GEOGRAPHY:
The State of the Discipline in
South Africa: A Survey, 2000/2001
REPORT
Research Team
Prof U J Fairhurst
Prof R J Davies
Prof RC Fox
Dr MR Ramutsindela
Mr P Goldschagg
Dr U Bob
Dr MM Khosa
Society of South African Geographers
June 2003
Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology, University of Pretoria, South
Africa
CONTENTS
Geography: The State of the Discipline in South Africa
Executive Summary
6
Part 1
Introduction
23
Part 2
The Epistemological Roots of Geography
28
Part 3
South African Geography
36
•
General Development
36
•
Formal Structures and Organisation of South African
Geography
43
The Funding of University Departments of Geography in
South Africa
63
•
Part 4
Part 5
The Structuring of the University Geography
Curriculum in South Africa
72
Recent Structural Changes in University Geography
Education and Training in South Africa
98
•
•
•
The Relationship of Geography, Environmental Science
and Environmental Management
98
The Issue of Geographical Information Systems (Science)
and Geography
106
Geography and Tourism
109
Part 6
Geography in the School Context
111
Part 7
Geographical Research
118
Part 8
Geography in the Workplace: Disciplinary Perspectives
of Practising Non-academic Geography
146
Identities, Imaging, Attitudes and Concerns –
Contemporary Personal Insights
151
Part 9
2
LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1:
Founding of the Departments of Geography in South Africa
36
Table 3.2:
Size of Academic Staff Establishments in Historically Advantaged
38
(HAD) and Disadvantaged Departments (HDD), 1938 - 2000
Table 3.3:
Staff hierarchies at Historically Advantaged and Disadvantaged
45
Departments, 2000 (staff in place only)
Table 3.4:
Comparison of Qualifications of Staff in Historically Advantaged
47
and Disadvantaged Departments, 2000
Table 3.5:
Ethnic Composition of Academic Staff in Historically Advantaged
48
and Disadvantaged Departments, 2000
Table 3.6:
Summary of the Ethnic Composition of Academic Staff by Historically
49
Advantaged and Disadvantaged Departments
Table 3.7:
Academic Staff by Rank and Ethnicity, 2000
50
Table 3.8:
Academic Staff by Gender by Historically Advantaged and
51
Disadvantaged Departments
Table 3.9:
Age Distribution of Academic Staff in Departments of Geography, 2000
53
Table 3.10:
Academic Rank of Staff by Age group in Departments of Geography, 2000
54
Table 3.11:
Summary of Student Numbers by Historically Advantaged and
56
Disadvantaged Departments, 2000
Table 3.12:
Undergraduate Student Numbers Growth Trends by Historically
57
Advantaged and Disadvantaged Departments, 1996 – 2000
Table 3.13:
Growth Trends of Undergraduate Students in Historically Advantaged
58
and Disadvantaged Departments. Absolute Numbers 1996 – 2000
Table 3.14:
First Year Undergraduate Student Numbers Trends in Historically
60
Advantaged and Disadvantaged Departments, 1996 – 2000
Table 3.15:
Graduate Student Numbers Trends in Historically Advantaged and
62
Disadvantaged Departments, 1996 – 2000
Table 3.16:
The National Picture: Placement of Geography and Environmental Science
Table 3.17:
Summary modular content and teaching requirements significant for
Table 3.18:
66
funding considerations at representative South African universities
67
Proposed Funding Grid with Cost Ratios and Weightings
69
3
Table 3.19:
Suggested relative costs of Geography according to CESM category
70
and learning level
Table 4.1:
Undergraduate Courses by Primary Subdivisions, 1938 - 2000
73
Table 4.2:
Undergraduate Courses Ranked by Sub-Field, 1938 -2000, Percentages
74
Table 4.3:
United Kingdom Geography versus South African Geography:
80
Top Fields of Teaching Top Undergraduate Courses
Table 4.4:
United Kingdom Geography versus South African Geography:
80
Primary Fields of Teaching Undergraduate Curriculum and Research
Interest by Primary Divisions
Table 4.5:
Number of Honours Courses offered at South African Universities
91
Table 4.6:
Summary of Honours Primary Study Fields, 1970 and 2000
92
Table 4.7:
Most Common Honours Courses available in South African Departments
93
Table 4.8:
Ranking of Honours Courses by Summary Study Fields and Collectives
95
of Study Fields, 1970 and 2000
Table 4.9:
Specialist Fields Centred in Departments of Geography
Table 7.1:
Comparison of Qualifications of Staff in Historically Advantaged and
96
119
Disadvantaged Departments, 2000
Table 7.2:
Graduate Student Number Trends in Historically Advantaged and
125
Disadvantaged Departments, 1996 – 2000
Table 7.3:
Geographical Research Output from Historically Advantaged and
128
Historically Disadvantaged Departments, 1996 – 2000
Table 7.4:
Papers Published by Single and Co-Authors, 1996 – 2000
129
Table 7.5:
Core Summary Areas of Interest of Academic Geographers in
131
South Africa, 1998
Table 7.6:
Comparison of Expressions of Interest and Actual Research Output
132
Frequencies by Primary Divisions of Geography
Table 7.7:
South African Geographical Research Output by Sub-fields, 1996 to 2000
134
Table 7.8:
Comparison of the Top Six Fields of Interest and their Occurrence
134
in the Undergraduate, and Honours Curricula and in Research Output
Table 7.9:
Top Contributions of South African Geographical Publications to
IGU Commissions and Working Groups, 1996 – 2000
4
136
Table 7.10:
Geographical Research Output from Historically Advantaged and
137
Historically Disadvantaged Departments, 1996 – 2000
Table 7.11:
South African Geography: 1996 – 2000, Distribution of
138
Publications Placed
Table 7.12:
Respondent Responses on the Impact of Transformation,
140
and Levels of Contributions to Development Research
and Policy Related Research
Table 7.13:
Distribution of Participants in the IGU Durban Conference, 2002
141
Table 7.14:
Distribution of Participants by World Regions
142
Table 7.15:
Distribution of Papers by Field. IGU Conference as a Whole
143
and South Africa
Table 7.16:
Top Collective Fields: IGU Conference and South Africa 2002
144
Table 8.1:
Employment Portfolios of Respondents
147
Table 8.2:
Professional Identification
148
5
Geography:
The State of the Discipline in South Africa
Executive Summary
Introduction
The study1 was initiated in 1998/9 as part of a wider project of the National Research
Foundation who invited professional societies to participate in a research endeavour to
investigate the identity and state of a variety of disciplines in South Africa. The purpose was
essentially to provide a basis for its future planning in the context of socio-political
transformation the country was experiencing. A project was initiated under the auspices of the
Society for South African Geographers, to explore the objectives, epistemology, structures,
content, pedagogics and vocational applications of geography in South Africa. A grant2 was
requested to enable a research team to broaden the base of participation. The South African
geographic community responded very positively to the exercise and has participated with
enthusiasm and co-operation.
The summary which follows sets out significant findings drawn from the major sections of the
report. The first section focuses on geography in the tertiary education context with reference
to the discipline’s epistemological roots and development; the formal structures of university
departments of geography including the issue of funding of departments of geography; the
student body and the university geography curriculum at the undergraduate, Honours and post
Honours levels. Consideration is given to recent structural changes in university geography
education and training. Subsequent sections deal with geographical education in the school
context, geographical research, geography in the workplace and identities, attitudes and
imaging geography. Finally, a review and conclusions are presented.
Geography in the Tertiary Education Context
This section gives an overview of the epistemological roots of the discipline in South African
context and describes its formal structures and organisation.
Epistemological Roots and Development
After referring to the definition, context and epistemology of Geography in general, major
developments in the history of South African Geography are recorded.
1
Planning began in 2000, the survey was done in 2000/2001, data analysis and follow-up with wider
consultation took place 2001 with some further investigation and the preparation of report in 2002 which
was completed in April 2003.
2
Funding received from the National Research Foundation is appreciatively acknowledged and the
University of Pretoria through the Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology, is
thanked for the financial administration.
6
Definition and Context
Geography is concerned with the study of the phenomena of Earth’s natural environment, its
human life and actions and the nature and outcomes of interrelationships within and between
these phenomena in functional and spatial contexts over time.
The discipline is conventionally and popularly cast in an educational context. On the one hand,
it continues to serve at school level being accommodated in various aspects of the broad
curriculum. On the other hand, contemporary Geography provides graduates with a broadly
based education on Earth phenomena and their interrelationships as a basis upon which to
enter a wide range of applied occupations. It is now firmly rooted in theory and critical
analysis based on a range of powerful analytical tools and skills, which underpin a rising
capacity for advanced analytical and interpretative work. This is evident in research and
applied achievements in specialised fields of Physical and Human Geography and
Environmental Science.
Despite high levels of specialisation in the sub-fields of both Physical and Human Geography,
the discipline uniquely retains a deliberate interest in and an intent to establish an
understanding of interrelationships between the phenomena that it studies. A geographical
training thus insists upon the acquisition of abilities to think both vertically within specialist
fields and laterally across many fields. Lateral, interpretative thought indeed is perhaps the
distinguishing academic characteristic that sets geographers apart from their fellow academics.
It also places geographers in a particularly favourable position in the practice of multi-, interand trans-disciplinary inquiry, which now characterises much investigative work and teaching,
particularly in Environmental Science.
The outcome is that Geography is increasingly recognised not only as an academic discipline
but also as an integrative applied science that offers a range of useful insights and applications
in a variety of fields. Qualified geographers thus find themselves in an increasingly wide
range of vocational settings in business, administration, applied public and private sector
employment and consultancies, apart from education. The recent growth of involvement in
environmental evaluation and management, tourism and geographic information science, for
example, is characteristic of that trend.
Epistemology
Professional geography, organised, structured and contextualised as a discipline of learning
has relatively recent origins. It attained definition as professional societies were established in
the metropolitan countries in the early 19th century to promote its interests. As the discipline
became recognised it was accepted as a school subject and more profoundly, became firmly
established at the tertiary level as departments of geography too were set up in universities
during the 19th Century. As a discipline its evolution has been dynamic and complex and its
organisation and structural underpinnings remain active subjects of debate. These debates
have been critically constructive, intellectually challenging and directed at the attainment of
academic quality.
Through its history geographers have shown themselves to be responsive to the evolution of
theoretical thought and practice in natural and social science. As is the case in other
disciplines, Geography has developed a pattern of organisation and structure. Though
conceived as a holistic science, two primary divisions, Physical Geography and Human
Geography have persisted as the core of the discipline. Physical Geography is concerned with
the study of the dimensions of Earth’s natural environment while Human Geography focuses
7
upon the geography of the complex and wide ranging phenomena of its human life. Though
the organisation of the discipline clearly led to the progressive fragmentation of knowledge,
particularly as specialised fields of study emerged, a search for a collective focus and unifying
underlying structure nevertheless persisted. On the one hand, Regional Geography was
initially expected to integrate the phenomena studied in Physical and Human Geography in
explanatory syntheses of human-environmental relationships in distinctive world regions. On
the other, the application of grand theory, evolving from crude scientific environmental
determinism through softer, qualitative ideas of environmental possibilism to positivist
approaches of scientific enquiry, underpinned by complex quantitative, empirical
methodologies, was expected to provide unifying mechanisms for the discipline. In a naive
sort of way these strategies succeeded in temporarily unifying the discipline. In the longer run
though they were to fail. The dissatisfaction of human geographers with the strictures of
positivist science led to change, dynamic exploration and adoption of alternative theory and a
progressive separation of Physical and Human Geography. The unsatisfactory, ideographic
bases of Regional Geography too, progressively led to its decline and virtual disappearance.
At the same time new contexts of study have emerged to form new primary divisions of the
discipline. These have included the growth of Environmental Science and Geographical
Information Science.
Both have intentions to explore, analyse and interpret the
interrelationships of human life and the natural environment. Both display consciousness of
the shortcomings of positivist science as a basis of analysis, interpretation and understanding
and of the need to search for alternate frameworks of theoretical explanation. Both are
proving to be highly successful spheres of study and application. While they might contribute
to a deepening of fragmentation, they do, in important respects, offer new opportunities to
unify the presently disaggregated fields of Physical and Human Geography. Such possibilities
are currently the subject of contentious debate.
Another important context is the development of analytical techniques and skills. This
development has emerged largely in response to an increasing need to strengthen and expand
the vocational bases of the discipline and also technological advancement. It too is proving to
be highly successful.
South African Geography
A demand for schoolteachers was the mainspring of university geographical education in
South Africa until very recent times. Indeed a majority of university Geography graduates
entered the teaching profession until the mid 1990s. From that time the development of the
discipline to serve a broader vocational spectrum has been strong and today relatively few
graduates enter the teaching profession. The implications of this shift for quality school
education are of the greatest importance.
Growth in the departments of geography in historically advantaged universities (HADs) was
incremental but remained very slow into the mid 20th Century. By the mid 1950s for example,
staff in departments had grown to an average of only three academics (Figure 1). Twenty
years later, in 1970, only a small additional increase had taken place and most departments
then had four members of staff. A major shift took place in the 1980s and 1990s when the
staff complement rose to six or seven in most departments. It is clear that the staff
complements in South African departments never reached levels attained by departments in
the metropolitan countries (UK, USA, Canada, Western European countries and Australia in
particular) with which we are compared. Though this is an unfortunate state of affairs and is
understandable in the context of university financing and development in South Africa, it
imposes significant constraints on the potential of South African departments and their
8
academic personnel. The situation in the historically disadvantaged departments (HDDs)
since their foundation has been no better. Their staff complements ranged from three to five
members of staff until very recently.
UK & Botswana =
20 staff members
Number of staff
Professional stimulus
for the early depart9
ments was provided
8
by the establishment
Figure 1
of the South African
7
Geographical Society
6
South Africa =
(SAGS) in 1917.
8 staff members
5
Broadly framed on the
4
structures of the Royal
3
Trendline
Geographical Society
2
in Britain and directed
1
towards the promotion
0
of geographical edu1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
cation, the interests of
Period of time
geography and the
promotion of popular
interest in the discipline, the Society strongly supported the advance of geographical research, education and
the development of professional geography. Today the South African Geographical Journal
enjoys recognised international status. In the period 1957 to 1994 the SAGS was
complemented by the work of the Society for Geography and the publication of its journal The
South African Geographer. The two societies merged their activities in 1994 to form the
Society of South African Geographers. The new Society continues to perform an active and
essential role in South African geography.
The development of South African geography along with all other academic disciplines at our
universities was taken up in political shifts in the country after 1948 with powerful thrusts to
impose an apartheid educational framework. Under the 1959 Extension of Universities Act,
ethnically based and segregated universities and institutions were created for the non-White
population groups and new departments of geography came into being. Relations between
them and established departments in English language universities were not without their
tensions. Though evident political divisions between South African academics of different
persuasions were recognised, relations between Afrikaans and English geographers
nonetheless remained generally cordial. The political tensions in society were clearly
insufficient to undermine the relationships established through overarching academic interests
and a shared epistemology, then rooted in positivist science. Though prevailing ideas on value
free research were naïve, these conditions were sufficient to preserve the unity of the
discipline. The tensions were none the less very real but essentially confined to the experience
of the human geographers. Physical geographers tended to have their feet firmly planted in
the scientific mode of learning and were not academically troubled by differences in sociopolitical allegiances.
In those times the non-White population groups experienced exclusion either by careless
omission or intent. This fact stands to the shame of the discipline as a whole! It separated our
student bodies and inhibited their academic interaction and development. Interaction between
academics in historically White universities and historically Black universities was severely
limited. Participation in activities organised by the professional societies was restricted by
9
legal regulation and by perceived constraints. Moreover, the intentional and non-intentional
exclusion of black participation in the discipline entailed a massive missed opportunity to
extend geographical influence in Black education. It probably strongly contributed to the
current situation in Black schools where geography tends to be underdeveloped and poorly
represented in the curriculum.
The Society for Geography was founded in 1957 with objectives very similar to those of the
South African Geographical Society but with a particular intention to provide for the special
needs and greater participation of schoolteachers of Geography. Established at a time of
powerful socio-political division in South Africa, the new Society, driven mainly by Afrikaans
academics, appeared to emphasise the division and carried a potential of becoming a source of
academic discord. The Society for Geography excluded non-White participation until the
1970s whereas the South African Geographical Society welcomed participation from all
population groups although not actively engaging in promoting non-White membership and
conference participation until the late 1980s.
Events of the 1960s stand in contrast to actions taken by the Council of the South African
Geographical Society in 1963. At that time an application was being made to the National
Department of Education for a grant to support the publication of the South African
Geographical Journal. A grant was approved on condition that and black persons might not
attend meetings together. The Council took a courageous decision not to accept the grant with
this proviso. The Journal continues to be the Society’s flagship and worthily reflects and
presents the discipline’s good standing in both national and international academe. Despite
evident historical political division, tensions in South African society were clearly insufficient
to undermine the relationships established through overarching academic interests and a
shared epistemology, then rooted in positivist science. Though prevailing ideas on value-free
research were naïve, these conditions were sufficient to preserve the unity of the discipline.
Circumstances changed significantly from the late 1980s when pressures from within the
South African Geographical Society gave rise to a new dynamic in professional geography. A
concerted and sincere effort was made to incorporate all geographers into the activities of the
discipline. It was in this spirit that, in the early 1990s, serious negotiations began to pave the
way for constituting the Society for South African Geographers. There can be little doubt that
the impact of apartheid on the structuring of and participation in the discipline was severe in
many respects but the will to put the past behind is steadfast as geographers come together to
address issues of the contemporary world. The political transformation of South African
society in general from 1990, too, has fuelled that dynamic and black participation is now
significant.
Youth is often the leader in shifting attitudes. This is quite definitely the case in professional
geography in South Africa where the geography student body has played an active and
honourable role in fuelling the new dynamic in the contemporary society. South African
geography students have since 1969 held an annual professional conference. These
conferences commonly are attended by a body of some 200 graduate and undergraduate
students from all South African universities. They have served not only to promote the
interests of the discipline but also provide for its professional presentation. Particular
encouragement has been given to the attendance of black students. At a recent conference in
Johannesburg in 2000, for example, of the total number of attendees no less than 71% were
black and 72% of the papers presented to the conference were from black student authors.
This indeed is transformation of the highest order and our student bodies are to be
congratulated on their achievement. Their work is an object lesson for the professional
10
academic geographers. At the 2001 conference of the professional Society, 79 per cent of the
presenters were white and 21 per cent black. This is probably a reflection of the degree to
which transformation has taken place in departments of the Historically Advantaged
Departments (HADs) for most presenters at the professional conference were drawn from
those departments.
Internationally South African geography has for long associated itself with the work of the
International Geographical Union (IGU), one of several scientific unions established under the
aegis of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU). Several South African
geographers serve as Members or Corresponding Members of Research Commissions and
Working Groups of the IGU and attendance at the conferences staged by the Union is regular
and significant. At present South Africa has the honour, through Professor L.M. Magi
(University of Zululand), of occupying a Vice Presidency in the Council of the IGU.
South African geographers have in addition over the years attended meetings of other
international bodies in particular those of the Institute of British Geographers (IBG) in the
United Kingdom and The Association of American Geographers (AAG) in the United States.
Despite some tensions during the period of international academic boycott, South African
geographers, as individuals, managed to retain and develop international contact and
interaction. Those processes are now very strongly developed.
The Formal Structures and Organisation of South African Geography
Under the formal structures and organisation of South African Geography, the university
departments of geography, the student body, the provision of national funding subsidies and
the curriculum are discussed.
The Departments of Geography
Number of Geography
Departments
Each of the 21 universities
in South Africa (2000)
supports a department in
16
which Geography is a
14
recognised
discipline.
12
Faculties
of
Science
10
administer
the
great
8
majority of these (Figure
6
2).
Fifteen of the 21
4
departments are adminis2
0
tered in Faculties of
Science
Arts
Arts & Science
Science, three in Faculties
Figure 2
Faculties
of Arts and two are located
in both the Faculties of Arts
and Science (Figure 2). A preference to be situated in Faculties of Science rests in historical
linkages Geography has enjoyed with scientific disciplines in South Africa, on the one hand.
On the other hand, dependence on laboratory and studio work in the conduct of applied
practical classes gives rise to needs for laboratory space and technical equipment and
instrumentation. Support for required space, infrastructure and equipment is naturally more
readily attained in Faculties of Science. Funding benefits will flow from the linkage and
explain the strength of the association. The issue of the funding of university Departments of
Geography is the focus of a special section of the report.
11
It is important to note, however, that although the administrative linkage with Faculties of
Science is strong, departments of geography none the less retain strong linkages with Faculties
of Humanities and Social Science. The concept of Geography as a ‘bridging science’ is
supported by the strength of these associations.
University restructuring in more recent years has meant that some departments now form part
of a ‘School of Study’. The cases of the departments in the University of Natal, Durban,
Venda and Durban-Westville are particularly interesting in this respect. In Natal, Durban,
Geography is now located in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences and is regarded
simply as a subject field in that School. A distinct Department of Geography, so named, no
longer exists and the right to use the appellation, 'Geography', in course titles has been the
subject of substantial negotiation.
In Venda the Department of Geography and
GeoInformation Sciences exists in the School of Environmental Sciences as a distinct and
autonomous entity. In that university, however, faculties comprise a cluster of departments
and Schools with the School as the source of departmental administration. An ecological
association of disciplines forms the basis of the School in Venda. In the University of DurbanWestville, Geography is again regarded purely as one subject area among several in the School
of Life and Environmental Sciences. A distinctive department no longer exists and again the
retention of the title of Geography has been the subject of intense debate and successfully
contested compromise. In the view of the survey team, if university restructuring is to lead to
this type of relationship in the interests of administrative economies, questions on the
importance and maintenance of disciplinary identity arise and need to be urgently addressed.
The mean staff complement of departments of geography in South Africa is eight academics
(Figure 1). Interestingly enough, there is no difference between the historically advantaged
and the historically disadvantaged universities in this respect. International comparisons will
show that South African departments of geography are very modest and probably small in
size. In the United Kingdom for example, the average departmental staff complement would
be approximately 20 members of staff. Closer to home, even the University of Botswana has a
staff exceeding 20 members (Figure 2).
The size of staff complement carries with it an implication for the breadth and depth of the
academic programmes that might be offered in our departments of geography. By
international standards, our departments are clearly severely constrained.
The rank distribution of academic staff produces a typical hierarchical structure. Professors
represent 9% of the total staff,
associate professors 11%, senior
lecturers 22%, lecturers 46% and
junior staff 12%. The modal rank
Lecturers
Senior
is that of lecturer.
46%
lecturers
A significant difference exists in
the distribution of rank between
the historically advantaged and
historically disadvantaged departments (Figure 3). The latter are
relatively weakly staffed in the
more senior ranks. The distribution of rank in UNISA and
Vista Universities is equally
22%
Professors
9%
Figure 3
12
Associate
professors
11%
Junior staff
12%
distorted and concentrated in the lower ranks. This is particularly the case at Vista where 86%
of the staff is in the lecturer category and the highest rank is that of senior lecturer. Not all
departments have a sitting professorship in their hierarchy. Two departments amongst the
historically disadvantaged departments do not and six departments amongst the disadvantaged
departments do not have a professorship in place. Neither the UNISA nor Vista departments
currently (2000) have a professor in place.
This finding, in the view of the survey team, reflects a highly unsatisfactory state of affairs,
which should be urgently addressed. The need for academic leadership exercised from the
highest ranks is of critical importance at the level of departments and in the relationship
between departments and the wider university sphere.
It is evident that a distinct difference exists in the distribution of qualifications between
historically advantaged and disadvantaged departments. In the historically advantaged
departments some 60% of academic staff are in possession of a PhD degree and 24% of a
Masters degree. The position amongst the staff of the disadvantaged departments is that only
34% of the academic staff have a PhD and 50% a Masters degree. These findings are a
vindication of the label ‘disadvantaged’.
The ethnic distribution of staff in historically advantaged departments is severely skewed with
white members dominating to the extent of 92%. Only 7% of staff at these universities are
either coloured or Indian and only 1% is black. Some change has taken place since 2000 but
indications are that it is of a marginal nature. In the historically disadvantaged departments
the proportion of black members of staff is nearly 60% and the distribution is more balanced.
White members of staff, however, still occupy a significant proportion of the positions in these
universities and the proportions of coloured and Indian members of staff is relatively small.
Much work needs to be done to bring black academics into the system and to balance the
ethnic composition of the departmental academic staff.
Percentage of whites
The ethnic distribution of posts
100
90
by rank is equally distorted.
90
80
76
80
Whites remain dominant in the
70
60
senior positions with 80% of
60
50
professors, 90% of associate
50
40
professors and 76% of the senior
30
lecturers being white. At the
20
lecturer level, whites still
10
dominate and occupy 60% of the
0
Professors
Associate
Senior
Lecturers
Junior
positions (Figure 4). Progress in
Professors
Lecturers
balancing ethnic distributions at
Figure 4
Academic Posts
this level is clearly being made.
The proportion of black lecturers
has risen to 22%. Indians comprise 7% of the lectureship population and coloureds 10%.
Interestingly, the latter distribution is in excess of the proportion of Indians and coloureds in
the national population. At the junior level whites represent 50% of the academic positions.
Conclusions reached are that the ethnic composition of the academic staff in South African
departments of geography remains very heavily distorted in favour of the white population
(Figure 4). Strong development needs exist. Prospects for change in these structures, however,
for the present and immediate future remain bleak as very slow progress appears to be being
made in raising the level of qualifications of black geographers.
13
In both historically advantaged and disadvantaged
STAFF: MALE vs FEMALE
departments there is a preponderance of male members
of staff. The average Geography Department in South
Female
Africa will be staffed in a ratio of 69% male to 31%
31%
female (Figure 5). Considerable variation exists. The
Male
gender distribution considered in relation to the
69%
distribution of the hierarchy of positions in departments
Figure 5
is equally distorted.
Males
heavily
dominate
senior
100%
11
12
positions
in
the
departments
of
90%
30
80%
geography taken as a whole. Of
44
Female
70%
the total, males hold 89% of the
73
Male
60%
professorships, 70% of the
50%
89
88
associate professorships and
40%
70
30%
88% of senior lectureships in
56
20%
the 21 departments. Only in the
27
10%
lower ranks of lecturers does a
0%
balance begin to appear with
Professors
Associate
Senior
Lecturers
Junior
Professors
Lecturers
56% of the positions held by
Figure 6
males. At the junior level, on
the other hand, females hold
73% of the posts (Figure 6). Clearly in this sphere too a great deal of work needs to be
undertaken to address the distortions in gender distributions. The age distribution of academic
staff in departments of geography taken as a whole is satisfactory.
The Student Body
The geography student body in South Africa is modest in size. In 2000 the total number of
students in the 21 departments surveyed numbered 5524 students. Of that number 40% were
accommodated in historically advantaged departments, 31% in historically disadvantaged
departments and a further 29% were located in distance learning universities.
Honours students too are
fairly
evenly
spread
between historically advantaged and disadvantaged departments with
the former accounting for
46% and the latter for
41% of these students.
Relatively small proportions of Honours students
are found in UNISA and
Percentage post-graduate
students
Undergraduate student numbers totalled 4647 students. The distribution of undergraduates
between historically advantaged and disadvantaged departments is fairly balanced. Of the
total, 35% are located in the former and 32% in the latter departments. UNISA and Vista
distance learning universities
Doctorates
account for a further 33%
Masters
Honours
together.
77
74
80
70
60
50
46
41
40
23
30
26
13
20
10
0
HAD HDD
Figure 7
DL
HAD Rest
HAD Rest
HAD= Historically Advantaged, HDD= Historically
Disadvantaged, DL=Distance Learning, Rest = HDD+DL
14
Vista whose focus is on distance education.
At the level of research students, however, the distribution is skewed with the great majority of
both Masters and Doctorate students concentrated in the historically advantaged departments
(Figure 7). Of the total of Masters and Doctorate students, 77% and 74% respectively are
concentrated in the historically advantaged departments. Both UNISA and Vista have small
numbers of postgraduate students. The proportion of students in Geography who are
postgraduates (post-Honours) is 16% of the total number of students. That level is high in
comparison to many other disciplines.
Student numbers in historically advantaged departments are modest and have been so over the
past five years (Figure 8). The largest department in the category accommodated over 300
undergraduates and the smallest approximately 84 undergraduates. The mean size of the
advantaged departments in 2000 was 149 undergraduate students (Figure 8).
2000
Number of undergraduates
500
450
400
2000
350
300
250
Mean
=149
200
High
Mean
=183
Low
Mean
150
100
50
0
0
1
HAD
2
HDD
700
Number of undergraduates
Undergraduate numbers at
the historically
disadvantaged
departments have, by
tradition, been
significantly larger. In
2000 these departments
accommodated a mean
number of 183
undergraduate students.
The size range extended
from the largest
department of 452
undergraduates to the
smallest 60
undergraduates. The
number of students at the
distance learning
universities is
significantly larger,
UNISA accommodated
1040 undergraduates and
Vista 503 in the year 2000
(Figure 8).
3
1996-2000
600
Decline = 60%
500
Historically Advantaged (HAD)
400
300
Decline =17%
200
Historically Disadvantaged (HDD)
100
0
1
2
The numbers of undergraduate students in both Figure 8
the historically advantaged and historically disadvantaged departments showed a significant
decline over the period 1996 to 2000. In the case of the historically advantaged departments
the decline has been from an average of 179 to 149 undergraduates (a decline of 17% over a
five-year period). In the case of the disadvantaged departments the decline has been
significantly greater from an average of 463 in 1996 to 183 in 2000, a decline of more than
60%. In the case of the historically advantaged departments the annual rate of decline has
been relatively low and indeed has in the most recent years been replaced by a positive growth
trend. The negative annual growth trend in the historically disadvantaged departments, on the
other hand, has been significant and has progressively increased from 1996 to 2000. More
15
recent enquiries made at historically disadvantaged departments have shown, however, that
first year numbers tended to recover in the years following the survey.
Reasons for a declining trend in undergraduate numbers between 1996 and 2000 include, in
particular, changes which have come about in the teaching profession. Without exception,
respondents at both the historically advantaged and historically disadvantaged departments
indicated that the number of undergraduate students preparing to undertake postgraduate
teacher diploma training in preparation for a high school teaching career has declined
dramatically. In many cases only a very small number of students are proceeding to that
profession. Reasons at the historically disadvantaged departments moreover include factors
such as costs of fees and changes in destinations of prospective students. That a degree of
transformation is taking place in the ethnic composition of classes at historically advantaged
departments appears to support that contention. These are reasons of structural re-organisation
and do not arise from within the discipline itself. Nonetheless the trend is a source of concern
and is being actively addressed in all departments.
