Shirley Walters

Bio: Shirley Walters is an academic researcher from University of the Western Cape. The author has contributed to research in topics: Lifelong learning & Adult education. The author has an hindex of 12, co-authored 46 publications receiving 448 citations.

Flexible learning and teaching : looking beyond the binary of full-time/part-time provision in South African higher education

Abstract: This paper engages with literature on flexible learning and teaching in order to explore whether it may be possible, within the South African context, to have flexible learning and teaching provide a third way which goes beyond the current practice of full-time/part-time provision. This binary classification of students is a proxy for day-time/after-hours delivery. The argument is made that effective, flexible learning and teaching requires a fundamental shift in thinking about learning and teaching in higher education that moves us beyond such binaries. The paper proposes that in order to ensure access and success for students, ‘common knowledge’ (Edwards, 2010) will need to be co-constructed which understands flexible learning and teaching in ways which will meet needs of a diversity of students, including working students. It will require ‘resourceful leadership’ (Edwards, 2014) within the university that recognises, enhances and gives purpose to the capability of colleagues at every level of the systems they lead. Also, it will require the building of ‘common knowledge’ between certain sectors of universities and particular workplaces.

Creating a ‘world class’ programme: reciprocity and constraint in networked global collaboration

Abstract: The article reflects on the construction of a common Master’s programme across four universities located on four continents, in order to explore the role of networks in international educational collaboration. The study draws on the documented processes of the principal members of the programme team. It is presented as a case study of the development of the programme that uses ideas drawn from actor‐network theory to draw attention to the conjunction of human and non‐human actors that shaped the resulting web‐based courses. Constraints arising from major institutional and systemic obstacles were addressed through the effects of the actor‐network. The reciprocity of action and de‐centring of individual activity made possible through the collaboration enabled the human actors to sustain a level of innovation within their own institutions that would not have been possible through them acting alone.

Learning about climate justice in times of drought and Covid-19

Abstract: Activism and engagement with real-world climate crises, within particular contexts, are prerequisites for learning about climate justice. I draw on my experience as an imbedded activist researcher ...

Think Piece: Working for Living - Popular Education as/at Work for Social-ecological Justice

Abstract: Drawing on the working lives of popular educators who are striving for socioeconomic and socio-ecological justice, we demonstrate how popular education is a form of care work which is feminised, often undervalued and unrecognised as highly skilled work. It is relational work that aims to forge solidarity with communities and the environment. Given the state of the planet, the radical transformations that are needed, and the future projection of ‘work’ as including the care economy in large measure, we argue that popular education is a generative site for further exploration of research into work and learning. However, to move popular education as work from the margins means to rethink the current economic system of value. Addressing the contradiction that undervalues work for life/living, popular education engages transformative action motivated by a deep sense of solidarity and a focus on imagining alternatives as an act of hope.Keywords: work and learning, popular education, care work, solidarity

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate

Abstract: Susan Goethel Campbell’s exhibition Field Guide explores the nature of art and the conceptual process through a multimedia installation that also reflects upon temporality, art history, ecology and science. Introduced with a time-lapse video of weather patterns captured by web cam over the course of an entire year, atmospheric effects assume the quality of translucent washes that blur distinctions between opacity and transparency, painting and technology. Aerial views of built environments set against expansive cityscapes present essential imagery for large-format digital woodblock prints realized in monochromatic tonals and saturated grids of yellow and blazing orange. Some combine undulating wood grain patterns with pinhole perforations to admit light; others consist of diaphanous walnut stains applied to hand-crafted paper, a self-referential allusion to art’s planarity and permeable membrane. The evanescence of these views is echoed in pristine impressions of filtered dust and shimmering milkweed assemblages contained in Plexiglas light boxes. Known as Asclepias, milkweed is an herbaceous flower named by Carl Linnaeus after Asclepius, the Greek god of healing, due to its efficacious medicinal powers. Like the weather, the milkweed’s reflective silver filaments respond to shifting currents of air paired with gently wafted treetops projected in the viewing room. Here pearls of light corresponding to the spheres and pinpricks of the prints on the walls float randomly over the fictitious frame of a cubical vitrine. Orbs appear and disappear amid nocturnal shadows as figments of the imagination, their languid dispersion eliciting not-ofthis-world sensations of suspension, ascent and transcendence. This joined to the mesmerizing stillness of a gallery pierced occasionally by the sound of supersonic aircraft, a reminder of the machine in the garden. Beyond, the history of landscape photography and the Romantic sublime are encoded in works titled “Old Stand” that render minuscule figures of stationary box photographers against the grandeur of ice-capped Rockies. In some of the works the human figure is effaced as a historical memory through exquisitely modulated rubbings whose unbounded spatiality contrasts with the reflexive interiority of the viewing room. Campbell’s incandescent vision of nature asserts the phenomenal power of art to elevate the human spirit in the presence of heart-stirring beauty. It dares to reaffirm the timeless union between the material and immaterial substance of the universe, between human life and the ephemera of the natural world. f i l m

