Humanising Vocational Pedagogy: The Influence of a University-Based Educator Professional Programme

Public TVET colleges in South Africa have undergone several changes since the dawn of democracy in 1994. These changes include curriculum transformation, deracialisation, changing funding models and infrastructure overhaul. These changes were necessitated by the desire to shift from the colonial and apartheid systems of segregation and oppression and consequent educational practices. Despite the many changes, however, public TVET colleges continue to strive for their rightful place in the post-school education and training arena. As part of this struggle, colleges afford lecturers an opportunity to pursue professional qualifications. In the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, Nelson Mandela University is the only institution of higher learning that offers an Advanced Diploma in Technical and Vocational Teaching (AdvDipTVT), a professional qualification for lecturers in technical and vocational pedagogy and training. This professional qualification is framed within the philosophy of humanisation (humanising pedagogy). This chapter reflects on a qualitative study conducted with eight college lecturers in the Eastern Cape. With this study, we sought to understand how a vocational pedagogy could be intertwined with a humanising philosophy that guides teaching and learning at Nelson Mandela University. Hence, the main research question of this study was ‘in what ways could a vocational pedagogy intersect with a humanising pedagogy framework from public TVET college lecturers’ perspectives?’ The chapter does not report directly on the study findings. Eight lecturers participated in an immersion retreat that was held at one of the campuses of Nelson Mandela University. Narratives were employed as the method of data generation. The study’s findings reveal that there is a need for critical rethinking of teaching and learning practices. The findings reveal that vocational pedagogy can be clearly stated and implemented in ways that are humanising. The chapter makes a claim that such a ‘humanising vocational humanising pedagogy’ is necessary for lecturer development programmes such as the AdvDipTVT.