Growth in the number of Masters students in both the historically advantaged and historically
disadvantaged departments has been remarkable but absolute numbers in the historically
disadvantaged departments remain low. In the historically advantaged departments numbers
more than doubled from 159 in 1996 to 344 students in 2000 (an increase of 116.3%). The
extraordinary growth in Masters student numbers has been underpinned in particular by the
introduction of programmed, taught Masters degrees at several universities. The trend toward
taught Masters degrees is controversial and there is no universal agreement on the merits of
this context of learning. Some respondents were severely critical and regretted the loss of the
emphasis upon research training. The relatively small number of students at the Masters level
in the historically disadvantaged departments suggests that they are not providing a sufficient
number of qualified candidates to grow the transformation of the academic staff in our
university system.
As is characteristic of all disciplines, the number of students in the doctoral category is
relatively small but not insignificant. Here the great majority of students (74%) are
concentrated in the historically advantaged departments.
The Funding Issue
Funding of departments of geography in South African universities has, in the eyes of
university administrators and the professional society, for many years been very
unsatisfactory. The discipline has been funded as if it were a Social Science which it is not.
Indeed, the current funding proposals look set to prolong this problem as Geography has been
categorised according to the National Department of Education CESM system (Classification
of Educational Subject Matter) as a CESM Category 22 subject, namely a Social Science or
Social Study. If the discipline were to be categorised as a Life or Physical Science (CESM
Category 15) then departments would receive triple the state subsidy than if it is categorised as
a Social Science. We argue that Geography is neither a Social Science nor a Life Science and
needs to be funded according to a more appropriate categorisation. The procedure, in the past,
has inevitably led to under-funding and a need for university administrations to adjust funding
internally. The Society of South African Geographers has recently (31 May 2001) made a
major submission to the Ministry of Education, supported by the administrations of several
universities, urging the adoption of one of two funding models, both recognising Geography as
a part-laboratory discipline.
16
Model 1 proposes that Geography be funded according to Funding
Group 3 (which includes disciplines such as Urban and Regional
Planning) while Model 2 offers a slightly more complicated solution
that captures the principle of funding modular content more specifically
rather than the broad discipline. As an interim measure, and until such
time as the existing South African Post-Secondary Education (SAPSE)
system has been thoroughly revised, the Society requests that funding of
Geography according to Model 1 (CESM 02/Funding Group 3) be
adopted by the Department of Education.
The Society of South African Geographers urges the Department of National Education to
fulfil its promise to finally give due recognition to the unique nature of Geography as a
discipline and the strategic importance of instructional programmes to which it contributes, in
the new funding dispensation. It also requests that the final decision be appropriately justified
and documented in writing and furnished to the Society for future record purposes.
The South African Geography Curriculum
In common with other disciplines, professional geography developed a pattern of organisation
and structure. Conceived as a holistic science the discipline became organised around six
major dimensions of human society – its natural environmental setting, the economic,
demographic and the cultural bases, social structuring and the political framework. This
foundation gave rise to two primary divisions of study – Physical Geography and Human
Geography.
Physical Geography was directed at gaining a scientific understanding of the functional and
spatial relationships of the natural environment. Five systematic fields of study emerged:
planetary geography, geomorphology, meteorology and climatology, biogeography and
oceanography. Human Geography was directed at the study of functional and spatial relations
of the five great functional structures of society, in different contexts, over time: economic
geography, political geography, population geography, social geography and cultural
geography. The temporal dimension was accommodated in each of the sub-fields and in
historical geography. The integration of functional and spatial dimensions of Physical and
Human Geography and their inter-relationships was expected to take place in the practice of
Regional Geography - the third primary division of the early discipline.
Though its content expanded rapidly and major changes took place in the philosophical and
conceptual bases of the discipline its basic structures were consistently maintained in
international and South African geography over several decades. Only recently have
significant structural changes emerged. These have come about in response to major pressures
and shifts in contemporary society. They include: the impacts of powerful political and
environmental movements, major technological developments in skills, growing economic
stress on employment coupled to increasing pressures to transform education towards greater
vocational relevance, post-modern philosophical movements in Human Geography away from
nomothetic science as the basis of disciplinary organisation and study, the widening spectrum
of human activity and dissatisfaction with existing disciplinary structures and in particular the
failure of Regional Geography to provide appropriate and adequate mechanisms for the
integration of geographical analysis.
Structuring of the contemporary curriculum is thus characterised by increasing emphases
upon:
• A widening spectrum of alternate theory in Human Geography.
17
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The practice of contemporary scientific method in Physical Geography.
A widening spectrum of contexts of study in Physical Geography (such as water and
river catchment management, soil erosion problems, climatic change, energy
resources) and in Human Geography (such as urban and rural studies, development
studies, political geography of governance, medical geography, population studies).
Many of these have strong relevance in meeting societal needs.
The introduction of applied geography.
Specialisation.
The introduction and enthusiastic accommodation of Environmental Science and
Environmental Management.
Political underpinnings of geographical organisation of society.
Vocational outcomes of education.
Skills training.
Curriculum restructuring with the introduction of programmes of learning (often
vocation oriented).
The introduction of a wide array of new, vocationally and market attractive courses
and those with a focus on currently important or popular topics and contexts.
The outcome is that while the contemporary structure of academic geography has become
more responsive and relevant to contemporary societal needs, on the one hand, it has also
become more complex, severely fragmented and subject to (often capricious) change and
instability on the other.
The primary structures today will include:
• Physical Geography.
• Human Geography.
• Environmental Science and Environmental Management.
• Integrated programmes in Geography or multidisciplinary programmes in which
aspects of Geography are incorporated.
• Geographical Information Systems (GIS).
• Skills Training.
A means of unifying and integrating the discipline to meet its highest goal continues to elude
geographers. As suggested earlier, however, the possibility that Environmental Science and its
applications in Environmental Management might fulfil that purpose is now being explored
and debated. In a special section on the topic this report shows, however, that the implications
of a structural change of that kind weigh heavily upon the debate. The major hazard is the
undermining of the scientific bases of the discipline and the substitution of applied vocational
training. That process has already become strongly apparent in the curricula of several
universities. The same observation might be made in relation to the recent, active introduction
of GIS as a major field of study in the discipline.
A further structural change in the curriculum has been the introduction of programmes of
learning at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels in the majority of departments.
Programmes might be centred entirely within the departments or may be multidisciplinary in
structure. Most are strongly vocationally directed and have become an important means of
attracting students. The impact of programmes is controversial and their effect upon
curriculum content and coverage should be carefully monitored. Respondents in the survey
were concerned to ensure that the content of basic fields of the discipline was not
compromised.
18
Geography in the School Environment
The survey devoted attention to the practice of geography at the school level. School
geography is viewed as an important means of nurturing informed future citizens, on the one
hand, and, on the other, of providing a foundation for later study at tertiary levels. The
importance of the first of these objectives is stressed. The new school geography curriculum
proposed in the Revised National Curriculum Statement for Geography is outlined and
reference is made to critical comment on the proposal which has been forwarded to the
Departmental Curriculum Drafting Committee.
Some attention is also devoted to comment on the impacts which recent restructuring
processes have exerted on the teaching profession. Some elements are disquieting. Reference
is made to the looming problem of a possible shortage of suitably qualified high school
geography teachers arising from a shift in vocational choices being made by contemporary
graduates. Few are reported to have an intention of entering the teaching profession. This is
an issue that should be investigated at greater depth and one which should call for urgent
action.
Respondents in the survey, frequently recorded learning difficulties being experienced by
students from schools which remain disadvantaged. This issue continues as a structural
problem of great importance in geographical education at all levels.
The Research Environment
To the geographer, South Africa presents a research environment which is undoubtedly one of
the most attractive in the world. It has great potential and enormous breadth of opportunity in
most fields of Physical and Human Geography and in the exploration of relationships between
them. A seemingly limitless array of conditions and problems present themselves for research
in basic and applied fields.
Research has become a fundamental dimension of the work of geographers in South Africa.
Nonetheless a number of issues, which affect the volume and range of research, arise. They
include:
• Limitations on the availability of highly qualified supervisors in the HADs and the
HDDs alike.
• The small size of departments constrains volumes and restricts levels of specialisation.
• The ethnic composition of the research student body remains distorted although a
degree of transformation is taking place.
• Research funding is accessible but penetration of available sources remains too limited.
The scale of research projects is constrained by this factor. A range of structural
problems exists in accessing research funds.
Findings on research output include:
• The volume of research output has grown significantly but remains modest.
• Research output is fragmented across a wide range of fields and topics but 88% of the
output is concentrated in 15 fields. The top five fields in order of rank in 2000
included: climatology, urban geography, geomorphology, political geography and
development geography.
19
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Research output is strongly rooted in the structures of the curriculum but
environmental studies, which are a top-ranking component of the curriculum, are less
strongly represented in research output.
The introduction of “programmes” and taught Masters degrees in many universities is
having a major influence upon the nature, type and process of research. Some
significant implications arise.
Some departments have recently become involved in major research projects supported
by very large funds. It is hoped that this trend will expand.
In detail it is evident that much research has value in addressing problems and
development issues in South African society. The discipline has responded well to the
need to transform the directions and content of research. A structural shift towards
applied work is strongly evident.
Research output favours the Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces
which contain the most highly developed university departments.
Significant but slow progress is being made in encouraging black student research but
research student numbers at HDDs, however, are low.
The number of black research authors is expanding but remains small.
The spread of publications is wide and international participation is strong. The South
African Geographical Journal retains its importance as an internationally and
nationally recognised avenue of publication.
Geography in the Workplace: Perspectives on the Discipline
Voiced by Practising Non-academic Geographers
Responses gleaned from a group of practising non-academic geographers in the workplace
throws light on the contribution Geography has made in their daily life. The majority identify
themselves in the workplace as geographers.
The range of occupations held by geographers is very wide and spans employment in
government at all levels, government projects, research, teaching, the private sector, NGOs
and in consultancies. Their geographical training is strongly appreciated by employers and
colleagues though some do not have a full knowledge of what that might mean. A particularly
telling attribute is an ability to take an integrative view of issues and problems.
Gaps in geographical training were identified. A need for a greater concentration on skills
training was noted in particular. Practising geographers also felt that the social, physical and
behavioural dimensions of the discipline should be more strongly integrated. It is clear that
the high order goal of the discipline, to interrelate phenomena of the natural and human
environments, remains of paramount importance. It is also the most difficult goal to attain.
Practising geographers feel that their most important role in the 21st Century should be to
develop teaching and research programmes that contribute to an integrated understanding of
social, physical and behavioural issues in Africa and to show the relevance of geographical
skills in approaching the problems of the global environment. This finding is encouraging and
should have beneficial outcomes for our society.
20
South African Geographers –
Identities, Attitudes and Imaging Geography
The great majority of South African geographers identify themselves positively as
geographers, whereas some do so according to their research specialisation or refer to
themselves as environmental scientists. Some grey areas in disciplinary identity exist,
however, and a range of critical comment on the discipline was received.
Notwithstanding such criticism, the majority of respondents suggest that strong internal
academic confidence exists. Geographers know that they are doing useful and constructive
work relevant to contemporary societal needs and the historical title carries a distinguished
academic heritage. The lists of abilities attributed to geographers included in the report attest
to that finding. The problem, if one exists, many feel, is one of improving the external image.
In other words a strong marketing exercise is needed.
Review and Conclusions
Although it is not the intention of this study to prescribe a set of recommendations to our
geographical community, a number of issues which possibly should be stressed emerge from
the work of the survey. In random order, these include a need for contemporary South African
Geography to:
4 Appreciate that its practice must remain dynamic and critically intellectually aware.
4 Raise levels of participation in the professional affairs of the Society of South African
Geographers and its working groups.
4 Continue to develop its academic and applied contexts of study to ensure that its practice
remains scientifically, economically and socially relevant.
4 Continue to encourage the academic confidence of its practitioners including the student
body.
4 Be aware of needs for transformation in its organisational structures and curriculum
content.
4 Resolve the issues surrounding the funding of university Departments of Geography as
soon as possible.
4 Settle issues surrounding the accommodation of applied training in the curriculum at all
levels of study with particular reference to constructively accommodate training in
Environmental Science, Environmental Management and GIS in particular as a matter of
the greatest urgency.
4 Ensure that excessive fragmentation of the curriculum is avoided.
4 Encourage the development of programmes of study but in a constrained way to ensure the
maintenance and growth of basic fields of study fundamental to the integrity of the
discipline.
4 Keep abreast of epistemological developments in the discipline internationally.
4 Keep up international participation in teaching and research. Particular attention should be
given to encouraging interaction with geographers in African institutions.
4 Support and participate in initiatives associated with the National Qualifications
Framework to ensure recognition of the discipline and setting of appropriate standards at
all levels.
21
4 Ensure the acceptance of Geography as a basic field of study at the school level and
maintain the highest possible standard of geographical education for school learners.
4 Address the nature and quality of teacher education and to monitor the supply and demand
for appropriately qualified teachers.
4 Maintain a critical monitoring brief in maintaining the integrity of school geography and
continue to engage with the educational authorities over this matter with particular
attention being given to the question of uplifting the level of geography teaching and
learning at previously disadvantaged schools.
4 Strongly encourage the development of the teaching profession.
4 Participate strongly in research development to raise research productivity, specialisation
and standards to the best international levels. Colleagues in HADs should make every
effort to integrate with and assist the development of their counterparts in the HDDs.
4 Be more assertive in searching and applying for research funding. It is important that the
image of modesty, while admirable in principle, be changed to one of confident, assertive
practice.
4 More strongly pursue the objectives of professionalism by exploiting the channels for the
official registration of scientists.
Acknowledgements
Funding received from the National Research Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. The
research team* wishes to express its appreciation to members of the geographic community
who participated in the survey and to team member, Ron Davies, who tirelessly and devotedly
undertook the task of gathering and collating the data. Due recognition is given to Ms Ingrid
Booysen (Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology, University of Pretoria,
([email protected]) for preparation of the graphics. Information about the complete
final report can be obtained from any of the authors or the Society of South African
Geographers (Secretariat: Ms S. Brits, Department of Geography, University of the Free State,
P.O. Box 339, 9310 Bloemfontein, South Africa. Website: http://www.egs.uct.ac.za/sagj/
* RESEARCH TEAM
Prof Joan Fairhurst (Project Leader), 3 Carnegie Park, Blarney Road, 0157 Hennopspark, South Africa.
Tel. 012 6544525, cell. 082 371 2656. E-mail: [email protected]
Prof Ron Davies, 29 Ladies Mile Extn., 7806 Constantia, Cape Town, South Africa.
Tel. 021 794 5319. E-mail: [email protected]
Prof Roddy Fox, Department of Geography, Rhodes University, P O Box 94, 6140 Grahamstown, South Africa.
Tel. 046 603 8319/20. E-mail: [email protected]
Dr Maano Ramutsindela. Department of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, University of Cape Town,
7700 Rondebosch, South Africa. Tel. 021 650 2783. E-mail: [email protected]
Paul Goldschagg, College of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, 2050 P O Wits, South Africa.
Tel. 011 642 7373. E-mail: [email protected]
Dr Urmilla Bob, Department of Geography, University of Durban Westville, Private Bag X 54001, 4000
Durban, South Africa. Tel. 031 204 4322. E-mail: [email protected]
Dr Meschack Khosa, Pretoria, South Africa, Tel. 011 310 6328. E-mail: [email protected]
22
Part 1
Introduction
The Project
Disciplines of learning are at the base of human development and they make fundamental
contributions in determining the quality of human society. Their acceptance, role and
continuity are determined by the relative contribution they make to development in both
material and non-material contexts. That disciplines should from time to time be reviewed to
assess their context, structure, content, qualities and relevance is a wholly desirable action to
take. This is the sense in which the National Research Foundation (in 1998-99) initiated a
review of the qualities of a range of academic disciplines in South Africa. Geography is one of
the disciplines that responded to the invitation to participate in the exercise.
The geography community welcomed the task of assessing its contemporary discipline and of
contributing to the profile of knowledge, which will result. The investigation is not an
inquisition. It carries no threats, though naturally it will be necessary to review developments
in a constructive critical light. On the contrary, its objective is to be useful as an instrument in
development planning. It should materially assist us in determining future goals and
objectives and of ensuring that we remain relevant in our transforming contemporary society
and that we locate ourselves at the cutting edge of contemporary thought.
The analyses and findings which follow have been framed to provide a systematic overview of
the context and major structural characteristics of the contemporary discipline of geography in
South Africa. The report is spread over the following parts:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Introduction
• The Project
• The Definition and Context of Geography.
• Research Methodology
The Epistemological Roots of Geography
South African Geography
• General Development
• Formal Structures and Organisation of South African Geography
• The Funding of Departments of Departments of Geography in South Africa
The Structuring of the University Geography Curriculum in South Africa
• At the Undergraduate Level
• At the Honours Level
• At the Post Honours Level
Recent Structural Changes in University Geography Education and Training in South
Africa:
• The Relationship of Geography and Environmental Science and Environmental
Management
• The Relationship of Geography and Geographical Information Systems
• Geography and Tourism
Geography in the School Context
23
7.
8.
9.
10.
South African Geographical Research
South African Geography in the Workplace: Disciplinary Perspectives of Practising
Non-academic Geographers
Identities, Imaging, Attitudes and Concerns: Contemporary Personal Insights
Review and Conclusion
Definition and Context of Academic Geography
•
Definition
Geography is concerned with the study of the phenomena of Earth’s natural environment, its
human life and actions and the nature and outcomes of interrelationships within and between
these phenomena in functional and spatial contexts over time.
•
Context
Geography has conventionally and popularly been cast in an educational context. It is a
discipline, which has served to underpin a prominent school subject, on the one hand. Indeed,
the preparation of well-qualified schoolteachers was the initial driving force in the early
establishment of geography as a distinct tertiary discipline in our South African universities in
the 1920s and 30s. On the other hand, the objective has been to provide graduates with a
broadly based education on earth phenomena and their interrelationships as a basis upon which
to enter a wide range of applied occupations.
There is no question that these functions remain central to the contemporary objectives of
geography. The broad understanding of earth phenomena and their interrelationships provided
by a training in geography remains one of the most civilising educational benefits derived by
our graduates. Geography graduates might be expected to be particularly well equipped to
understand and meet the challenges and stresses of contemporary relations between society
and the environment in which it finds itself.
The discipline has in its recent history shifted away from an earlier stance in which it was
based in ideographic, descriptive analysis and interpretation of earth phenomena. Early work
in traditional regional geography for example was characteristic of that type of approach. The
discipline has become firmly rooted in theory and critical analysis and it now has access to a
range of powerful analytical tools. The evolution of the discipline is strongly evident in both
of its major divisions – physical and human geography and in their sub-fields. Physical
geography has become strongly rooted in fundamental scientific theory while human
geography has increasingly based its work in social and cultural theory. The depth of
understanding has increased as specialisation has intensified in both teaching and research.
Physical geography has experienced a relatively calm passage as its work became framed
increasingly by fundamental scientific theory. Human geography, on the other hand, has been
subject to substantial academic turmoil as paradigmatic revolutions and theoretical shifts took
place in social science. In the process the discipline was more than a mere recipient of
changing scientific thought - it displayed a capability of making significant contributions to its
development. All contemporary geographers moreover have been exposed to an increasing
range of technical and analytical skills training. That training now underpins a rising capacity
for advanced analytical and interpretative work.
24
Despite high levels of specialisation in the sub-fields of both physical and human geography
the discipline uniquely retains a deliberate interest in and an intent to establish an
understanding of interrelationships between the phenomena that it studies. A geographical
training thus insists upon the acquisition of abilities to think both vertically within specialist
fields and laterally across many fields. Lateral, interpretative thought indeed is perhaps the
distinguishing academic characteristic that sets geographers apart from their fellow academics.
It also places geographers in a particularly favourable position in the practice of multidisciplinary inquiry, which now characterises much investigative work and teaching.
As geography evolved into a higher order, multifaceted, analytical discipline it developed
capacities in approach, method and skills which today enable its practitioners to become
involved in the study and resolution of a wide range of applied issues and problems in
environmental and social contexts. The outcome is that geography is increasingly recognised
as an applied science that offers a range of useful insights and applications in a variety of
fields. Increasingly also the transferability and applicability of ways of thinking and, in
particular, of the lateral mode of analytical and integrative thought has been appreciated.
Qualified geographers thus find themselves in an increasingly wide range of vocational
settings in business, administration, applied public sector employment and consultancies and
education.
This report intends to tease out these structural characteristics of the discipline.
•
Research Methodology
No readily accessible sources of data exist to enable an analysis of the discipline to be
undertaken. It was necessary therefore to mount a data assembly exercise.
Formal statistical data relating to the structure of academic departments at the 21 universities
(Figure 1.1) in South Africa was collected by means of a questionnaire during 2000-2001.
These data concern aspects such as staff size and composition and student numbers. Formal
academic data on the geography curriculum and the practice of the discipline was collected
from each department. Data on the curriculum was developed from an analysis of the content
of university faculty handbooks for each of the university institutions. Where available, use
has been made also of reports that may have been prepared on the structuring of individual
departments.
A major field exercise was undertaken to conduct interviews with the heads of departments
and as many individual academics as possible in each of the departments. The objective was
to assemble qualitative data on each of the departments and to collect the perceptions which
practising academic geographers have of their discipline, its structure, content, practice and
development trends. The field interviews with academics were conducted as discussions
rather than as formal questionnaire filling sessions. The discussions ranged widely but were
guided by a prompt-sheet which ensured that relative consistency was obtained in the material
collected. Issues covered included:
• Questions of self-identity and confidence levels
• Issues of the curriculum and its development
• Discussions on recent major structural changes in the curriculum - of particular
importance here was an exploration of major trends such as the development of
environmental science and environmental management, geographical information
systems, economic and social development, tourism and other major issues as
components of the contemporary geography curriculum.
25
•
•
•
•
Structural change in the form of curricula and in particular the introduction of modular
structures and programmes of study were major issues of discussion.
Geographical research
Vocational issues
General issues
Figure 1.1: Southern African Universities, 2000
ZI M BA BWE
32
M OZA M BI QUE
31
BOTSWA N A
30
LIMPOPO
29
MPUMALANGA
27
26
24 25 25a
23
22 GAUTEN G 18 SWA ZI 21
NORTH WEST
19
20
LA N D
28
N A M I BI A
16
FREE STATE
15 14
NORTHERN CAPE
13
TH
SO
LE
EASTERN CAPE
7
1
2 WESTERN CAPE
3
4
26
5
6
6a
8
O
KWAZULUNATAL 17
12 11
9
10
The statistical data on the discipline has been subjected to systematic analysis and
interpretation. Field interviews were recorded on tape and a representative sample of the
interviews has been systematically transcribed in detail. The sample comprised interviews
with all heads of department and a random selection of other academics. Given constraints on
work capacities, the sample size was fifty drawn from a total of 115 interviews.
The transcription was subsequently subject to content analysis directed at the extraction of
profiles of opinion on the range of issues discussed. The content analysis is considered to be a
reliable guide to the opinion held by academic geographers in South African universities of
their discipline at present. Apart from providing an insightful source of information the
recording of opinion by individual geographers now constitutes major archival material which
will be of use in later studies of the discipline.
With very few exceptions the level of co-operation received by the compilers of this report
from their colleagues at the South African universities was exceptional and grateful thanks is
extended to them.
27
Part 2
The Epistemological Roots of Geography
By way of introduction this report requires a brief outline statement on the roots, nature and
evolution of the geographical discipline in general and of its establishment and development in
South Africa in particular. By fortunate timing, a new work by Wilhelm (Barnie) Barnard,
entitled Conceptions of Geography (Barnard, 2001), appeared last year. This slim volume
revisits ideas on the development of the discipline and its epistemology and provides an
insightful, accessible new basis of understanding of the nature of modern and contemporary
geography. Its detail need not be repeated here but outlines drawn from the work provide us
with some of the necessary backdrop to this study. For readers with deeper interests in this
field Barnard’s book is thoroughly recommended for study.
The structured practice of geography and the accumulation of geographical knowledge and
learning in spheres such as cartography, topographical description and treatises on the findings
of exploration are rooted in antiquity. The practice rested upon the innate curiosity of human
beings about the earth and a need to know, record, understand and explain the environment in
which we live. Accumulated geographical knowledge was also not insignificant in enabling
the exploitation of earth resources and in influencing patterns of human relations locally,
regionally and globally.
Professional geography, organised, structured and contextualised as a discipline of learning
has more recent origins. It attained definition as professional societies were established in the
metropolitan countries in the early 19th century to promote its interests. As the discipline
became recognised it was accepted as a school subject and more profoundly, became firmly
established at the tertiary level as departments of geography were founded in universities, as
early as 1820 in the case of the University of Berlin (Karl Ritter), but particularly from the
1870s. As a discipline its evolution has been dynamic and complex and its organisation and
structural underpinnings remain active subjects of debate. These debates have been critically
constructive, intellectually challenging and directed at the attainment of academic quality.
Barnard (2001) reminds us that geography, and history, were viewed and contextualised by the
philosopher Kant as empirical, holistic sciences that are concerned with the study of human
phenomena over time, on the one hand, and human environmental relations in space, on the
other. The two disciplines were seen to meet a need for a holistic view of phenomena to
balance the more specialised foci of the empirical systematic sciences. The relationship is
demonstrated in a figure drawn from Barnard (Figure 2.1). While the validity of the niche
created for geography in the array of disciplines remains, contemporary geographers will
criticise the conceptualisation which excludes a temporal dimension from the discipline and
diminishes the significance of theory in the practice of the empirical sciences.
In common with other disciplines, early professional geography developed a pattern of
organisation and structure. Though conceived as an holistic science the discipline became
organised about 3 primary divisions:
•
Physical geography
•
Human Geography
•
Regional Geography
28
Figure 2.1: Kant’s Constellation of Sciences (after Barnard, 2001, p 16)
Physical and human geography were conceived as nomothetic sciences while regional
geography was considered to be an ideographic practice concerned with the definition of the
unique characteristics of distinct parts of the earth Physical and human geography spawned
an increasing range of sub-disciplines each focused on a particular field of interest. Regional
geography, on the other hand, was expected to integrate the phenomena studied in physical
and human geography in explanatory syntheses of human-environmental relationships in
distinctive world regions. It was to provide the holistic underpinning of the discipline. In
practice the systematic fields of specialist study and research tended progressively to develop
independent identities. Regional geography, the most difficult field to penetrate effectively,
never fully achieved its goals. The espoused concept of geography as a holistic discipline,
though adamantly maintained, thus proved very difficult to attain.
Though the organisation of the discipline clearly led to the fragmentation of knowledge a
search for a collective focus and unifying underlying structure nevertheless persisted. It led
geographers in the period 1870-1920 to the adoption of environmental determinism as an
acceptable scientific basis of integration, interpretation and explanation. The ambition,
Barnard notes, “was to transform geography into a generalising nomothetic science”.
Physical geography was to be based in field measurements and mapping and human
geography on empirical laws. Physical geography in particular drew benefit from the
emphasis which now rested on the environmental factors. The absurd level to which ideas
stemming from a dominant biological theory were carried, in expanding the concept of
environmental determinism, however, eventually led to geography drifting into an intellectual
backwater.
Reform was necessary. It emerged in the work of prominent French geographers among
whom were Paul Vidal de la Blanche, Jean Brunhes and Lucien Febvre. In the postulates of
possiblism they contended that “the physical environment or milieu is an integrated whole
with possibilities and limitations. From this interwoven complex a human community chose
according to its character and culture those resources which it needed and applied its
technology to overcome the limitations” (Barnard, 2001, p 28). “There are no necessities but
everywhere possibilities and man, as the master of these possibilities, is the judge of their use”
(Febvre quoted in Barnard, 2001, p 28). Thus, though possibilism was also focussed on
human environmental relationships, it postulated a two way flow in which environment and
society mutually influenced each other.
29
Possibilism held relevance in both physical and human geography and was particularly
significant in the analyses and interpretations of regional geography but its impact was
probably strongest in the sub-fields of human geography. Work in the sub-fields of physical
geography could proceed as dimensions of science in general. The consequence was to
progressively shift human geography away from nomothetic method to softer qualitative bases
of analysis and explanation. In the process physical and human geography tended to move
further away from one another.
Though these organisational and structural difficulties were important they were not sufficient
to inhibit the progress of professional geography in the first 50 years of its existence (18701920). Significant contributions were made to scientific theory influencing cognate
disciplines in natural science and social sciences alike. From the 1920s though the systematic
sub-disciplines of physical geography (geomorphology, climatology and biogeography), on
the one hand, experienced growing competition from fields of applied natural science.
Because the applied earth sciences were exposed to world problems they prospered. Physical
geography, left with more esoteric and purely academic aspects, tended to languish (Leighly,
1955 in Barnard, 2001).
The expansion of fields of social science in economics, sociology and political science, on the
other hand, likewise threatened the growing sub-disciplines of human geography (economic,
political and population geography). The postulates of possibilism, an espoused holistic
approach and an emphasis upon the unique in regional geography were insufficient to protect
geography from predation from neighbouring disciplines and from stagnation (Barnard, 2001,
p 30). A further shift in structural underpinnings and epistemology was required.
It came precipitously in the 1950s through a profound paradigm change to positivist science
and methodology and the adoption of quantitative bases of analysis. The work of David
Harvey in his book Explanation in Geography was particularly influential (Harvey, 1969).
Indeed the introduction of quantitative analysis attained the status of an intellectual revolution.
The goal was to attain nomological method and to develop a body of verifiable theory, which
would shift geography towards the achievements of science in general. A major thrust in the
discipline became a quest for spatial theory, which led to a rapid advance of fields of human
geography took place. Many sub-disciplinary fields of human geography are particularly
conducive to the application of quantitative analysis and fields like economic and urban
geography in particular expanded rapidly. Other fields less tuned to quantitative analysis did
less well, among them in particular cultural and political geography, which tended to decline.
The sub-disciplines of physical geography already practising positivist scientific method
absorbed the paradigm shift with greater equanimity and progressed rapidly. Regional
geography, on the other hand, experienced further regression.
The adoption of quantitative skill and method unquestionably strengthened the analytical and
interpretative capacity of the discipline. It re-enforced analytical method already being
practised in physical geography and brought human geography to levels of analytical skill
equal to those attained in social science in general. It remains an entrenched and highly valued
dimension of contemporary geography but now avoids earlier excesses involving the
indiscriminate application of statistical analysis and inversions of research methodology.