New directions for adult and continuing education, no. 93, Spring 2002

Abstract: 'New directions for adult and continuing education', published quarterly, is part of The Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series. This issue, entitled 'Contemporary viewpoints on teaching adults effectively' brings together the perspectives of nine experts on teaching adults. The chapters are: 'Good teaching: one size fits all?' by Daniel D. Pratt (p. 5-15) which cautions against a one-size fits all approach to teaching adults; 'Teaching style: where are we now?' by Joe E. Heimlich and Emmalou Norland (p. 17-25) which reminds the readers that there is no one single approach to teaching and that understanding one's teaching style can serve as a basis for the improvement of instruction; 'The role of the teacher as mentor' by Lois J. Zachary (p. 27-38) which explores the relationship between the roles of mentor and teacher, points out that these two roles are not synonymous and describes key dimensions of effective mentoring; 'Race matters: the unspoken variable in the teaching-learning transaction' by Juanita Johnson-Bailey (p. 39-49) which points to the importance of examining and understanding race as a variable which affects the teaching and learning transaction; 'Teaching all learners as if they are special' by Nancy F. Gadbow (p. 51-61) which considers special learning needs of adult learners and examines effective strategies and technologies that can be employed to meet these special needs; 'Teaching for transformation' by Patricia Cranton (p. 63-71) which provides a brief synopsis of transformative learning theory, seven facets of the transformative learning process as well as teaching strategies designed to promote each of these facets; 'Quantum learning: teaching as dialogue' by Jane Vella (p. 73-83) which examines the relationship between teaching and learning, beginning with a definition of quantum learning and then outlining the dialogue approach to quantum learning; 'Effective teaching of adults: themes and conclusions' by Jovita M. Ross-Gordon (p. 85-91) which integrates information from the previous chapters and discusses the underlying themes and issues related to effective teaching of adults.

Learning to be: the world of education today and tomorrow.

Abstract: Introducing a new hobby for other people may inspire them to join with you. Reading, as one of mutual hobby, is considered as the very easy hobby to do. But, many people are not interested in this hobby. Why? Boring is the reason of why. However, this feel actually can deal with the book and time of you reading. Yeah, one that we will refer to break the boredom in reading is choosing learning to be the world of education today and tomorrow as the reading material.

What is online learner participation? A literature review

Abstract: It is commonly argued that a key challenge for e-learning is to encourage learner participation. Even though this challenge has received increased attention by researchers, little effort has been put into developing a sound theoretical understanding of what online participation actually is and how it may be studied empirically. This paper examines the conceptions and research approaches that underlie research on online participation in e-learning settings. A classification scheme was iteratively developed and used when publications on the topic were reviewed. It was found that research is dominated by low-level conceptions of online participation, which relies on frequency counts as measures of participation. However, some researchers aim to study more complex dimensions of participation, such as whether participants feel they are taking part and are engaged in dialogues, reflected by using a combination of perceived and actual measures of participation. In conclusion, a definition of online learner participation that acknowledges its more complex dimensions, such as doing, communicating, thinking, feeling, and belonging, is proposed.