Vibrant, multicultural and dynamic, the University of Johannesburg (UJ) shares the pace and energy of cosmopolitan Johannesburg, the city whose name it carries. Proudly South African, the university is alive down to its African roots, and well-prepared for its role in actualising the potential that higher education holds for the continent's development. UJ has transformed into a diverse, inclusive, transformational and collegial institution, with a student population of over 50 000, of which more than 3000 are international students from 80 countries. This makes UJ one of the largest contact universities in South Africa (SA) from the 26 public universities that make up the higher education system.
The phenomenal success story of the University is one that has surprised critics and won over sceptics. Since its establishment in 2005, and under the bold and visionary leadership of its first Vice Chancellor and Principal, Professor Ihron Rensburg, the University has had a remarkable journey with major accomplishments in transformation, equity, access, and Pan African and global excellence.
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Vibrant, multicultural and dynamic, the University of Johannesburg (UJ) shares the pace and energy of cosmopolitan Johannesburg, the city whose name it carries. Proudly South African, the university is alive down to its African roots, and well-prepared for its role in actualising the potential that higher education holds for the continent's development. UJ has transformed into a diverse, inclusive, transformational and collegial institution, with a student population of over 50 000, of which more than 3000 are international students from 80 countries. This makes UJ one of the largest contact universities in South Africa (SA) from the 26 public universities that make up the higher education system.
The phenomenal success story of the University is one that has surprised critics and won over sceptics. Since its establishment in 2005, and under the bold and visionary leadership of its first Vice Chancellor and Principal, Professor Ihron Rensburg, the University has had a remarkable journey with major accomplishments in transformation, equity, access, and Pan African and global excellence.
COVID Research at UJ with Prof Kathija Yassim - future-fit schools by future-fit leaders
University of Johannesburg
17 minutes 25 seconds
4 years ago
COVID Research at UJ with Prof Kathija Yassim - future-fit schools by future-fit leaders
The focus of my research is related to leading future-fit schools by future-fit leaders. We live at a time of unprecedented change. The Covid-19 pandemic as a disrupted has changed education in ways that has accelerated the kind of transformation that would have otherwise taken much longer to achieve. While much devastation has been brought about by the pandemic, it had also opened many doors of opportunity. Given that South Africa had been behind on the previous three industrial revolutions, we now have what Marwala (2020) calls a forced opportunity to make the most important 4IR contribution - namely the preparation of youth through 21st century skills development that provides them with competencies to embrace a constantly changing technology driven world.
My research in the Sandbox project during Covid-19 began also as a forced opportunity. I coordinate the school culture stream where I work with 10 Limpopo school principals and 2 PhD students in a participatory research process meant to influence the leadership of a culture of learning that develops future-fit leaders who are able to catalyse a progressive strategy that influences teaching and learning in ways that cultivate 21st century learning. Such leadership focuses on digital preparation for a school context that is under resourced and teachers have not been trained to develop online and remote learning pedagogies, much less learners whose home environments are not conducive to supporting education.
Since March 2020 and through various online engagements the research conducted has propelled a transformation journey that had begun the work of future-fit. We modified our research approach, since face-to-face and context-linked engagements were not possible. Using visual participatory research methods after providing principals with access and training to online communication platforms we co-created a research agenda around leading school culture transformation that would enable these 10 principals to lead their schools successfully through the crises brought about by the pandemic, to use community resources to ensure continued teaching and learning despite lockdown and social distancing protocols, as well as develop a Maslow before Bloom orientation to address the pressing life needs of their learning community.
University of Johannesburg
Vibrant, multicultural and dynamic, the University of Johannesburg (UJ) shares the pace and energy of cosmopolitan Johannesburg, the city whose name it carries. Proudly South African, the university is alive down to its African roots, and well-prepared for its role in actualising the potential that higher education holds for the continent's development. UJ has transformed into a diverse, inclusive, transformational and collegial institution, with a student population of over 50 000, of which more than 3000 are international students from 80 countries. This makes UJ one of the largest contact universities in South Africa (SA) from the 26 public universities that make up the higher education system.
The phenomenal success story of the University is one that has surprised critics and won over sceptics. Since its establishment in 2005, and under the bold and visionary leadership of its first Vice Chancellor and Principal, Professor Ihron Rensburg, the University has had a remarkable journey with major accomplishments in transformation, equity, access, and Pan African and global excellence.
