Papers by Elmarie Costandius
International Journal of Critical Diversity Studies
The national #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall student protests of 2015–2016 at universities acro... more The national #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall student protests of 2015–2016 at universities across South Africa foregrounded the need for the transformation, decolonisation, redress and Africanisation of the country’s higher education institutions. One of the ways that Stellenbosch University (SU) has endeavoured to address transformation-related challenges linked to symbols and names is with the Visual Redress Project, whose aim is to change the visual landscape of the university’s campuses. This paper explores the reactions of students and staff to initiatives carried out thus far by the Visual Redress project on SU’s Stellenbosch campus. It attempts to contribute to the discourse around the transformation of higher education in South Africa through a look at how social cohesion and the sharing of stories and identities could be achieved on SU’s campus through visual redress. It draws upon and expands on the existing research on visual redress conducted at the University (Fataar ...
Routledge eBooks, Apr 26, 2023
Image & text, Sep 2, 2022
This study investigated the role of signs in wordless picture books and their influence on meanin... more This study investigated the role of signs in wordless picture books and their influence on meaning making. The ar ticle's main aim is to highlight the i m p o r t a n c e o f u s i n g c u l t u r a l l y a p p r o p r i a te s i g n s to f o s te r n a r r a t i ve comprehension in wordless picture books. This genre of books can be a useful method and tool for translating cultural knowledge into images, but their production can be a difficult process because skilful execution is required for successful communication. Wordless picture books can serve as a medium that encourages stor ytelling and fosters a love of reading. This research involved the creation and semiotic analysis-through participant reactions-of three wordless picture books whose stories are situated within the Xhosa culture. Theoretical perspectives of social semiotics and narratology were used as lenses through which to inform the research. The findings include evidence of the importance of understanding context-relative knowledge and of using appropriate signs, symbols, and signifiers when translating and portraying narratives in wordless picture books.
This article argues for a re-evaluation of pedagogical methods to integrate an interdependent con... more This article argues for a re-evaluation of pedagogical methods to integrate an interdependent concept of self with an independent concept of self in order to enhance teaching and learning. The influence of an African communal or interdependent system in comparison with the dominant independent individual system is investigated by means of interviews with students at the Arts Department. The social-constructivist learning perspective with the concept of communities of practice as a framework is used for the study. Based on the findings, the article advocates teaching and learning methods that are more multiculturally sensitive and that incorporate "other" voices and alternative ways of dialogue in order to improve interaction and information sharing. Onafhanklike en interafhanklike selfbegrippe : 'n ontmoeting van werelde Hierdie artikel argumenteer vir 'n herevaluering van pedagogiese metodes deur die interafhanklike konsep van self te inkorporeer met die individue...
Engaging Higher Education Curricula - A critical citizenship perspective, 2015
Transformation in Higher Education, 2019
Background: Social transformation in South Africa is a sensitive issue because of the historical ... more Background: Social transformation in South Africa is a sensitive issue because of the historical realities of segregation and past injustices. Aim: To address transformation, Visual Communication Design students were asked to design an exhibition, event, sculpture or garden to memorialise the forced removals that took place on the site of the current Arts and Social Sciences Building of Stellenbosch University and to thereby contribute with their own 'voices' to an event or exhibition. Setting: The focus of the project was to memorialise the forced removals that occurred on the place known then as Die Vlakte. The aim was to investigate the reactions of students and community members to explore how a visual communication project prepared them or failed to prepare them for dealing with social injustice. Methods: A case study research design was applied, and inductive qualitative content analysis was used in processing and organising data. The theoretical framework included critical citizenship education, social justice, pedagogy of discomfort, shame and white shame. Results: Critical citizenship education may form part of pedagogies of discomfort, and shame may be used positively as we ask students to negotiate emotionally charged subjects through visual communication. Conclusion: As the case studies have shown, students are capable of identifying sources of discomfort and growing from them to perceive a local historic event in a more sensitive and inclusive way.
Engaging Higher Education Curricula - A critical citizenship perspective, 2015
Also compare the South African Constitution in this respect. Section 3(2) in particular states th... more Also compare the South African Constitution in this respect. Section 3(2) in particular states that: "All citizens are-(a) equally entitled to rights, privileges and benefits of citizenship; and (b) equally subject to the duties and responsibilities of citizenship".
