Abstract
This paper describes a curriculum that gives men and women from predominantly black working class communities a second chance to acquire a formal qualification at a higher education institution in South Africa. The curriculum provides the space for adult students to think critically about themselves and their practice and to develop a confident voice to express themselves. Through this process they develop both learner and educator identities and begin to see how the two intersect. The paper gives some of the historical background of the course, and shows how lecturers who have taught on the programme at different times have helped shape the curriculum. It goes on to discuss the changing nature of the student intake, the curriculum content and structure and ends with a discussion of the impact of the course, on students, staff and on the university as a whole. One very visible impact of the diploma is to be seen in the students who have gone on to acquire other postgraduate qualifications in adult education studies. On a university-wide level, through the involvement of adult education lecturers in other programmes and curricula, knowledge of and interest in adult learning is shared and encouraged.
Highlights
This article describes a curriculum that gives men and women from predominantly black working class communities a second chance to acquire a formal qualification at a higher education institution in South Africa
Since there was a fair amount of overlap between Community Adult Education Programme (CAEP) and the Workplace Learning Programme (WPL), and a growing interest in these programmes by both trade unionists and community activists, the two streams were merged and formalised into a two-year, credit-bearing Certificate in Adult Education Training and Development, which subsequently became the Diploma in Education (Adult Education) in 2000
A ‘Recognition of Prior Learning’ path (RPL) was introduced at the University of Cape Town (UCT), which allowed students to be accepted on the basis of their experience, rather than the traditional formal marks-based entry requirement (Republic of South Africa 2002, p. 11)
Summary
The curriculum challenges students to develop a critical lens to interrogate the purpose of education and training within their workplaces and deepen their insight into the political, social and economic influences on their learning and practice. Despite the changing student composition and changing curriculum, lecturers agree that the fundamental aim of the Diploma remains constant: to develop students’ knowledge, skills and values to enable them to facilitate the learning of other adults though a reflection on practice.
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