Chapter 5. A Qualitative Representation (and Explanation) of Exceptional Academic Achievement Achievement
5.5 Sifiso (College of Health Sciences)
5.5.2 Epistemic access: Study spaces, daily routines, and socialising
Sifiso chose to first present and discuss Photograph 5-11 during the photo-elicitation interview in which he participated. He entitled the photograph “Workspace”, and clarified the content of this photograph as including the table where he used to study while at school (the table is in the bottom half of the photograph). He also identified that the table was located in the kitchen of the three-roomed house in which he grew up.
The bedroom and the kitchen are connected, but the other room was outside, so I couldn’t go [study] outside cos when I come back from studying, it was dark and cold so. So the kitchen was convenient for me, so I used to stay in the kitchen. So that when I finish studying I just go to the bedroom. It was just convenient like that.
(Sifiso, PEI 6, 207)
And my place, the place that I used to stay in Ermelo (.) It’s cold, very cold, so you would want to stay in a warm place when you study. (Sifiso, PEI 6, 218)
After discussing how and why this setting was a suitable workplace during his schooling years, the interview naturally turned to focus on the spaces and experiences surrounding the table pictured in Photograph 5-11.
In contrast to the time he spent studying at the table in the kitchen on his own, Sifiso also identified that this was supplemented with time spent studying with friends, as well as taking breaks to chop wood and play soccer with his younger brother. Sifiso placed particular value on the
… part about um (.) the friends, the discussions, [clarifying that] I used to feel my stuff, it’s pointless just grasping, or memorising, or reading stuff and not learning to apply. So when I went for night classes I used to talk a lot and give a lot of answers.
It used to install, or reinforce the knowledge that I had, so ja. I like that part, it was very productive. (Sifiso, PEI 6, 296)
Sifiso highlighted multiple components to his studying while at school. These included studying alone, studying with friends, active participation in night classes, and a powerful feeling
associated with studying. Here, a strong feeling and interpersonal component to studying was emphasised.
Photograph 5-11. Workplace (Sifiso H1)
Therefore, although Photograph 5-11 is a photograph of inanimate objects (table, kitchen
drawers, and kitchen counter), the photograph is also evidently about the people and experiences that surround (and surrounded) those objects.
Nick: You mentioned your younger brother who is not in the picture but would have featured around that. Who else would have walked through the kitchen while you were studying?
Sifiso: My elder sister. She (.) okay, there is like three of us. It’s me, my little brother and my sister, who is older than all of us. We were the only three people in that house, and she was the most likely person to walk in. (Sifiso, PEI 6, 389)
Nick: And tell me (.) your parents or any older family members?
Sifiso: No, the parents are deceased. So (.) um (.) no other members … (Sifiso, PEI 6, 420)
Sifiso was reticent to discuss what happened to his parents, responding, “It was really a hectic time so eish (.) It would be a sort of like salt in a wound” (Sifiso, PEI 6, 466). Interestingly then, the photograph of a table and kitchen “Workplace” is more than a reflection of a historical study space or daily routine; it is also imbued with an intense emotional experience of familial loss.
Whereas Photograph 5-11 reflects a historical study space for Sifiso, Photograph 5-12 reflects his current study space. In addition to confirming the obvious content of Photograph 5-12 (i.e., that it reflects himself studying and that this is part of his daily routine), Sifiso also contrasted Photograph 5-12 with Photograph 5-11 (i.e., his current workplace with his workplace from school).
Nothing much to compare. It’s just that what I can say now it’s (.) better [referring to the study space reflected in Photograph 5-12]. It’s advanced, the environment is a little bit enhanced. It’s quiet except for (.) the wall here – it is made of cardboard, so when somebody is playing some music on the other side it is very loud and can be disturbing. But otherwise if there is no such noise everything is fine. Its quiet environment (.) curtains (.) it’s just the height, the chair height, and everything. It’s conducive to studying. (Sifiso, PEI 6, 845)
Photograph 5-12 (as well as Photograph 5-10 and Photograph 5-11) reflect what Sifiso did on a daily basis at the time of the study, the commitment he had to this, reinforcing the consistency and regularity of his study efforts.
Sometimes it’s not necessarily a daily, daily, daily routine, but it’s a (.) sort of like a routine. It’s a stable routine that I used (.) I do currently. It’s just study. You have a test, you just study. There is no other way of (.) um passing a test beside study, (Sifiso, PEI 6, 784)
Moreover, Sifiso highlighted that his current and historical study spaces (Photograph 5-12 and Photograph 5-11 respectively) were conducive to effective studying. In this way, Sifiso seemed able to structure his immediate environments in such a way that they supported and facilitated his academic efforts and outcomes. Although he perceived the university study space as more favourable than the space he studied in while at school, Sifiso also identified that his historical study space (Photograph 5-11) was located in the warmest room of the house.
Sifiso also emphasised the role of social interaction in his historical and current study efforts.
Photograph 5-12. Daily routine (Sifiso C3)
You have to have a good social life, good social background, good (.) um colleagues, social background in order to have friends whom you attend with. Cos a lot of things arise when you hang out with your colleagues (.) it’s important, most of the things are useful. (Sifiso, FGD 2, 315)
When asked to clarify what kinds of “things” arose when he “hung out” with his colleagues, Sifiso went on to specify –
Like academic stuff. We sometimes tend to discuss things just as a social gathering when we’re chilling in the quad. We maybe sometimes raise important points. We’re not always talking academically but now and then we talk about those very important academic things of which most people benefit. Ja, it’s very important to have a good colleague relationship. (Sifiso, FGD 2, 330)
Unsurprisingly then, during the photo-elicitation interview, Sifiso presented Photograph 5-13, and chose to title this photograph “Socialising”.
Sifiso explained that in Photograph 5-13,
It’s us just hanging out. Okay, this, I think it was just before the lecture started so we just hang out, we were waiting for the lecturer. So, just hang out, talk, get to know each other, break the ice and stuff like that. Break the ice, you know. It’s a way of bonding and when we bond we are able to help each like achieve more. (Sifiso, PEI 6, 1043)
Photograph 5-13. Socialising (Sifiso C4)
Sifiso directly linked the relationships he had established with peers (colleagues), and how this helped them achieve more academically. Specifically, he located that socialising with the people one studies with increased opportunities for discussion about academic-related matters, which in turn could serve to remind and consolidate what had been covered.
In summary, Sifiso’s description highlighted the presence of an important driving force within him, which was characterised by a hunger for improvement. His description also revealed a perspective on and attitude towards disadvantage that was adaptive. Sifiso rose above the challenges associated with his experience of disadvantage, finding ways to excel in education through peer interaction, environmental structuring, and a consistent daily routine.