International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Volume 3, Number 1, January 2009
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to current issues pageInvited Essay
Excerpt
Towards an Agenda for SoTL in Africa?
Sub-Saharan Africa, a diverse, largely impoverished and troubled
region, has a pressing need for economic and social development. Given
the ever-increasing importance of advanced knowledge and skills in the
contemporary world, the education systems in many African countries
are a major concern. In particular, it is essential that the capacity
of the region’s higher education systems to produce capable graduates
should grow rapidly and strongly, in the interests of internal development
and to avoid further widening of the North-South divide. This essay
gives a brief account of the situation
and some key issues in sub-Saharan African higher education, outlines
aspects of South Africa’s experience that may prefigure developments
elsewhere on the continent, and offers a view of what kind of role SoTL
might play in developing-country contexts.
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Full ArticleBio
Ian Scott
University of Cape Town
Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
ian.scott@uct.ac.za
I am a professor and deputy dean in the Centre for Higher Education Development at the University of Cape Town (UCT). The first stages of my career were in high-school teaching and educational publishing in southern Africa. I joined UCT just before the period of political turbulence that preceded the end of apartheid, and since then have been director of Academic Development. In South Africa ‘academic development’ refers broadly to educational development, with particular reference to equity for SA’s historically marginalised black majority. Since our political transition, I’ve had the opportunity to contribute to aspects of HE policy through research and serving on task teams for various national bodies. My research interests are in policy related to teaching and learning, comparative models for widening participation, and professional development.