Despite its power as the fundamental paradigm of scientific method, however, positivism did
not endure as a universal, unifying structure in geography. Its rapid and enthusiastic adoption
in the discipline had ignored fundamental tensions between sub-disciplines of physical and
30
human geography. While the environmental sciences of physical geography were admirably
structured to accommodate positivist methodology many human relations at the base of human
geographical concerns are not. They require alternate frameworks of analysis and
interpretation. Moreover the reductionist tendency inherent in the promotion of spatial theory
as an overarching objective proved to be constraining and served to exclude many fields of
research and concern in human geography. In any event a significant body of critics claimed
that spatial theory was merely “a collection of two dimensional patterns which described earth
surface phenomena but did not really explain them” (Barnard, 2001, p 42).
Increasingly dissatisfaction with superficial explanation and interpretation based on
observation and a need for deeper structural understanding of the forces and factors that
underpinned social patterns called for alternative modes of explanation. In this way human
geography drew closer to core social sciences then experiencing similar doubts over positivist
methodologies. An awareness grew that universal geographical theory was not attainable.
Quoting Slater, Barnard notes “that by the middle of the 1970s the verdict was that positivist
geography displayed structural weaknesses, was incomplete, outmoded and inadequate and
should be superseded” (Slater 1975 in Barnard, 2001, p 42). This verdict, it might be added
though, is probably more applicable in the case of human geography than it is in physical
geography. In sub-disciplines of physical geography scientific method remains entrenched as
the most important basis of learning and research. It must be noted also that, despite severe
criticisms directed at positivist geography, the methodology remains entrenched in the
discipline as a whole.
The outcome though was that by the mid 1970s geography as a discipline lacked an
overarching structure. Barnard (2001, p 43) maintains that “its structure became increasingly
pluralistic with different and contending traditions diverging from each other”. The divide
between physical and human geography became greater and regrettably regional geography no
longer provided a vehicle for interaction and integration.
Dissatisfaction among human geographers with positivist science no doubt stemmed in part
from the social unrest strongly evident in European and American societies in the 1960s. A
need existed for deeper understanding and explanation of contemporary society and its
underpinning processes. Not surprisingly fields such as behavioural geography, social
geography and humanistic geography became significant. Analysis in human geography was
progressively shifted towards qualitative methods. A more powerful shift, however, took
place as structuralism, and in some instances Marxist structuralism, assumed importance as a
leading paradigm of analysis as it was doing in social science in general. Much existing
human geography was transposed into a structuralist mode and new research, seeking to
determine the geographical outcomes of capitalism, grew a-pace. Though espoused by some
of the leading geographers, Marxist structuralism never attained the strength it did in
Sociology. At no period in the history of geography, however, had debate been more active
and strident.
Despite its explanatory power, structuralism too was progressively questioned as a universal
source of theoretical insight in human geography. By the late 1980s the application of rigid
structuralist theory had lost some of its momentum as concern for the role of the individual in
human relations arose. The work of the leading sociologist Anthony Giddens was largely
instrumental in shifting thought at that point. Empirical research moreover was rediscovered
and a new generation of structuralists sought to explain events not so much in terms of
economic imperatives, as in terms of unequal power relations (Barnard, 2001, p 55).
31
At the turn of the century Barnard lists five, often overlapping, themes practised by
contemporary structuralist geographers:
1. An interdisciplinary critical social theory shared with sociologists, economists and
historians which extends the original Marxists structures to include time and space, the
latter the specific contribution of geographers;
2. Locality studies demonstrating the interaction between global structures and local
conditions at a particular place. These interpretations show how world wide trends are
modified locally and modified differently in different places.
3. Local social histories which bring into focus the struggle between the ‘haves’ and the
‘have nots’ at a micro scale. Often these vignettes are so impressionistic and spaceless that
they hardly qualify as geography, but in South Africa of the 1980’s they provided a vehicle
where by Marxist science could slip into apartheid geography (Rogerson and Beavon,
1988);
4. A reinvigorated political geography refracted into local, national and international scales,
fascinated by the tension between form and process and hostile to that prime instrument of
capitalism, the nation state (PJ Taylor 1993);
5. A new cultural geography interpreting the contests between different cultural identities,
meanings, representations and discourses as struggles for power at a particular place.
The structuralist framework of analysis and interpretation unquestionably provided powerful
and deeper insight in understanding the forces, which underpin geographical outcomes of the
workings of society. It remained rooted, however, in a mode of interpretation focused on a
search for geographical regularities and a quest for explanation by way of universal theory.
The perceived inadequacies of positivist spatial science were being repeated. In the view of
Cloke et al. (1991, p17) “the evident failure of spatial science to take seriously the complexity
of human beings as creative individuals led to a growing oppositional critique founded in more
strictly humanist principles”. Humanistic geography, in which the objective is to bring human
beings in all their complexity to the centre stage of human geography (Cloke et al., 1991 (p
58) became important as an alternative approach. The seminal work of Anthony Giddens on
structuration theory, focused on the significance of human agency in the dual relationship of
structure and agency in society, was of particular importance at that time (see for example
Giddens, 1984).
Growing disenchantment with the outcomes of analyses and interpretations conducted in the
contexts of macro universal theory directed at a search for geographical regularity led also to
the exploration of other approaches to analysis. These include neo-realism and critical
rationalism (Barnard, 2001, pp 75-80). The outcome, too, has been a growing response to
post-modern thought. Martin (1994) describes the idea as follows: “modernism rests on the
belief that through the application of science and reason the world can be understandable and
controllable, that beneath the seeming chaos and vagaries of social and economic life there are
detectable universal tendencies and commonalties. The role of social science is to uncover
this underlying, external reality; in this way the workings of society and the economy can be
rationalised and managed. Post-modernism contests these assumptions and ambitions. Instead
we are urged to see the world as a plurality of heterogeneous spaces and temporalities, of
differences and contingencies rather than similarities and necessities: complexity,
indeterminacy, contextuality and uncertainty are the new watchwords. Given its antisensualist worldview post modernist epistemology involves the rejection of totalising
categories, grand theories, meta-narratives and rational explanation in favour of context-rich
micro-narratives, local knowledge and particular explanations. This in turn means abandoning
the modernist canon that objective truth is in principle attainable; rather, for post-modernists
there is no singular or absolute truth, but multiple truths and stories. The task of explanation
32
therefore becomes one of discourse analysis and deconstruction, of revealing the discursive
structures, ideological beliefs and textual strategies that we use, consciously or unconsciously,
to establish the content and persuasiveness of our knowledge claims.” (Martin, 1994, p 37).
The outcome is that contemporary human geography is characterised by strong diversity,
pluralism and an absence of an overarching unity in approach. A challenging set of
intellectual circumstances! Those circumstances have become challenging also to the
conventional organisational structure of the discipline where fragmentation and diffusion of
established sub-disciplines has taken place and a very wide-ranging set of topics and contexts
of study has emerged. Though geographical theory remains the basis of analysis and
interpretation in human geography it is no longer pursued in a universalist sense. Analyses are
today pursued in the context of appropriate theory.
Though human geography lacks an overarching theoretical unity and is pluralistic and diverse
in organisation and structure, its present day form offers many positive characteristics. These
include:
• The achievement of stimulating diversity which has permitted practice to shift away from
the constraints and naivete of totalising theory. Always remembering though that “we still
need theories that endeavour to conceptualise, describe and interpret macro socioeconomic process, particularly those that are central to the evolving trajectory of capitalist
development. Without such macro theories we lose sense of the systematic features and
relations that structure the contemporary space economy, and how different social groups
and communities relate to and are affected by the wider system”. (Martin p 47 in Gregory
et al., 1994).
• Flexibility in the employment of theory despite the introduction of a degree of relativism
in conventional theory.
• Challenges to human geography to critically examine the meaning of geographical realities
and in particular to correct over generalisation that arises from universalistic theory.
• The sharpening of awareness of particular social contexts of events and circumstances at
the micro scale.
• The forcing of awareness of different scales of geographical reality and the need to
incorporate the experience of individuals.
• The encouragement of critical theoretical thought and debate.
The theoretical and empirical turmoil at the cutting edge of human geography is a close
parallel to the experience of social science in general. Disturbingly though it has served to
deepen the separation of human and physical geography.
Recognition of the academic and strategic benefits to be drawn from a continuing association,
however, has insured that the two primary fields of the discipline continue to coexist in most
but not necessarily all contemporary departments of geography and in the school syllabus.
Geography on the European continent though tends to be organisationally split into separate
physical and human geography departments. This debate surfaces from time to time in South
African geography.
The early organisation of physical geography into distinctive sub-disciplines – in particular
geomorphology, climatology-meteorology and biogeography has remained largely intact and
learning and research in these sub-fields continues to be undertaken within the structures of
positivist science.
33
The growth of more specialised contexts in the contemporary period is reflected in a degree of
organisational fragmentation. Society in general was experiencing the impact of a rising
environmental movement emerging from an increasing awareness of environmental
degradation. Given that the clarion-call of geography is universally recognised to be a concern
with the analysis of the interrelationships between human beings and the environment, it might
have been expected that the discipline would be in the van of the environmental movement. It
was not! Geography in general was poorly prepared. Barnard (2001, p 73) for example
maintains that both positivist and structuralist geography were a spatial rather than an
environmental science while the humanists shrank away from the “bio-egalitarianism of deep
ecology”. Though displaying a deeper scientific understanding the rigid organisation of the
top disciplines of physical geography, on the other hand, discouraged interdisciplinary work
necessary in the environmental science.
Circumstances have changed. Though slow to respond initially, physical geographers of all
persuasions have increasingly appreciated that their scientific understanding of environmental
processes, in several significant spheres, are qualities valuable in the activities of
environmental evaluation. Coupled to a command of analytical skills and their training in
lateral thinking as geographers, those qualities become doubly significant.
Human geographers for a number of reasons have been far slower in penetrating this new
field. The fact that environmental evaluation has tended to be focused upon issues associated
with the natural environment and that natural scientists have customarily been consulted on
such issues, has tended to discourage the participation of human geographers. This despite the
fact that many problems in environmental evaluation arise from underlying social forces, an
understanding of which is within the purview of human geography. Moreover the study of
such forces has until recently been quite limited in environmental evaluation and this has
served to further discourage participation. That situation is now rapidly changing and the
interest of human geographers is rising in response. The growing field of social environmental
impact assessment too is proving to be a strong attraction.
Environmental evaluation has two primary foci:
(i)
(ii)
Environmental Science – a broadly based, multidisciplinary scientific activity directed
toward the study and understanding of environmental interrelationships both vertical
(i.e. within particular environmental dimensions) and lateral (i.e. between
environmental dimensions). It is a science that includes the study of interrelationships
that arise from the existence of human beings as a dimension of the environment. The
study of interrelationships between human beings and between human beings and the
dimensions of natural environment are thus major concerns.
Environmental Problems. These are identified through analysis of interrelationships
studied in environmental science that call for the application of remedial measures
through environmental management.
Environmental problems are universally
problems that arise from the interaction of humans with the environment or the impact
of environmental occurrences upon human beings and their activities.
As environmental protection and conservation have become increasingly underpinned by
legislation globally, the activities of environmental evaluation and management have assumed
greater and greater importance. The practice of environmental management moreover has
demanded an increasing level of input in the training of environmental managers. By
extension increasing pressure is being exerted upon disciplines rooted in environmental
science to provide such training. Geography has become one of these. The discipline provides
a set of useful environmental sciences and its structures emphasise training in lateral thought
34
and integrative methodologies. It is thus a particularly useful and comfortable base upon
which to develop training in environmental management and it is not surprising that this field
has become a common element in the curriculum of university geography.
It has also been one of the dimensions of learning that have shifted education in geography
toward vocational objectives. There are powerful advantages to be drawn from these
developments – they are attractive to students, the discipline has a potential to acquire
additional status in society, entrepreneurial opportunities arise with employment creation
potentials and there is a substantial potential for the growth of consultancy activities.
Environmental science and environmental management have become increasingly attractive to
both physical and human geographers and a growing opportunity for joint, interdisciplinary
work in both teaching and research exists. In important ways these developments seem to
offer an opportunity for geography to acquire an overarching unity which it has lacked from
the late 1980s. But Geography is more than environmental management and great care must
be taken not to discard valuable dimensions of the discipline which do not naturally fall within
the purview of the applied field. This is a matter which will be explored in greater detail in
handling the current structures and organisation of South African geography later in this
report.
A further major shift in geographical education has been the development of analytical skills
which have enabled the discipline to evolve from one which was grounded in descriptive and
ideographic practice to one that is now deeply analytical and interpretative. The process has
been associated with the development of a range of quantitative and qualitative skills some
derived from natural science and social sciences and adapted to geographical analyses. Others
have developed from a very distinctive geographical base. The shift in the skills base was
initiated in the so-called quantitative revolution of the late 1950s and 1960s and subsequently
expanded as new bases of analysis developed. In the most recent period the emergence of
Geographical Information Systems, (GIS) both as a method in cartographic work and as an
analytical tool, is having a profound impact upon geographical research. Methodologies
associated with post-modern research too are now having an impact, perhaps less powerfully
so. An analysis of the skills dimension of the contemporary discipline will also be taken up in
a later section of the report.
35
Part 3
South African Geography
•
General Development
The unstructured practice of geography is strongly evident in the rich South African colonial
Africana literature which details the topographical, bio-geographical and anthropological
characteristics of the country and its society over a period of over 250 years. Organised
geographical learning emerges relatively early – Barnard, (2001, p 18), for example, marks
1839 as the year in which it was introduced as a subject in primary schools in the Cape
Colony. In 1916 it was recognised as a university entrance subject by the University of the
Cape of Good Hope then the body in control of the matriculation qualification in South Africa.
Motivation for the growth of professional geography was rooted in that development as the
demand for qualified schoolteachers increased. The flow of teachers from the United
Kingdom, then the main source of qualified teachers, had been interrupted by the
contingencies of the First World War. Few new recruits were available within South Africa
itself.
Table 3.1: Founding of the Departments of Geography in South Africa
Departments
Founded
First Incumbent
Historically Advantaged Departments
Witwatersrand
1917
J Huthcheon, J Wellington
Free State
1919
W von Bonde
Stellenbosch
1920
P Serton
Pretoria
1920
E Gamble, F E Plummer
Natal Pietermaritzburg
1921
R V Sayce, M Jehu
Potchefstroom
1934
J van der Merwe
Cape Town
1936
W J Talbot
Rhodes
1937
J V L Rennie
Natal Durban
1949
T J D Fair
Port Elizabeth
1965
Coetzee
Rand Afrikaans
1967
N Scheepers
UNISA
1946
J H Moolman
Historically Disadvantaged Departments
Fort Hare
1945
T J D Fair
North
1960
M J Louw
Durban-Westville
1961
E Stander
Western Cape
1961
J A van Zyl
Zululand
1961
T Swart
Transkei
1976
C Lewis
North West
1980
Venda
1984
Vista
1982/83
G Sparrow
J H Reynhardt
The demand for schoolteachers was to remain the main-spring of university geographical
education until very recent times. Indeed a majority of university geography graduates entered
the teaching profession until the mid 1990s. In its early years the emerging discipline was
36
encouraged by support it received from academics in cognate disciplines and in particular
geology, botany and zoology.
Relations between these disciplines have remained
constructive.
The first university lecturer in geography, James Hutcheon, (Table 3.1 & Fig 3.1) was
appointed to a position in the then South African School of Mines and Technology (later the
University of the Witwatersrand, Wits) in 1917. He was succeeded by Professor John
Wellington. In 1919 the University College of the Orange Free State appointed Mr W van
Bonde to its first chair in geography and Professor Petrus Serton became Professor of
Geography at the University of Stellenbosch in 1920. In the same year Mr E Gamble was
appointed in the University College of the Transvaal, Pretoria, soon to be succeeded by
Professor F E Plummer. Mr R V Sayce was appointed in the University College of Natal
Figure 3.1:
Founding Years, Departments of Geography,
South African Universities
1990
HADs
1980
Founding Year
1970
1960
1950
1940
1930
1920
1910
W
i tw
at
er
sr
an
d
Fr
ee
St
St
at
e
el
le
nb
os
ch
N
at
al
Pr
Pi
e
to
et
ria
er
m
ar
i
t
zb
Po
ur
tc
g
he
fs
tr o
om
C
ap
e
To
w
n
R
ho
de
N
at
s
al
D
u
r
Po
ba
rt
n
E
l
i
z
R
a
an
be
d
th
A
fri
ka
an
s
U
N
IS
A
1900
1990
HDDs
1980
1970
1960
1950
1940
1930
1920
1910
Vi
st
a
Ve
nd
a
th
W
es
t
i
or
N
Tr
an
sk
e
nd
Zu
lu
la
N
or
th
ba
nW
es
tv
i ll
e
W
es
te
rn
C
ap
e
ur
D
H
ar
e
1900
Fo
rt
Founding Year
in Pietermaritzburg in 1920
but was soon succeeded by
Professor Maurice Jehu.
More than ten years were to
elapse
before
further
expansion of professional
geography
took
place.
Professor J S van der Merwe
was appointed in the
University
College
of
Potchefstroom in 1934,
Professor William Talbot in
the University of Cape Town
in 1936 and Professor John
Rennie in Rhodes University
in 1937. It was only in 1945
at the conclusion of the
Second World War that an
appointment was made in
the University College of
Fort Hare - for the first time
providing for professional
geographical training for
Black students. In 1949 and
responding
to
student
demand, the University
College of Natal expanded
its geography department to
Durban.
Geographical education to that time was directed essentially at White students who would
subsequently become teachers in White primary and senior schools. The early departments
were small affairs with no more than two academics geared to cover the entire education
programme in undergraduate and postgraduate years. They grew painfully slowly (Table 3.2
& Fig 3.2).
By 1950 the staff complement in four departments remained at two and in four it stood at 3
positions. Twenty years later, in 1970, only a small incremental growth had taken place and
most departments then had four members of staff. Two were still working on establishments
37
of two or three members. The staff at UNISA had climbed to 8 and at Stellenbosch to 7
members.
Table 3.2:
Size of Academic Staff Establishments in Historically Advantaged (HAD)
and Disadvantaged Departments (HDD), 1938 - 2000
Number of Academic Staff per Department
Year
1
2
4
4
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Total
14
HADs
1938
8
1950
4
4
8
1960
1
6
2
1970
1
1
5
9
1
1
1980
3
3
1990
1
3
2000
5
HDDs
1
2
1
1
4
5
1970
2
1
1
1980
1
1
1
1990
1
2
6
2
7
8
1
1
8
9
10
1
11
12
1
10
1
11
13
14
No
4
1
2
4
1
1
2000
1
3
1
3
10
2
2
2
4
1
8
1
1
DISTANCE EDUCATION
UNISA
2000
Vista
6
2000
Source: University Calendars and Field Survey Data.
Data not available for all departments prior to 2000. Data for six branch departments of Vista in 1998.
1
A major shift took place in the 1980s and 1990s when the staff complement rose to 6 or 7 in
most departments. Staff totals at UNISA rose to 14 and numbers at Cape Town and
Witwatersrand rose to 11.
Total Number of Academic Staff per
Department
Figure
ure 3.2: Size of Academic Staff: Departments of Geography, 1938 - 2002
12
11
10
10
8
9
8
10
8
8
HAD
HDD
6
UNISA
4
VISTA
2
0
1938
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
38
2000
Staff complements in
South African departments never reached
levels attained by their
peers in the metropolitan
countries (in the UK,
USA and Australia in
particular) with which
we
are
compared.
Though this is an
unfortunate state of
affairs it is understandable in the context
of university financing and development in South Africa. It does, however, impose significant
constraint on the potential of South African departments and their academic personnel.
The situation in the Historically Disadvantaged departments (HDDs) since their foundation
has been no better. Their staff complements ranged from three to five members of staff until
very recently.
Professional stimulus for the early departments was provided by the establishment of the
South African Geographical Society in 1917 under the leadership of James Hutcheon at Wits.
It was an institution broadly framed on the structures of the Royal Geographical Society and
the Scottish Geographical Society in Britain and received substantial support not only from
academics but also from prominent personalities in society. The Governor General, Viscount
Buxton, accepted he office of Patron. Dr A W Rogers, Director of the Geological Survey, was
the first President. The Vice-Presidents of the Society included representatives from the
intellectual and industrial leadership in the Transvaal and beyond and the councillors were
drawn from school inspectors, teachers, publicity agencies and the professional sciences. The
professors from the then School of Mines gave strong support (Jackson, 1978).
The objectives of the Society were directed towards the promotion of geographical education,
the interests of geography and the promotion of popular interest in the discipline. The
publication of the South African Geographical Journal encouraged research in the discipline
and created a crucial outlet for early professional geographers in the country. Though initially
intended to promote geographical education it was not long before the Journal became mainly
devoted to the publication of specialised scientific work and it progressively attained
international recognition. Growth in the departments of geography was incremental but
remained very slow into the mid century. By the mid 1950s for example staff in departments
had grown to an average of only 3 academics (Table 3.2).
The development of South African geography along with all other academic disciplines at our
universities was taken up in political shifts in the country after 1948 with powerful thrusts to
advance Afrikaner academic influence and the imposition of an apartheid educational
framework. Under the 1959 Extension of Universities Act, ethnically based and segregated
universities and institutions were created for the non-White population groups (Table 3.1). A
geography department was established at the University of the North in 1960, the University
of Zululand in 1961, the University of the Transkei in 1976, the University of North West in
1980 and the University of Venda in 1984. These institutions were designed specifically to
provide for the education of Black university students. To provide for the education of Indian
and Coloured students, on the other hand, the University of Durban-Westville and the
University of the Western Cape were respectively established in 1961. Departments in these
historically Black universities were initially staffed principally by Afrikaans speaking
academics and relations between them and their colleagues in departments in established
English language universities were not without their tensions. In the same time period
departments were established in the University of Port Elizabeth (1965) and Rand Afrikaans
University (1967). These universities had been established in response to strong political
pressure and powerful Afrikaans underpinnings. They too were initially also staffed
essentially by Afrikaans speaking academics.
The Society for Geography, centred in the University of Stellenbosch, was founded in 1957
with objectives very similar to those of the South African Geographical Society but with a
particular intention to provide for the special needs and greater participation of schoolteachers
of geography. Teachers, it was maintained, often found that the specialist scientific nature of
39
papers in The South African Geographical Journal (SAGJ) were unhelpful to their needs. A
new journal, The South African Geographer published by the new Society, was thus a medium
that expanded the sphere of professional geographical activity. It, like the SAGJ was bilingual
and served both an English and Afrikaans speaking membership.
Established at a time of powerful socio-political division in South Africa the new
Geographical Society driven mainly by Afrikaans academics appeared to emphasise the
division and carried a potential of becoming a source of academic discord. An indication of
that division arose in 1964 when members of the South African Geographical Society
expressed disapproval over the exclusion, by the Society for Geography, of non-White
participants in a conference to be held at the University of Stellenbosch. Several South
African Geographical Society members boycotted the conference and the event threatened to
disrupt the cordial relations which had been developed between the two societies.
The events of 1964 stand in contrast to actions taken by the Council of the South African
Geographical Society in 1963. At that time an application was being made to the National
Department of Education for a grant to support the publication of The South African
Geographical Journal. A grant was approved by the Department but on condition that White
and Black persons might not attend meetings together. The Council took a courageous
decision not to accept the grant under such conditions and the grant was rejected. Jackson
(1978, p 11) states that “it is interesting to note that the grant was nevertheless awarded and
has been ever since”.
Though the evident political division was recognised, academic relations between English and
Afrikaans geographers nonetheless remained cordial. The political tensions in society were
clearly insufficient to undermine the relationships established through overarching academic
interests and a shared epistemology, then rooted in positivist science. Though prevailing ideas
on value free research were naïve, these conditions were sufficient to preserve the unity of the
discipline. The tensions were none the less very real but essentially confined to the experience
of the human geographers. Physical geographers tended to have their feet firmly planted in
the scientific mode of learning and were not academically troubled by differences in sociopolitical allegiances.
Tension surfaced again in 1979 in the context of another Geographical Conference, this time
sponsored by the South African Geographical Society in Cape Town. By this time structural
thought and Marxist structuralism had become firmly rooted in international human
geographical research. It had not, however, penetrated South African geographical thought to
any degree. To expose South African geographers to this important theoretical framework
directly, the South African Geographical Society invited Professor Edward Soja, a prominent
Marxist geography scholar from the University of California at Los Angeles, to be its guest at
the conference. He was to run a workshop on Marxist theory and method at the event.
Though the workshop succeeded very well in its academic task, the stance adopted by the
visitor to the local political context drew an embarrassing, reactionary response from a
significant number of conservative participants in the conference. Again, however, the
reaction was insufficient to disrupt the ongoing course of the discipline.
One is writing here of course about relations that existed between the two White dominant
groups in society – the conservative and progressive groups. Beyond those relations the nonWhite population groups experienced exclusion either by careless omission or intent and there
can be little doubt that the impact of apartheid on the structuring of participation of the
discipline in South Africa was severe. This fact stands to the shame of the discipline as a
40
whole! It separated our student bodies and inhibited their academic interaction and
development. Interaction between academics in historically White universities and historically
Black universities was severely limited. Participation in activities organised by the
professional societies was limited by legal regulation and by perceived constraints. The
Society for Geography for example excluded non-White participation until the 1970s but it did
little to encourage non-White participation even then. Equally, and though the South African
Geographical Society welcomed membership and participation from all population groups, its
organisation did little to actively promote and encourage non-White participation and
membership. Attendance and participation levels at conferences organised by the Society, for
example, show that at the 1967 Jubilee Conference of the Society held in Durban only one
Black attendee was recorded and no papers were presented by non-White people. At the 1979
congress of the Society, out of a total of 65 papers none was presented by a non-White person.
Through intent or omission White geographers simply did not see their Black counterparts and
failed to encourage and incorporate them into the activities of the discipline. They simply did
not come into contact with them. The intentional and non-intentional exclusion of Black
participation in the discipline constituted a massive missed opportunity to extend geographical
influence in Black education. It probably strongly contributed to the current situation in Black
schools where geography tends to be underdeveloped and poorly represented in the
curriculum.
Circumstances changed significantly from the late 1980s when pressures from within the
South African Geographical Society gave rise to a new dynamic in professional geography.
Moreover a concerted and sincere effort was made to incorporate all geographers into the
activities of the discipline. It was in the spirit that in the early 1990s negotiations began
between geographers of many persuasion to pave the way for constituting the Society for
South African Geographers. The new society was established on a sound footing benefiting
from co-operation between and compromise of the two existing societies and a decidedly more
representative membership and leadership has been emerging with extremely positive effect.
The political transformation of South African society in general from 1990, too, has fuelled
that dynamic and Black participation is now significant. At the most recent conference of the
Society of South African Geographers in 2000, for example, 21% of the papers presented were
presented by Black academics.
Youth is often the leader in shifting attitudes. This is quite definitely the case in professional
geography in South Africa where the geography student body has played an active and
honourable role in fuelling the new dynamic in the contemporary society. South African
geography students have since 1969 held an annual professional conference. These
conferences commonly are attended by a body of some 200 graduate and undergraduate
students from all South African universities. They have served not only to promote the
interests of the discipline but also provide for its professional presentation and particular
encouragement has been given to the attendance of Black students. At the latest conference in
Johannesburg in 2000, for example, of the total number of attendees no less than 71% were
Black and 72% of the papers presented to the conference were from Black student authors.
This indeed is transformation of the highest order and our student bodies are to be
congratulated on their achievement.
Their work is an object lesson for the professional academic geographers: at the 2001
conference of the professional Society, 79 percent of the presenters were White and 21 percent
Black. This is probably a reflection of the degree to which transformation has taken place in
departments of the Historically Advantaged Departments (HADs) for most presenters at the
professional conference were drawn from those departments.
41
The South African Geographical Society and the Society for Geography appealed largely to
the same universe of professional geographers in South Africa. Though their purposes and
objective were academically sound, the scale of the South African academic system is simply
too small to support two professional societies. Moreover, with wide consultation and
determined intent to maintain the professional ethos of these societies and ensure opportunity
for an all-inclusive society to evolve in a changing socio-political South African environment,
in 1994 a decision to merge the societies was taken. The new Society operates under the title
of The Society of South African Geographers. It protects and promotes the interests of the
discipline and its adherents and continues to publish The South African Geographical Journal
which retains high international and national status.
Internationally South African geography has for long associated itself with the work of the
International Geographical Union (IGU), one of several scientific unions established under the
aegis of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU). The first South African
geographer to attend a meeting of the IGU, held in Cambridge in 1929, was Dr K.H. Barnard.
South Africa, through the agency of the National Research Foundation (NRF), is a national
member of the IGU. Several South African geographers serve as Members or Corresponding
Members of Research Commissions and Working Groups of the IGU and attendance at the
conferences staged by the Union is regular and significant. At present South Africa has the
honour, through Professor L Magi (Zululand), of occupying a Vice Presidency in the Council
of the IGU.
Recent years has witnessed increasing liaison between ICSU, the NRF, the South African
National Committee (SANC) and the Society of South African Geographers (SSAG).
Constitutionally the chair of SANC serves as an ex-officio member of the SSAG Council and,
through the good offices of the NRF, the controlling body of SANC, the Society is invited to
nominate to serve for a four year term of office and the president of the Society is an exofficio member of SANC. This positive development has addressed a longstanding concern for
recognition of wider geographic community. Key role players in achieving this included
leading geographers who held official positions and facilitated the movement of events in this
direction. The reward of such dedication and effort is now being reaped. For example, since
1994, the South African National Report presented at the Congress has been well received and
its preparation the result of co-operative input from various several geographers. Moreover,
the SANC annual reports submitted by the chair of SANC and distributed to all university
departments, has received complementary comment and favourable national and international
recognition.
At the Quadrennial Congress held in The Hague, The Netherlands, in 1996, over 40 South
African geographers attended. It was at this event that South African geographers
courageously accepted the invitation from the IGU Executive to host the inter-congress
regional meeting with a focus on Africa after the IGU 2000 Congress in Seoul, Korea.
Considerable discussion had taken place between the South African IGU National Committee
and the Executive for a few years and the general feeling was that the time was now right to
present such an international event.
The IGU held a highly successful regional conference of the Union, in Durban, in August
2002 under the chairmanship of Professor L Magi. This was the first meeting of the Union in
Africa and was attended by some 600 delegates. In a moving ceremony during the opening
event, former President Nelson Mandela was presented with the Union’s prestigious Planet
and Humanity Award. As might be expected the South African contribution was significant
42
and our researchers presented nearly 26% of the total number of papers listed in the
programme. Most Commissions and Working Groups of the Union held productive meetings
in various centres in the country.
South African geographers have in addition over the years attended meetings of other
international bodies in particular those of the Institute of British Geographers (IBG) in the
United Kingdom and The Association of American Geographers (AAG) in the United States.
While never excluded from participating in the work of these institutions South Africans did
experience a degree of exclusion during the apartheid years. ICSU as the guarantor of the free
international interchange of scientists ensured that South African representation was
maintained at international meetings. Individual geographers experienced exclusion from
interacting with colleagues on an international level and some difficult situations had to be
negotiated. Some threats to exclude South African research papers from being published in
international journals were voiced but never seriously came to fruition.
