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www.thierryluescher.net
Students and Higher Education
Transformation in Africa
The transformation of politics in Africa, along with changes in the African university sector, holds great promise for Africa's people and by extension for the world at large. African political history, contemporary African politics, higher education politics and governance and other dimension of the transformation of higher education in Africa, and associated with that the student experience of higher education, student engagement, student representation and student activism and politics, feature chiefly among the topics into which I have conducted research along with a growing number of dedicated higher education researchers, academics and reflective practitioners. I have started conducting research and managing the research of others into these topics in 2000 and have since published a number of research reports, scholarly publications, conference and seminar papers, lecture notes, as well as articles in popular media. While many of my publications are available from the research organisations and institutes I have been working for, university libraries, publishers of scholarly journals (in electronic or print format), and as books, this website is dedicated to making these publications more easily accessible via the internet. Welcome to the downloadable list of publications of Dr Thierry M. Luescher-Mamashela PhD Cape Town Please note: Publications can be viewed/downloaded as indicated. Some publications are available from the original publishers online or in print (see links) and some have been published online by the open publisher African Higher Education Research Online (ahero). Articles published in scholarly journals must be purchased from the respective publisher of the journal before being used. In this way the work of publishers (incl. peer reviewers and editors) is supported. Please respect the copyrights of articles as indicated and the rights of the author(s). Use fairly in accordance with academic conventions of accurate citation and referencing. |
| Governance in South African Higher Education | Student Participation in University Governance and Student Politics |
|---|---|
| In
2002 the Council on Higher Education, Pretoria, a statutory advisory
body to the national Minister of Education, commissioned a major
inquiry into the way universities and the higher education sector of
South Africa are governed. After the announcement by the Ministry of a
series of university mergers to transform the apartheid higher
education landscape, the original CHE governance study was followed up
by work into the governance of university mergers. Both inquiries were
led by Prof Martin Hall with Ms Ashley Symes and Mr Thierry
Luescher as researchers produced several publications. Hall, M., A. Symes and T.M. Luescher. 2004. The Culture of Governance in South African Higher Education. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management. Vol. 26, No. 1 (March 2004): 91-107. (ask for permission to download) Hall, M., A. Symes and T.M. Luescher. 2002. Goverance in South African Higher Education. Research Report for the Council on Higher Education. Pretoria: Council on Higher Education. [Online]. Available at: www.che.ac.za. (download) University Mergers in South Africa After the announcement by the
Ministry of Education of a series of university mergers to transform the
apartheid higher education landscape of South Africa, the original CHE
governance study was followed up by work into the governance of university
mergers. Luescher, T.M. 2003. Student Governance and the Challenge of Merger. Paper presented at the Regional SASCO Conference, Medical University of South Africa, Ga-Rankuwa, 11–13 April 2003. Dissertation Inspired by the work on governance, I embarked in 2005 on the process of writing a doctoral dissertation on changes in the participation of students in university governance (supervised by Emeritus Prof Andre du Toit of the University of Cape Town and Prof Martin Hall, Vice-Chancellor, Salford University). Luescher, T.M. 2009. Student Governance in Transition: University Democratisation and Managerialism. A Governance Approach to the Study of Student Politics and the Case of the University of Cape Town. PhD Dissertation. Cape Town: University of Cape Town. (download) |
My
interest and involvement in higher education studies and research into
the politics and policy of higher education in (South) Africa followed
a brief stint as a student leader at the University of Cape Town as SRC
Vice-President and nationally in the South African
Universities
SRC (now: SAUS). The first research I co-conducted was the UCT "Student
Governance Review" of 2000/01. As part of this study, and in its wake,
I began to do research, present and publish findings on matters of
