Creating Effective Teaching and Learning Spaces: Shaping Futures and Envisioning Unity in Diversity and Transformation

Interesting and of sound quality.

Dr. Chaunda L. Scott

Oakland University

The transformation of teaching methods and curricula to address a changing socioeconomic world and redress social and economic injustice is central to the success of higher education systems. While the chapters in this volume focus on southern Africa, “Creating Effective Teaching and Learning Spaces” provides important and useful case studies, ideas, and recommendations for educators and policymakers around the globe. The history of colonization and apartheid, and the efforts at de-colonization, in southern Africa, makes the knowledge currently being produced there especially important and useful to educators everywhere. I recommend this innovative and useful volume to educators and policymakers who are endeavoring to achieve equity and inclusion and improve the quality of education available to all students.

The strong points of “Creating Effective Teaching and Learning Spaces” include

• • its multifaceted, intersectional approach that includes sex/gender as well as race/culture and socioeconomic status

• • attention to the need to decolonize both knowledge and the educational system itself and to consider how to incorporate indigenous knowledges and pedagogies in HE

• • concern with analyzing both equity of access and equity of outcomes and how HE institutions reproduce and can reduce social inequities

• • discussion of a variety of pedagogical strategies such as bilingual instruction, code-switching, peer assessment, ICT, blended learning, curriculum as process

• • discussion of the need for HE institutions to attend to students’ economic and social environments because these affect their academic success

• • discussion of the need for HE institutions to attend to students’ social and life skills as well as academic skills and knowledge

• • discussion of institutional practices and policies such as education funding (of individual students and HE institutions), teacher professional development, policies and support systems regarding gender-based violence, the curriculum development process

Dr. Diana L. Swanson

Professor Emerita, Department of English

Northern Illinois University