•
Formal Structures and Organisation of South African Geography
The Departments of Geography
Each of the 21 universities (Fig. 2.1) in South Africa supports a department of Geography. In
addition six departments have established departmental branches in centres away from their
main campus. Table 1.3 indicates the dates of establishment of departments grouped by
historically advantaged and historically disadvantaged departments. The distinction of being
the earliest department of geography in a South African university falls to the department at
the University of the Wiwatersrand, which was established in 1917. A department was
established in the University of the Orange Free State in 1919. The universities of
Stellenbosch, Pretoria and Natal, Pietermaritzburg established their departments in 1920 or
very soon thereafter.
These were followed some 12 years later with the establishment of departments at
Potchefstroom, Cape Town and Rhodes in the middle 1930s. The first department established
specifically to serve black students, was founded in 1945 in the then University College of
Fort Hare. Responding to growth demands in Natal, the University of Natal established a
branch department at its campus in Durban in 1949. In later years that branch department, in
the Non-White Division of the Durban Campus, offered classes in geography to non-white
students in addition to those offered to white students.
Political pressures calling for the establishment of Afrikaans orientated universities in Port
Elizabeth, on the one hand, and on the Witwatersrand, on the other, gave rise in the 1960s to
the establishment of departments at the University of Port Elizabeth in 1965 and Rand
Afrikaans University (Johannesburg) in 1967.
Geography was initially regarded as an academic discipline to be taken as a component of a
general academic education, and, through courses in economic geography, as a service
discipline providing insights in the training of economists and those entering business careers.
As has been noted elsewhere, demand for schoolteachers of geography, however, was the
major driving force that underpinned the establishment of these departments. Only later did
the discipline become significant as a basis upon which training in applied fields would be
undertaken.
Apart from Fort Hare, departments in the historically disadvantaged universities have their
origins in the structuring of apartheid higher education propagated under the provisions of the
43
Extension of Universities Act of 1959. The first of these departments was established at the
University of the North in 1960 and the latest at the University of Venda in 1984. The
departments catering for Coloured and Indian students are the Universities of the Western
Cape and Durban-Westville respectively, were established in 1961. In the apartheid era, nonwhite students were required to obtain special permits to undertake studies at so-called white
universities. All departments are now open to all students.
The University of South Africa, which had previously served as a degree examining body for
departments in constituent university colleges which included Rhodes, Orange Free State,
Potchefstroom and Natal until 1950, established its own department in 1946. It serves the
needs of distance learning. Vista University was established in 1982 under apartheid
legislation to serve the particular needs of black students. This university established branch
departments at campuses in Mamelodi (Pretoria), Soweto (Johannesburg), Sebokeng (Vaal
Triangle), Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein and Welkom. Other departmental branches include
the University of Transkei branch at Butterworth, the University of the North branch at QwaQwa, and Umlazi a branch of the University of Zululand in Durban. It also has a distance
education component.
Faculty Associations
The great majority of departments of geography are administered by faculties of science.
Fifteen of the 21 departments are administered in faculties of science, three in faculties of arts
and two are located in both the faculties of arts and science. A preference to be situated in
faculties of science rests in historical linkages geography enjoyed with scientific disciplines at
the time of its founding as a tertiary discipline of leaning in South Africa, on the one hand.
The early recognition of the major sub-fields of physical geography as environmental
biophysical sciences contributed to that circumstance.
That the discipline is dependent upon laboratory and studio work in the conduct of applied
practical classes gives rise to a need for technical equipment and instrumentation in some
cases. Support for required space infrastructure and equipment is naturally more readily
attained in faculties of science. Funding benefits will flow from the linkage and explain the
strength of association.
It is important to note, however, that although the administrative linkage with science is
strong, departments of geography nonetheless retain strong linkages with faculties of
Humanities and Social Science. The concept of geography as a ‘bridging science’ is supported
by the strength of these associations. Departmental representatives sit on the boards of these
faculties and regard themselves as belonging to both.
While the majority of departments are administered by science faculties the distribution of
students provides a different pattern. Though it was possible to collect detailed data in this
respect from only eight of the departments surveyed in the field study, evidence so collected
suggests that the majority of departments have a more than 50% share of their students located
in faculties of arts or humanities. Of the eight departments responding, two have more than
50% of their undergraduate students in Science, one department has a 50/50 distribution and
five departments have more than 50% of their undergraduate students in the arts or humanities
faculties.
This distribution is somewhat more balanced in the case of graduate students where three
departments have a 50/50 distribution, two have more than 50% of their students in science
and three departments have more than 50% of their students in arts or humanities faculties.
44
University restructuring in more recent years has meant that some departments now form part
of a ‘school of study’. The cases of the departments in The University of Natal, Durban,
Venda and Durban-Westville are particularly interesting in this respect. In Natal, Durban,
geography is now located in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences and is regarded
simply as a subject field in that school. A distinct department of geography, so named, no
longer exists and the right to use the rubric, Geography, in course titles has been the subject of
substantial negotiation. In Venda the department of geography exists in the School of
Environmental Sciences as a distinct and autonomous entity. In that university, however,
faculties have been eliminated and the School is the source of administration. An ecological
association of disciplines forms the basis of the school in Venda. In the University of DurbanWestville, Geography is again regarded purely as one subject area among several in the School
of Life and Environmental Sciences. A distinctive department no longer exists and again the
retention of the title of Geography has been the subject of substantial negotiation. In the view
of the survey team, if university restructuring is to lead to this type of relationship in the
interests of administrative economies, questions on the importance and maintenance of
disciplinary identity arise and need to be urgently addressed.
Staffing Considerations
•
The Staff Complement
Data gathered in the field survey indicate that the mean staff complement of departments of
Geography in South Africa is 8 academics. Interestingly enough, there is no difference
between the historically advantaged and the historically disadvantaged universities in this
respect.
A degree of variation exists, however. The largest departments, those at the Universities of
the Witwatersrand, Cape Town and Pretoria, reach a size of 12 or 13 academics. The
departments with the smallest staff complements such as those in the universities Free State,
Potchefstroom, Rand Afrikaans, Rhodes, Fort Hare, and Port Elizabeth have 5 members of
staff.
•
Departmental Staff Hierarchies
Table 3.3:
Staff Hierarchies at Historically Advantaged and Disadvantaged
Departments, 2000 (staff in place only)
HADs
Cape Town
Free State
Natal, Durban
Natal, Pietermaritzburg
Port Elizabeth
Potchefstroom
Pretoria
Rand Afrikaans
Rhodes
Stellenbosch
Witwatersrand
Total
Percentages
Prof
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
2
11
13
Ass Prof
3
2
3
2
1
2
1
1
15
17
Sen Lect
Lect
Jun Post
Total
2
1
1
1
1
2
4
3
1
2
2
20
23
5
2
2
4
3
2
6
1
3
4
32
37
1
1
1
1
4
8
9
11
5
8
8
5
5
14
5
5
7
13
86
100
HDDs
Fort Hare
1
-
-
3
1
5
North
-
1
3
4
2
10
45
Northwest
Transkei
Venda
Zululand
Durban-Westville
Western Cape
Total
Percentages
UNISA
Vista
Totals
Percentages
3
1
5
8
16
9
2
3
5
2
20
11
3
3
2
4
15
25
3
3
41
22
3
2
3
3
3
5
26
43
4
24
86
46
4
2
3
12
20
1
1
22
12
6
9
8
6
8
9
61
100
10
28
185
100
Source: Field Survey Data
Figure 3.3: Departmental Staff Hierarchies by
HADs, HDDs, UNISA & Vista, 2000
HADs, n=86
Lecturers
38%
Senior
Lecturers
23%
Professors
13%
HDDs, n=61
International comparisons will show that
South African departments of geography
are very modest and probably small in
size.
In the United Kingdom for
example, the average departmental staff
complement would be approximately 20
members of staff. Closer to home, even
the University of Botswana has a staff
exceeding 20 members!!
Junior Post
9%
Associate
Professors
17%
Lecturers
42%
Professors
8%
Associate
Professors
5%
Senior
Lecturers
25%
Junior Post
20%
UNISA & Vista, n=38
Junior Post
5%
The size of staff complement carries
with it an implication for the breath and
depth of the academic programmes that
might be offered in our departments of
geography. By international standards,
our departments are clearly severely
constrained.
The rank distribution of academic staff
produces a typical hierarchical structure
illustrated in Table 3.3 & Fig. 3.3.
Professors represent 9% of the total staff,
associate professors 11%, senior
lecturers 22%, lecturers 46% and junior
staff 12%. The modal rank is that of
lecturer.
Lecturers
74%
Professors
0%
Associate
Professors
5%
The staff complement in UNISA has
declined significantly in recent years (in
parallel with declining student numbers)
and now stands at 10, while the
individual geography branches of Vista
University have a complement of 5
members of staff each.
Senior
Lecturers
16%
A significant difference exists in the
distribution of rank between the historically advantaged and disadvantaged departments. In
the historically disadvantaged departments the weight of the lower ranks from senior
lectureship downwards is greater. The distribution of rank in UNISA and Vista Universities is
equally distorted and concentrated in the lower ranks. This is particularly the case at Vista
where 86% of the staff is in the lecturer category and the highest rank is that of senior lecturer.
46
Not all departments have a sitting professorship in their hierarchy. Two departments amongst
the historically advantaged departments do not and six departments amongst the disadvantaged
departments do not have a professorship in place. Neither the UNISA nor Vista departments
currently has a professor in place.
This finding, in the view of the survey team, reflects a highly unsatisfactory state of affairs,
which should be urgently addressed. The need for academic leadership exercised from the
highest ranks is of critical importance at the level of departments and in the relationship
between departments and the wider university sphere. The rank of associate professor is also
strongly absent from the hierarchy of historically disadvantaged departments. The question of
academic leadership is to be raised again in another context later.
•
Qualifications of Academic Staff
While qualifications are not necessarily an absolute guide to the quality of teaching,
differentiation by qualification is important in the sphere of teaching where students need to be
exposed to insights on the frontiers of their sub-fields of study. It is particularly significant in
research where personal experience of higher research levels is a vital requirement in research
supervision. Table 3.4 & Fig. 3.4 displays the academic qualifications of the academic staff in
departments of Geography in South Africa.
Table 3.4: Comparison of Qualifications of Staff in Historically Advantaged and
Disadvantaged Departments, 2000
HAD
HDD
UNISA
Vista
Qual
No
%
No
%
No
%
No
%
Staff
86
100
61
100
10
100
28
100
PhD
51
60
21
34
2
20
3
11
M
21
24
29
48
7
70
18
64
<M
14
16
11
18
1
10
7
25
Mean No
8
8
No Dept
11
8
1
1
Source: University Handbooks
Figure 3.4:
Qualifications of Staff:
HADs, HDDs, Unisa &
Vista, 2000
70
60
Percentage
50
PhD
40
It is evident that a
distinct difference exists
<M
in the distribution of
20
qualifications between
10
historically advantaged
0
and
disadvantaged
HAD
HDD
UNISA
VISTA
HAD
HDD
UNISA
Vista
1
2
3
4
departments.
In the
Type
historically advantaged
departments some 60%
of academic staff are in possession of a PhD degree and 24% of a Masters degree. The
M
30
47
position amongst the staff of the disadvantaged departments is that only 34% of the academic
staff have a PhD and 50% a Masters degree. These findings are a vindication of the rubric
‘disadvantaged’.
•
The Ethnic Composition of Academic Staff
The ethnic composition of the academic staff in South African departments of Geography is
demonstrated in Tables 3.5 and 3.6 & Fig. 3.5.
It is strongly evident that the ethnic distribution in historically advantage departments is
severely skewed with white members of staff dominating to the extent of 92%. Only 7% of
staff at these universities is either coloured or Indian and only 1% is black. Some change has
taken place since 2000 but indications are that it is of a marginal nature. In the historically
disadvantaged departments the proportion of black members of staff is nearly 60% and the
distribution is more balanced. White members of staff, however, still occupy a significant
proportion of the positions in these universities and the proportions of coloured and Indian
members of staff is relatively small.
Table 3.5:
Ethnic Composition of Academic Staff in Historically Advantaged and
Disadvantaged Departments, 2000
Departments
HADs
Cape Town
Free State
Natal Durban
Natal Pietermaritzburg
Port Elizabeth
Potchefstroom
Pretoria
Rand Afrikaans
Rhodes
Stellenbosch
Witwatersrand
Total HADs
HDDs
Fort Hare
North
North West
Transkei
Venda
Zululand
Durban-Westville
Western Cape
Total HDDs
UNISA
Vista
Grand Total
Source: Field Survey Data
African
White
1
11
5
8
7
3
5
12
5
5
7
11
1
79
5
6
2
7
8
4
3
1
36
2
2
42
48
Coloured
Indian
1
2
1
1
1
4
2
3
4
2
1
1
1
3
14
8
24
124
1
4
5
5
6
1
10
1
9
Total
11
5
8
8
5
5
14
5
5
7
13
86
5
10
6
9
8
6
8
9
61
10
28
185
Table 3.6:
HADs
HDDs
UNISA
Vista
Total
Summary of the Ethnic Composition of Academic Staff by Historically
Advantaged and Disadvantaged Departments
African
1
36
2
3
42
White
79
14
8
23
124
Coloured
4
5
Indian
2
6
1
10
1
9
5
8
2
10
4
4
Total
86
61
10
28
185
Percentages
1
HADs
59
HDDs
20
UNISA
11
Vista
Source: Field Survey Data
92
23
80
82
100
100
100
100
Figure 3.5: Ethnic Composition of Academic Staff: HADs, HDDs, UNISA & Vista, 2000
Coloured
5%
HADs
(n = 86)
Indian
2%
African
1%
UNISA
Indian
0%
Coloured
0%
Vista
Coloured
8%
African
20%
White
80%
White
92%
HDDs
(n = 10)
(n = 28)
(n = 61)
Coloured Indian
4%
4%
Indian
10%
African
11%
White
23%
African
59%
White
81%
It is interesting to note that at the University of Durban-Westville and the University of the
Western Cape, the universities initially established specifically for Indian and coloured
students, the proportions of Indian and coloured staff is relatively high - 50% respectively.
This represents an historical legacy in the initial staffing of these institutions.
The two distance learning universities, UNISA and Vista, are still very strongly dominated by
white members of staff - 80 % at UNISA and 82% at Vista. This is despite the fact that Vista
University was established to serve a black student population.
49
It is strongly evident that much work needs to be done to bring the departmental black
academics into the system and to balance the ethnic composition of academic staff.
The ethnic distribution of posts by rank is equally distorted. Table 3.7 & Fig. 3.6 display the
patterns. Whites remain dominant in the senior ranks of the staff with 80% of professors, 90%
of associate professors and 76% of the senior lecturers being white. At the lecturer level,
whites still dominate and occupy 60% of the positions. Progress in balancing ethnic distributions at this level is clearly being made. The proportion of black lecturers has risen to 22%.
Table 3.7:
Academic Staff by Rank and Ethnicity, 2000
Rank
% White
% African
% Indian
% Coloured
Total
Professor
80
20
0
0
100
Ass Professor
90
5
5
0
100
Sen Lecturer
76
22
0
2
100
Lecturer
60
22
7
10
100
Jun Post
50
41
9
0
100
Source: Field Survey Data
Figure 3.6: Academic Staff by Rank and Ethnicity, 2000
100%
% of Academic Staff
90%
80%
Coloureds
70%
Indian
60%
Black
50%
White
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Professors
Associate
Professors
Senior
Lecturers
Lecturers
Junior
Indians comprise
7% of the
lectureship
population and
coloureds 10%.
Interestingly, the
latter distribution is
in excess of the
proportion of
Indians and
coloureds in the
national population.
At the junior level
whites represent
50% of the academic
positions.
Conclusions reached are that the ethnic composition of the academic staff in South African
departments of Geography remains very heavily distorted in favour of the white population.
Strong development needs exist. Prospects for change in these structures, however, for the
present and immediate future remain bleak as slow progress appears to be being made in
raising the level of qualifications of black geographers.
•
Gender Relations
Gender is another source of distortion in the structuring of the staff complement of
departments of geography. Table 3.8 & Fig. 3.7 demonstrates the situation. In both
historically advantaged and disadvantaged departments there is a preponderance of male
members of staff. The average geography department in South Africa will be staffed in a ratio
of 69% male to 31% female. The gender distribution in UNISA and Vista is more favourable.
50
At UNISA a 50/50 distribution has been attained while at vista female members of staff
dominate in a ratio of 61% to 39%.
Considerable variation exists in the detail of the gender distribution across the 21 departments
in South Africa. Six departments might be described as being gender balanced, 13 are heavily
male dominated with more than 60% of the staff male and two departments are entirely male
driven.
The gender distribution considered in relation to the distribution of the hierarchy of positions
in departments is equally distorted. Males heavily dominate senior positions in the
departments of geography taken as a whole. Of the total, males hold 89% of the
professorships, 70% of the associate professorships and 88% of senior lectureships in the 21
departments. Only in the lower ranks of lecturers does a balance begin to appear with 56% of
the positions held by males. At the junior level, on the other hand, females hold 73% of the
posts.
Table 3.8:
Academic Staff by Gender by Historically Advantaged and Disadvantaged
Departments
Departments
Male No
Female No
% Male
% Female
Cape Town
8
3
75
25
Free State
4
1
80
20
Natal, Durban
3
5
38
62
Natal Pietermaritzburg
7
1
88
12
Port Elizabeth
5
0
100
0
Potchefstroom
5
0
100
0
Pretoria
9
5
64
36
Rand Afrikaans
3
2
60
40
Rhodes
3
2
60
40
Stellenbosch
6
1
86
14
Witwatersrand
6
7
46
54
Total
59
27
69
31
Fort Hare
3
2
60
40
North
6
4
60
40
North West
5
1
83
17
Transkei
6
3
67
33
Venda
5
3
63
37
Zululand
3
1
75
25
Durban-Westville
5
3
63
37
Western Cape
8
1
89
11
Total
41
19
69
31
UNISA
5
5
50
50
11
17
39
61
HADs
HDDs
Vista
Source: Field Survey Data
51
Clearly in this sphere too a great deal of work needs to be undertaken to address the distortions
in gender distributions.
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
HADs
Po
tc
he
fs
tro
P
om
N
or
at
tE
al
liz
Pi
ab
et
et
er
h
m
ar
itz
bu
St
el
rg
le
nb
os
ch
Fr
ee
St
at
C
e
ap
e
To
w
n
Pr
et
or
ia
R
ho
R
an
de
d
s
A
fri
k
W
aa
i tw
ns
at
er
sr
an
N
d
at
al
D
ur
ba
n
U
N
IS
A
Percentage
Figure 3.7: Male versus Female Academic Staff, 2000
Percentage
male = 59 & female = 27
rn
te
s
e
W
•
HDDs
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
pe
Ca
rth
o
N
t
es
W
Z
nd
la
u
l
u
i
ke
s
an
Tr
le
vi l
t
es
W
an
rb
u
D
a
nd
e
V
rth
No
r
Fo
e
ar
H
t
sta
Vi
male = 41 & female = 19
Age Structure
The age distribution of academic staff in departments of geography taken as a whole is
satisfactory and is what one might expect to meet. Age groups increase in proportion of the
total from those over 60 years (9%) to those in the 30 to 40 year age group (34%). The
52
youngest age group (20 to 30 years), as expected, comprises a modest proportion (12%) of the
total.
Age distribution by rank presents a systematic pattern with the higher ranks tending to
concentrate in older age groups and lower ranks progressively concentrated in younger age
groups (Table 3.9 & Fig. 3.8 and Table 3.10 & Fig. 3.9).
Table 3.9: Age Distribution of Academic Staff in Departments of Geography, 2000
Age Group
Number
Percentage
60 Years and over
9
5
50 to 60 Years
37
20
40 to 50 Years
53
29
30 to 40 years
63
34
20 to 30 Years
23
12
185
100
Total
Source: Field Survey Data
Figure 3.8: Age Groups of Academic Staff, 2000
70
34%
n = 185
Number of Persons
60
29%
50
20%
40
30
12%
20
5%
10
0
20 to 30 Years
30 to 40 Years
40 to 50 Years
50 to 60 Years
60 Years and
over
Age groups
In the case of Professors and Associate Professors, 75% and 61% respectively are above 50
years of age. Of the Senior Lecturers, who constitute an aspiring group of academics, a
healthy 64% are below 50 years of age and only 2% are over 60 years. Only in one university,
where the three most senior academics are all over 60 years of age, does age distribution give
cause for concern. The loss of experienced leadership at the time of their retirement may
constitute a passing problem.
53
Table 3.10: Academic Rank of Staff by Age Group in Departments of Geography, 2000
Number
Percentage
Age
Prof
A Prof
S
Lect
Lect
60+
5
2
1
50-60
7
10
40-50
4
30-40
Prof
A Prof
S
Lect
1
31
10
2
14
6
44
50
31
7
7
15
22
5
25
35
40
25
23
1
11
42
9
5
24
52
41
15
8
2
16
36
86
22
100
100
100
20-30
16
20
Total
Source: Field Survey Data
41
J
Post
100
100
Lect
Figure 3.9: Academic Ranks by Age Groups, 2000
60
Prof
Percentage
50
A Prof
40
30
20
10
0
20 to 30 Years 30 to 40 Years 40 to 50 Years 50 to 60 Years
60 years and
over
Age Group
60
S Lect
Percentage
50
Lect
J Post
40
30
20
10
0
20 to 30 Years 30 to 40 Years 40 to 50 Years 50 to 60 Years
Age Group
54
60 years and
over
J
Post
The Student Body
Data on student num*bers are grouped according to the division of historically advantaged and
disadvantaged departments (Table 3.11 & Fig. 3.10). The geography student body in South
Africa is modest in size. In 2000 the total number of students in the 21 departments surveyed
numbered 5524 students. Of that number 40% were accommodated in historically advantaged
departments, 31% in historically disadvantaged departments and a further 29% were located in
distance learning universities – UNISA and Vista universities.
Figure 3.10: Percentage of Students by HADs, HDDs, UNISA & Vista, 2000
Total Number
of Students
HAD
40.0%
n = 5524
Vista
9.8%
HDD
31.0%
UNISA
19.2%
Undergraduate student numbers totalled 4647 students. The distribution of undergraduates
between historically advantaged and disadvantaged departments is fairly balanced. Of the
total, 35% are located in the former and 32% in the latter departments. UNISA and Vista
distance learning universities account for a further 33% together.
Honours students too are fairly evenly spread between historically advantaged and
disadvantaged departments with the former accounting for 46% and the latter for 41% of these
students. Relatively small proportions of Honours students are found in UNISA and Vista.
At the level of research students, however, the distribution is skewed with the great majority of
both Masters and Doctorate students concentrated in the historically advantaged departments
(Table 3.11). Of the total of Masters and Doctorate students, 77% and 74% respectively are
concentrated in the historically advantaged departments. Both UNISA and Vista have small
numbers of postgraduate students. The proportion of students in geography who are
postgraduates (post Honours) is 16% of the total number of students. That level is high in
comparison to many other disciplines.
At the level of research students, however, the distribution is skewed with the great majority of
both Masters and Doctorate students concentrated in the historically advantaged departments
(Table 3.11 & Fig. 3.10). Of the total of Masters and Doctorate students, 77% and 74%
respectively are concentrated in the historically advantaged departments. Both UNISA and
Vista have small numbers of postgraduate students. The proportion of students in geography
55
who are postgraduates (post Honours) is 16% of the total number of students. That level is
high in comparison to many other disciplines
Table 3.11: Summary of Student Numbers by Historically Advantaged and
Disadvantaged Departments, 2000
HADS
Number of Students
% of Categories
% of HADS Students
Undergraduates
1637
35
74
Honours
177
46
8
Masters
344
77
16
Doctorates
53
74
2
Total
100
HDDs
% of HDD Students
Undergraduates
1467
32
85
Honours
147
41
9
Masters
91
21
5
Doctorates
12
17
7
1717
31
100
Total
UNISA
Undergraduates
% of UNISA Students
1040
22
98
Honours
9
2
1
Masters
9
2
1
Doctorates
7
10
1
1065
19
100
Total
Vista
% of Vista Students
Undergraduates
503
11
93
Honours
38
11
7
Masters
0
0
0
Doctorates
0
0
0
Total
541
10
100
Grand Total
5524
100
100
Undergraduates
4647
100
84
Honours
361
100
7
Masters
444
100
8
Doctorates
72
100
1
Source: Field Survey Data
Student numbers in historically advantaged departments are modest and have been so over the
past 5 years (Table 3.11 & Fig. 3.10). The largest department in the category accommodated
over 300 undergraduates and the smallest approximately 84 undergraduates. The mean size of
the advantaged departments in 2000 was 149 undergraduate students.
56
Table 3.12:
HADs
Undergraduate Student Numbers Growth Trends (Percentages) by
Historically Advantaged and Disadvantaged Departments, 1996 – 2000
(Percentages)
96/97
97/98
98/99
99/00
Comment
Cape Town
+4
-6
-17
-7
Stabilising
Free State
-24
-27
-3
+14
Stabilising
Natal, Durban
-38
+18
-13
+1
Stabilising
Natal, Pietermaritzburg
+15
+2
-30
-15
Stabilising
Port Elizabeth
-15
-33
-1
-37
Potchefstroom
-10
-17
+12
+1
Stabilising
Pretoria
+4
+109
-13
+15
Stabilising
Rand Afrikaans
+13
-3
-11
+44
Stabilising
Rhodes
+17
-8
-11
-6
Stabilising
Stellenbosch
+7
-2
0
+19
Stabilising
Witwatersrand
+4
-21
-18
-9
Stabilising
-30
-14
-17
+15
Stabilising
-37
-58
HDDs
Fort Hare
North
No data
North West
No Data
Transkei
-7
-18
-24
-25
Venda
-8
-29
-19
-7
Zululand
+7
-51
-2
-36
Durban-Westville
No Data
Western Cape
-10
-9
-25
-28
UNISA
-3
-6
-47
-10
Vista
Stabilising
Stabilising
No Data
Source: Field Survey Data
Undergraduate numbers at the historically disadvantaged departments have by tradition been
significantly larger. In 2000 these departments accommodated a mean number of 183
undergraduate students. The size range extended from the largest department of 452
undergraduates to the smallest 60 undergraduates. The number of students at the distance
learning universities is significantly larger UNISA accommodated 1040 undergraduates and
Vista 503 in the year 2000.
The numbers of undergraduate students in both the historically advantaged and historically
disadvantaged departments showed a significant decline over the period 1996 to 2000. In the
case of the historically advantaged departments the decline has been from an average of 179 to
149 undergraduates (a decline of 17% over a five-year period). In the case of the
disadvantaged departments the decline has been significantly greater from an average of 463
in 1996 to 183 in 2000, a decline of more than 60%). In the case of the historically
advantaged departments the annual rate of decline has been relatively low and indeed has in
the most recent year been replaced by a positive growth trend. The negative annual growth
57
trend in the historically disadvantaged departments, on the other hand, has been significant and
has progressively increased from 1996 to 2000 (Table 3.12). More recent enquiries made at
historically disadvantaged departments have shown, however, that first year numbers have
tended to recover in the years following the survey (2002 and 2003).
Table 3.13:
Growth Trends of Undergraduate Students in Historically Advantaged
and Disadvantaged Departments. Absolute Numbers 1996 – 2000
HADs
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
% 96-00
Cape Town
280
292
274
228
213
-24
Free State
192
146
102
99
113
-41
Natal, Durban
208
128
151
132
133
-36
Natal, Pietermaritzburg
180
207
211
147
125
-31
Port Elizabeth
238
203
136
134
84
-65
Potchefstroom
124
111
92
103
104
-16
Pretoria
83
86
180
157
180
+117
Rand Afrikaans
104
118
115
102
147
+41
Rhodes
146
171
158
141
132
-10
Stellenbosch
245
261
255
254
303
+24
Witwatersrand
169
175
138
113
103
-39
Total
1969
1898
1812
1610
1637
-17
HDDs
Fort Hare
105
73
63
52
60
-43
506
319
133
-74
North
No Trend Data
108
North West
Transkei
457
423
347
264
197
-57
Venda
914
844
599
484
452
-51
Zululand
346
371
180
177
114
-67
Durban-Westville
No Trend Data
184
Western Cape
495
447
409
306
219
-56
Total
2317
2158
2104
1602
1467
-60
UNISA
2168
2093
1971
1050
1040
-52
Vista
No Trend Data
503
Mean Total HADs
179
173
165
146
149
-17
Mean Total HDDs
463
432
351
267
183
-60
-3
-5
-12
+2
-17
-7
-19
-24
-31
-60
Total Percentage
Total Percentage
Source: Field Survey Data
In the case of the historically advantaged departments 8 of the 11 departments have shown a
decline in undergraduate numbers. No historically disadvantaged department has shown
positive growth over the five-year period (Table 3.13 & Fig. 3.11).
A key growth variable is the trend in the pattern of first year undergraduate numbers. Growth
trends are illustrated in Table 3.14. In the historically advantaged departments the decline in
first year numbers in the five-year period 1996 to 2000 was 11%. The most recent year,
58
however, showed a positive trend of 8%. In the historically disadvantaged departments, on the
other hand, the trend in first year numbers showed a decline of 66% over the five-year period
and a consistent negative growth rate for each year. Five historically advantaged departments
showed a negative growth rate above the mean and three departments showed strong positive
growth. In the case of the historically disadvantaged departments all departments experienced
a negative growth rate over the five-year period in first year intake. The negative growth rate
mostly exceeded the level of decline for undergraduate student numbers as a whole.
