Abstract
This chapter explored the South Africa Student Activism (SASA) archives as a new history education resource for teaching first years at university. The history of SASA is underrepresented in the South African history curriculum. This was influenced by the apartheid educational system, which neglected the preservation of the history of students' struggle to inform first-year students entering university to study history. The study used a case study design. Data were collected through interviews and analysis of documents. Qualitative data were collected through interviews with selected students, history teachers, and archivists from a selected university in South Africa. The key findings revealed that utilizing archival material and oral history enhance first-year students during the teaching and learning and development of handbook materials.
TopBackground Of South Africa Higher Education
South African universities are composed of three institutional types, traditional universities, universities of technology, and comprehensive universities (Mckenna 2016, p. 153). Traditional universities offer teaching and research, offering qualifications from a three-year bachelor’s degree to a doctoral degree. Comprehensive universities offer qualifications from the higher certificate to doctoral levels with some related research activity while the university of technology offers undergraduate qualifications with postgraduate and research activity. The focus of the selected universities is focused on industrial and technological disciplines. The selected case study is a comprehensive university. The university was established because of the transformation of South Africa's higher education in 2004. The university was established also because of a merger between universities. Universities differ in terms of providing teaching and learning. The implications of institutional differentiation for teaching and learning were also influenced by institutional history (Mckenna 2016, p. 154). A division between historical advantages and historical disadvantages influenced Teaching and learning at university. The apartheid-era historical education and scholarship were characterized by a tendency to overlook the role of SASA history (Houston, Twala, & Majozi 2018, p. 67). The demand of post-apartheid South Africa was placed on teaching and learning is that it contributes to social justice (Mckena 2016, p. 143). The post-apartheid system expected the department of history to teach contemporary South African history that includes the SASA theme.
Key Terms in this Chapter
First History Students: These are the first entry students admitted to study at Universities in South Africa.
Archival Materials: These are primary resource materials created, they have historical and cultural significance to any organization.
Fees Must Fall Movements: This is a movement established by a student organizations body in South Africa to mobilize students to fight against the increase in South Africa Universities fees.
South Africa Student Activism Archives (SASA): These are archives materials created during the Fees Must Fall Movements in South Africa.