A reflective study of supervisors in Higher Education on humanistic strategies of working with 'difficult' students during COVID-19: Umuntu Akalahlwa supervisory style

Maserole C. Kgari-Masondo, Bernard Chingwanangwana, Aboshioke L. Umejei, Silindile P. Zulu, Balungile C. Zondi, Gabriel G. Darong and Monica Out
Additional contact information
Maserole C. Kgari-Masondo: Associate Professor, Department of Human Sciences, University of Venda
Bernard Chingwanangwana: Research Fellow, Department of Human Sciences, University of Venda
Aboshioke L. Umejei: Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism
Silindile P. Zulu: Lecturer, Department of Anthropology
Balungile C. Zondi: Lecturer, Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, University of Kwa Zulu Natal
Gabriel G. Darong: Lecturer Département of Anthropology, Rhodes University
Monica Out: Researcher, Academic Services and Research, Workers College of South Africa

Social Sciences and Education Research Review, 2024, vol. 11, issue 2, 304-311

Abstract: This article concentrates on how the migration to digital research supervisory mode affected students in Higher Education (HE) because of COVID-19 globally. Literature on COVID-19 and HE reveals that there have been a lot of hiccups because many students inhabit under-resourced difficult geo-historical and social contexts. These ramifications produce some 'difficult' students who become unproductive in their research as such supervisors required during and beyond the pandemic period are the ones who adopt a humanizing supervision style. The paper tries to close the gaps in the literature on supervisory styles that ignore the role of the geo-historical and social contexts of developing countries by drawing from the qualitative reflections of four supervisors' experiences in HE on how they navigated the context of the 'difficult' students to ensure a success story. The paper's findings are that during COVID-19 and other “challenging times", it is important to use styles of supervision that focus on humanism to make sure that no student is left behind in his/her research. Hence this study proposes the Umuntu Akalahlwa (a person cannot be disposed) supervision style because it emphasizes respect, love, care, hospitality, social justice, and participation as a means of success in research output.

Keywords: Educators; 'Difficult' student; COVID-19; Higher Education; Honours Supervision; Autoethnography; Umuntu akalahlwa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://sserr.ro/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/sserr-11-2-304-311.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:edt:jsserr:v:11:y:2024:i:2:p:304-311

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15258323

Access Statistics for this article

Social Sciences and Education Research Review is currently edited by Stefan Vladutescu

More articles in Social Sciences and Education Research Review from Department of Communication, Journalism and Education Sciences, University of Craiova
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Dan Valeriu Voinea ().