CHAPTER 6: SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND CONCLUSIONS
6.3 Recommendations: Insights derived from findings
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become professional teachers, in any poor community they find themselves teaching Life Sciences.
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Figure 22: Diagrammatic representation of insights from the findings of U-CE study Insights derived from the
findings of U-CE study
Implementation of U-CE requires adequate planning, preparation and teamwork among PSSTs
Actions derived from Critical Pedagogy principles
1. Elevating consciousness 2. Focus on
marginalization 3. Collaboration and
democracy 4. Empowerment 5. Transformation
emancipation and identity formation Engaging in U-CE
can raise the consciousness of PSSTs towards attaining
professional identity for their future practice through a pedagogy of conscience University – community engagement can facilitate the process of being a teacher to
becoming a teacher Effective U-CE
entails a collaboration between students and the university management
U-CE has the potential to positively improve the nutritional and social well-being of students who reside in a
university campus residence
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6.3.1 Insight one: Implementation of U-CE requires adequate planning, preparation, and teamwork among PSSTs
According to the insight one that emerged from the findings of this study, it is appropriate that U-CE projects in the universities meant for the upliftment of students’
nutritional well-being be planned adequately and managed by students communally.
Planning must involve the investigation and identification of the ardent matters, wishes, and interests of the community a project is intended for to make that community receive the project as its own which ultimately increases the success rate of the project (PennState College of Agricultural Sciences, 2019; USAID, 2011).
Similarly, the student community that was residing in the university campus where this study was carried out was consulted and a survey was made by the PSST participants which culminated in self-directed research by the PSST participants. The PSST participants, in their quest of linking the knowledge of biology to the benefit of the students’ community, sought more information on food gardening based on the nutritional and health benefits of the NBPST participants.
Furthermore, Giroux (2018, p. 508) asserted that “critical pedagogy is situated within a project that views education as central to creating students who are socially responsible and civically engaged citizens”. The author added that team effort and creativity are essential among the students to develop the abilities for taking crucial action in society. Working together in groups by the PSST participant to creatively identify critical issues affecting the community and proffering practical solutions to such problems transcended the traditional pedagogy where the teacher is the one who gives all the guidance. Thus, when students are permitted to work unguided by their teacher, it takes away the notion that students are mechanical devices (Giroux, 2011).
A pedagogy of conscience is thus conceptualized in this manner.
6.3.2 Insight two: Effective U-CE entails a collaboration between students and the university management
In this study, instead of the students protesting about financial and consequently food deprivation, students chose to challenge the issue of food insecurity and nutritional well-being by learning the what, how and why about food gardening. Several issues such as an increase in tuition fees, call for free education, funding for students of
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previously disadvantaged background have resulted in protests in many South African universities over the last decade (Jansen, 2018). These protest actions by students, according to the author, had made the university management act as managers of government entities such as the municipalities that deal with public protests regularly.
However, the PST participants in this study did not contemplate the thought of protesting against the university management but rather chose the food gardening project as one of the ways students who were from a previously marginalized group and poor socioeconomic backgrounds could confront the issue of food insecurity.
Thus, the suggestion by many of the participants that the U-CE project should be made available for all students across different disciplines in the university was unanimous.
In addition, the call for collaboration, partnership and more involvement of the university management to support the project by providing more plots of land and tools can be viewed as democratic action being displayed by the participants. Drinkwater (2014, p. 2) advocated for a democracy for students referred to as “robust global democracy which requires the free and full participation of its citizens through critical inquiry, dialogue, discussion and debate from multiple perspectives and active engagement to challenge the status quo in the pursuit of a more just and inclusive society”. The author argued that the voices of the marginalized students must be encouraged to form part of the decision-making process because they have relevant lived experiences to share which can lead to their emancipation when the opinions are taken into consideration by the relevant authority. Furthermore, Cook and Nation (2016) suggested that universities should use their resources more to help marginalized groups or communities develop social action attributes and build power through collective actions as citizens. This view of the author will enable the community members to be egalitarian and more participative in the democratic process of the society. Therefore, I recommend that a democratic collaboration among students undertaking U-CE, student community, and the university management will go a long way in alleviating nutritional stress and food insecurity among students who reside on the university campus facing these challenges during their stay on campus and even after leaving the university environment.
With the myriads of issues confronting the implementation of the conventional UCE in South African universities, Snyman (2014) suggested that universities must draw up well-defined blueprints on CE, provide adequate incentives for the projects and ensure
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that there is proper internal supervision and appraisal of CE activities. Additionally, efficient delivery of UCE requires a university to have a proper policy on community engagement, provide adequate orientation for the community members, make the value proposition of the program and monitor the impact and feedback of the project (Kearney, 2015). Consequently and as revealed from insight two of this study, I will recommend that a well-dedicated office be created for U-CE and other UCE projects, a clear-cut policy made, ample resources provided and strict monitoring and assessment procedure in place for the effective implementation of U-CE projects in the university.
6.3.3 Insight three: U-CE has the potential to positively improve the nutritional and social well-being of students who reside in a university campus residence The collaboration between the food secure PSST participants and the food insecure NBPST participants provided NBPSTs with the skills to undertake food gardening on their own if they so choose. In this way, NBPST participants were enabled to make a change in their food-insecure status. The pedagogy and process the PSST participants utilized in implementing U-CE made the NBPST participants who resided in the university campus community to be exposed to better ways of eating healthily, being self-reliant about food gardening, and discovering that the U-CE project can help alleviate poverty among poor students from a low socioeconomic background. In my view, this insight is emancipating. Accordingly, “Education in critical pedagogy is a potentially liberating process in that it has the potential to raise students’
consciousness, help students develop a more accurate perception of their experiences, empower students to challenge oppressive social conditions and to work toward a more just society” (Morris, 2015, p. 161).
Furthermore, I recommend that the university pay more attention to U-CE because it has the potential to positively improve the nutritional and social well-being of students who reside in a university campus residence thereby raising the consciousness and is emancipatory.
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6.3.4 Insight four: Engaging in U-CE can raise the consciousness of PSSTs towards attaining professional identity for their future practice through the pedagogy of conscience.
Through this study, the PSST participants became more conscious and more resolute to go out into the field of teaching and make a difference in the lives of the learners and the communities where they may find themselves teaching in the future. Some of the elements of student-teacher professional identity as identified by Izadinia (2013, p. 708) were “self-awareness, sense of agency, critical consciousness, relationship with colleagues, cognitive knowledge, confidence, and teacher's voice” were revealed from this study which formed the basis for insight four. These attributes indicated that through U-CE, pre-service teacher professional identity can be developed. Hence, U- CE can facilitate the process of being a teacher to becoming a teacher.
Therefore, I recommend that the government and the curriculum developers make a serious consideration into exploring the significant impact insight four of this U-CE study will have on the caliber of teachers in the educational system of South Africa.