student leadership, student participation in university governance, and
student politics in Africa. Luescher-Mamashela, T.M. 2011. University Democratisation and Managerialism in South Africa: The Changing Legitimation of University Governance and the Place of Students. Tertiary Education and Managment. (ask for permission to download) Luescher-Mamashela, T.M. 2011. Student Involvement in University Decision-Making: Good Reasons, a New Lens. This paper won the 2011 IJLE Award "Finalist (Graduate Student Category)" of the Emerging Scholars Manuscript Competition, International Journal of Leadership in Education (download here). A revised and updated version of the paper is currentlty under review. Luescher-Mamashela, T.M. 2010. Student Perceptions of Student Leadership in Africa: Involved, Responsive, Corrupt. Evidence from HERANA Higher Educationj and Democracy Surveys conducted at the University of Nairobi (Kenya), University of Cape Town (South Africa) and University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). Presentation made at the African Student Leaders' Summit, September 8, 2010, Cape Town Lodge. Available at www.chet.org.za and here. Luescher, T.M. 2009. Student Governance in Transition: University Democratisation and Managerialism. A Governance Approach to the Study of Student Politics and the Case of the University of Cape Town. PhD Dissertation. Cape Town: University of Cape Town. (download) Luescher, T.M. 2007. Academic Freedom and Students in the South African Context: Some Discussion Points. Expert paper submitted to the Council on Higher Education HEIAAF Task Team. Luescher, T.M. 2005. Student Governance in Africa: A Thematic Review of Literature on African Student Politics. Research report prepared for the Centre for Higher Education Transformation Improving Governance and Student Leadership Project. 15 October 2005. [Online]. Available at www.chet.org.za. (download longpaper)Luescher, T.M. 2005. Student Governance in Africa: Thematic Summary of Key Literature. Research report prepared for the Centre for Higher Education Transformation, Improving Governance and Student Leadership Project. July 2005. [Online]. Available at www.chet.org.za. (download webversion) Luescher, T.M. 2005a. Student Politics and Governance in Africa. Paper presented at the CHET Conference “Improving Governance and Student Leadership”, University of Stellenbosch, 01 April 2005. [Online]. Available at http://www.chet.org.za Luescher, T.M. 2003. Reflections on Reconstructing and Democratising the Curriculum for Student Power. Paper presented at the Workshop of the University of Cape Town SRC and Faculty Councils, UCT Breakwater Campus, Cape Town, 24 May 2003. |
| Higher Education and Democracy in Africa | South African / African Politics and History |
| The
Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa (HERANA)
invited me in 2009 to join their team of researchers affiliated to the
Centre of Higher Education Transformation (CHET), the
University of the Western Cape (UWC) Centre for the
Study of Higher Education (CSHE), and the
University of Cape Town (UCT)
Centre for Social Science Research (CSSR), as senior researcher and
post-doctoral fellow to conduct a major study into the nexus of higher
education and democracy. The study involved surveys of the political
opinions of students at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, the
University of Cape Town, South Africa, and the University of Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania. Luescher-Mamashela, T.M. (and others) 2011. The African University and Democratic Citizenship: Hothouse or Training Ground? HERANA Higher Education and Democracy. Wynberg: CHET. Available here. Luescher, T.M. 2009. Student Governance at the Nexus of Higher Education and Democracy. Paper presented at the joint CHET-UDSM Seminar “Student Governance and Leadership”, University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), 14 March 2009. Luescher, T.M. 2007. Higher Education and the Substantiation of Democracy in South Africa. Report on the Research Seminar of the CHE HEIAAF (Higher Education, Institutional Autonomy and Academic Freedom) Task Team. 16-17 April 2007, Kopanong, Johannesburg. (download) The HEIAAF Task Team Report can be downloaded from the CHE and here. |
My
interest in the history and politics of Africa in general, and South
Africa and higher education in particular, has led to a number of minor
publications, including a study on the working of the South African
Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and into race relations
politics and the historical origins of the "racial representivity