Figure 3.11: Undergraduate Growth Trends (%), 1996-2000
150
Positive
HADs
HDDs
117
% Growth, 1996-2000
100
50
41
24
0
-17
-10
Negative
-50
-24
-41
-43
-36
-39
-16
- 57
-65
-51
-56
-67
-52
-60
-74
-31
-100
500
UNDERGRADUATES
463
432
400
351
300
267
200
179
100
173
183
165
146
0
1
2
3
1996-2000 period
149
Mean Total HDDs
Mean Total HADs
4
1 = 1996, 2 = 1997, 3 = 1998, 4 = 1999, 5 = 2000
59
5
Table 3.14:
First Year Undergraduate Student Numbers Trends (Percentages) in
Historically Advantaged and Disadvantaged Departments, 1996 – 2000
HADs
96/97
97/98
98/99
99/00
96/00
Cape Town
+17
-8
-15
+7
-3
Free State
-22
-46
+2
+22
-47
Natal, Durban
-46
+83
-32
-2
-35
Natal, Pietermaritzburg
+17
+13
-27
-4
-8
Port Elizabeth
-27
21
-20
-34
-69
Potchefstroom
-14
-9
+27
-11
-13
Pretoria
+2
+138
-34
-16
+33
Rand Afrikaans
-3
+4
-7
+50
+59
Rhodes
+18
+4
-16
-3
0
Stellenbosch
+23
+3
-13
+58
+75
Witwatersrand
+4
-21
-18
-9
-39
-36
-29
0
0
-54
North
-18
-25
-53
-71
North West
-57
-64
-56
-75
HDDs
Fort Hare
Transkei
-1
-29
-46
-15
-68
Venda
-2
-31
-23
-7
-52
Zululand
-25
-72
-7
-32
-78
Durban-Westville
No Trend Data
Western Cape
-3
-16
-25
-20
-50
UNISA
-11
-9
-58
0
-66
No Trend Data
Vista
Total HADs
-3
+3
-17
+8
-11
Total HDDs
-1
-24
-32
-22
-66
Source: Field Survey Data
Figure 3.12: First year trends, Total HADs & HDDs, 1996-2000
(%)
10
UNISA
0
Vista
-10
Total HADs
-20
Total HDDs
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
Undergra
du
ates, 199
...
Total HDDs
Total HADs
Vista
UNISA
60
Examining the data for the
total number of undergraduates
in recent years suggests that
the growth trend has stabilized
in most historically advantaged
departments. Indeed 6 of the
11
departments
showed
positive growth in the period
1999 to 2000.
Only one
department
demonstrates
strong negative growth. In the
case of the disadvantaged
departments two departments
show a tendency toward
stabilization
and
positive
growth while the rest continue to display significant declines.
undergraduates at UNISA appear to be stabilizing.
Total numbers of
Reasons for a declining trend in undergraduate numbers between 1996 and 2000 include, in
particular, changes which have come about in the teaching profession. Without exception
respondents at both the historically advantaged and historically disadvantaged departments
indicated that the number of undergraduate students preparing to undertake postgraduate
teacher diploma training in preparation for a high school teaching career has declined
dramatically. In many cases only a very small number of students are proceeding to that
profession.
Reasons at the historically disadvantaged departments moreover include factors such as costs
of fees, and changes in destinations of prospective students. That a degree of transformation is
taking place in the ethnic composition of classes at historically advantaged departments
appears to support that contention. These are reasons of structural re-organisation and do not
arise from within the discipline itself. Nonetheless the trend is a source of concern and is
being actively addressed in all departments.
Given a teaching system based upon class lectures, the undergraduate data suggests that class
sizes at first, second and third year levels are manageable. Problems are likely to arise,
however, in the supervision and assessment of students through essay and tutorial work and in
the assessment of practicals and the supervision of project work.
•
Graduate Student Trends
The distribution of Honours students is illustrated in Table 3.15 & Fig. 3.13. Numbers in
Honours classes are modest. In the historically advantaged departments they averaged at 15
students in 2000 and at 18 in the historically disadvantaged departments. Though modest, the
totals represent a significant increase over earlier years. There is some variation in size of
Honours classes. A small number of departments still have very small numbers but some have
very substantial classes. Two departments indeed have nearly forty students in their Honours
classes.
The Honours year of study is considered to be the most important year in all departments. It is
perceived to be the year in which students are taken to the frontiers in a small range of subdisciplines and where specialisation commences. The foundations for postgraduate research
are laid in this period. Increasing class sizes in most departments demonstrate a demand for a
fourth year of study and support a generally expressed perception that the Honours year is now
tending to become the basic qualification desired by more able students.
The curriculum in the Honours year tends to be intensive in practice and focussed upon
individual learning and performance. Stress is laid upon the attainment of advanced skills,
critical analysis, and presentation through oral and written work. Students are introduced to
research through intensively supervised project work.
•
Postgraduate Research Students
Table 3.15 & Fig. 3.13 displays the distribution of student numbers at the Masters and
Doctorate levels. The major trend shown by the table is the remarkable growth in the number
of Masters students in both the historically advantaged and historically disadvantaged
departments but more so in the case of the former. The number of Masters students in the
historically advantaged departments has more than doubled from 159 in 1996 to 344 students
61
in 2000 (an increase of 116.3%). The extraordinary growth in Masters student numbers has
been underpinned in particular by the introduction of programmed, taught Masters degrees at
several universities. The growth trend is particularly powerful in the universities of
Stellenbosch, Natal, Durban, Witwatersrand, Pretoria, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and the
Rand Afrikaans University. The trend toward taught Masters degrees is controversial and
there is no universal agreement on the merits of this context of learning. Some respondents
were severely critical and regretted the loss of the emphasis upon research training.
Data from the historically disadvantaged departments is less clear on growth trends in Masters
degrees. Nonetheless there are indications that growth in the numbers of Masters students is
emerging. One department in particular (Durban-Westville) has a very large number of
Masters students. Here too, however, the size of the class is accounted for by students
registered for taught Masters degrees.
Table 3.15:
Graduate Student Numbers Trends In Historically Advantaged and
Disadvantaged Departments, 1996 – 2000
Honours
HADs
Masters
Doctorates
‘96
‘97
‘98
‘99
‘00
‘96
‘97
‘98
‘99
‘00
‘96
‘97
‘98
‘99
‘00
Cape Town
17
16
24
23
23
37
41
36
42
53
10
12
9
10
11
Free State
15
8
11
10
12
8
21
9
12
16
5
6
7
6
7
Natal Durban
9
20
24
17
16
20
32
40
36
48
5
4
3
4
4
Natal Pmburg
28
16
22
15
17
10
12
12
12
16
9
7
7
7
8
Port Elizabeth
4
2
8
4
2
3
4
3
56
78
3
3
3
2
2
Potchefstroom
14
4
11
8
7
6
7
9
13
14
0
1
1
1
1
Pretoria
19
39
35
24
20
8
9
26
30
30
9
10
11
11
8
Rand Afrikaans
26
25
33
22
37
35
35
47
35
14
1
2
3
2
2
Rhodes
9
4
5
4
5
11
10
8
4
5
2
1
4
4
5
Stellenbosch
28
26
24
21
15
17
16
19
24
46
6
5
4
5
4
Witwtersrand
10
12
16
15
13
4
3
3
11
24
1
4
5
3
1
Total
179
172
213
163
167
159
190
212
275
344
51
55
57
55
53
Mean HADs
16
16
19
15
15
14
17
19
25
31
5
5
5
5
5
8
7
8
6
12
0
1
7
11
10
0
0
0
0
3
North
ND
ND
ND
ND
20
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
North West
ND
ND
21
18
26
ND
ND
4
5
9
0
0
0
0
0
Transkei
7
4
10
10
12
2
2
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
Venda
15
15
7
12
12
1
1
2
9
3
0
0
0
0
1
Zululand
10
8
9
9
11
5
2
3
3
4
2
3
2
2
1
Durban-Westville
ND
ND
ND
ND
39
ND
ND
ND
ND
53
ND
ND
ND
ND
5
Western Cape
13
11
9
12
15
9
10
8
7
12
1
1
1
1
2
Mean HDDs
11
9
11
11
18
3
3
4
6
13
UNISA
ND
ND
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
7
7
7
7
7
Vista
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
0
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
HDDs
Fort Hare
Source: Field Survey
62
Figure 3.13: Mean Graduate Student Numbers per year, 1996-2000
35
Doctorate
Masters
Honours
Means: Graduate Student Numbers
30
25
Mean HADs
Mean HDDs
20
UNISA
15
10
5
0
‘96
‘97
‘98
‘99
‘00
‘96
‘97
‘98
‘99
‘00
‘96
‘97
‘98
‘99
‘00
Year
The relatively small number of students at the Masters level in the historically disadvantaged
departments suggests that they are not providing a sufficient number of qualified candidates to
grow the transformation of the academic staff in our university system.
As is characteristic of all disciplines, the number of students in the Doctorate category is
relatively small but not insignificant. Here the great majority of students is concentrated in the
historically advantaged departments. Of the total, 74% are located within those departments.
The number of Doctorate students by department is relatively stable but the relatively poor
performance of the historically disadvantaged departments in training advanced students is
particularly notable.
The Funding of University Departments of Geography in South Africa3
•
Preamble
One of the principal problems that geographers in tertiary institutions have faced since 1982
has been caused by the incorrect categorisation by the state Department of Education of
geography as a social science according to its classification of educational subject matter
(CESM category 22.03). This mistake has been repeated in the latest funding proposal of
3
Contributed by Prof Roddy Fox, Department of Geography, Rhodes University and president of
the Society of South African Geographers (2001-2002).
63
March 2001 where Geography is allocated to funding Group 2 as ‘Social Science and Social
Studies’. Because of this categorisation the state has consistently under-funded geography
departments; although as we will see below, many departments have managed to overcome
this through cross-subsidy from within their University. This situation has persistently
weakened geography departments within their own institutions and, needless to say, has
eroded our position as a discipline within South Africa.
In May 2001 the Society of South African Geographers sent the final version of its latest
appeal for geography's funding to the national higher education authorities and what follows is
a synopsis of that document.
The discipline of Geography has a long history of negotiation with the national educational
authorities concerning its funding formula. In recent years this correspondence has included a
submission to the Department of Education dated 22.2.1996 by then Society president Prof I J
van der Merwe. The letter directly addressed the core issue mentioned above and drew
responses from Dr G Steyn (for Director-General, Ref 2/2/2/1/1), the Association of
University Teachers (reference 13/5/2/P) on 30 September 1996; and, most significantly a
response by Dr J Reddy, Chair of the National Commission on Higher Education (NCHE) on
22 April 1996. Dr Reddy at the time indicated that the NCHE was working on proposing a
new multi-category funding formula for the Higher Education Sector and suggested that "at
that time your society should make detailed proposals". The May 2001 submission came
about since details of the proposed new funding formula became public in March of that year.
The proposed new formula will be dealt with in an appropriate section below.
•
The Submission
The document consisted of a letter summarising Geography's position and was supported by a
number of Annexures. The material was gathered following an initiative from authorities in
the University of Stellenbosch who compiled the document in late 1990 and early 1991. It
was submitted to the Deputy Director General, Department of Education, the National
Commission on Higher Education (NCHE) and South African University Vice-Chancellors
Association (SAUVCA). Individual Universities such as Rhodes University and the
University of Stellenbosch also supported the initiative through their own responses to the
Department of Education's funding proposals.
What follows is an updated and edited version of the summary letter since it contains the main
points of our argument; there is not the space available here to include the material in the
Annexures (on request). We can, however, mention their content as the material is available
from the SSAG. Annexure A was an institutional sketch of the current practice of Geography
at South African universities. Particularly it raised issues pertaining to the names of
Departments indicating the nature of their teaching content, Faculty placement at the various
universities, and disparate internal funding practices at various universities, precipitated by the
erroneous funding formula application of the Department of Education towards the discipline.
Geography course content and student numbers were contained in Annexure B for the various
degree programmes in representative universities in South Africa. These highlighted the
pervasiveness of natural science and information technology (IT) components in the curricula
and also showed that laboratory work and fieldwork were essential requirements for
geographers. Clearly there are cost implications here since Geography departments were not
funded according to their practice but rather as a social science.
64
The nature, focus, societal value and recent development trends of the discipline of geography
was described in Annexure C (International Geographical Union 1995; Royal Geographical
Society 1997; Royal Geographical Society (RGS); Institute of British Geographers (IBG)
2000). This was necessitated by the persistent misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the
discipline, its scientific content and lack of appreciation for its scientific contributions and
funding requirements.
Our basic appeal in the document was for the authorities to address the untenable nature of the
funding status quo for Geography and allocate the discipline to a more appropriate CESM
(Classification of Educational Subject Matter) category and Funding Group. At present
programmes mounted by Departments of Geography, Departments of Environmental and
Geographical Science, and Departments of Geography and Environmental Studies are
officially funded as though geography is a social science. Geography is neither a social
science nor a natural science, its focus is on space, place and people-environment
relationships. An assessment of the content of geographical and environmental science
courses shows that, in general, they should be funded within Group 3 of the March 2001
proposed funding formula (described below). Universities currently fund geography and
environmental science courses inconsistently because of the fundamentally incorrect allocation
of geography into CESM category 22.03 Social Sciences and Social Studies. This ensures, for
example, that geography courses in geomorphology or hydrology will be inadequately funded
in spite of their natural science content and costs whilst courses in environmental policy or
environmental management can be funded through CESM 15.04, life sciences and physical
sciences where they fall under an environmental science programme.
We think it is time that this anomalous situation was eradicated and present two models below.
A simple proposal that could easily be adopted as an interim measure is that geographical
courses be funded within Group 3 of the proposed funding formula since our course costs are
broadly similar to those of CESM category 02, architecture and environmental design. The
second proposal is more complex and would involve individual universities classifying the
modular content of their courses into specific CESM categories and then making
representation to the national authorities for the appropriate funding by category and learning
level.
As the summary results (Table 3.16) indicate, the discipline, in terms of organisational
placement, displays a dualistic nature.
Organisationally and administratively geography departments are placed in a variety of
disciplinary environments that have implications for how they are funded. In South Africa the
majority are placed in natural science faculties and recently School formation has added even
more hybrid locations for departments. The dominant trend is for Geography to be in the
science faculty and for it to be bracketed at departmental and/or School level with
environmental science. Sometimes it may also be found with Life, agricultural, military or
earth science. Where Geography is bracketed with environmental studies it is usually
associated with the arts faculty.
The table (Table 3.16) shows that very few departments (and then only for internal
institutional reasons) have not yet followed the international and local trend of the past decade
to alter their name from purely 'Geography' to something with an 'environmental' appendage
that more closely reflects the essential nature of its disciplinary content and scientific focus.
65
Table 3.16:
The National Picture: Placement of Geography and Environmental
Science
University
Faculty / School
Department or Discipline of Geography and Environmental Science / Environmental and Geographical
Science
University of Cape Town
Faculty of Science
University of Natal, Durban
School of Life and Environmental Sciences
University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg
School of Applied Environmental Sciences
Fort Hare
Faculty of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Studies
PU for CHE
School of Environmental Sciences and Development
University of Durban-Westville
School of Life and Environmental Sciences
Venda
School of Environmental Sciences
Department of Geography and Environmental Management
RAU
Faculty of Science
Department of Geography and Geoinformatics
University of Pretoria
Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Science
Department of Geography
Rhodes University
Faculty of Science
University Port Elizabeth Faculty of Science
Faculty of Science
University of the Free State Faculty of Science
Faculty of Science
University of the Western Cape
Faculty of Arts
University of Transkei
Faculty of Arts
Department or Discipline of Geography and Environmental Studies
University of the Witwatersrand
School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental
University of South Africa
Studies
University of Stellenbosch
Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Military Science
University of Zululand
Faculty of Arts
University of North West
Faculty of Arts
Discipline of Physical Geography
University of the Western Cape
Department of Earth Science – Faculty of Science
Independent Department or Discipline of Environmental Science or Environmental Studies
None
School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences
University of the Witwatersrand
Faculty of Science
Implications for funding are somewhat nebulous at present, because of uncertainty about the
exact funding situation at various universities. What can be said with certainty is that the
National Department of Education SAPSE (South African Post Secondary Education) formula
treats geography as a social science for funding purposes. However, a number of institutions
(four of eleven sampled) claim to be classifying Geography programmes and/or some of its
modules as natural sciences and then funding them according to that formula. Although
SAPSE officials dispute such claims, internal cross-subsidies are required and indeed applied
at a number of universities to allow geography departments to operate efficiently given the
nature of their teaching content and practices. At some universities, to their detriment,
departments are internally simply funded with the unaltered SAPSE Social Sciences formula
(two of eleven sampled). Clearly this patently inequitable situation, where the same teaching
content is funded differentially at the whim of administrators, is untenable.
Scrutiny of the modular teaching content of geography departments at sampled universities
reveals the high proportion of material that is currently inappropriately funded as social
science material (and has been since 1982). The tabulated modules have all been provided
with indications of essential content (social or natural science) and the specialised teaching
requirements (laboratory, information technology (for Geographical Information Systems and
Remote Sensing and fieldwork) (Table 3.17 & Fig. 3.14). These are the factors to be
considered for reaching a final funding decision.
66
Table 3.17:
Summary modular content and teaching requirements significant for
funding considerations at representative South African universities
University
Number and Proportion of Courses Evaluated*
Natural
Science
Social
Science
Laboratory
Specialised IT
Field Study
Total
No.
%
No.
%
No.
%
No.
%
No.
%
PUCHE
39
33
85
29
74
11
28
17
44
19
49
RAU
22
14
64
14
64
16
73
18
82
17
77
Rhodes
18
12
67
6
33
5
28
4
22
5
28
UCT
30
23
77
7
23
11
37
5
17
21
70
UNISA
26
24
92
23
88
0
0
4
15
13
50
UFS
37
24
65
19
51
19
51
16
43
31
84
UP
65
64
98
41
63
31
48
43
66
25
38
UPE
37
18
49
19
51
9
24
10
27
15
41
US
22
14
64
19
86
8
36
12
55
10
45
WITS
61
35
57
27
44
19
31
14
23
33
54
Average
72
58
36
39
54
* Mostly courses listed on the Internet were considered for this tabulation
Figure 3.14: Undergraduate Courses by University and Sub-field
Natural Science
Social Science
100
Specialised IT
80
Field Study
PUCHE
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
67
IT
S
W
S
U
PE
U
P
U
FS
U
N
IS
A
U
C
T
U
ho
de
s
R
AU
R
C
H
E
0
PU
Undergraduate Courses by Sub-field (%)
Laboratory
90
The data reveal a number of facts:
1.
It is clear that on average the centre of gravity in module materials leans strongly
towards the natural sciences;
2.
A significant proportion of courses are scientific laboratory dependent;
3.
Almost 40% of courses now rely on specialized Information Technology (computer
cartography, Geographical Information Systems and satellite remote sensing)
requirements;
4.
More than half of all course modules require real-world fieldwork and field survey for
effective training purposes;
5.
That, since the course composition varies from university to university, the necessity
for funding of the discipline on the basis of module content, rather than on a blanket
formula categorization may well be required;
6.
That the diversity in disciplinary offering at different universities needs to be
accounted for.
7.
Comparing the curriculum content now being taught at universities with the outdated
sub-disciplinary classification of SAPSE-003 (Group 22.03) drafted in 1978, confirms
the extent to which the discipline has evolved over the past two decades. SAPSE
simply no longer reflects and addresses the geography being taught at tertiary level in
South Africa. It is clear that a revision of SAPSE is long overdue;
8.
New fields of specialization, of which Geographical Information Systems is a prime
example, are high-cost modules, but are absent from SAPSE;
9.
There is a clear problem of misclassification, where purely natural science modules
(examples are climatology, geomorphology, and a range of environmentally related
modules) are funded as social sciences. Similarly this points to the urgent need for the
overhaul of SAPSE.
These are the considerations that should determine the specifications of an efficient and
equitable funding formula.
•
Post-apartheid funding mechanisms
There have been two proposals which we need to consider here. First, the mix of funding
mechanisms proposed by the NCHE Taskgroup 4: Financing (1996), namely formula and
earmarked funding for redress. In this scenario geography modules in programmes could be
funded according to modular scientific content for dual purposes. In the first instance this
would reflect their costs profile (i.e. high natural science content, laboratory training and
experimentation, sophisticated and specialized information technology training and application
and fieldwork requirements). The second issue would be that geography could then qualify
for earmarked funding (as a means to allocate resources to benefit both government economic
and social policy). This is because the discipline is directly responsible for training students
with a combination of marketable professional skills and also to be responsible citizens
advancing the principles of sustainable development in harmony with sensitive environments.
Furthermore geography is a bridging discipline that attracts large numbers of disadvantaged
students whose entry into tertiary learning (especially at post-graduate level) is traditionally
via the human sciences. Geography therefore provides a unique conduit for the introduction of
such students to the natural sciences - a trend presently actively encouraged through education
policy.
Second, in March 2001 the Ministry of Education released a further discussion document
entitled ‘Funding of Public Higher Education: a New Framework’. This document groups all
disciplines into four funding categories:
68
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
education (CESM 07), law (13), librarianship (14), psychology (20), social
services/public administration (21).
business/economics (04), communication (05), computer science (06),
languages (12), philosophy/religion (18), social sciences (including
Geography) (22).
architecture/planning (02), engineering (08), home economics (10),
industrial arts (11), mathematical sciences (16), physical education (19).
agriculture (01), fine and performing arts (03), health sciences (09), life and
physical sciences (15).
There are different funds available for each group with ratios between them of 1, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5.
Thus Geography will receive more funding than law or librarianship (Group 1) but less than
home economics (Group 3) or health sciences (Group 4). Compounding this situation - which
we have already mentioned is going to under-fund Geography - are the subsidy weightings
which we will receive for our students at different levels. Honours and equivalent students
will be subsidised at double the rate of undergraduates whilst Masters, Doctorates and
equivalents at three times the rate. Table 3.18 shows that this means that subsidies received
for Geography’s postgraduate students will be 60 per cent lower than for students in
architecture and less than half that for life science postgraduates.
Table 3.18: Proposed Funding Grid with Cost Ratios and Weightings
Undergraduate and
Equivalent
Honours and
Equivalent
Masters, Doctorates
and Equivalent
Group 1
100
200
300
Group 2
150
300
450
Group 3
250
500
650
Group 4
350
700
1050
If this proposal is eventually implemented then a university offering environmental science
will be funded under Group 4 whereas a university offering geography will be funded under
Group 2 even though the modular content is identical.
Given this background, we wish to make representation for two funding models, both
recognizing geography as a part-laboratory discipline:
Model 1
proposes that Geography be funded according to Funding Group 3. The
discipline, as an essentially environmental science, fills the same scientific niche as
Town and Regional Planning across all learning levels, namely as CESM 02. Town
and Regional Planning elsewhere in the world often forms part of geography
departments and there is great similarity in course content between these two
disciplines. This also offers the least complicated funding procedure with the
discipline as a whole being funded uniformly. This funding level is recommended as
an interim measure until SAPSE has been properly revised.
69
Figure 3.15: Funding Grid by Groups 1 to 4
350
700
Group 4
1050
Funding Groups
250
500
Group 3
650
Undergraduate and Equivalent
150
300
Group 2
Honours and Equivalent
450
Masters, Doctorates and
Equivalent
100
200
Group 1
300
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
Funding Ratios & Weightings
Model 2
offers a slightly more complicated solution that captures the principle of
funding modular content more specifically rather than the broad discipline. The model
proposes that each university be required to classify individual geography modules
according to content and provides the Department of Education with audited
statements concerning the content of modules. Universities then make representation
to have specific modules assigned to specific CESM categories and to receive, not
some derived average funding, but the prescribed funding for that specific category and
learning level.
Table 3.19: Suggested relative costs of Geography according to CESM category and
learning level
Relevant CESM Category (to which Geography
pertinently contributes input modules)
Learning
level 1
Learning
level 2
Learning
level 3
01 Agriculture and Renewable Natural Resources
2.44
4.88
7.32
02 Architecture and Environmental Design
1.41
2.82
4.23
06 Computer Science and Data analysis
1.00
2.00
3.00
15 Life and Physical Sciences
2.50
5.00
7.50
22 Social Sciences and Social Studies
0.85
1.70
2.55
Table 3.19 shows the range of CESM categories in which geography modules contribute.
1.
Natural/Environmental Resources (resource analyses and management, water, land
degradation, desertification: CESM 01/Funding Group 4);
70
2.
3.
4.
5.
Environmental Design (landscape assessment, design and rehabilitation: CESM
02/Funding Group 3);
Computer and Information Technology (Geographical Information Systems, remote
sensing, cartography: CESM 06/Funding Group 2);
Physical Sciences (geomorphology, atmospherics, climatology, biogeography,
pedology: CESM 15/Funding Group 4); and
Social Sciences (social, urban, rural, tourism geography: CESM 22/Funding Group 2).
In all cases it needs to be borne in mind that the mix of teaching methods (laboratory, field
studies, IT) applied in Geography may require modular placement across various categories,
instead of within individual categories.
As an interim measure, until such time as SAPSE has been thoroughly revised, the Society
requests that funding of Geography according to Model 1 (CESM 02/Funding Group 3) be
adopted by the Department of Education. The Society urges the Department to fulfil its
promise to finally give due recognition to the unique nature of Geography as a discipline and
the strategic importance of instructional programmes to which it contributes, in the new
funding dispensation. It also requests that the final decision be appropriately justified and
documented in writing and furnished to the Society for future record purposes.
References
Erens G, Louw JBZ & Venter RH 1982. South African classification of educational subject matter (SA-CESM).
First Edition, Manual SAPSE-003. Pretoria, Macro Education Policy Directorate, Department of National
Education. (Mimeographed).
International Geographical Union(IGU) 1995. International Charter on geographical education. Teaching
Geography, April, 95-99.
National Commission on Higher Education 1996. A framework for transformation. Pretoria, HSRC Publishers.
National Commission on Higher Education Task Group 4: Financing 1996. Final report to the NCHE. [Online:
http://www.hsrc.ac.za/nche.html]
Royal Geographical Society(RGS) 1997. The case for geography funding at 'part laboratory' level. The
Geographical Journal 163(3), 286-294.
Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and Institute of British Geographers (IBG) 2000. Benchmark statement for
geography. (Draft version).
South Africa, Government of, 2001. Funding of Public Higher Education: a New Framework. Ministry of
Education. [Online: http://cspt1.ict.ru.ac.za/funding/contents.htm].
71
Part 4
The Structuring of the University Geography Curriculum in South Africa
The Early Undergraduate Curriculum
Epistemologically South African geography has its roots in the academic experience of its
early founders, the majority of whom were not South African and they were not all
professionally trained geographers. Five of the eight founders (Hutcheon and Wellington at
Wits, Sayce and Jehu at Natal Pietermaritzburg, and Talbot at Cape Town) came from the
United Kingdom and four had been trained as geologists. Talbot was a professional
geographer trained in the United Kingdom and the United States. Rennie at Rhodes was a
South African trained at UCT and Cambridge as a geologist. He had also obtained a Diploma
in Geography at University College, London. At the early Afrikaans medium departments,
Serton at Stellenbosch was trained in the Netherlands as a professional geographer; von Bonde
(from the Netherlands) at Free State and Glazer and Plummer at Pretoria, too, were geologists
by training.
Geography was seen as a discipline primarily concerned with the study of earth phenomena
and interrelationships in geographical space over time. Relationships between human beings
and the natural environment were considered to be of particular significance and to be seen in
the light of the prevailing theory of environmental determinism. A fundamental quality to be
instilled in undergraduates was a capacity for lateral thinking, analysis and interpretation.
Early curriculum structuring thus, on the one hand, recognised the basic importance of a
scientific understanding of the functional and spatial relations of the natural environment as a
basic dimension of human origins and life. The systematic sub-disciplines of planetary
geography, geomorphology, meteorology and climatology, biogeography and oceanography
covering the major fields of the natural environment thus became the building blocks of
physical geography. An emphasis upon environmental parameters was consistent with the
meta-theory of environmental determinism which at that time dominated scientific thought in
the discipline. At its best, physical geography was expected to deliver an integrated insight to
the interrelationships of the components of the environment.
Human geography directed at the study of human-environmental interaction in the sphere of
human activities and in regional geography was initially less strongly developed. The content
of human geography was conceived through recognition of the five major dimensions of
society – the economy, political organisation, cultural dimensions, social relations and
population and demographic structures of the society. Thus arose the systematic subdisciplines of economic, political, cultural, social and population geography as the dimensions
of human geography. Each of these in turn received attention in temporal terms in historical
geography. Concern for economic activity as the driving material force in society meant that
economic geography was probably the most important systematic course in human geography.
It also frequently became a course of specialist study for students in faculties of commerce. A
strong interest in international geopolitics during and following the First World War meant
also that historical-political geography became a popular systematic field. The study of
population too, arising from the phenomenal demographic experience of the 19th and early 20th
Centuries and from colonial expansion became a popular focus of study. In these ways South
African geography neatly tracked the models set in metropolitan geography and was strongly
72
dependent on sources of material, literature and insight generated in the metropolitan
countries. Its epistemological roots thus were strongly Eurocentric.
Expectations were that interrelations between phenomena generated in society and between
such phenomena and factors of the bio-physical environment would be particular foci of study.
Interest in human-environmental relationships meant that courses in the study of
environmental determinism were strong.
The concept of regional geography provided a framework in which systematic geographical
variables could be integrated in the context of natural regions to derive an understanding of the
interrelationships between earth and human phenomena and of their role in ordering the spatial
organisation of the earth and its parts. The task of integration proved to be one of substantial
complexity and difficulty given the limited capacities of analytical techniques available. It
was rarely attained successfully but it remains a strongly desired high order goal of the
discipline.
Three divisions, physical geography, human geography and regional geography thus became
the logical primary structures of the early discipline in South Africa as they did abroad. The
structuring of the undergraduate curriculum in the 1930s provides insight (Table 4.1).
Table 4.1: Undergraduate Courses (in percentages) by Primary Subdivisions, 1938 to
2000
Year
Regional
(%)
Physical
(%)
Human
(%)
Environment
(%)
Skills
(%)
R + H (%)
1938
22
45
26
1960
26
35
25
-
5
48
-
14
51
1970
18
42
31
1
8
49
1980
9
40
41
6
3
50
1990
3
42
43
6
4
46
2000
1
26
38
21
17
39
Source: University Calendars
The first organisational requirement of the curriculum was to balance the respective
contributions of the three divisions. Given the academic grounding in earth science of many
of the early professional geographers in South Africa, the fields of physical geography
received particular emphasis. Good scientific reasons existed though for the emphasis. In
1938 the fields of physical geography comprised 45% of the undergraduate courses offered. It
will be observed, however, that a balance was achieved through the combined content of
human geography and regional geography which contributed 26% and 22% of undergraduate
courses respectively.
Individual contributions made by particular sub-disciplines to the undergraduate curriculum in
1938 are shown in Table 4.2 & Fig. 4.1. Regional geography, as a collective of courses on
different continents, contributed 22% of the total. Courses in systematic sub-disciplines of
physical geography, headed by geomorphology and closely followed by climatology and
oceanography, naturally ranked next in importance. The systematic sub-fields of human
geography, on the other hand, each contributed a relatively modest proportion of the total
number of courses offered. The emphasis upon economic, political and population geography
is significant, however. Nearly 80% of the undergraduate courses offered were contained in
the top ten fields of study.
