African Journals Online
Acta Academica

Volume 33, Issue 3, 2001

Title: Realism and determinism : some thoughts on neoclassical economics
Hodge, D.

Abstract: Neoclassical economics is often criticised for being deterministic and disconnected from social reality. A related criticism is that neoclassical economic theory is instrumentalist. This article argues that neoclassical economics, if properly understood, can be given a realist interpretation. The origins of classical and neoclassical economics are briefly discussed and the scholarly shift away from political economy is located in the marginal utility revolution in economic thought in the 1870s. It is argued that the core assumptions of neoclassical economics capture essential aspects of social reality and are not merely convenient, fictitious abstractions; that the charge of instrumentalism is not entirely justified, and that neoclassical economic theory does not imply that social processes are deterministic or mechanistic in reality.

Title: The linguistic turn and social psychology
Authors: Painter, D.Theron, W.H.

Abstract: This article investigates some of the implications of the linguistic turn in modern philosophy for the development of social psychology. The linguistic turn, according to which language does not primarily mirror reality or our experience but is co-constructive thereof, gave rise to productive developments in social psychology. Wittgenstein's insight that the meaning of words depends on their use value in specific language games made it possible to see social cognition as an interactive and social achievement, rather than as a self- enclosed mental process merely directed at the social environment. Post-structuralist developments like those of Derrida and Foucault, based on the structuralist linguistics of De Saussure, make the psychological subject, experience, social institutions and knowledge products of more fundamental textual processes. Despite contradictions these approaches underlie the development of what may be called a discursive social psychology: a discipline focusing on the different discursive aspects of social psychological life, which refuses to restrict that life to individual levels of analysis.

Title: Die roman maak geskiedenis : Jozef Simons se Eer Vlaanderen vergaat
Authors: Morgan, N.

Abstract: Die negentiende-eeuse Romantiek het geboorte gegee aan sowel die historiese roman as die moderne geskiedeniswetenskap. Geskiedskrywing en historiese romankuns word egter steeds in die mees resente artikels en temanommers as onversoenbaar beskou. Dit wat eie is aan die historiese roman, naamlik erkenning vir dit wat alledaags en marginaal is, het vanaf die 1980s onder historici en historiograwe belangstelling laat ontstaan vir mentaliteits- en maatskappygeskiedenis of “people's history”. Hierdie artikel fokus op die gedeelde belange van die geskiedskrywing en die historiese romankuns, met as verwysingsteks Jozef Simons se 1927-roman Eer Vlaanderen vergaat, wat in 1999 herdruk is.

Title: Environmental philosophy : rivalry within
Authors: Marshall, A.H.

Abstract: Environmental philosophy contains fractious elements, two of these being social ecology and deep ecology. This study highlights and elaborates upon the fact that social ecology and deep ecology actually have more in common than their respective proponents care to acknowledge, and identifies a major barrier between them which has been with environmental philosophy since its inception some 30 years ago and still persists to this day, namely the biocentric-anthropocentric divide.

Title: Challenges for participatory action research and indigenous knowledge in Africa
Le Grange, L.

Abstract: Participatory action research represents the convergence of two intellectual and practical traditions, that of action research and participatory research. Although participatory action research is by no means uncontentious, it has become a familiar term to social research practitioners. However, in recent years critiques of Western epistemologies by sociologists of knowledge, feminists, post-colonialists and post-modern scholars present challenges for participatory action research in Africa. This article critically examines epistemologies that support and underpin participatory action research. It particularly interrogates the dominance of Western epistemologies in supporting models of participatory action research used in Africa and elsewhere, and explores spaces for indigenous epistemologies and Western epistemologies to be performed together within participatory action research processes.

Title: Academic inbreeding and isolation in South African psychology
Authors: Fouché, J.B.Louw, D.A.

