Lecturer experiences of TVET College challenges in the post-apartheid era: a case of unintended consequences of educational reform in South Africa

Abstract

Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in South Africa has undergone major institutional, structural and curricular changes over the last fourteen years. Drawing on figurational sociology by Norbert Elias, the study worked within a qualitative research paradigm and used open-ended interviews to investigate lecturers’ experiences of TVET challenges in the post-apartheid educational reform era. Findings revealed lack of compatibility between curricular reforms, student type and lecturers’ adaptability to the reform. Research further disclosed unintended consequences of educational change and existence of tensions between perceptions, vision and experiences of lecturers and students with the national vision of skills development for the country’s economic benefits.