clause" in HE governance. Luescher, T.M. 2009. Racial Desegregation and the Institutionalisation of ‘Race’ in University Governance: The Case of UCT. Perspectives in Education. Vol. 27 No. 4. (download here) Luescher, T.M. 2007. African Politics in Comparative Perspective. (Book Review). New Agenda: South African Journal of Social and Economic Policy. No. 26 (Second Quarter). Luescher, T.M. 1999. Post-Cold War Democratisation in Africa: A Literature Review. Final Bachelor Degree Paper (Pre-final Draft). University of Cape Town, Department of Political Studies. Available here. Luescher, T.M. 1999. The Assassination of Ashley Kriel: An Investigation into the Workings and Findings of the TRC. Final Bachelor Degree Paper. University of Cape Town, Department of Historical Studies. Available from the UCT Library. |
| Institutional Research in Higher Education | The Transformation of Higher Education in South Africa |
| With
Prof Martin Hall and others I participated in a number of
institutional research studies, aimed at understanding the extent to
which the institutional culture or institutional climate of the
University of Cape Town has changed in the last years. Luescher, T.M. (in collaboration with the Student Climate Survey Advisory Group) 2005c. Transformation and Student Life at UCT: Overview of Surveys of Student Climate. Policy report prepared for the University of Cape Town. [previously available from www.uct.ac.za]. (download) Qualitative Research Designs and Methods in the Social Sciences As a post-doctoral fellow I began teaching qualitative research methods to postgraduate students in higher education studies (UWC), in political science (UCT and UWC), and in sociology (UCT). In the process I became more interested in the notion of "reflexivity" and its relation to questions of "academic rigour". Luescher-Mamashela, T.M. forthcoming. Academic Rigour as Praxis: Where does Reflexivity fit in? (An earlier version of the paper can be downloaded here.) |
As
research officer, researcher and (part-time) research manager
(2002-2008) of the Council on Higher Education, Pretoria, I worked
under the leadership of Dr Lis Lange and Prof Saleem Badat on a number
of studies of the CHE into diverse topics including a policy study on
considerations for establishing a HE M&E system; a review of
MBA
programmes; and an assessment of the implementation of HE
transformatino policies. Council on Higher Education (Lange, L., Menon, K., Luescher, T.M., Dwyer, C. & Hoorn, N.) 2004. The State of the Provision of the MBA in South Africa. CHE Higher Education Monitor. No. 2 (October). Pretoria: Council on Higher Education. [Online]. Available from: www.che.ac.za. Council on Higher Education (Lange, L. & Luescher, T.M. et al) 2004. Towards a Framework for the Monitoring and Evaluation of South African Higher Education: Discussion Document. Pretoria: Council on Higher Education. [Online]. Available from: www.che.ac.za. (download) Lange, L. & Luescher, T.M. 2003. A Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for South African Higher Education: Conceptual, Methodological and Practical Concerns. South African Journal of Higher Education. Vol. 17 No. 3: 82-89. (ask for permission to download)Lange, L. & Luescher, T.M. 2003. A Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for South African Higher Education: Conceptual, Methodological and Practical Concerns. Paper presented at the 13th Biennial Conference of the South African Association for Research and Development in Higher Education, University of Stellenbosch, 25 – 27 June 2003. Luescher, T.M. & Symes, A. 2003. The Transformation of South African Higher Education: How much have we achieved? Paper prepared for the National Consultative Conference of the Council on Higher Education, Johannesburg, 12 November 2003. [Online]. Available from: www.che.ac.za. (download) |
| African
HE Links |
Other Links |
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Further
information on these topics can be found from the following
organisation and their websites: Higher Education Research and Advocacy Expert Network (HERANA) - HERANA Gateway www.herana-gateway.org African Higher Education Research Online http://ahero.uwc.ac.za Centre for Higher Education Development of the University of Cape Town www.ched.uct.ac.za Centre for Higher Education Transformation, Wynberg www.chet.org.za Council on Higher Education, Pretoria www.che.ac.za Centre for the Study of Higher Education of the University of the Western Cape www.cshe.uwc.ac.za Centre for Education Policy and Development www.cepd.org.za Boston College, Centre for International Higher Education, International Network for Higher Education in Africa http://www.bc.edu |
Websites
to African journals and publishers: African Academic Journals Online http://ajol.info Council of Social Science Research in Africa, Dakar www.codessria.org University World News www.universityworldnews.com Other web presence of mine: www.thierryluescher.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/thierry.luescher |