Personal transformation and leadership: Student responses to the Life-skills module at the University of Limpopo, 2003-2006

Abstract

This article focuses on student leadership and transformation because of the belief that a) students have a tremendous influence on the academic leadership of an institution, and b) students themselves form part of this academic leadership – whether they are formally recognized for it or not – and can transform it in significant ways. The article briefly describes the history of the current Life-skills module since the inception of the Alternative Access Foundation Programme (AAFP) in 2002, as well as the learning and teaching philosophy behind it. It focuses on the interventions on offer through this module, for example Dependable Strengths Articulation, the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, curriculum co-construction, and Cognitive Apprenticeship, describing what occurs through these in terms of content, student learning, leadership and transformation. The article then evaluates the module based on the analysis of student responses to questionnaires, and maps out possible future scenarios in terms of the module offering and evaluation.

J South African Journal of Higher Education Vol. 21 (7) 2008: pp. 858-869