Postgraduate Diploma in Adult and Community Education and Training

Purpose

The purpose of this qualification is to equip learners with knowledge and skills in adult and community education and training. Its primary purpose is to provide a professional qualification to those with a first degree, seeking to enter the field of practice, and to provide opportunities for more advanced theoretical, strategic and curriculum engagement for those who have already completed undergraduate studies in Adult and Community Education and Training (ACET). It aims to enable learners to undertake advanced reflection and development by means of a systematic survey of current thinking, practice and research methods in the field of adult and community education and training. It will provide some opportunities for specialisation in, for example, the sub-fields of curriculum design, policy development, community development or workplace skills development.

Rationale

The Postgraduate Diploma in Adult and Community Education and Training is designed to provide practitioners with knowledge and skills that will enable them to engage in continuing professional development or advanced studies in this field. This qualification targets professionals and practitioners in the field of adult and community education and training and has been restructured to meet the new requirements of National Policy. The Postgraduate Diploma in Adult and Community Education and Training will also play an important role as an articulation route into the Adult education specialisations to a Master of Education.

The field of Adult and Community Education and Training has been identified as a national priority, and the new qualifications for Adult and Community Educators and Trainers is a significant move in the direction of professionalising the field. The introduction of requirements for new professional qualifications will lead to a significant increase in demand by those currently employed in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Community Colleges who lack appropriate qualifications, by new entrants to the field, as well as those needing to upgrade their existing qualifications to a professional, postgraduate level.

The qualification targets learners in adult education, training and development practitioners, present or future planners, consultants or policy analysts in the field of adult education and training, leaders of community, trade union or skills development institutions, or graduates who have an interest in adult education and human resource development issues.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

RPL procedures are in place to facilitate access for candidates who have cognate experience but do not meet the above academic criteria. The standard procedure requires submission of a portfolio of evidence; an oral presentation; and two written tests of academic ability including one open book, and one written under 'exam' conditions. Adult education teaching staff in the School of Education have expertise in RPL and it has been regularly used (where appropriate) for access to Adult Education qualifications in the past.

Entry Requirements

The minimum entry to this qualification is

• A three (3) year Bachelor's Degree, Level 7.

Or

• An Advanced Diploma in Adult and Community Education and Training, Level 7.

Or

• A Bachelor of Education Degree, Level 7.

And

• At least two years' experience as working professional educators.

This qualification consists of compulsory and elective modules at Level 8 totalling 120 Credits.

Compulsory Modules, 90 Credits

• South African Education in Context, 30 Credits.
• Knowledge and Experience in Adult and Vocational Education, 30 Credits.
• Learning at Work, 30 Credits.

Elective Modules, 30 Credits (select one)

• Researching Practice in Education, 30 Credits.
• Doing Research in Education, 30 Credits.

• Collect, analyse, organise and critically evaluate information.
• Identify and solve problems in which responses display that responsible decisions using critical and creative thinking have been made.
• Communicate effectively in the modes of oral/written presentation.
• Understand and interpret texts within the area of Adult and Community Education and Training.
• Understand the specialism or field of Adult and Community Education and Training at a high level of theoretical engagement and intellectual independence.
• Understand approaches to research in this specialism/field.
• Understand the ethical dimensions of issues facing professional educators.
• Understand contextual influences on Adult and Community Education and Training in South Africa.

The Associated Assessment Criteria will be applied in an integrated manner across the Exit Level Outcomes

• Trace the historical developments that have shaped the current system of education, with particular reference to adult and community education and training provision in South Africa.
• Demonstrate familiarity with current debates on inequality in education, specifically in relation to class, race, gender and place, and analyse contextual influences on adult educational experiences and outcomes.
• Outline the post-apartheid policy framework and locate their own work within the field of Adult and Community Education and Training.
• Identify different features of informal, non-formal and formal learning in adult and vocational education and training.
• Understand key lines of debates about the relationship between knowledge and experience.
• Reflect critically on the role and tasks of the educator in different adult and vocational education contexts.
• Provide a considered argument for the design of a curriculum that enables application of knowledge in practice.
• Understand changes in the organisation of work under globalisation, and their implications for knowledge and adult learning in the workplace.
• Put forward views on debates around workplace learning and knowledge.
• Reflect critically on their own experiences of learning at work, and design new approaches to learning in their own work context.
• Conduct a search of the research literature in a selected area of interest.
• Describe and evaluate a range of approaches to researching their area of specialisation within the field of Adult and Community Education and Training.
• Write a critical evaluation of published literature and research reports on a topic of interest in Adult and Community Education and Training, and draw out implications for their practice.
• Understand the logic of a coherent research design with a particular focus on the relation between a research problem, a research question, a literature review, theory, data and analysis.
• Understand the purpose of different research methods and select appropriate methods of data collection.
• Conduct and write up a small independent research study under supervision in their area of specialism within the field of Adult and Community Education and Training.

Integrated Assessment

The qualification will use both summative and formative assessment. Assessment in all modules requires written work amounting to 5000 words per course. Each module will have at least one assessment task during the course designed as a learning opportunity and to provide feedback to learners.

All modules in this qualification will be assessed by using written assignments or a project as an assessment method. The aim is to focus on development of conceptual and analytical tools, and appropriate use of such tools for reflecting critically on (and thus enhancing) professional practice; assessment by assignment (with its emphasis on reading widely, careful exposition of concepts, and intelligent application of concepts to analyse professional practice) is deemed best able to achieve these aims.