AbstractsEducation Research & Administration

Rampant industrialization, rapidly shifting geo-political dynamics and an increasingly complex global social context, which is punctuated by bewildering, unpredictable and unprecedented transformation, is having a profoundly debilitating impact on human society. With no precedent to draw from, the overwhelming nature of these changes has resulted in many societal ills such as feelings of alienation, helplessness and societal fragmentation. Although the evolution trajectory shows transformation to be an intrinsic part of the human experience, paradoxically, humans generally do not cope effectively with change, especially drastic and sudden change without a conscious and constructive intervention. Hence from the perspective of this thesis, what is of major concern about pervasive transformation is its impact at the micro level of the mainly Black learners at academic development programmes in South African higher education. This must be seen within the context of the debilitating effects of apartheid, and the macro transformation pressures that were brought to bear on South Africa and which manifested in the significant socio-political shift from apartheid to a democratic system of governance. Research based on interviews and observations with Black students studying engineering at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Durban, revealed that there were many, mainly non-academic factors that impacted on academic success; that the starting point towards overcoming academic deficiency and challenges, was to adopt an alternative ontological and epistemological perspective. These findings are supported by similar research on academic support programmes at other South African universities such as the University of the Witwatersrand (Agar, 1992:95) where surveys conducted with students have confirmed that among the problems which most influence their academic progress, non-academic problems are rated the most influential. Hence, the more an educational initiative addresses both the educational and socio-economic needs of students, the greater the impact on academic success that initiative is likely to have. It needs to be noted that a study of academic development in South African higher education cannot be pursued independent of the complex social system of which it is part. Besides having to contend with generic social transformation as a result of globalization as well as political changes at the local level, Black learners languishing from the effects of apartheid subjugation even after the onset of democracy, still bear the significant brunt of having to transition from socio-economically and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds to pursue academic study, often at formerly „White‟ tertiary institutions. Unfortunately, the lack of academic preparedness, insufficient cultural capital and a myriad of non-academic ontological factors, have resulted in high failure, slow academic progression and increasing attrition rates. In spite of the extensive prevalence of academic development programmes at many institutions of higher…