Previous page | New search |
The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here
Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | University Education and African Thought: Reflections on Underachievement among Some UNISA Students |
Author: | Van Heerden, Eulalie |
Year: | 1997 |
Periodical: | South African Journal of Ethnology |
Volume: | 20 |
Issue: | 2 |
Period: | June |
Pages: | 76-85 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | South Africa |
Subjects: | academic achievement students black universities Education and Oral Traditions |
Abstract: | This article is concerned with underachievement among black students at the University of South Africa (Unisa). As a distance education institution, Unisa occupies a specific position among South African universities. For many (black) students, particularly those who are employed or live in rural areas, Unisa offers their only chance of obtaining a university education. Political factors, specifically the discriminatory policies of the apartheid era, are widely and almost exclusively held responsible for underachievement among black students. As a consequence, the solutions proposed to solve this problem have emphasized political factors. The present author argues that underachievement is a complex phenomenon which necessitates the consideration of factors other than political ones. These factors are: circumstances during childhood; school education; learning styles, study habits, and attitudes; the role of language; political, economic and physical environmental factors; individual characteristics; and the influence of norms and values. The author also considers some aspects of African thought which appear to provide a framework for tentative explanations of the way students deal with their studies: their concept of time, group-orientation, people-orientation, and notions of causality. Bibliogr., notes, sum. in Afrikaans and English. |