Uncertainty in Education Highlighted in Professor’s Inaugural Address

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If school focuses on transferable facts, it risks becoming irrelevant. Science and maps change, language is unclear while its interpretation is uncertain, and curricula compete with the curricula of life. Great cultural stories lose their explanatory power over time.

This is according to Professor Nyna Amin of UKZN’s School of Education who shared some of the findings of her ground-breaking research during her inaugural lecture which drew on her area of expertise: Curriculum Studies.

In her characteristically expansive manner, she proceeded philosophically while anchoring her concepts in moving South African stories. Citing philosophers such as Foucault and Derrida, she argued that facts and knowledge were temporal, that language was unstable and that curricula were an intervention reflecting a particular power dynamic rather than a neutral body of content. An anecdote from a class meeting illustrated her concept of uncertainty - no-one could answer their teacher’s outdated questions!

‘Technological advances such as artificial intelligence (AI) and social media are also competing with formal curricula today,’ said Amin. ‘Students are drawn to the Three Es: excitement, enjoyment and entertainment. The trend is towards education as entertainment. While multi-sensory content is engaging, it has limitations.’

Amin warned that education as entertainment could result in superficial learning and neglect critical skills such as reading and writing. On an optimistic note, she foresaw the continued importance of teachers to mediate learning from technology and artificial intelligence.

After outlining the reasons for uncertainty, Amin discussed three pieces of research that further develop the notion of curriculum uncertainty as a function of language. In the first paper, she described an incident in her class where the students accused her of being uncaring because she appeared to have no regard for their feelings, whereas she believed they were uncaring about developing their intellect. The demands of the students and Amin masked their intentions. Both sides wanted care, but the use of words like “uncaring” and “critique” masked their equivalence.

Another presentation highlighted the traumatic lives of those taught in institutions of learning. Amin read a poignant story of a young participant in a study. ‘It is an account of the tragic life of a girl who was born to parents who were teenagers at the time of her birth,’ said Amin. ‘Aged 13, she looks after her younger siblings and runs the household. Her sick mother prepares for the birth of her fifth child while her unemployed father shirks all responsibility. The labels “parent” and “child” disguise the realities that make it impossible for teachers to know the home circumstances. Additionally, the curriculum does not consider the realities of students’ lives and the curriculum is implemented as if all students are the same. The high poverty rate in South Africa emphasises the discrepancy between lived experiences and the assumptions and goals of the curriculum,’ she said.

Amin paid tribute to her husband and family who support her, describing herself as an intellectually adventurous spirit shaped by her parents’ life of hardship and modelled on her mother’s resourcefulness.

Her diverse interests complicated her academic path until she found a home in Curriculum Studies.

Words: NdabaOnline

Photograph: Supplied