Owing to the history of South Africa, the challenges associated with new students entering institutions of higher learning each year are well established in the academic discourse and civil society circles. The quality of mathematics education is a particular cause for concern. South Africa, considered as a developing country, requires a student population with skills relevant to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). In this article, we draw from personal experience by challenging the implicit assumption that ‘at risk’ students fall in line and seek available support for their benefit. Based on personal experience, we argue that students do not arrive at university tabula rasa; they draw on their worldviews and personal experiences as frames of reference. Therefore, they sometimes reject what they perceive as ‘intruding’ university interventions. It is to address this challenge that student advisors and all other stakeholders dedicated to student support must find creative and innovative approaches. Drawing on the Dunning-Kruger effect, we demonstrate that, at times, students suffer from inflated self-images. This is a metacognitive deficit that accounts for inflated self-appraisals and, as such, necessitates the interchangeable use of prescriptive and developmental advising.
As Early Childhood Education (ECE) students transition from initial teacher education (ITE) into a qualified position, they often face a "theory-to-practice gap" influenced by an ever-changing environment and evolving societal expectations. This research utilises a pragmatic methodology combining document analysis of academic and government literature, alongside Media documentation with an autoethnographic account of the author’s own professional experiences as a student, teacher, mentor, and lecturer. The findings identify critical knowledge gaps in Te Tiriti-based practices, inclusive pedagogy, and the development of teacher identity. The study argues that professional preparedness is an ongoing process of identity formation supported by relational trust and a culture of continuous learning rather than a final academic outcome. To address these gaps, the research provides practical outputs, including a reflective framework for lecturers and focused questioning strategies for students, aimed at fostering a more resilient and responsive ECE workforce.
In an effort to develop disciplinary literacy in English as an Additional Language (EAL) students in tertiary-level learning contexts, there have been various linguistically responsive instructional (LRI) approaches to fostering the learning of both language and content. The LRI approaches point to the importance of nurturing discipline-specific literacies of students as apprentice scholars who can appropriately participate in the scholarly conversations and practices of a discipline. There is, however, little known about whether and in what ways tertiary-level LRI-based approach can be realized and contribute to students’ empowered identities as legitimate participants in the consumption, construction, and representation of disciplinary knowledge. This autoethnographic teaching reflective account chronicles a ground-up pedagogical effort by university educators in Canada aiming to develop the disciplinary literacies of international undergraduate students in a course integrating content and language in conjunction with the content of first-year history, psychology, and geography courses. Illuminating specific instructional examples, this article illustrates how such a pedagogical effort informed by task-based, functional approaches to language learning may create an educational space within which students are invited to position themselves and others as producers of meaning. Drawing on students’ reflective voices, the article closes with pedagogical implications for fostering students’ empowered identities with a stronger sense ofaffective, cognitive, and communicative dispositions (beyond being “non-native” speakers/writers of English) while critically exploring the inextricable relationship between language and disciplinary knowledge. Dans le but de développer la littératie disciplinaire chez les étudiants dont l’anglais est une langue additionnelle (ALA) dans des contextes d’enseignement supérieur, diverses approches pédagogiques adaptées sur le plan linguistique ont été mises en place pour favoriser l’apprentissage à la fois de la langue et du contenu. Ces approches soulignent l’importance de cultiver les littératies disciplinaires spécifiques des étudiants en tant qu’apprentis chercheurs, capables de participer de manière appropriée aux conversations et aux pratiques savantes d’une discipline. On sait toutefois peu de chose sur si, et de quelle manière, une approche adaptée sur le plan linguistique au niveau tertiaire peut être mise en oeuvre et contribuer à renforcer l’identité des étudiants en tant que participants légitimes à la consommation, à la production et à la représentation des connaissances disciplinaires. Ce récit réflexif d’enseignement autoethnographique rend compte d’un effort pédagogique mené sur le terrain par des enseignants universitaires au Canada, visant à développer les littératies disciplinaires d’étudiants internationaux de premier cycle dans un cours intégrant le contenu et la langue, en lien avec les cours de première année en histoire, psychologie et géographie. À travers des exemples pédagogiques concrets, cet article illustre de quelle manière une telle initiative, inspirée par des approches d’apprentissage des langues fonctionnelles et basées sur les tâches, peut créer un espace éducatif dans lequel les étudiants sont invités à se positionner, eux-mêmes et les uns les autres, en tant que producteurs de sens. En s’appuyant sur les réflexions des étudiants, l’article conclut avec des implications pédagogiques visant à favoriser le développement d’identités autonomes chez les étudiants, dotées d’un sens accru des dispositions affectives, cognitives et communicatives (au-delà du simple statut de locuteurs/scripteurs « non natifs » de l’anglais), tout en explorant de manière critique la relation inextricable entre la langue et les connaissances disciplinaires.
University academic resources such as tutoring, office hours, and peer-led study programs are key institutional tools for supporting student learning, but these resources are often underutilized by the students who need them most. A student's ability and willingness to seek academic help are strongly correlated with student retention. Academic resources play a role in both the academic and social spheres of a student's college experience and may impact a student's decision to persist in a challenging discipline or remain enrolled at their institution. This qualitative study examines how socio-institutional culture shapes first-year engineering students' navigation of academic resources. Using cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) as an analytical lens, researchers conducted twenty semi-structured interviews to identify internal, social, and structural contradictions that shape help-seeking behaviors. Thematic analysis revealed three interrelated cultural norms: Hustle Culture, Collaborative Culture, and Academic Hierarchy. Each norm generated systemic contradictions, including belonging versus bandwidth, peer networks that gatekeep less popular resources, and the hidden curriculum surrounding expert support. When asked how to address these contradictions, study participants proposed consolidating resources, increasing transparency, and amplifying peer recommendations. The process of mapping activity system contradictions, naming cultural norms, and generating student-centered design opportunities is transferable across institutional contexts and useful to first-year experience practitioners, academic support directors, and advising offices seeking to co-create interventions that are responsive to their students' sociocultural realities.
Student engagement and ownership are persistent challenges in higher education (HE), particularly in small, vocationally led institutions. This study investigates how curriculum co-creation can address these challenges within a United Kingdom (UK) micro higher education institution (HEI) specialising in live events education. The institution has a diverse student body, comprising a high proportion of neurodivergent and non-traditional learners. Students reported limited influence over curriculum decisions and a sense of tokenism in existing feedback mechanisms.Eleven undergraduate students participated in semi-structured interviews, analysed using Braun and Clarke’s (2022) reflexive thematic analysis. Findings revealed a strong interest in co-creation, with students identifying benefits such as increased motivation, confidence and a sense of community. Participants also highlighted the need for clear structures, scaffolding and inclusivity, alongside concerns about academic standards and readiness.The study emphasises the importance of staged implementation, dialogue-based feedback and harnessing relational strengths in small cohorts. It contributes to the literature by providing insights from a vocational micro HEI – an under-represented context – and offers practical recommendations for institutions seeking to move from consultation to genuine partnership in curriculum design.