwayo@uj.ac.za2025-06-29T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2025 Mlamuli Hlathswayohttps://epubs.ac.za/index.php/cristal/article/view/2523Diffracting our stories: New questions about roles in and beyond South African university writing centres 2024-11-08T12:50:13+00:00Jean Moorejean.moore@wits.ac.zaLaura Disonlaura.dison@wits.ac.za<p>South African writing centre scholarship reveals how writing centres have responded to changing circumstances in higher education. Much of this scholarship reflects processes of ongoing reflection and reflexivity, engaging and interrogating notions of resilience, agency and literacy in different ways. In this paper, we identify three broad writing centre narratives apparent in this scholarship. We then trouble some of these stories, including our own, by turning to bystander theory as a lens and diffraction as a methodology. This allows us to question how writing centre narratives assign the roles of victim, perpetrator and upstander in higher education, and in writing centres specifically. We wonder together about the roles assigned in these stories and their effects. We call for a more critical approach to understanding South African writing centre work and argue that our stories and roles, by over-focussing on the micro-level and neglecting the meso- and macro-levels, may unintentionally shield universities from having to enact systemic transformation.</p>2025-06-29T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2025 Jean Moore, Laurahttps://epubs.ac.za/index.php/cristal/article/view/2256Unlocking Academic success through translanguaging: Summary writing at a South African University2025-04-07T16:44:59+00:00Akulina Chihobochihobo.jackie411@gmail.comLeketi MakalelaLeketi.makalela@wits.ac.za<p>Summary writing is a core academic activity essential for success in higher education. Proficiency in this skill is crucial for students to perform various academic tasks. However, summary writing poses significant challenges for multilingual students in South Africa, particularly in contexts where monolingual practices prevail. This qualitative study investigates the impact of translanguaging on the summary writing skills of multilingual students at a South African university. Eight participants, who wrote summaries of an English text in English and their home languages, were interviewed in semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that translanguaging enhances comprehension and engagement with texts, as it allows students to use multiple languages freely. Consequently, this paper recommends implementing language policies that treat all languages equally and encourage the use of students’ home languages as learning resources. Future research should focus on incorporating texts in multiple languages for reading and summary writing in literacy education.</p>2025-06-29T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2025 Akulina Chihobo, Leketi Makalelahttps://epubs.ac.za/index.php/cristal/article/view/2357Life Orientation as a posthumanist interspace: Reclaiming human-centric higher education in a post-neoliberal South African landscape2024-12-11T05:22:12+00:00Sarina de Jagersarina.dejager@up.ac.zaJanet Jarvisjarvisj@ukzn.ac.za<p>This article advances a humanistic vision for higher education by reimagining Life Orientation (LO) – a South African school subject often dismissed as marginal – as a vital knowledge interspace within universities. Situated within the context of teacher education, the article critiques the dehumanising effects of neoliberalism and colonial epistemologies, and advocates for a curriculum that foregrounds relationality, ethics, and holistic learning. Drawing on posthumanist, decolonial, and nomadic theory, particularly Braidotti’s work, the paper conceptualises LO as a transdisciplinary site that supports boundary-crossing and inclusive pedagogies. Through ecological metaphors and examples of courageous scholarly collaboration, the article shows how LO can foster interconnectedness, emotional intelligence, and critical consciousness. It proposes a model for recognising LO as a formal interspace in higher education – capable of addressing social fragmentation and supporting global citizenship. By aligning with the values of the Fifth Industrial Revolution and the Sustainable Development Goals, LO is positioned as essential to a more compassionate and just educational future<strong>.</strong></p>2025-06-29T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2025 Sarina de Jager, Janet Jarvishttps://epubs.ac.za/index.php/cristal/article/view/2153Exploring ukuthunywa as African Methodology: Decolonial research and ethical considerations2025-01-21T18:48:26+00:00Nombulelo Tholithemba Shangetholithemba.shange@gmail.com<p class="Paragraph"><span lang="EN-GB">Western scholars have long viewed themselves as the sole custodians of African experiences, ideals, history, culture, and knowledge. The #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall protests in 2015 and 2016 brought the issue of decolonising knowledge systems to the forefront, encouraging decolonial discourse more suited to the African context. Today, there is a rise in African intellectuals, practices, and solutions, especially in academia, but not much is being done to reimagine and decolonise methodology. This article theorises on African methodologies, which are often overlooked in decolonial discourse. Despite increasing awareness of African indigenous knowledge to address social challenges, these solutions are often accompanied by Western epistemological pedagogies. <em>Ukuthunywa,</em> an important method of passing down useful skills that one still finds in African households today, is theorised in this article. This term loosely translates to ‘being sent to run errands’. The inspiration for this theorising came from a PhD ethnographic study on African healers called Mountain Doctors. </span></p>2025-06-29T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2025 Nombulelo Tholithemba Shangehttps://epubs.ac.za/index.php/cristal/article/view/2691The effects of decolonial praxis on leaders of transformative movements: The case of Masivule in South Africa2025-05-28T13:38:04+00:00Cliff Sekowesekowec@gmail.comMichael K. Okyere Asantekwadwoasante1@gmail.comJessica van den Brinkjessvdbrink@gmail.comAlexander Andrasonaleksand@hi.is<p class="Paragraph"><span lang="EN-GB">While the effects experienced by the leaders of radical transformative movements at universities in South Africa and other countries have become evident over the last decades, the scholarly discussion and theorisation thereof, especially by those directly involved in these movements, has been scarce. This article addresses this knowledge gap and discusses the consequences suffered by the leaders of a small, albeit no less radically transformative, movement that took place at a middle-size department at a historically white South African university in 2022: #Masivule_i-Antieke_Studies. By exploring an auto-ethnographic method and couching their personal experiences within decolonial theory, the authors – who were among the six Masivule founders and activists – conclude that: contesting (post-/epi-)colonial powers at universities has both negative and positive effects on the architects/leaders of decolonial movements, which are visible in four domains: structural, epistemic, personal, and relational. While structural, epistemic, and relational effects gradually become mostly positive, personal effects remain profoundly (albeit not exclusively) negative. The authors propose that the most promising or effective way to deal with traumatic experiences and render them generative is to embrace decoloniality – not only as a method of transforming a particular department, university, or field, but as a philosophy governing one’s professional career and life.</span></p>2025-06-29T00:00:00+00:00Copyright (c) 2025 Cliff Sekowe, Michael K. Okyere Asante, Jessica van den Brink, Alexander Andrason