73
Table 4.2: Undergraduate Courses Ranked by Sub-Field, 1938 to 2000, Percentages
1938
1970
2000
Course
%
R
Course
%
R
Course
%
R
Regional Geography
22
1
Regional Geography
18
1
Environment Studies
21
1
Geomorphology
12
2
Geomorphology
12
2
Geomorphology
9
2
Climatology
10
3
Climatology
12
2
Development Studies
8
3
Oceanography
10
3
Economic Geography
9
3
Urban Geography
8
3
Biogeography
8
4
Gen Phys Geography
9
3
GIS
6
4
Economic Geography
6
5
Gen Human
Geography
8
4
Climatology
4
5
Planetary Geography
6
4
Biogeography
4
5
Cartography
4
5
Cartography
6
4
Urban Geography
4
5
Research Methods
4
5
Population
Geography
5
5
Population
Geography
4
5
Population
Geography
3
6
Political Geography
5
5
Political Geography
2
6
Economic Geography
2
7
Biogeography
2
7
Sub-total
79
Sub-total
82
Sub-total
79
Source: University Handbooks
Analytical skills training, conducted mainly through practical classes, came to focus
principally on the study of maps – the natural and logical tool of the geographer. Geography
undergraduates in training were to learn about map projections, techniques of map
construction, the cartographic representation of data and map analysis and interpretation.
Material studied in the academic courses could be applied in exercises employed in map
analysis. Applied exercises arising in the practice of individual sub-fields in physical and
human geography – in geomorphology, climatology, biogeography, economic geography, the
geography of settlement, land-use and so on, often provided challenging hurdles for students.
Field training in basic land surveying and map construction, field surveys and analyses of land
use, and sample social surveys of local populations, moreover, suggested the practical
relevance of empirical work in the discipline.
The approach to the study of geography in the early phase was through the practice of
inductive scientific method. It was often ideographic and descriptive and much depended
upon empirical observation and example. Dependence on resource materials from overseas
was strongly evident in the list of prescribed works contained in the university calendars of the
time. This was particularly true of human and regional geography. Particular attention was
devoted to the geography of metropolitan countries and their colonial territories. Using
literature generated in the metropolitan societies South African geographers used it as the basis
for courses on the British Isles, North America, parts of Asia, Australia and Africa. The first
systematic treatment of South African physical geography appeared in Volume 1 of John
Wellington’s work in 1955. Systematic regional geographies of South Africa first appeared in
the works of John Wellington in 1955 (Volume 2), Monica Cole in 1961 and Lesley Green and
Denis Fair in 1962. Historical geography was first served by the work of Norman Pollock and
Swanzy Agnew which appeared in 1962 while the work of Leo Kuper, Hilstan Watts and Ron
Davies in 1958 contributed to an understanding of the urban social geography of the South
74
African city. The work of Andries Nel and Koos van Zyl in 1962 contributed the first general
study of South African urban geography. The 1950s and 1960s were clearly the years during
which major, modern texts on South African geography first appeared. The appearance of
such publications was to develop strongly in later decades.
Figure 4.1: Undergraduate Courses by Sub-Field, 1938, 1970 & 2000 in percentages
1938
20
15
10
5
eg
io
na
lG
eo
gr
G
ap
eo
hy
m
or
ph
ol
og
y
C
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at
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O
og
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an
og
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Pl
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G
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lit
ap
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G
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gr
ap
hy
0
R
Undergraduate Courses: Sub-Field Percentage
25
Undergraduate Courses: Sub-Field Percentage
25
1970
20
15
10
5
25
2000
20
15
10
5
G
IS
li m
at
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en
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D
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en
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tS
rb
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G
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gr
ap
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Undergraduate Courses: Sub-Field Percentage
R
eg
io
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ap
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m
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Ec
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en
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a
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ph
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y
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en
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gr
um
ap
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0
In physical geography, on the other
hand, published works on the geology
of South Africa including the work of
Alex du Toit and L C King's singular
work on the scenery of South Africa
published in 1942 provided important
bases of material for local study.
Both works were to exercise a
profound influence upon the study of
geomorphology in this country.
Structurally it may be said that the
early geographical curricula possessed
qualities of consistency and coherence
and that its content was based on
scientific principles.
Its format
followed a logical sequence. The
curriculum was broadly based with a
tendency to become more specialised
and advanced in treatment in the late
courses. Though necessarily broken
up into systematic sub -fields to
permit effective study of the wide
range of earth phenomena, the
discipline at the time had a clear
higher order objective of integrating
the elements it studied. The titling of
its courses was straight forward and
students had clear ideas on what it
was that they would be studying. The
broad field was more important than
the particular ideas of the lecturer.
G
En
vi
ro
nm
C
To what degree the content of the
discipline in its early phase may be
said to have been scientifically
challenging and rigorous is debatable.
How deeply students penetrated their subject matter depended on the individual teacher and
the hurdles placed in their way. From the comments of older colleagues in the survey it is
clear that students who qualified in South African departments at the time were able to hold
their own when taking up study in overseas universities. They were without exception capable
of performing as successfully as their overseas counterparts. Some who trained in this early
phase were to attain international status.
75
Towards the Contemporary Undergraduate Curriculum
Though experiencing significant internal development in course content the organisational
structure of South African geography remained consistent for several decades in the
immediate post Second World War period to as late as 1970. In that year the relative
contributions of the primary divisions of the discipline remained effectively the same as they
were in 1938. Marginal but significant changes which were to be portents of more
fundamental changes in subsequent decades had occurred, however (Table 4.2 & Fig. 4.1).
In 1938 it had been possible to reduce the courses listed by departments to seventeen summary
areas. By 1970 the number of summary areas had risen to only twenty-three. Evidence
existed though of a trend towards greater division and by 1970 several new sub-fields of study
had emerged – they were urban geography, rural settlement, environmental studies and
Caenozoic studies. Air photo analysis and remote sensing had also become significant as
bases of formal academic courses.
The most important change to have influenced the discipline in the period to 1970, and one not
evident in the formal statistics of our tables, was the paradigm shift in approach and method
that took place from 1960. South African geography changed in concert with shifts in
international geography from the late 1950s. In particular the inductive, descriptive and
ideographic approaches of early geography gave way to nomothectic approaches of positivist
science in both physical and human geography. Material in the curriculum was increasingly
based in theoretical considerations and the use of deductive method. Quantitative analysis was
vigorously introduced in practical classes and in the handling of lecture material. The role of
the South African Geographical Society in facilitating the introduction of quantitative method
in geographical curricula at the time has been previously noted. The almost universal adoption
of a positivist scientific methodology in South African geography at the time, together with the
new quantitative processes of analysis served as a unifying influence in the discipline in a
period of social change and division. The application of positivist scientific method was
particularly strongly marked in the work of graduate students in courses at the Honours level
and in research projects. Indeed in some very difficult cases failure to cast their research in
this framework had serious outcomes for research degree candidates.
Structurally, regional geography was being discredited as a basic requirement of geographical
analysis in favour of systematic geography – strangely at a time when methods which would
have enabled far deeper and more rigorous regional analyses to be undertaken were being
introduced. The ideal of geographical integration was to be the loser in the longer term. The
distinctive and valued contribution made by geographers in that field was to decline
perceptibly during the following decades.
The Contemporary Undergraduate Curriculum
The organisation and structuring of the contemporary undergraduate geography curriculum is
an altogether more difficult and complex task than was the case only a few decades ago. Not
only has the knowledge base expanded very substantially in breadth and depth but new
structural forces of significant power have come to influence the process. Old conventions,
which guaranteed consistency and coherence, have buckled and new formats have emerged.
In some respects South African geography remains strongly under the influence of shifts and
changes wrought in international geography, on the one hand. The influence of new
approaches and paradigms of analysis and interpretation is particularly important. On the
other hand, powerful forces with roots in our own national society are also exerting demands
upon the discipline and are influencing its structuring, content, thought and practice.
76
As was the case in international geography the constraints and rigidities of positivist scientific
method began to jar on the academic sensibilities of some of our more perceptive and deeper
thinking academics and senior students in human geography. The physical geographers
though, remained serenely on course in their scientific focus and method and were probably
dismayed at the academic stresses being experienced by their human geography colleagues.
The divisive tendencies being experienced in the interrelationship between physical and
human geography at the international level began to manifest themselves here as well.
Perhaps providentially at that moment in the development of South African geography our
educational system threw up a group of remarkably able students several of whom were to
question the prevailing paradigms and to lead the way into alternative frameworks of thought
and practice. Several of these able people have since occupied important academic positions
in South African geography. It was at that time too that humanistic geography emerged in
South Africa and in particular the practice of behavioural geography.
The application of apartheid ideology in the development of South Africa at that time was a
process that was profoundly geographical in nature. This was the case at both rural and urban
scales. The State through the Tomlinson Commission, the Department of Planning and the
work of the Natural Resources Development Council for example was undertaking major
regional studies of so-called ‘homeland areas’ of the country and the planning of Group Areas
in cities and towns was taking place rapidly. There were clear opportunities here for the
participation of geographers in development planning tasks. Physical and moral divisions over
the apartheid policy, however, meant that only those who found agreement with or acquiesced
in the policy would wish to participate, on the one hand, and would be incorporated by
consultancy with the state, on the other. Geographers within the apartheid persuasion found
considerable opportunity in the work being generated. Others not in that position were
progressively excluded. The process underway also evoked a significant volume of critical
research, which was carried over into the teaching curriculum during this period.
This was the time also in which international geography absorbed structuralist analysis and in
particular Marxists structuralist analysis as a powerful new mode of theoretical thought and
analysis. South African geographers anxious to gain insight on the mode of thought keenly
attended a workshop arranged by the South African Geographical Society during its
conference in 1979 as already noted earlier. Progressively concepts of social justice and
critical social theory crept into the curriculum and teaching in some South African geography
departments. The South African social environment presented an extreme case of social
injustice and was ripe for critical analysis and debate.
The new movement failed, however, to garner many South African human geographers and
South African geography failed to yield a leading, powerful, Marxists-structuralist scholar.
The constraining power of the prevailing political system moreover was sufficient to
discourage any overt activism in this field and the majority of South African geographers
remained rooted in more conventional methodological spheres. In the late 1980s and the
1990s, however, teaching in human geography courses in some departments were strongly
tuned to structural analysis and debate and to the exposure of students to urban social
movements and justice for example. Many South African geographers thus were attuned to
structural thought and practice but the movement never gained the ground it did in some
overseas institutions.
The composition of the undergraduate geography curriculum experienced radical change in
other ways from 1970. The change had been foreshadowed in debates about geographical
77
methodology conducted in a South African Geographical Society conference as early as 1961.
There it was maintained that systematic geography would be the format of future development
in the discipline. Regional geography had failed to serve as an integrative vehicle and its
practice was receiving lip service only. Its ideographic and descriptive method moreover was
outdated and inadequate. By 1980 the proportion of undergraduate courses in regional
geography had dropped from about 25% of the undergraduate curriculum to a low 7%.
The role of regional geography has since declined dramatically and by 2000 it contributed
only 1% of the total number of courses offered at undergraduate level (Table 4.2 & Fig.4.1).
As noted earlier, that failure is possibly due not so much to a faulty conceptual base as a
failure to apply new methodologies in the handling of large and complex databases of regional
data. Contemporary methods in multivariate analysis and GIS hold much potential promise in
that respect and should be actively pursued. Results drawn from analyses with greater
scientific integrity could provide valuable inputs in a number of fields not the least being
regional development studies and environmental analyses at different scales.
The proportion of undergraduate courses contributed by physical geography, too, has fallen
significantly since 1970 from 42% to 26% in 2000. The change represents a decline in the
volume of work undertaken in formal basic scientific courses in the sub-fields of physical
geography. Its place has been taken by work in courses under the rubric of environmental
studies.1
The proportion of such courses has risen from about 1% in 1970 to 21% of the total in 2000.
Interestingly, if the proportions of courses attributed to physical geography and environmental
studies are viewed as a collective, the resulting total is equal to the proportion previously held
by physical geography alone. Significantly environmental studies has now become
established as a new primary division of the discipline along with physical geography and
human geography.
The third dramatic change in the structure of the discipline is the rise in importance of formal
academic courses offering skills training. These courses have increased in proportion from
8% in 1970 to 17% in 2000. The changes reflect in particular major developments that have
taken place in GIS and in its absorption as a new, fundamental dimension of geographical
education. Remote sensing is another new field of skill development. Skills training now
goes well beyond the work undertaken in traditional practical classes.
These major changes in the curriculum are paired with a relative consistency and growth in the
proportion of undergraduate courses offered in sub-fields of human geography. Though the
proportion of these courses reached a peak in 1990 at 43%, their contribution in 2000
remained high at 38% of the total.
Broad changes in the relative contributions made by the primary divisions of the discipline are
paralleled in changes in the composition of the divisions. Table 4.2 demonstrates some of the
major consistencies and shifts.
The composition of physical geography has remained relatively unaltered since 1970.
Geomorphology, climatology and biogeography remain the principle components of the
1
The term environmental studies is taken to comprise a bundle of activities concerned with the study of the
environment. It will include studies of problem issues involving interactions between human beings and the
natural environment and practices put in place to assess and evaluate the outcomes of such interrelationships. It
might in addition include practices developed to manage the problems of environmental interrelationships and to
find solutions to them.
78
division. Biogeography remains a junior partner in the triad and oceanography has long since
dropped out of contention as a significant contributor. Indications are that the intensity of
study of the sub-fields of physical geography has been reduced in recent decades.
In human geography the proportion of general economic geography has been reduced as more
specific, context driven work in development studies has grown. Development studies has its
own specific objectives, however, and indications are that basic economic geographical study
may have been curtailed. Urban geography too has become very prominent in the human
geography division with population study a rather weaker third component.
The composition of skills training courses indicates that cartography (including remote
sensing, air photo analysis), GIS and analytical methods (particularly quantitative techniques)
are the three major elements of this group of courses.
Of particular significance in the composition of courses is the fact that environmental studies
now occupies the first position with a very significant 21% of the total. Geomorphology
remains in second position with 9% but development studies is now in third with 8%.
Regional geography has effectively disappeared as a contributor. The previously dominant
role played by the sub-fields of physical geography has now been reduced.
There was a time not very long ago when academic geographers had a coherent view of their
discipline and knew exactly what it was that they were required to encompass and teach.
Indeed it was possible for the individual geographer to comprehend most of the discipline and
to have a reasonable familiarity with the content of the limited range of systematic courses and
regional geography which made up the undergraduate curriculum. This is no longer the case.
The discipline, like all others, has experienced substantial growth and development in breadth
and depth. Academics must now become specialists in particular sub-fields. Specialisation
has also opened up the possibility of concentrating upon very particular topics and contexts
within sub-fields – often determined by the very particular research interests of individual
academics. Moreover and particularly in human geography, the presentation of material is
powerfully influenced by the particular approach or paradigm in which the lecturer is working.
A range of alternative approaches present themselves and these now complicate the task of
defining objectives and determining the content of curricula.
A major characteristic to emerge in these circumstances is the remarkable rise in the diversity
of the course composition of the curriculum in detail. Old consistencies in the composition of
the curriculum have disappeared. In 1970 the course titles listed for South African
undergraduate curricula could be reduced to a list of 23 summary areas. By 2000 the list of
summary areas had risen to 47. The number of individual course titles offered for study in
1938 was 24. By 1970 that number had risen to only 29. In contrast by 2000 the number of
individual course titles listed totalled no less than 173 individual titles. A very similar trend is
evident in the composition of geographical course offerings in the universities of the United
Kingdom. The directory of university geography departments prepared by the Royal
Geographical Society in 2000 shows that the number summary study areas available within the
United Kingdom now totals 61. Diversity is an outcome of post-modern curriculum
structuring.
Tables 4.3 & 4.4 and Fig. 4.2 show the rank order of study areas by the proportion they
contribute to the curriculum in South African departments compared to the circumstances in
the United Kingdom. The tables reveal the striking changes that have overtaken the geography
curriculum in the past 30 years.
79
While regional geography in the United Kingdom still maintains a very important position it
has effectively disappeared from the South African curriculum and today contributes less than
1% of courses offered. That regional geography continues to play such a significant role in the
geographical education in the United Kingdom says much for the location that Britain still
holds in world relations. Clearly geographers who are to enter employment in Britain have a
very considerable concern to acquire world knowledge which will be of applied use to them in
their employment. In the broadest sense that need is possibly lower in South Africa. At a
regional scale though there is a major need for geographical knowledge about Africa! The
outcome is that our students are often ill informed about general world geographical
conditions and are the poorer there for. In some respects they will be geographically illiterate
in that respect.
Table 4.3:
United Kingdom Geography:
Top Fields of Teaching
and Research Interest
Fields
%
South African Geography:
Top Undergraduate Courses
Rank
Fields
%
Rank
Environmental Studies
7,0
1
Environmental Studies
21
1
Economic Geography
5,7
2
Geomorphology
9
2
Geomorphology
4,8
3
Development Studies
8
3
Social Geography
3,8
4
Urban Geography
8
3
Urban Geography
3,8
4
GIS
6
4
Development Studies
3,7
5
Climatology
4
5
Quaternary Studies
3,5
6
Cartography
4
5
GIS
3,3
7
Research Methods
4
5
Remote Sensing
3,3
7
Population Geography
3
6
Historical Geography
3,2
8
Gen Human Geography
3
6
Cultural Geography
2,9
9
Economic Geography
2
7
Europe
2,8
10
Biogeography
2
7
Biogeography
2,4
11
Political Geography
1
8
Proportion of Total
50
Proportion of Total
75
Sources: South African University Handbooks and The Directory of University Geography Courses, 2001, in
the United Kingdom. (RGS and IBG, 2000).
Table 4.4:
United Kingdom Geography:
Primary Fields of Teaching
and Research Interest
South African Geography:
Undergraduate Curriculum
by Primary Divisions
Primary Fields
%
Rank
Primary Divisions
%
Rank
Human Geography
39
1
Human Geography
37
1
Physical Geography
32
2
Physical Geography
25
2
Regional Geography
11
3
Environmental Studies
21
3
Skills Fields
11
4
Skills
16
4
Environmental Studies
7
5
Regional
1
5
Sources: South African University Handbooks and The Directory of University Geography Courses, 2001, in the
United Kingdom. (RGS and IBG, 2000).
In both educational systems the significance of environmental studies as a component of the
curriculum is now very considerable. In South Africa it outranks all other major study areas
and in Great Britain it occupies the second rank, but in the finer distribution of fields, it
contributes a far lower proportion of the total. The significance of concern for environmental
80
affairs in contemporary society clearly underpins the importance of this study area in the
contemporary curriculum.
The penetration of environmental studies in South African undergraduate geography is now
very significant across the spectrum of departments. Six departments have environmental
studies courses in first year, eight in second year and seventeen, or 81%, in the third year. Ten
departments indeed have two or more environmental studies courses at the third year level.
Environmental studies is clearly a study area for the more senior years of work. This is a
finding that reflects the importance of attaining an adequate foundation in basic sciences
before undertaking applied environmental studies.
In view of the current importance of environmental studies in the undergraduate curriculum
the relationship between geography and environmental science and environmental
management is the subject of a special section of this report. Further comment on the topic is
thus delayed to that section.
The sub-discipline of geomorphology ranks second, as it does in the United Kingdom. This is
a traditional field of physical geography and has maintained its significance in the recent
development of the discipline. Apart from its academic value, geomorphology also carries
significant practical value in applied work.
Development geography and urban geography occupy the third ranking position among fields
in South African geography and the fourth and fifth ranks in geography in the United
Kingdom. Issues of development are in the forefront of constructive economic and social
thought in both developed and underdeveloped counties of the world. The high rank that
development studies occupies in South African geography points to this circumstance. It is a
distinct credit to the discipline.
Urban geography is a field which has gained prominence in geography since the 1970s. It
concerns the study of a major dimension of contemporary life throughout the world – more
than half the population of the earth now lives in urban places. Both development studies and
urban geography are fields which have significant importance in applied work.
A very important contemporary development in the undergraduate curriculum is the
emergence of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) as a major dimension of study. This
skill sub-field now ranks fourth in the order of contributors in the undergraduate curriculum.
Its rank status points to the growing importance of demands for vocationally oriented courses
in the discipline.
Climatology, an historically important field of physical geography and one with important
applied potentials, retains a significant position in the contemporary curriculum. It ranks fifth
in the order of course contributions.
Two additional categories of skills training occupy a tie ranking in fifth place with
climatology. They are cartography and geographical research method, once more oriented
towards vocational demands.
Classical economic geography, which in earlier years was a dominant contributor in the
division of human geography, has today declined significantly in importance as a field in its
own right. It now ranks seventh in the order of sub-disciplines. The importance of economic
geography in human geography, however, cannot be disputed. The reasons for its decline are
81
obscure but it appears that new contexts in which basic structures of economic geography have
been incorporated, for example in urban geography, rural geography, settlement geography,
industrial geography and in particular development geography, have emerged.
Figure 4.2: United Kingdom versus South Africa, Primary Field of Teaching, 2000
United Kingdom:
Primary Fields of Teaching
Skills Fields
11%
Environmental Studies
7%
Human Geography
39%
Regional Geography
11%
Physical Geography
32%
South Africa:
Primary Fields: Undergraduate Courses
Regional
1%
Skills
16%
Human Geography
37%
Environmental Studies
21%
Physical Geography
25%
Population and political geography, also historically important as basic components of human
geography, now occupy relatively lower ranks. Population geography ranks at the sixth level
82
and political geography at the eighth. They have declined for reasons very similar to those
suggested for economic geography.
The ranking of contributions made by different sub-disciplines considered as collectives across
the three years of undergraduate study, to a degree, obscures their basic role in the curriculum.
Viewed in greater detail, it is strongly evident that a very logical progression of content and
complexity exists in the distribution of the sub-disciplines over the three years of study in both
physical geography and human geography.
In human geography the elements of economic, population and political geography are
strongly represented in the content of first year courses. At that level they serve to lay
foundations for more specialised work in development studies and urban geography in
particular at senior levels. In physical geography introductory geomorphology, climatology
and biogeography are common at the first year level, again laying foundations for later
specialist studies particularly in climatology and geomorphology at second and third year
levels.
The loss of regional geography in the South African undergraduate curriculum suggests that
no clearly defined vehicle exists through which the fields of physical and human geography
might be effectively integrated. That loss might be remedied. It is possible that effective
integration could be attained through careful structuring of courses in environmental studies.
In that field interrelationships between humans and environmental circumstances are a
necessary focus of study. Thus the possibility of environmental studies serving as a vehicle of
integration should be carefully explored.
Geomorphology has remained the primary contributor to physical geography at the
undergraduate level and together with climatology it is offered in first year courses in all
departments visited. Geomorphology is also significantly represented in the senior years of
study. Sixteen of the twenty-one departments offer a third year course in the sub-field.
Climatology is also strongly represented but tends to be spread over both the second and third
years of study. Biogeography is now offered only in a relatively small number of departments
in the senior undergraduate year.
In the human geography division population and political geography, classical offerings in the
undergraduate curriculum, remain significant at the first year level but are less frequently
encountered in the second and third years of study. Conventional economic geography, as
previously indicated, has declined as a specialist field. It remains strongly represented,
however, as a basic field of study in the first year. Basic courses in population, political and
economic geography in the first year serve as the foundation courses for development studies,
which is undertaken primarily at the third year level. Fourteen departments now have
development studies courses at that level. In similar fashion urban geography is customarily
presented for study at the third year level and is so offered in 15 of the 21 departments. It too
is underpinned by basic first year courses, in population, political and economic geography.
Formal academic courses devoted to skills training are distributed over the three years of
study. All universities, however, do not necessarily offer such formal courses. Cartographic
skills tend to be concentrated in the first year while GIS is heavily concentrated at the third
year and is now offered in 16 of the 21 departments.
Skills training is also undertaken in practical classes offered in each of the departments as a
customary component of the curriculum. The composition of the practical work is not always
83
spelt out in departmental entries in university calendars. Such work, however, customarily
includes cartography, remote sensing, air-photo analysis and interpretation, statistical and
quantitative methods and techniques and probably also introductions to GIS. Fieldwork,
applying field techniques appropriate to particular sub fields of study is commonly undertaken,
particularly in the third year of study but may also take place in the first and second years. The
common objective is to provide training in the collection, accurate recording, analysis and
interpretation of geographical data. Skills of report writing are instilled in the process. The
level to which this dimension of training is taken may be limited by the capacity of staff in the
handling of large classes.
At one time a common task for senior undergraduate students was the preparation of a project
report or mini-thesis. That task, too, provided an excellent avenue for skills training and
application. It required students to identify a significant problem, conceptualise and plan a
study designed to examine the problem, decide on appropriate field and analytical methods
and techniques to be applied, undertake necessary library research and field work, apply
recording skills, apply appropriate analytical skills, record and report on results and prepare a
final report document for presentation. The exercise was probably one of the most important
formative elements in the student’s education. It is regrettable that student numbers and
difficulties of supervision now inhibit the continuance of the practice. It has been abandoned
in most departments. This circumstance should be examined as a matter of urgency.
Curriculum Programmes at the Undergraduate Level
A recent and very significant trend in university academic curriculum structuring has been the
development of programmes of learning. Programmes are defined as structured curricula with
a specified content drawn from specific disciplines and with defined outcomes. The trend in
the establishment of programmes is now strong and 14 of the 21 geography departments
visited in the survey provide the key component of or contribute modules to programmed
curricula at the undergraduate level. In seven departments the older established degree
structure with a major discipline supported by ancillary subjects persists as the only option. In
most departments the conventional undergraduate curriculum structure remains available as an
option.
Respondents in the field survey suggest that programmed curricula provide logical and
coherent relationships between modules/courses studied and avoid ‘hotchpotch’, incoherent
course selections which often characterised past practice.
Programmes might also be very useful in contexts which are not disciplinary based. Examples
include development studies, urban studies, environmental studies and African studies.
Moreover the institution of programmes provides a practical, competitive strategy for
attracting new students, attracting funding from potential donors and in meeting requirements
of the NQF, implemented through The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), in the
approval of courses.
While the majority of academics surveyed in the field study agreed that programmes provide a
new, positive means of curriculum structuring many also observed that the process had not
been without its tensions. The structuring process remains a subject of intense debate.
Respondents noted that programmed curricula have the capacity of constraining the content of
contributing courses to material that relates to the major focus of the programme. A danger
exists that important disciplinary material, not so related, will be lost or neglected. Individual
academics might become dissatisfied and frustrated by constraints, to the detriment of their
teaching. Not everyone, moreover, will be directly or principally interested in the primary
84
focus of a given programme. Another factor is the tendency to break programmes down into
relatively small modules which might constrain depth of coverage.
Another major contention raised hinged about the degree to which programmes have shifted
learning towards applied knowledge and skill acquisition primarily directed at producing
marketable outcomes. This is seen, on the one hand, as a response to student (and parent?)
demands for a training that is perceived to be applied and marketable. On the other hand, it is
a response to pressures imposed on the academic sphere by university administrators. They,
through financial stress and increasing competition for undergraduate students, are
increasingly encouraging (pushing) for work that is seen to be more relevant, applied and
marketable in contemporary society.
Many respondents maintained also that programmes should not be too narrowly structured to
avoid possibilities of saturating the market too quickly. Moreover the majority of respondents
stressed the need for programmes to maintain the academic identity and integrity of the basic
discipline contributing to the work of the programme and its academic balance. This is
important to ensure the future continuity of disciplines and to provide a sufficient foundation
upon which to undertake postgraduate work and research. In several cases restructuring to
accommodate new programmes has led to the disappearance of the title ‘Geography’. This is a
regrettable shift and, in the opinion of many respondents, totally unacceptable!
Programmes that have a ‘rag-bag’ or ‘smarty box’ structure are likely to have little real
academic value. The argument on the nature and role of university education arises here to
question the long-term merits of instituting an applied form of education as against the
established, academically oriented education, strongly theoretically based.
A purely practical question raised in field discussions was the degree to which universities and
departments involved in structuring new programmes have undertaken market research to
determine the medium to long-term viability of job markets which graduates will enter. Our
findings are that little or no market research has been undertaken either by departments or by
universities and that markets are being assumed on the basis of “experience” and perceptions.
This is an important issue as it is very crucial that we do not mislead students on the question
of job availability or ease of job access. Checks on job market conditions should be
undertaken regularly to ensure flexibility in course offerings. Only one department indicated
that serious market research had been undertaken in the structuring of its programme of study.
Programmed learning, moreover, provides an impression that students are being quasiprofessionalised. It is important that this impression be tempered to avoid misleading
conclusions.
Trends toward the institution of programmed learning is now strong and our evidence shows
that 15 of the 21 departments surveyed participate in undergraduate programmes, or curricula
structured as programmes. In 12 departments the discipline is offered as a conventional major
in geography.
Following the general trends of curriculum composition already noted, 12 departments have
undergraduate programmes structured in the context of environmental science and
environmental management. Six departments have programmes in other fields including
geography itself, tourism and geographical information systems. The trend toward applied
fields is strongly evident.
85
Qualities of the Undergraduate Curriculum
Our evidence suggests that the structuring of the undergraduate curriculum is logical – there is
progression of difficulty over the three years of study. Basic and traditional sub-disciplines
are being covered and updated in the introductory first year. The object is to create a firm
foundation. Innovation, development and change have been concentrated in senior years and
in the third year in particular. It is at that level that the content envelope has been expanded
and where new, sometimes popular, issues are being studied. This we would judge is an
acceptable trend but would nonetheless urge caution against excessive fragmentation and loss
of identity and coherence in the discipline. The trend is particularly strong in human
geography, evident for example in the diversity of contexts and themes and in the range of
reference works used in research and class reading lists. The pursuit of personal interests,
which may be marginal to the core interests of the discipline, should perhaps be reserved for
postgraduate study and individual research activity. We must at all costs avoid a curriculum
composition which might be labelled a ‘rag bag’ and strive towards a content that displays
meaningful relationships between fields of knowledge and skills.
The high diversity of course offerings at present implies that fragmentation and an
unacceptable level of incoherence may be present in the curriculum. This may be the case
particularly where curricula are structured by individual students, under flexible rules. It
would not apply to curricula of degree programmes, which presumably are carefully planned.
Uncontrolled diversity and fragmentation may, through popular, individual titling of courses,
lead to the diffusion and loss of disciplinary identity. Though now very common, this
practice, if unconstrained, is unfortunate. Course identities should be unambiguous, clear and
not subject to faddish or fashionable whims to attain popularity. It may be that current
diversity in course offerings is the outcome of a repackaging process induced by the need to
compete for students. It may also be a reflection of contemporary post-modern flexibility and
opportunity for individualism.
Opportunities, benefits and advantages of post-modern flexibility must be recognised but
responsible decisions should be made, not only in course titling but also in the adoption of new
contexts, topics and issues to form the bases of new courses in the curriculum. The padding of
the curriculum with too many individual, soft, special topics could be disastrous in the long
term. Many such courses could have little or no potential for creating a foundation for later
study or be of ultimate vocational value to students.
