Contending Discourses in Tertiary Curriculum Design: A Case Study of University History

By:
Elizabeth Helen Ludlow
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The context of higher education from the mid-1990s in South Africa was one in which the twin pressures of globalization and democratization were strongly felt. While education policy makers and university managements were responsive to these, how they should be responded to became a matter of contention. Two dominant discourses emerged in the subsequent process of higher education curriculum reconstruction - one that stressed relevance; the other the traditional disciplinary discourse. This paper presents a study of how undergraduate history curricula at three universities were restructured, with significant consequences. It notes a reaffirmation of the centrality of the discipline in tertiary history teaching at these institutions.


Keywords: Higher Education, Curriculum Reform, Academic Discourse, History
Stream: Adult, Vocational, Tertiary and Professional Learning
Presentation Type: 30 minute Paper Presentation in English
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Elizabeth Helen Ludlow

Head of the Division of Social Science and the Arts, Wits School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand
Johannesburg, South Africa

Helen combines interests in academic history and tertiary history teaching. She has done research into the post-emancipation period of Cape slavery, undergraduate history teaching, and has co-authored a number of elementary school Social Science textbooks.

Ref: L07P0122