Networking in adult education in South Africa.
Date
2014-03-26
Authors
Roup, Dee
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Abstract
In the fast changing world of a new, democratic South Africa (S.A.), the
political, economic and social arenas are rapidly moving in new directions. In
order to impact on important new policy developments as they are being
developed and to impact on the planned changes in their fields, many adult
education organisations saw the need to band together to form networks or
associations and the like, through which to present their viewpoints or ideas at
policy debates. In this way their views were backed by recognisable stakeholder
or constituency groupings.
One such networking organisation was established in 1989, well before the fastmoving,
radical changes were so extreme in South Africa, namely, the Forum for
the Advancement of Adult Education (FAAE). The aim of the FAAE was to
inform, support and professionalize the field of Adult Education and Training
via their networking activities. A t times it also acted as a structure to support:
policy development. These aims continue today, although the work of the FAAE
has broadened.
This study looks at the role of “Networking” in Adult Education in South Africa
to examine its process and its impact. The study explores the views and opinions
of practitioners in different parts of South Africa and examines the case study
of the FAAE as part of its data gathering, as it asks the questions: how, why,
when and where does or should networking occur. What are the potential gains
or problems involved in such an activity?
The research design, which is a combination of qualitative and quantitative
approaches, attempts to provide quantitative details which accurately portray
elements of the data gathered, as well as qualitative data which reflects the rich
detail of the data explored.
Although networking is being explored within a specific sector or community
(adult continuing education), it is hoped that this study will open up ideas and
possibilities to assist networking activities in other sectors or communities. It is
hoped th at this study will catalyse other studies to explore the concept of
“networking” and as a consequence, that more publications addressing this issue
might arise.
Description
Keywords
networking, network, adult continuing education, adult professional development, communication, shared experiences, connect