Changing diversity, social justice perspective and adult learning - the case of a Technical Vocation and Training (TVET) college

Abstract

The National Certificate Vocational (NCV) programme was designed with multiple agendas, among which was to address the high unemployment among the South African youth, to produce students with an employable skills set as well as it being a vehicle for redress. Managing diversity within education speaks to this agenda of redress. This study investigated diversity within a technical vocational education and training (TVET) college, by exploring the teaching and learning challenges Life Orientation college lecturers face when teaching diverse student population. It considered the background to the TVET sector as well as the learning programme, the NCV, that provided the context for the study. Various literature on diversity was reviewed as well as literature on teaching diverse cohort of students. The investigation was approached from a social justice perspective. The data revealed a number of themes, the first of which was Conceptions of Diversity within the TVET college context as well as Lecturer Strategies to cope with student diversity. Not all lecturer strategies were successful in dealing with diversity-related tensions; this led to the theme Issues and Incidents related to Student Diversity. The concluding theme was participant suggestions for Lecturer Preparation to deal with issues of diversity. In turn, these themes informed the recommendations which include all three key elements in the education process, i.e policy and curriculum, lecturer training and development, and equally important, the student involvement in diversity programmes and strategies within the TVET college.