Be that as it may, this panel believes that the practice should be monitored in the greater
interest of disciplinary integrity.
Additional Respondent Observations on the Undergraduate Curriculum
1. Geographical leadership should adopt an approach which is encouraging and supportive
and will lead to deepening of rigour. It should not avoid the unpopular task of insisting
upon the highest possible quality in content and teaching.
•
2. We should recognise the fundamental importance and practical value of environmental
management in contemporary society and the need for applied training of students to
practice as environmental managers. It is generally accepted by respondents that
environmental science and environmental management are desirable and very important
components which must be incorporated into geography as natural dimensions of the
discipline.
86
3. Environmental science in many ways conforms to the content and practice of geography as
a discipline and environmental management is a natural applied extension of the structure.
A radical conception might be that the undergraduate curriculum could become the basis
for an education in environmental science. At the same time we should be very careful to
consider the implications of the development of environmental management as a major
component of the undergraduate curriculum. The issue should become a particular subject
of study. We must ensure that the integrity of basic sub-disciplines, upon which the
applied practice of environmental science and environmental management depends, is not
compromised. The question of where environmental management should be incorporated
should be answered.
4. The practice of transforming undergraduate curricula into vehicles leading to the
attainment of an applied training for particular vocations should be explored in depth.
Decisions on this issue could have far reaching results for the future of the discipline. The
desire to capture the student market should be satisfied through more basic change.
5. In more general terms there is a need to keep a careful watch on the degree to which the
curriculum is permitted to become applied and vocationally directed. We would not wish
to compromise the fundamental character of a university education. More specifically we
should be strongly aware of current trends in the relations between geography,
environmental science and environmental management and also of the relationships with
GIS and tourism.
6. Constraints on the breadth and depth of the curriculum induced by limited staff capacities
(numbers of staff available and their qualification profile) suggests a need to be more
focused and to place limits on the level of fragmentation.
7. Urgent attention should be paid to the issue of skills training. The vigour and rigour of the
discipline depends very heavily upon skills development.
8. The evidence suggests that the quality of education being offered by our departments
varies substantially from institution to institution. The question arises on whether
consistency across the system is necessary. Should the student market be left to sort this
problem out?
9. The issue of the internal consistency of the curriculum should be monitored. Too frequent
change is detrimental to the discipline.
10. On the issues of the relevance of the discipline, the clarity of its objectives and the degree
to which it provides a satisfactory foundation for postgraduate study, the jury is still out.
Specific Observations on the Issue of Skills Training
One respondent observed that: “undergraduate curricula should not necessarily be content
based. One should, necessarily, preferably get on top of academic skills”. These were listed
as an ability to:
• master and process abstract thought and complex ideas;
• find information;
• extract information; and
• acquire skill to short cut the process
87
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
contrast ideas;
tie one’s own views to a wider school of thought;
test evidence;
undertake analytical writing;
define strategic alternatives;
respond to societal problems and to display sensitivity to societal problems;
analyse incisively
apply technical skills;
apply graphical skills;
apply skills of quantitative method;
apply field skills involving information gathering, information measuring and recording.
These are essentially skills which lead to an ability to integrate information;
Moreover:
• the curriculum must have relevance to enable graduates to engage as professionals in
society;
• it must provide the student with professional confidence including an appreciation of the
core elements of the discipline; and
• students should have an ability to articulate difference between South African issues and
international issues and have an ability to describe their own landscape effectively.
Field discussions universally confirmed these views. All respondents expressed a need for the
contemporary curriculum to emphasise skills training. In the words of one respondent, “strong
emphasis should be placed on what students’ can use in their careers”. In the view of another
“we must be able to apply what we have learnt not just think the stuff out and then pass the
task over to someone else to actually undertake the work”. A third observed that “society at
present wishes for applied science rather than pure basic science – the practical usefulness
factor is now very important”. A fourth respondent noted “student job-related expectations are
inducing changes in the curriculum and making them more skills oriented and practice
oriented”. And a fifth observed that “students will get a job not necessarily because they have
taken geography but because they have a range of skills and insights drawn from geography”.
A balancing view expressed by many indicated that the acquisition of academic skills is as
important as the acquisition of technical skills. In this view, “it is critically important to
acquire basic academic skills to maintain academic continuity, development and sustainability.
Our students should be able to speak well, write well, understand and critically analyse
findings. These skills are acquired through doing intellectual things”.
The influence of SAQA on the content of academic curricula now appears to be assuming
great significance. Perceptions of respondents are that if courses offering skills training, for
example, are not vocationally oriented, they may not be recognized for subsidy. This
constraint should be borne in mind in curriculum structuring and it is possible that a need
exists for existing curricula to be subject to reassessment and review to ensure continuity.
The institution of separate credits for skills courses emphasises their importance. As indicated
previously, skills courses now contribute 17% of all courses in the undergraduate curriculum
and they are no longer regarded simply as appendages or extensions of more important theory
courses (Table 4.1). They have attained greater relevance. The use of problem-oriented
presentations through short projects is in some departments assisting the acquisition of skill.
The strategy serves as a means through which students gain experience in the application of
skills. It is important to note, however, that there has been a tendency for departments to
88
withdraw project work from the undergraduate curriculum particularly in the third year level
for reasons of class size and pressure on supervisors. The matter will be further discussed
below.
The provision of skills training implies the recognition of a need to provide resources for this
task. These include computer laboratories, flexi-time timetabling, provision of online
practicals and reporting of results and a need for more intensive supervision in small group
work. The mode of conducting skills training will have to be adjusted to conform to these
conditions.
The process will require a major addition of academic staff to facilitate a digital approach to
skills training. Moreover academic support for less advantaged students will be a necessary
factor for this type of training.
Respondents generally agreed on the necessity for fieldwork as a vehicle through which skill
training may be pursued. Discussions showed that fieldwork is being undertaken in many
departments particularly at the third year level but essentially only in fields of physical
geography. There is general agreement that the practice of fieldwork tends to enthuse and
encourage students and that it focuses their interests. Fieldwork, however, is an expensive
exercise to support and central financing of the activity is generally weak. Very few
departments appear to have central university grants to support the activity and students are
required to make significant contributions to those departments, which undertake such work.
One university has instituted a centrally operating Fieldwork Committee, which funds the
activity in all departments, which undertake it, including Geography. At that university the
establishment of central funding was motivated on grounds that costs of practical work
undertaken by science faculties, are covered by student fees. Where fieldwork is undertaken
as a fundamental component of training in a discipline there is no reason why it should not be
regarded as work to be covered by central fees. The possibility of extending such provision to
all departments should be further examined.
Most respondents in discussion raised the issue of the adequacy of current skills training in
departments of geography. All respondents commented that the level of skills training
currently provided is not sufficient. Students do not in their opinion reach an adequate level of
training or application. In the view of respondents factors which mitigate against skills
acquisition include:
• The time factor and limitations on capacities to supervise training and adequately
assess student work.
• Poor responses from students to the imposition of work which is considered to be
onerous and difficult
• Inadequate provision of information on the relevance of skills acquisition to students
• Difficulties encountered by students who come from historically disadvantaged
backgrounds where their schooling preparation is inadequate
• Limited capacities of resources for skills training
The restructuring of university education towards a career-oriented format is now
progressively emphasising the importance of skills training. It is likely that vocational
pressures will increasingly demand higher levels of training. Here too there is need for deeper
investigation and planned action.
89
The Honours Curriculum
Honours students are the ‘academic pay-load’ of a department. They make up the cream of
their cohort and are students who have successfully completed their undergraduate degree at
an above average standard. They are that group of students which has not only mastered the
theoretical bases of their discipline but also the range of skills provided in the training of a
geographer. Students who have made a specific and committed academic choice to study the
discipline at an advanced level create a potential for the development of the discipline and
provide the foundation for the realisation of the research potential of the department. In a
material sense also, these students draw the highest level of subsidy funding.
With these qualities in mind the training of Honours students is considered by all respondents
to be an activity of the highest importance. At this level students might be taken to the
frontiers of the sub-disciplines they might choose to study. It is here too that specialisation is
developed and where opportunities are created for self-development.
In general terms the Honours curriculum should thus offer advanced academic challenges and
opportunities to work at the academic frontiers of the discipline. Moreover it should:
•
•
•
•
•
polish and extend the capacity of students across the complete range of skills.
offer flexibility in the structure of the range of material studied ,
instil excitement in and commitment to specialist fields of study to encourage further
academic development at research levels,
provide a learning context which is interactive, encouraging, stimulating, critical and
constructively competitive,
provide as much opportunity for personal development and the acquisition of a
professional approach as possible.
Each Honours student should fully experience that truly amazing and personal academic
transformation which a year of study at the Honours level should achieve. Indeed the Honours
year should academically be the most enjoyable and satisfying year in the student’s academic
career.
• Structuring the Honours Curriculum
The contemporary Honours curriculum for the most part remains relatively flexible in
structure. Students will select a range of courses under guidance to attain personal academic
goals. Coherence and logic in curriculum structure is stressed. A common structure would be
one in which a student will make a selection of four or perhaps five academic courses, which
in general each take up a semester. Frequently there is some flexibility in selection of courses
from beyond the department. In some departments selection will be made from a set of
smaller modules (up to 8 in number) to cover shorter time spans.
The curriculum will also include the preparation and presentation of a set of formal, individual
seminar presentations (perhaps two or three over the year). Students will also be required to
undertake the preparation of a research project report or mini-thesis under supervision. This
will be their first significant exposure to research training.
Our survey shows that the range of optional courses contributing to the content of the Honours
curriculum in South African departments is quite small in comparison to the selection
available, for example, in departments in the United Kingdom. Table 4.5 shows that nine
departments in South Africa offer a choice of eight or fewer Honours courses, eight offer nine
to twelve courses and the mean number of courses offered is nine per department. In the
United Kingdom the choice will significantly exceed twenty courses at most universities.
90
The composition of the Honours curriculum, like that of the undergraduate curriculum, has
experienced significant change. The balance between the primary divisions of physical and
human geography has for a long remained biased in favour of human geography, and
particularly so in the period 1970 to the present. Both human geography and physical
geography, however, have experienced a relative decline in the proportion of courses they
contribute as environmental science and environmental management, applied geography and
skills training development experienced considerable growth.
Collectively, courses
contributed from those primary divisions now constitute 46% of all courses offered in Honours
across the twenty-one departments in South Africa.
This shift conforms to developments in the undergraduate curriculum and marks a
fundamental trend towards geographical education that is more applied and vocationally
oriented. There has been a fall in the proportion of physical geography courses since 1970
Table 4.5: Number of Honours Courses offered at South African Universities
Historically Advantaged Departments
University
No Courses
Research Project
Cape Town
9
Yes
Free State
9
Yes
Natal Durban
12
Yes
Natal
Pietermaritzburg
9
Yes
Port Elizabeth
9
Yes
Potchefstroom
Comment
+ 7 courses from other Departments
+ GIS Research Project
Introduction to Masters – 15 + Research Project + 6 electives
Pretoria
19
Yes
Rand Afrikaans
8
Yes
Rhodes
11
Yes
Stellenbosch
5
Yes
Witwatersrand
6
Yes
Historically Disadvantaged Departments
Durban-Westville
11
Yes
Fort Hare
7
Yes
North
7
Yes
North West
22
Yes
Transkei
9
Yes
Venda
12
Yes
Western Cape
9
Yes
Zululand
5
Yes
UNISA
13
No
Vista
8
yes
Mean Number of Course Offered: 9 courses
Source: University Handbooks
91
Only some in any one year
Distance education
from 34% to 17%. That fall, however, is balanced by the rise in the proportion of courses in
environmental studies which has risen from 2% to 15 % of the total. The growth in the
number of courses offered in applied geography, which are centred mainly on the application
of fields of physical geography has been significant. These now constitute 10% of the total
number of courses and in general form part of the shift towards an environmental focus.
Interest in the history and philosophy of the discipline remains high. Fifteen of the twenty-one
departments offer such courses and they constitute 7% of the total. The significance of
courses in the history and philosophy of the discipline is not necessarily appreciated by all and
some quite severe criticism of these courses was received in the field survey. One particularly
critical respondent was constrained to say, “one of the courses, which has done the most harm
to geography is the course on the philosophy of geography. It seems to institutionalise an
inferiority in the subject. To feel a need to discuss the philosophy of what one is doing all the
time and to diligently examine every modern little paradigm change that is brought about is
incorporated in this and it becomes low level rubbish. In consequence I am not prepared to
attend seminars on that subject”.
Table 4.6: Summary of Honours Primary Study Fields, 1970 and 2000
2000
Primary Division
1970
Percent
Rank
Percent
Rank
Human Geography
35
1
44
1
Physical Geography
17
2
34
2
Skills
16
2
12
3
Environmental Studies
15
4
2
5
Applied Geography
10
5
-
-
7
6
8
4
History/Philosophy
Source: University Handbooks
Figure 4.3:
Honours:
Primary
Study
Fields,
1970 and
2000
Honours Primary
Study Fields
1970
History/Philosophy
2000
Applied Geography
Environmental Studies
Skills
Physical Geography
Human Geography
0
5
10
15
20
25
Percentage
92
30
35
40
45
Notwithstanding such criticism, most departments consider it important that students have
some insight on the historical and philosophical bases of their discipline. It is proper that they
do. Courses focussed on training in geographical skills also experienced substantial growth
rising from a proportion of 12% in 1970 to 16% in 2000. Growth is focused in particular on
the development of GIS as a major contemporary dimension of a geographical education. GIS
is now the single most important contributor of courses offered at the Honours level and
second only to environmental studies in the distribution of course electives (Tables 4.6 and 4.7
and Figs. 4.3 & 4.4). The conclusion is that the most significant structural change to have
taken place over the past 30 years is the rise to significance of environmental studies, applied
geography and skills training. Tables 4.6 and 4.7 show the relative weighting in the number of
courses offered in individual sub-disciplines of geography and in field collectives for 1970 and
2000.
Table 4.7: Most Common Honours Courses available in South African Departments
Honours Courses
No. of Departments
Percentage
With an Environmental Focus
18
86
GIS
17
81
Geomorphology
15
71
Urban
14
67
History/Philosophy
14
67
Development Studies
11
52
Climatology
9
43
Population Geography
7
33
Economic Geography
6
29
Biogeography
6
29
Political Geography
5
24
Tourism
5
24
Source: University Handbooks
Classical sub-disciplines of geography dominated the field in 1970, including geomorphology,
economic geography, climatology, the history and philosophy of geography and urban
geography. The contemporary curriculum, on the other hand, is clearly dominated by courses
in environmental studies, GIS, urban geography, geomorphology, the history and philosophy
of the discipline and development geography. The distribution once more confirms the trend
towards more applied studies.
The distribution of course weightings show that traditional fields of geography including
geomorphology, climatology, population geography, economic geography, biogeography,
political geography and urban geography have remained significant. Conservation of these
fundamental fields stands to the credit of the discipline since they remain the foundation upon
which basic work develops and upon which research rests. It is important to note, however,
that the human geography courses listed constitute only 19% of the 35% contributed by human
geography as a whole. This means that much work at the Honours level might be being
directed towards a host of soft areas of specialist interest. That finding might be disquieting.
93
Figure 4.4: Most Common Honours Courses in South African Geography
Honours Courses
Tourism
24
Political Geography
24
Biogeography
29
Economic Geography
29
Population Geography
33
Climatology
43
Development Studies
52
History/Philosophy
67
Urban
67
Geomorphology
71
GIS
81
With an Environmental Focus
86
0
20
40
60
80
100
Percentage of SA Departm ents
The full list of Honours courses offered by departments in South Africa comprises 221
individual course titles, which may be reduced to 38 summary areas of study. These compare
to 69 summary areas of study listed for departments in the United Kingdom. The very large
range of course titles offered for study, however, suggests the contemporary trend, already
noted in the undergraduate curriculum, for fragmentation to take place.
Research training undertaken under supervision in the preparation of an Honours research
project is an important and highly valued component of the curriculum. Many students will
identify their specialist interests at this point. The training serves as a foundation preparing
students for post graduate research at the Master’s level.
An important recent trend, tracking developments in the undergraduate curriculum, is the
institution of programmed study at the Honours level. Programmes have been defined and
have been introduced for the same reasons as were given in the undergraduate discussion. At
present seven departments (one third of the total) have programmes of study. Significantly
five of those departments have programmes in environmental science and environmental
management. Two departments offer programmes in GIS and three departments in
development studies.
94
Seventeen of the twenty-one departments visited now offer at least one course in
environmental studies/management and, in some, those fields have become the dominant
activity. One particularly important development in that respect is the institution of an
Honours degree in the University of Potchefstroom where the curriculum is now given over
entirely to a training in environmental science and environmental management. The academic
course work is regarded as preparation for a Master’s degree in environmental science and
environmental management. Indeed the Honours degree is awarded only if the Master’s
degree is not completed. In reality the conventional Honours degree in geography has now
disappeared from the department. Important implications arise from this development and
they will be taken up again in the discussion devoted to the relationship between geography
and environmental science to be dealt with in a later section of this report. The distribution of
major study areas across the 21 departments is shown in Table 4.8.
Table 4.8:
Ranking of Honours Courses by Summary Study Fields and Collectives of
Study Fields, 1970 and 2000
2000
1970
%
R
As Summary
Field Collectives
%
R
%
R
GIS
10
1
Environmental
Studies
15
1
Geomorphology
13
1
Environmental
Management
Management
History/Philosophy
8
2
GIS
10
2
Economic Geography
13
1
7
3
Urban
9
3
Climate
12
3
Geomorphology
5
4
Geomorphology
8
4
Research Methods
10
4
Development
5
4
History/Philosoph
7
5
Political
10
4
Urban Geography
4
6
Development
5
6
History/Philosophy
8
6
Research Methods
4
6
Climate
4
7
Urban Geography
7
7
Tourism
3
8
Research Methods
4
7
Soil Geography
5
8
Economic
Geography
Political Geography
3
8
4
7
Biogeography
3
9
3
8
Economic
Geography
Tourism
3
10
Social
3
9
Climate
2
11
Population
Geography
3
10
Population
2
11
Remote Sensing
2
11
Political
Geography
3
10
Biogeography
2
11
Biogeography
2
13
Population
2
11
Remote Sensing
2
13
Settlement
2
11
Settlement
Geography
2
13
Totals
62
Totals
81
Totals
86
As Summary
Fields
Courses
Source: University Handbooks. 1970 Data based on available calendars for 12 universities.
A fairly high level of commonality in course offerings exists in the fields of geomorphology,
environmental studies, the history and philosophy geography, GIS, urban geography and
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development studies. More than half the departments offer courses in those fields; in some
instances the proportion is significantly higher. Relatively few departments offer studies in
the fields of population geography, political geography, economic geography, biogeography
and tourism. The findings suggest that, to a degree, students must now make a deliberate
selection of a department to attain access to fields in which they particularly wish to study.
Departments in South Africa are also beginning to be recognised for particular fields of
specialisation. A preliminary list of departmental specialisations follows (Table 4.9). The
specialisations listed represent strongly developed research foci in the departments but do not
necessarily dominate the structures of the departments.
Table 4.9: Specialist Fields Centred in Departments of Geography
HISTORICALLY ADVANTAGED DEPARTMENTS
Cape Town: Atmospheric Science, Environmental Management, Urban.
Free State: Applied Geomorphology, Geohydrology.
Natal, Durban: Environmental Management.
Natal, Pietermaritzburg: Environmental Science, Rural Development.
Port Elizabeth: Historical, Political.
Potchefstroom: Environmental Management.
Pretoria: Environmental Analysis and Management, Urban Development, GIS.
Rand Afrikaans: Environmental Management and Planning.
Rhodes: Water Management, Landscape Processes and Management, Spatial Development.
Stellenbosch: GIS.
Witwatersrand: Climatology, Development Studies.
HISTORICALLY DISADVANTAGED DEPARTMENTS
Durban-Westville: Environment and Development.
Venda: Environmental Management.
Western Cape: Environmental Management, Water Management, Geomorphology.
Zululand: Applied Climatology, Tourism/Recreation.
Source: Field interviews
There is little doubt that this trend will deepen in the future.
•
Teaching in the Honours year
Discussions show that the teaching approach in Honours classes of all departments visited is
based on small group work. In many departments the teaching mode is based on a tutorial
system with a focus on individual student work and presentation. Strictly applied this method
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leads to a condition where the students truly ‘read’ for a degree. Most departments use
seminar work and individual presentation of material as a means of developing the personal
qualities and confidence of students. The approach adopted is a particularly important context
of learning ensuring that students are exposed to critical debate and discussion. Students are
prepared as professionals and a foundation is laid for postgraduate research.
There will be variations in the quality of the Honours degree offered by the different
departments. An assessment of quality, however, will necessarily have to await an in-depth
professional assessment. Variations in quality, however, will become self evident in the ease
with which students are able to transfer for research purposes to other universities.
Honours student numbers have, over the past decade and a half, grown rapidly. While the
increase is very much to the benefit of the departments and to the universities concerned, the
increase in student numbers could have a significant impact on the mode of study. The present
day practices of small group and tutorial work could perforce give way to formal lecturing to
larger classes. Such a shift would be distinctly regressive. This issue in discussion gave rise
to considerable concern in the minds of all respondents. The concern extended moreover to
the impacts that might arise for Honours research project work and for fieldwork undertaken
by Honours students. The viability of such activity could be distinctly threatened to the
disadvantage of the quality of the degree.
Experience has shown that the South African Honours degree in geography, though
constrained by the limited range of courses offered to students, reaches a quality equivalent to
that attained by students at universities in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada,
Australia and New Zealand. Students who have proceeded to prominent institutions in those
countries for postgraduate research purposes have proved to be at least equivalent in quality to
their overseas peers. The impression gained during visits to the departments was that the
quality of the Honours degree is an element of departmental activity that is very jealously
guarded and maintained.
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Part 5
Recent Structural Changes in University Geography Education and Training
in South Africa
The Relationship of Geography, Environmental Science and Environmental
Management
•
Introduction
Earlier sections of this report have shown the contemporary importance of the environmental
studies collective as a dimension of curriculum structuring at undergraduate and Honours
levels and in programme studies for taught Masters degrees. In each case environmental
studies has emerged as the top sub-field of study. It is no exaggeration to say that the
incorporation of environmental science and environmental management into departments of
geography is probably the most profound structural change to have taken place in
contemporary South African geography. It is particularly evident in responses made in field
survey discussions where 75% of respondents accept that concepts of environmental science
and environmental management are now tending to drive the structuring of South African
geography.
To accommodate the shift, 15 of the 21 departments (71%) have adapted by incorporating the
term's environmental science, environmental studies or environmental management into their
departmental titles. Named degrees have been introduced at undergraduate, Honours and
Masters levels and in some departments structural changes have taken place which involve
new relationships between departments, schools of study and faculties. These have in several
cases resulted in the loss of individual departmental identity and autonomy. A case in point is
the School of Life and Environmental Sciences in the University of Natal, Durban where
geography is now regarded simply as a subject division of the School and its independent
administrative existence has been reduced. A problem of ongoing disciplinary identity arises
in such circumstances.
Change of this order, by definition, imposes certain responsibilities upon universities and their
departments of geography. Expectations will be that departments with names which include
Environmental Science and Environmental Management will offer a full or partial training in
those fields, and that the curriculum will be structured accordingly. The implications are
significant and important subjects of study. Extensive discussions on this topic have been held
with geographers responding in the field survey. The nature of the relationships is explored in
the paragraphs which follow.
•
Questions of Definition
The South African Institute of Ecologists and Environmental Scientists (SAIE and ES), the
body which aims to uphold the standards of professional practice of Ecology and
Environmental Science in South Africa, defines Environmental Science as:
A multi-disciplinary science concerned with an understanding and management of the
interactions between the natural environment and the activities of the human environment in
which the emphasis is placed on sustainable development.
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The South African Council of Natural Scientific Professions (SACNSP) defines Natural
Science as:
The science of nature (as distinguished from social science) including mathematics.
An environmental scientist in the eyes of the Institute of Ecologists is someone who has
received appropriate multi-disciplinary training covering both the natural and human
environments and has experience in environmental management, environmental assessment
and related studies. In the eyes of the SA Council of Natural Scientific Professions the titles
environmental scientist and geographical scientist (BSc, BSc Honours, MSc and PhD) are
equated with natural scientist in regulations formed under the Natural Scientific Professions
Act 106 of 1993.
It is significant that the definitions of the Institute of Ecologists and the South African Council
differ over the inclusion of human relations in the environment. Also the Institute definition
includes the exercise of environmental management and concepts of sustainable development
in its definition.
Only two respondents in the field survey volunteered a reference to the definition of
environmental science proposed by the Institute of Ecologists and only one of these referred to
the definition set out by the SACNSP. The question arises on whether geographers in South
Africa are aware of the existence of the professional bodies?
The majority of respondents, 83%, had difficulty in clearly defining the meaning of
Environmental Science. Several indicated that they have not thought about the issue before!
Only 11% of respondents considered Environmental Science to be an independent discipline
and there was a lack of clarity on the distinction of Environmental Management.
Most respondents agreed that disciplines like Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, Geology,
Climatology, Geomorphology and so on are individually sciences concerned with the study of
one or other aspect of the natural environment. Such sciences might be viewed as vertically
organised studies of particular sets of environmental phenomena and may be described as
individual environmental sciences. Most respondents moreover, agreed with a description of
Environmental Science as an activity which is primarily concerned with the study of
relationships which exist between the myriad of elements individually studied in the individual
environmental sciences and which make up the structure and functions of the natural
environment. In this sense, Environmental Science is conceived as a multi-disciplinary activity
which is organised both vertically and laterally and which attempts to integrate the functional
relations between natural phenomena, on one hand. On the other, it is concerned with
integrating natural functional interrelationships with those that occur in the human
environment and which might interact with the natural environment.
It was also generally agreed that all interrelationships in the biophysical environment are all
part of “nature”. In that context, and however catastrophic a relationship might appear to be to
an observer, such relationships must be considered to be benign, natural phenomena. It is only
when human beings are introduced into the equation that relationships may become
problematic either to humans directly or because humans, through their actions, cause
relationships to exist which are damaging to the biophysical environment. Such interrelationships demand the institution of management to resolve problems and to set up
measures to ensure that natural inter-relationships are not disturbed or violated, and to
ameliorate problematic human actions. Management should ensure that human socioeconomic development is undertaken on a sustainable basis.
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In summary, the field discussions recognised the existence of Environmental Science as a
multi-disciplinary activity concerned with the study of elements of the biophysical
environment and of interrelationships of such elements. It may include inter-relationships
caused to exist by the actions and interventions of humans. It also becomes apparent that
Environmental Management might be defined as a set of applied activities designed to manage
relationships in the environment and particularly those arising from problematic interventions
and actions of humans.
•
Issues Arising From Training in Environmental Science and Environmental
Management
The holistic nature of environmental science suggests that the environmental scientist will
have knowledge and skills spread over a very wide spectrum of disciplines. It is manifestly
impossible, however, for any individual to have expert or specialised knowledge over the full
spectrum of environmental science. The solution in training in environmental science is thus,
on the one hand, to expect a trainee to attain specialisation in one (perhaps two) appropriate
environmental sciences. He or she should then gain as wide a knowledge and appreciation as
possible of others and particularly of the interrelationships of their elements. Access to the
expertise of scientists in fields other than those possessed by the first party is assumed. On the
other hand, an environmental scientist in training should also be required to attain as deep a
knowledge and appreciation as possible of the structures and processes of human society and
of their inevitable interaction with the biophysical environment.
It is in the pattern of these interrelationships that problematic situations become apparent.
Interactions with specialists in social science too are required when expert knowledge is
required in the identification, understanding and interpretation of problematic situations.
These assertions emphasise the growing importance of the practice of Social Environmental
Impact Assessment as an essential component of Environmental Science and Environmental
Management.
There was universal agreement among respondents that very important and positive academic
reasons exist why geography departments should lay claim to formal environmental science
education and training. Arguments in the course of discussion included the following points:
o Geography provides a range of basic environmental sciences including climatology
and meteorology, geomorphology, biogeography and aspects of human social relations
and their relationships with the biophysical environment. In addition it offers a set of
analytical and cartographic skills essential to the analysis of environmental phenomena
and their interaction. These include laboratory skills, GIS, cartography, field research
techniques and practice in the biophysical and human social environment and statistical
analytical skills. GIS skills are now very powerful and are considered essential in
environmental analysis and evaluation.
o The integration of environmental science is a natural process, which recognises the
commonalties in the objectives and practice of Geography and environmental science
and provides an opportunity to share academic resources in education and training.
Geography has indeed major appropriate resources to offer training in environmental
science.
o It provides strong opportunity for Geography to practise integrated science.
o It represents a positive and constructive response by Geography to the world-wide rise
of environmental consciousness and opportunities to participate in activities designed
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o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
to give expression to that concern. The response has come about through growing
awareness of environmental degradation arising from problematic inter-relationships
between humans and the biophysical environment.
Geography has strong social science roots in human geography and provides an
excellent entry to required social science bases of analysis.
Geography is an integrated science, by definition based on the study of interrelationships between humans and the biophysical environment over a range of scales.
Its philosophy, methodology and analytical processes are close to those of
environmental science.
Geographers are comfortable, as a matter of common practice, interacting with cognate
biophysical and social scientists in accessing theory and functional insights necessary
in understanding and interpreting geographical relationships of earth and human
phenomena.
The discipline provides specific and powerful geographical insights arising from the
analysis of interrelationships of phenomena in the context of place, space and time.
The incorporation of the principles and method of environmental science represents an
opportunity response to market demand for training in that field and to demands arising
from new environmental legislative and planning requirements.
It represents a response to the demand by the state and university administrations for
education and training to be more directly relevant to immediate needs of society.
In addition it represents a response to demands from university administrations for
disciplines to establish or develop courses through which student numbers might be
increased. Interest in multi-disciplinary work is also high.
There is a very strong attraction of new consultancy opportunities that would arise.
In many respects, Geography may be seen to be already practising environmental science. It is
important to note, however, that it does not confine itself to the study of functional aspects of
inter-relationships between phenomena, as is often the case in environmental science. The
understanding and interpretation of spatial outcomes of interrelationships remains a paramount
outcome of geographical analysis.
Few geographers therefore would suggest that
environmental science should substitute for geography. There is little doubt, however, that in
current circumstances environmental science appears to be the more attractive applied option
and strong temptations exist for that circumstance to dictate the outcome.
Powerful advantages are likely to accrue to geography and environmental science from closer
integration. Equally, however, respondents agreed that one should be aware of the implications
that arise from absorbing environmental science and, in particular, its related activity in
environmental management. The academic structure of geography could be fundamentally
transformed. It is to this issue that we now turn.