Abstract: Several factors have contributed to the fact that academic inbreeding and isolation have reached almost epidemic proportions at South African universities. Although this phenomenon has been described as a cancer in tertiary education, almost no data are available regarding the specific prevalence of inbreeding and isolation in academic psychology in South Africa. The present study aims to make a contribution in this regard. More than 1 000 questionnaires were distributed to academics and professionals to determine how many of them have obtained their qualifications from a single university; whether they were, at the time of the study, employed at a university from which they had graduated; what overseas training they had had; how many were members of international psychological associations; their attitudes towards continuing education, and to what extent they utilised computer networks. The findings are presented and recommendations made.

Title: Arbeidsverhoudingprobleme met algemene werkers aan tegniese kolleges : 'n kwalitatiewe perspektief
Authors: Viljoen, C.F.Bisschoff, T.C.Gouws, F.M.

Abstract: Suid-Afrika het in die afgelope dekade ingrypende veranderinge rondom arbeidsverhoudinge ondergaan. Hierdie veranderinge verg gespesialiseerde vaardighede, waaraan die bestuur aan tegniese kolleges tot nog toe nie genoeg aandag gegee het nie. Die gevolg hiervan is voortdurende konflik en versteurings wat tot arbeidsonrus aanleiding gee; in sommige gevalle is daar selfs finansiële implikasies ten opsigte van algemene werkers. Hierdie toedrag van sake dui op 'n onvermoë van bestuurders om verskille, griewe en dispute te hanteer. Dit lei tot krisisbestuur van arbeidsverhoudinge wat toenemend onstabiele werksomstandighede tot gevolg het. Navorsing rondom die oorsake van groeiende arbeidsonrus tussen bestuur aan tegniese kolleges en algemene werkers is dus noodsaaklik. Die “bestuursrol” van die faktotum word bespreek teen die agtergrond van arbeidsonrus aan tegniese kolleges.

Title: The facilitation of critical thinking in a technology education classroom
Authors: Ankiewicz, P.J.Adam, F.De Swardt, A.E.Gross, E.J.

Abstract: The teacher's role in facilitating learning and thinking in Technology Education classrooms is crucial to creating an environment conducive to the promotion and development of thinking. The aim of this study was to determine how teacher facilitation can promote and develop thinking in Technology Education lessons. A single case study using a qualitative research approach with convenience sampling and involving grade eight Technology Education learners was used to conduct the study. Data collection was by means of direct non-participant observation of both teacher-learner and learner-learner interaction. Transcripts of video tapes, audio tapes, field notes and instructional aids were analysed and recommendations for the facilitation of co-operative learning and critical thinking in the Technology Education classroom were made.

Title: Learner representatives in the governing bodies of secondary schools
Authors: Heystek, J.

Abstract: Learners in secondary schools are officially represented in school governing bodies (SGBs) in terms of the South African Schools Act, Act 84 of 1996. As part of the democratisation process in South African society, decision-making power has been decentralised to the local level, where all role-players in the school and the community can contribute to its management. The important role of learners in the governing body must be seen against the background of learners' involvement since 1976 in the anti-government struggle to improve the conditions in black schools. Over the past few years, learners' contribution to positive school management has been limited. They are seen as representing their fellow learners, and the relationship between adults and learners in the governing body has created some problems. The fact that learners have been excluded from certain meetings or parts of meetings may have serious implications for the legal status of those meetings and for the decisions of the SGBs.

Title: Herbert Howells's "Two Afrikaans songs" (1929)
Authors: Van der Mescht, H.H.

Abstract: The English composer Herbert Howells (1892-1983) did not understand the Afrikaans language, but he did hear it spoken when he travelled in South Africa in 1921. In his letters from South Africa he made very negative comments on the sound of the language. In this article his “Two Afrikaans Songs” of 1929 (Eensaamheid and Vryheidsgees, on texts by Jan F E Celliers) are analysed in order to determine whether his settings in a language foreign to him are convincing. It is concluded that the songs reveal remarkable sensitivity to the Afrikaans texts. Howells probably consulted the Afrikaans-speaking South African mezzo-soprano Betsy de la Porte, who was a student at the Royal College of Music in London where he was teaching. The “Two Afrikaans Songs” are a surprising, extraordinary and invaluable contribution to the Afrikaans song repertoire.