Engaging Higher Education Curricula - A critical citizenship perspective, 2015
SU has been, and is still, associated mostly with the language of Afrikaans and in various respec... more SU has been, and is still, associated mostly with the language of Afrikaans and in various respects historically linked to National Party political domination between 1948 and the late 1980s. The institution was therefore also well associated with apartheid regime leaders. Political leaders from this era, such as Dr Hendrik F. Verwoerd and Dr D.F. Malan, studied and lectured on its campus. Although SU recently had, for the first time since the early parts of the previous century, a majority of first-year English-speaking students, overall, however, it still has a mostly white, Afrikaans lecturer and student population. For non-Afrikaans lecturers and students attending SU, these close political and cultural associations could still potentially
Engaging Higher Education Curricula - A critical citizenship perspective, 2015
Curriculum Inquiry in South African Higher Education, 2010
High School in Stellenbosch. All community interaction in the VCD curriculum take place in partne... more High School in Stellenbosch. All community interaction in the VCD curriculum take place in partnership with the NGOs Vision-K (Kayamandi) and Vision-V (Vlottenburg), which facilitate a life skills programme for Grade 10-12 learners. Nussbaum's (2002) description of good citizenship, which includes the ability to criticise your own traditions, mutual respect for other opinions, thinking as a citizen of the world and not only locally, and imagining yourself in the shoes of others-what she calls the "narrative imagination"-was used as a framework for the Citizenship module. Students and learners wrote reflections on their experience after each interaction, as well as an overall reflection at the end of the three-week module. These reflections, together with 12 focus group interviews and observations collected from 22 learners and 65 students, were the main sources of data for the case study to investigate the value of the module.
Perspectives in Education
This paper presents an argument for the relevance of education for critical global citizenship, w... more This paper presents an argument for the relevance of education for critical global citizenship, with reference to a graphic design module at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa as a case study. The first part of the paper argues that tolerance, cultural diversity, democratic participation and social cohesion are prerequisites for plural democracies. The second part argues that educational institutions, as prominent organisational structures, have an obligation to address these social issues. It is argued that addressing social inequality and developing conditions for democratic flourishing is particularly important in the newly democratised South Africa. Consequently, particular attention is paid to the South African higher education context. The paper then gives an account of an attempt at practically engaging university students in these issues through the university curricula, describing, in terms of its form and content, the above-mentioned graphic design module on critical global citizenship. Finally, it considers to what extent the module has been successful in promoting attitudes of tolerance and social cohesion in a racially and culturally mixed educational environment, using qualitative data collected from participants in the module, and reflects on the ethical and practical challenges that critical citizenship education might face.
Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education, 2010
The aim of this research is to consider the impact of a Service-Learning module aiming at enhanci... more The aim of this research is to consider the impact of a Service-Learning module aiming at enhancing social responsibility and citizenship by using art as a medium for learning and reflection. It involves an explicit and designed programme that includes Socratic discussions and self-reflection projects through art. Action research was used as a methodology, ensuring that the whole class and the researcher were involved in the research process. The results of the project demonstrated that art is an effective medium to address sensitive issues because it functions on a symbolic and metaphorical level. Art that uses metaphors involves participants both consciously and sub-consciously and encourages possibilities for a diversity of interpretations.
Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, 2014
In post-conflict countries such as South Africa, some university students to know anything about ... more In post-conflict countries such as South Africa, some university students to know anything about the conflict-ridden past. As in other parts of the world that suffered from pasts of discrimination and conflict, it is easier for some students than others to argue like this since an unfortunate past does not concretely affect them any longer. Many students are, however, still benefitting or suffering from a privileged or disadvantaged past, and thus subconscious feelings of guilt or resentment prevail. When triggered by critical citizenship education, some students seem to want to avoid confronting issues. Such avoidance, however, can perpetuate and worsen the existing gap between social differences and/or academic performance. Against this background a critical citizenship module was included into a Visual Communication Design curriculum at a university in South Africa. Through fostering social justice, the module constructs a safe environment where historical and current realities c...
de arte, 2020
Abstract While higher education (HE) institutions in South Africa have become demographically eve... more Abstract While higher education (HE) institutions in South Africa have become demographically ever more diverse, transcultural contact among students and staff members has seemingly failed to mend race-based prejudices and structural inequality. By acknowledging the embeddedness of symbolic violence in physical space and lived experience, this article proposes an experimental and embodied approach to critically engage with ongoing structural and symbolic prejudice. The argument is made that the physical landscape of HE institutions, as well as the lived experience of marginalised students and staff members, must be seen as the first port of call if transformation is to occur. The article argues that visual redress in the form of removing, contextualising, or adding new visual symbols is not sufficient to address the complexities of the issues involved. Embodied learning experiences using visual arts and performance processes could be included to enhance redress. The article therefore draws on the writings and thought of Nancy Fraser, Henri Lefebvre, Achille Mbembe, and various others in an attempt to sketch a theoretical framework to think through the need for and possibilities of visual, invisible, subtle, and relational redress.
In January 2019, a visual redress project was launched at Stellenbosch University, South Africa t... more In January 2019, a visual redress project was launched at Stellenbosch University, South Africa that introduced new artworks and contextualised existing statues around campus. However, it became clear that this dual installation and contextualisation did not sufficiently provide a means to address structural, systemic racial injustices inherent in the colonial and apartheid past; a more embodied way of engagement was needed. Therefore, workshops combining art and performance were introduced where lecturers, students and community members worked through social, political, and personal issues. This entanglement of art, performance, bodies, and space became a method that changed and evolved with each workshop. It was a dynamic, fluid, and relational process that could not be prescriptive as it depended on the elements constituting it. In this article, the various workshops are discussed, and it is shown how new topics and affective reactions at each workshop emerged through the art pro...
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Papers by Elmarie Costandius