The future of teaching and learning: a perspective from the African continent
“We asked our former students how much of the content that we taught them they used in their current work lives. One very prosperous student told us he used just one course unit out of all the education he received from our university.”
Dr Albert Luswata, Senior Lecturer and Centre for Ethics Chair at Uganda Martyrs University, was giving a continental view of what needed to change in universities of the future at the 3rd Higher Education Conference that was hosted by Universities South Africa (USAf).
Exploring the possibility of available technologies being used to disrupt teaching and learning (T&L) for the better, Dr Luswata (left) told delegates at a breakaway session of The Teaching and Learning Strategy Group, “The need for transformed T&L going forward is crucial. We provided skills that fed the ‘factory’ before… now we need new skills that will help us face the challenges of the 21st century and will contribute to a socially, economically and environmentally just society.”
He recognised that AI had been a hot topic during the conference and began his presentation with reference to universities’ current context.
“One of the presenters wondered whether, going forward, we lecturers might not have jobs. That scared us! We live in the fear of an uncertain future, and our students feel this very strongly. AI has caused this, yes, but there are other challenges including the environmental threat that we are facing.”
He said while some jobs were disappearing because of new technologies, others, that require new skills, were emerging. “However, unemployment is a big factor. We have graduates that are not employable, which is a pity since we have heard during this conference how expensive education is.”
The right skills mix
“I am talking for the rest of Africa, not necessarily South Africa when I say this… In 2014, research done by MasterCard, and another by the Inter University Council for Eastern Africa, found that employers complained that graduates did not have the skills they needed so they had to reskill them.”
This, Dr Luswata said, meant having to retrain graduates with transferrable skills, making them:
- Problem solvers
- Critical thinkers
- Creative people
- People able to work collaboratively with others in teams
- People who can communicate effectively, make decisions
- Have leadership skills
He added that disruptive thinking, embracing diversity, inclusion, coalition building and valuing indigenous knowledge were critical and needed to be incorporated into planning for the university of the future.
“We need a paradigm shift.”
Dr Luswata said: “I have seen that many South African Universities are already in the future. Traditional teaching is still being used in universities and schools where the educational goal is an accumulation of knowledge – even when you don’t know what to use it for.”
Outdated teaching methods
Most current teaching methods, he said, were teacher centred. “You have teachers and lecturers who think they are sages on the stage; they think their role in teaching is the transmission of facts. A lot is focused on theory and a lot is dependent on physical presence – if you want to learn teachers and learners have to be physically there. This will have to change in the future university.”
Change needed in curricula design and education goals
“In Uganda, we review curricula every five years. This is determined by the disciplines and content, and they are teacher centred. Lecturers and professors sit at their desks, think about the problems of society and come up with the curricula they think is needed – with no input from the community.”
Dr Luswata said more focus was needed on capacity building and self-development.
“Many people will not need the full curricula. There is a demand for continued life-long learning, where people come for specific aspects of work or to enhance their personal life. There is an emphasis on self-development.
An inclusive, accessible, sustainable education was important for the future university, he said. Amidst much talk about the exorbitant cost of university education, he said the future focus would be on including everyone – diverse groups, including gender, removing all discrimination in education, finding ways of bringing everyone on board.
“Learner centred education is the way of the future. Also, there will not just be lecturers from within the university who will teach the students – but outside lecturers too, from industry, the community, civil society. And lecturers will have to go to industry to see what is needed. Also, learning will be more personalised with students able to pick and choose what they need rather than taking the full curriculum – a very expensive choice.”
He said that curricula would be determined by the problems in society that would, in turn, inform the skills needed. What was covered in the classroom would be decided by all the stakeholders.
“In Uganda, we thought we knew what the industry needed. When we met with them, we discovered that there was a lot we could do if we collaborated with community, industry and government and civil society.”
Traditional T&L versus transformative T&L
“The teacher was assumed to have all the knowledge. In the future, the teacher’s role moves to transformative learning where knowledge is shared. Traditional systems place the emphasis on objectives. Future T&L will place the emphasis on outcomes. What do our students become? What are they able to value, and know? This should also be in the assessment.”
He said that currently, students are the recipients of knowledge, the mode of learning being physical, passive, memorising, observing. “Assessments are done through exams and tests. Universities are seen as ivory towers detached from their communities and industry.
“In future, students will become active participants and co-creators of knowledge. Transformative T&L is AI and technology driven with the emphasis on experience, action, research and assessment for learning.”
Charmain Naidoo is a contract writer for Universities South Africa.