It should not be assumed that a training in environmental science or/and geography will imply
that environmental scientists or geographers may practise the skills of environmental
management without further training.
It is equally understood that environmental
management is fundamentally dependent on as deep an understanding of environmental
science as possible. The practice though is comprised of a set of applied activities, which
extend beyond geography and environmental science. Capacities in those activities must be
acquired through further training in applied science and fields such as Law, Economics,
Business Science and Public Administration among others.
Environmental management moreover is an ordered activity involving the application of
formal procedures, methods and techniques involved in the evaluation and assessment of
environmental problems. It requires the practitioner to understand and be able to apply the
101
processes of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Social Impact Assessment (SIA),
Integrated Environmental Management (IEM), Environmental Auditing (EA), Risk
Assessment, and Environmental Economics in Environmental Management among others.
Environmental managers should have the capacity to formulate an Environmental
Management Plan, oversee the implementation of such a plan and to undertake monitoring
exercises on mitigating measures put into place. Environmental Management is now also a
practice, which has been professionalised, and training received by Environmental Managers
should receive professional recognition.
The demands of environmental management training are clearly very considerable. It
introduces entirely different dimensions from those carried by a conventional geographical
curriculum. Important implications for curriculum structuring arise and these now require
consideration.
Environmental science and environmental management training was first offered at a
postgraduate Master’s level from the early 1970s. The first courses were introduced at the
University of Cape Town. Since that time, and largely in response to student demand,
environmental science and environmental management have, as has been seen earlier,
progressively penetrated Honours and undergraduate levels of study.
Statistical data show that 17 of 21 departments visited now offer Honours degree courses in
Environmental Science, many of which include dimensions of environmental management. At
the undergraduate level, 14 departments have programmed studies. In 12 of those departments
programmes in environmental science and environmental management are offered to
undergraduates.
The message is clear - environmental science and environmental
management are unquestionably major dimensions of study in contemporary Geography and
the implications that arise from their inclusion in curriculum structuring are now important and
require examination.
Respondents in our survey were in general agreement that the principles and content of
environmental science contribute a valuable dimension to an education in geography. They
are thus not particularly concerned about implications that arise from the accommodation of
courses in environmental science. Many indicate that such courses form part of structured
academic packages anyway. It is equally true that respondents accepted in general that
environmental management is a very important activity and that it should be constructively
accommodated by geography. At the same time there is a strong awareness of the possibility
that the accommodation of environmental management in the existing geography curriculum
could give rise to serious difficulties.
Problem areas raised in the survey firstly concerned the potential loss of time for training in
basic environmental science and geography courses. When asked to comment on this issue,
60% of respondents agreed that erosion of our capacity to provide a sufficient foundation in
basic sub-fields of the discipline would take place. Thirty per cent of the respondents
disagreed and 10% were noncommittal. The loss of time in this respect could be a growing
one as the needs of the training in environmental management expand. The perception is that
a loss of training in basic environmental science and geography sub-disciplines could be
significant and could result in a student output inadequately qualified to pursue higher study
and research. Postgraduate work in the discipline in fields currently considered to be relevant
and important could be seriously undermined.
We would be producing graduates capable of pursuing an environmental management
vocation but inadequately prepared to enter advanced work in the basic bio-physical or social
science fields of the discipline. The danger exists that the environmental science training, let
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alone training in geography, could be diluted to the disadvantage of the discipline and of our
students.
A direct question posed to respondents on whether the accommodation of environmental
management in the existing undergraduate curriculum would erode our capacity to train
students for postgraduate research in basic sub-disciplines solicited a surprising reply.
Although leaning towards agreement only 44% of respondents agreed that such a measure
would erode the capacity and 56% did not comment. This result is probably the outcome of
uncertainty at this stage because training in environmental management is a very new activity.
In another respect 60% of respondents agreed that an undergraduate training in environmental
management, taken as part of a conventional geography curriculum, would not be sufficient to
enable a graduate to practice in the field. Only 11% of respondents suggest that the training
would be adequate and 29% did not comment. The situation could be different, were an
undergraduate major or programme in environmental science and environmental management
to be offered in parallel with geography.
The preliminary conclusion that may be drawn from the discussion is that the undergraduate
level is probably not the level at which serious teaching in environmental management should
be undertaken. It is the level at which introductory work in the field might be pursued to raise
the interest of students and lead them into later training. Guidance that is offered by the
discussion is that further development of undergraduate environmental management training
should be very carefully considered and preferably limited.
It is strongly evident that undergraduate courses in environmental science and environmental
management are popular with students and clearly have an impact on the attraction of students.
It is equally apparent that there is a general sense of disquiet about the inclusion of the field in
the conventional of geography curriculum.
There is a general sense that students wishing to enter an environmental management vocation
should first receive a strong basic education in the fundamental sub-fields of environmental
science and geography at the undergraduate level. Thereafter they might proceed, at the
Honours level or preferably in a programme structured Masters degree to a full training in
environmental management. Such a framework corresponds closely to the professional
training, which is provided for teachers and lawyers, for example. It would moreover
underpin a professional training in environmental management and ensure the academic status
of the field.
Issues arising from the introduction of environmental management courses in undergraduate
curricula have already been addressed in several departments. Measures taken are in general
directed at the conservation of the undergraduate curriculum. Five alternate models have been
identified. They are:
1. The Venda Model
The Venda model is based in a School of Environmental Sciences that consists of the
departments of Ecology and Resource Management, Geography and GeoInformation Sciences,
Hydrology and Natural Resources, Mining and Environmental Geology, and Urban and
Regional Planning. The purpose of the School is manpower training and applied research in
environmental science. The object is to give an understanding of the nature and characteristics
of the ‘natural’ and ‘human environment’ and secondly to apply that understanding in the
analysis and development of strategies and policies that promote the sustainable development
of resources.
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In this School, geography is offered as a three year major in a bachelor of Environmental
Science degree and for a four year Bachelor of Environmental Management Honours degree.
The environmental management components of the degrees are offered in the department of
ecology and resource management and are a mandatory requirement in the degree. The degree
structures serve to conserve the academic content of the geography major while at the same
time providing an opportunity for students to attain a professional training in environmental
management.
2. The University of Natal, Durban Model
The School of Life and Environmental Sciences in the University of Natal, Durban in which
geography is a subject division, but not an autonomous department, offers a complex set of
degree structures, incorporating a training in geography and environmental management, at the
undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
At the undergraduate level the School offers three structured programmes
• A BSc Programme in Environmental Science the content of which provides for an 80%
coverage in scientific disciplines and a 20% coverage in social science disciplines.
• A BSc Programme in Geography and Environmental Management in which the content is
divided equally between scientific and social science matter.
• A BSc or B Soc Sci Programme in Environmental Studies.
Each of these programmes includes study of modules of Environmental Management. In
addition it is possible to take environmental management as an independent major in a BA or
BSc degree. Tuition in Environmental Management is offered by the Division of Geography
in the School.
At the postgraduate level the Geography Division offers a BSc or BA Honours degree in
Environmental Science and one in Geography and Environmental Management. The
difference between the two degrees rests in the degree of emphasis which is placed upon basic
scientific study in the Environmental Science degree as against an emphasis upon
Management concerns in the degree which includes Environmental Management.
At the Masters level the Geography Division offers an MSc in Environmental Science which is
a coursework Masters programme focused on basic scientific modules and a research
dissertation, on the one hand. On the other hand, it offers a Masters degree in Environmental
Management, which is a coursework Masters programme focussed upon management
dimensions.
The range of qualifications offered at the University of Natal, Durban, is comprehensive and is
clearly oriented towards vocational outcomes of Environmental Science and Environmental
Management. The range of qualifications available extends from undergraduate to Masters
levels. The postgraduate qualifications may presumably be regarded as professional degrees
designed specifically for those who wish to work in the field of Environmental Sciences or
Environmental Management.
The model provided by this department is one which suggests a strong shift towards a
vocationally and professional based education.
3. The Rand Afrikaans University Model
Though structures planned for the department of geography in the Rand Afrikaans University
had not been instituted at the time of the survey it is important to note their planned format.
The proposed structures for the department are to retain a basic geography major at the
104
undergraduate level, but to introduce a second major in the field of environmental
management to accompany it. This design will provide for the retention of the integrity of the
basic discipline while at the same time provide for a training in environmental management at
the undergraduate level. There are similarities to the Venda model. Provision will be made
for professional training in environmental management at the Honours and Masters levels.
These will in effect be specialist courses at those levels.
4. The University of Potchefstroom Model
The department of geography in the University of Potchefstroom, while retaining a basic
geography major at the undergraduate level, has instituted a radical change at the Honours
level. The Honours degree in the department is now strongly focussed on a training in
environmental management to the exclusion of the basic sub-fields of geography.
The change instituted in this department is more than interesting. It is not only radical but has
far reaching implications for the maintenance and development of geography as a discipline.
In effect the potentials for advanced study and research in basic sub-fields of the discipline
have been removed and replaced with those of environmental management. A question arises
on whether that field provides a sufficient foundation for the growth of a vigorous and
rigorous research programme in the department.
5. The Pretoria, Rhodes and Natal, Pietermaritzburg University Models
In the universities of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, Pretoria, and Rhodes independent Environmental
Science units (centres) have been established. They are:
•
•
•
The Centre for Environmental and Development Studies in Pietermaritzburg.
The Centre for Environmental Studies in Pretoria and
The Environmental Science Programme at Rhodes.
Students wishing to specialise in Environmental Science and Environmental Management will
normally register for a postgraduate degree in these centres. The departments of geography in
the respective universities are strongly involved in the programmes of study but they do not
control them.
•
Conclusion
The findings of the field survey indicate that the practice of environmental management is of
fundamental importance and meets a major need in contemporary society. Findings suggest
equally that the practice of environmental management is fundamentally dependent on a
strong academic base in environmental science defined in its broadest sense and including an
understanding of human relationships and their interaction with the biophysical environment.
There is general agreement therefore that a training in environmental management cannot and
should not be undertaken without a base of scientific understanding. Environmental
Management cannot be regarded as a purely mechanical management exercise.
There was general agreement also that the discipline of geography provides an ideal (but not
necessarily the only) academic base upon which to develop an environmental management
training. Geography is a discipline, which constructively inter-relates essential dimensions of
the biophysical environment and human relations.
105
In the development of a training programme in environmental management it is essential that
the programme be designed in a way, which does not erode the capacities of the basic
scientific discipline. Courses in environmental management should not be permitted to
replace those of the basic discipline. They should in some suitable way compliment and
expand on those courses.
The conclusion reached therefore is that environment management should be accommodated in
Geography but in ways, which will conserve the academic base and at the same time provide
an appropriate training framework for the management activity. It is proposed that this issue
be taken up by the Society of South African Geographers as a matter of urgency and become
the focus of discussion in a workshop specifically designed to examine the question of training
in environmental management. Whether or not the undergraduate context is appropriate as the
arena of environmental management training or not will be one of the major issues to be
examined.
The Issue of Geographical Information Systems (Science) and Geography
Applications of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in professional geography mark a
trend, which is as strong as that noted for environmental science and environmental
management. Our statistical data show that 17 departments now have formal GIS courses at
the undergraduate and Honours levels of study. In a list of the top 10 courses taught at
undergraduate level, GIS ranks fourth. At the Honours level it ranks second.
There can be little doubt of the importance of this sub-field in contemporary South African
geography. In this respect there is a close comparison with the current situation in the United
Kingdom. Training in GIS practice is complementing studies in conventional cartography
which remain an important component of the undergraduate curriculum.
GIS is now frequently taught as a full, formal credit course and not merely as a component of
practical classes. There are important academic reasons why this should be so. They include:
•
•
•
•
GIS is a natural extension of a training in Geography and provides a powerful new tool for
spatial analysis.
GIS serves analytical and cartographic needs in fields of both physical and human
geography.
It extends capacities in cartography and map production.
GIS facilitates inter-disciplinary work, which is highly important in the practice of
geography.
At the same time GIS is a highly marketable skill and the market for trained practitioners is
perceived to be expanding. Respondents in our field survey suggested that, though the
academic reasons for the inclusion for GIS are unquestionably strong, it is none the less true to
say that the market is currently the driving force in the development of the sub-field.
Questions on the implications which arise from its inclusion in the academic curriculum thus
need attention.
GIS is today regarded as a component of a broader discipline known as Geographic
Information Science and Geomatics. As part of the professional field of Geographical
Information Science, GIS is deeply rooted in the disciplines of mathematics and in computer
science where advances in its technical operations are found. These are unlikely to be made in
106
its practice in Geography where interest is focussed mainly on applications in spatial analysis
and cartography.
A training in GIS may thus be regarded, on the one hand, as part of a training in Geographical
Information Science. On the other, it may be regarded as a stand-alone training in a particular
skill where it is regarded purely as a tool for analysis.
In the latter case the GIS practitioner is regarded as a user of the tool, perhaps a technician
rather than as a professionally trained person. Our field survey shows that this is the context in
which the study of GIS is currently undertaken in all South African departments of geography
where it has now found an unchallenged position. The object is to provide students with a
capacity to apply the techniques of the skill in appropriate contexts. The exception is the
department in the University of Pretoria where the Centre for Geomatics has now been
incorporated into the Department of Geography. It is apparent, however, that The Centre
retains a degree of autonomy under present arrangements. Respondents agree that a full
professional training in GIS, incorporating training in underlying mathematics and applied
mathematics, will remain centred in specialist units and will not be undertaken in conventional
departments of geography.
There is little doubt that the incorporation of GIS training has strongly influenced the growth
in student numbers in many departments of geography. Many maintain that it has enabled
departments to attract students from other disciplines who may also wish to obtain a training in
GIS.
Experience of establishing training in GIS has shown a need for substantial investment in
technically equipped laboratories. These in several instances must serve several hundred
students and expectations must thus be that they will be expensive. The outcome is that
learning programmes should be structured to maximise the time students have on applications.
Most departments now use self-directed learning programmes applied on a flexi-time basis as
a solution.
Training in GIS also requires the appointment of qualified and innovative instructors. The
training material is challenging and sometimes difficult to communicate. Appropriately
qualified staff is not always readily available, as the attraction of employment in private and
public sector positions is considerable.
Students need intensive supervision in their training and innovative teaching practices are a
necessity. Training is very time consuming and this is perhaps the most important factor that
has implications for the inclusion of GIS in the geography curriculum at all levels. It will also
explain the setting up of formal GIS courses rather than the accommodation of training in
conventional practical classes.
It is evident from prevailing experience that the entrance requirements for GIS courses are
important. Departments agree that students will require a basic education in a chosen
discipline, in this case geography, and that they should also have a basic training in
cartography. The need is to provide disciplinary insights in applications, on the one hand, and
technical input such as the theory of map projections and principles of map design in
cartography, on the other. The importance of maintaining existing training in the bases of
conventional cartography is strongly evident in that observation. Experience of mathematics
would be beneficial and students should, as a matter of course be computer literate. All
respondents insisted that GIS lecturers should not be required to offer a basic training in
computer usage. Strong criticism was received on present levels of student computer literacy.
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A knowledge of computer programming would also be beneficial but this skill is not
considered to be a necessity in training for the practise of GIS.
At present mathematics is not required as a qualification for training, but in its absence the
level of training will be limited particularly in the application of higher level skills. The
imposition of a mathematics requirement, however, is likely to limit student intake and it is
thus, at present, not considered to be a pressing issue.
For reasons given above, courses in GIS are normally introduced only from the senior
undergraduate years. Of the 17 departments offering GIS, four offer an introductory course in
second year and 17 in the third year. All these departments have advanced courses at the
Honours level. Training in GIS in the undergraduate years is often offered at an introductory
level where students receive training by use of computer packages. They are in these
circumstances trained to a level of practice appropriate to the given packages. Most will be
taken to a point where they can enter data and produce maps and diagrams from a package.
Very few will generate capacities to create data through research and fewer still will have
capacity to do research related to GIS as a technique. There is agreement among lecturers
offering the courses that most undergraduate students have a fairly limited capacity to practise
the skill and will require additional ‘on the job’ training and experience to develop there
capacity to the full. It is expected that the Honours training will provide students with
capacity to practise more effectively.
Survey findings suggest that current market demand is for relatively low level practitioners
who are required to produce basic maps and diagrams. This is the level, which could be
attained by students with an undergraduate qualification. Students with Honours training,
however, will have capacities to perform at higher levels. They may in these conditions
experience undesirable levels of frustrations. On enquiry it is apparent that many
contemporary employers have a relatively low appreciation of the full potential of GIS and
particularly of its analytical powers.
A need appears to exist for work to be done to expand the level of appreciation of capacities of
GIS. References have been made earlier to the degree to which GIS is a time consuming
exercise in training. Erosion of the time available in the curriculum, most particularly the
undergraduate years, may thus become a problem. It should be addressed as a matter of
urgency. One possible solution to the problem could be the exploitation of time slack
presently available in the curriculum. In particular attention should be given to the possible
exploitation of a two practical per week schedule instead of the one practical per week
schedule at present in practice.
Another issue encountered in the field discussions was the fact that no market research appears
to have been undertaken to assess the potential GIS employment available to students.
Currently, as is the case for environmental science and environmental management, the market
is assessed purely on the basis of perceptions. Discussions showed that there were quite
strong variations of opinion on the strengths of the market. Some lecturers are of opinion that
the market was very strong and expanding and others felt that it is quite severely constrained.
This matter too should receive urgent attention.
In the given circumstances it should be the task of the Society of South African Geographers
to establish:
•
•
What the level of the GIS market is.
What level of training is required for each niche in the market
108
•
Whether we are matching up to market demands.
The results from such market research should inform departments on the level of infrastructure
that they will require in terms of staffing, course structures, space and equipment and students
might be better informed on market potentials.
Geography and Tourism
Tourism is today a major dimension of the world economy at international, national and local
scales. Very frequently it is held up as a means of inducing new investment and to achieve
development and economic growth. Increasing numbers of people are finding employment in
the activity. As its importance has grown so a range of related fields of employment have
become professionalised and education and training programmes have burgeoned at different
levels of education almost everywhere. Geography is a natural dimension of touristic activity
and has become a fundamental component of education and training in several important
ways. It is:
•
a major source of information applicable in tourist activity,
•
an essential input in professional education and training,
•
Moreover it is a discipline useful in applied fields in:
providing analytical frameworks relevant in the assessment and evaluation of
tourist resources, potentials and development,
assessing and evaluating tourist markets and tourist behaviour,
providing important means and insights in undertaking tourism planning at
different scales,
providing insights in research on different touristic contexts e.g.. tourism involving
indigenous peoples, tourism and the environment, ecotourism, urban tourism,
specialist tourism demands among others.
Clear opportunities exist in these circumstances for the development of tourism education and
training in the discipline at the tertiary level and for the expansion of research activity. Postmodern flexibility in the structuring of curricula in human geography moreover has made this
field a particularly attractive new primary sphere of interest. This is a pattern observed in an
earlier section of the report.
Six departments have undergraduate courses in tourism at the third year level and five
departments have mounted Honours courses in the field. One university has mounted an
undergraduate programme in tourism administered by the department of geography in which
the content is dominated by inputs from geography. At the Honours level tourism has been
shown to fall in the class of most common courses offered in South African departments. At
this stage though the field still falls in the lowest frequency of common courses.
Work in the tourism curricula is focussed principally upon dimensions of assessment and
evaluation, analysis of the geography of tourism, tourism resources, patterns of tourism
markets, tourism development and planning, analysis of tourism in particular contexts,
assessments of the environmental, economic, social and cultural impacts of tourism at
different scales, applications of GIS in tourism assessments and the integration of established
fields of physical and human geography in tourism analyses. No department recorded the
activity of tourist guiding – an activity in which one might expect particular expertise among
geographers accustomed to the conduct of field work. A particularly interesting extension of
educational work in tourism in one department has been the introduction of creative travel and
109
tourism writing. Tourism courses to this point tend to be heavily empirical in nature and a
strong need exists for the development of theoretical bases to underpin the development and
understanding of the field.
It is strongly evident that the attraction of tourism as a new field rests not only in the academic
opportunities that it offers but also in the vocational outcomes that might be expected to
develop. Respondents anticipate that the growth of tourism activity in South Africa in recent
years will open new employment possibilities. Given the wide ranging content of tourism
activity it is strongly apparent that opportunities exist for appropriately structured study
programmes in tourism to be established. Geography could be creatively interrelated with
other relevant disciplines in the design of such programmes. Many concerns of tourism,
however, lie beyond the scope of geography and analyses of existing course structures show
that employment in applied activities of the kind encountered in travel agencies, tourist facility
management (as in hotels for example), transport facilities and so on is unlikely to be pursued.
Training for these applied spheres of activity is likely to remain concentrated in technikons or
private agencies. Geographers are more likely to find employment outlets in consultancies
and tourist research and development agencies in the private and public sectors. In reference
to training in the cases of Environmental Management and GIS, care will have to be taken to
ensure that programmes directed at training for tourism do not erode education in basic
scientific sub-fields.
110
Part 6
Geography in the School Context4
Geographical education at the school level has two, primary objectives. First, to contribute to
the nurturing of informed future citizens. In that context it should:
•
promote functional and spatial understanding of Earth’s natural environment and its
human life;
•
provide insight and understanding on important dimensions of human life and activities
in economic and social development;
•
provide an integrated basis of understanding human–environmental interrelations as
such an understanding is essential in contemporary society;
•
stimulate interest in the environmental, cultural and social conditions of people in this
and other countries thus promoting national and international understanding; and
provide an understanding of, and, a training in, a range of useful, applied technical and
analytical skills that form part of the work of the discipline.
•
Beyond its civic importance, school geography should also lay a foundation for those who
may, later pursue tertiary education in the discipline. It must be stressed that while this
function is important it should not be regarded as the overriding objective of school
geography. That should rest in meeting its primary civic objectives. The structuring of the
school geography curriculum is vitally important in that respect.
The School Curriculum for the Further Education and Training5 band of the National
Qualifications Framework (NQF) for Education in Grades 10, 11 and 126
The Minister of Education appointed a review committee to look at ways of streamlining
Curriculum 2005 and the findings were presented in the Chisholm Report in 2000. Arising
from the Chisholm Report, the Revised National Curriculum Statement for the GET band
(Grades R – 9) for Geography was released in 2002. The final Revised National Curriculum
Statement for Geography for the FET band (Grades 10 –12) is expected to be released in
2003. It is currently in preparation and has undergone several modifications in response to
critical input from interested parties.1
It remains to be seen whether the proposed school FET curriculum will meet the indicated
primary needs. In the past its content has too often been simply a reduced, simplified version
of the content of the university undergraduate curriculum and was directed mainly at preparing
candidates for tertiary education.. That curriculum has deep disciplinary objectives by no
means all of which are directed at a broader civic education. In important respects it did not
serve the primary outcome interests of school learners and has for long been a source of
dissatisfaction among teachers. For this reason the research team undertook to examine and
offer comment on the content of the proposed curriculum for the FET band of geographical
4
Contribution by research team member, Mr Paul Goldschagg, Head of Department of Geography,
College of Education, University of the Witwatersrand.
5
Level 4 on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF)
66
Details on the National Curriculum Statements are available on the internet at
http://education.pwv.gov.za
111
education in Grades 10, 11 and 12 contained in the most recent version of the National
Curriculum Statement prepared for the discipline of Geography (February 2003).
The Draft FET National Geography Curriculum
The draft FET National Curriculum Statement proposes that the Geography curriculum should
be structured around three key elements:
1. The spatial dimension of the physical and the human world and of their
interrelationships.
2. The dimension of human-environment interactions.
3. The dimension of sustainable living.
It is proposed that the three dimensions will be taught in an integrated way through
regional and thematic studies with learners expected to achieve competence in three
learning outcomes:
1. Enquiry and Geographical Skills, where the learner should be able to demonstrate a
range of enquiry processes, geographic skills and techniques.
2. Knowledge and understanding where the learner is expected to be able to
demonstrate knowledge and a critical understanding of spatial processes and patterns,
human-environment interactions and sustainability in places and regions over time.
3. Application of Knowledge, Skills, Values and Management Strategies where the
learner is able to apply knowledge and skills, and to recognise the impact of values and
attitudes in developing appropriate solutions and management strategies to address
natural and socio-economic problems.
These objectives are laudable and should be applauded.
The National Curriculum Statement lists the proposed content that could be used to achieve
the assessment standards required. The proposed curriculum is summarised under its major
heads in paragraphs below. Preceding the list is the set of proposed preconditions contained in
the statement and which are as follows:
•
•
•
•
•
•
All the themes indicated for each grade should be addressed in the context of the three
Learning Outcomes for Geography in the FET.
Each grade has an overall focus, namely to make teaching and learning meaningful,
and acknowledging that it is important to link to the chosen scale to other scales (local,
provincial, national, continental, global).
The study of these content selections on different scales will enhance the learners’
ability to understand the spatial nature of geographical processes and patterns.
Where possible, different themes should be approached by integrating physical and
human geography.
Although a continental (Grade 10) and global (Grade 11) focus may be used, the
connection to the South African context remains of utmost importance.
The development and use of skills and techniques form an integral part of the process
of knowledge construction in Geography. They should therefore be developed and
applied in the teaching of all the content selections.
112
The heads of study in the content of the curriculum for Grades 10, 11 and 12 (with major
generic sub-fields indicated in parenthesis) are:
Grade 10
1.
Geographical skills and techniques
2.
The Atmosphere: Weather and climate (Weather and Climate)
Suggested context: The World and Africa
3.
The structure and changing landforms of the Earth (Geomorphology)
Suggested context: Africa
4.
People and places: Population
Suggested context: Africa and South Africa
5.
People and their organisations (Political Geography (Organisation))
Suggested context: Africa and South Africa
Grade 11
1.
Geographical skills and techniques
2.
The significance of water masses (Hydrology)
Suggested context: The World
3.
Ecosystems (biotic and abiotic systems) (Biogeography)
Suggested context: The World and South Africa
4.
Development and sustainability (Development Geography)
Suggested context: The World and South Africa
5.
People and their needs (Economic Geography - Resources, Energy)
Suggested context: The World and South Africa
Grade 12
1.
Geographical skills and techniques
2.
Climate and weather (Weather and Climate)
Suggested context: South Africa and the World
3.
Fluvial processes and landforms (Fluvial Geomorphology)
Suggested context: South Africa
4.
People and place: Rural and Urban Settlement (and Sustainability) (Settlement
Geography)
Suggested context: South Africa and Africa
5.
People and their needs (Economic Geography including Water Resources)
Suggested context: South Africa and the World
It is worthy of mention that a new subject titled Travel and Tourism is to be introduced into
the FET band. The subject will focus on a number of themes in which Geography has
113
strengths: resource management; sustainable tourism; relationship between the environment,
the economy, the community and tourism; tourism geography including map interpretation. It
could be expected that Geography teachers will have a contribution to make in this subject,
along with educators from other disciplines, where their expertise is relevant.
Research Team Comment on Curriculum Content:
Curricula for secondary and tertiary levels of education are both likely to contain all the
summary heads of study proposed in the Statement and at that level of analysis the research
team is in agreement with the proposal.
•
•
•
•
•
•
The logic of the order of the heads of study could be improved:
In Grade 11 the section ‘Development and Sustainability’ (Development Geography)
should follow the more basic work of the section labelled ‘People and Their Needs’
(Economic Geography).
In Grade 12 the section ‘Rural and Urban Settlement’ should follow on the more basic
work of the section labelled ‘People and Their Needs’ (Economic Geography).
An analysis undertaken at the detailed level of themes or content selections in each
summary head of study gives rise to more critical comment particularly in the fields of
human geography. The criticism hinges about the degree to which the content selections
are appropriate in meeting the primary needs which the school curriculum should meet.
The detailed content selections proposed for the physical geography sections of the FET
curriculum are acceptable. The need here is for pupils to gain an understanding of the
functional and spatial characteristics of the typical range of elements of the natural
environment. This they should achieve under the proposed content. That the details listed
are similar to those which are likely to occur in an undergraduate curriculum is
unavoidable – the needs of both levels of study are necessarily very similar and will be
met. It is assumed that the material at school will be studied at an introductory level.
The sequence of detailed selections in the physical geography sections is illogical in part.
Detailed comment has been forwarded to the Drafting Committee.
What we do not see in the physical geography sections is any significant attempt to
present the elements of the environment in an integrated framework. That the material
will be studied in a ‘regional’ context of the World, Africa or South Africa in no way
guarantees that it will be subject to integration or that pupils will gain an integrated insight
of the interrelationships of and between the elements.
We would suggest that some attempt be made to provide for the study of integration.
Examples could be the study of the landforms in particular environments, for example, of
tropical deserts and tropical savannah lands. The interrelationships between rock type and
structure, climatic elements, vegetative cover and soils in the evolution of the landscapes
of such regions for example provide wonderful insights on the ways the landscape is the
outcome of integrated processes and conditions. Great care will be needed to ensure that
the depth of study is kept appropriate to the level of education.
Another example could be the exploration of the climatic, vegetation and soil
interrelationships in the production of the biotic environment of the Equatorial Forests.
Consideration of opportunities and limitations of these environments for human
occupation and use would follow naturally.
Criticism of the content proposed for the Human Geography dimension of the curriculum is
stronger. Here the range of material from which content selections might be made is very
wide and particular care should be taken in making appropriate content selections for the
114
school curriculum. As it stands the content suggests that the conventional process of
transferring a reduced version of the university undergraduate curriculum to the school
level is being followed. In that sense the proposed curriculum will continue to meet the
need to prepare pupils for tertiary study. Moreover it would be a natural process to follow
and would ease the task of teachers who could simply reduce and simplify their university
notes and present that material to pupils, as they seem to do at present. In the view of the
research team insufficient thought seems to have been given to the choice of detailed
content selections in designing a curriculum structured specifically to meet the civic
educational needs of pupils. To that extent the content of the proposed curriculum for
human geography fails to meet expectations.
It is important that content selections made should provide pupils with material which will
assist in recognising, understanding and interpreting basic functional processes (including
those of the natural environment) in human society and the geographical outcomes to which
they give rise. Study of interrelationships of such processes and of their geographical
outcomes is of particular importance. Through such study pupils should develop an
understanding of factors which underpin spatial decision making and abilities to recognise
implications which arise from spatial organisation. By extension they should then be enabled
to make critical judgements on their personal geographical behaviour and on the actions of
others, including institutions and governing authorities. These are important and useful
outcomes which in many instances do not seem to flow from the detailed selections presently
proposed in the curriculum.
Bearing these points in mind, detailed suggestions on content selections and the logic of their
sequencing have been prepared for submission to the Curriculum Drafting Committee for
consideration..
Institutions Responsible For Training Teachers
Fifty-five questionnaires focussed on the elements of geography teacher training were
distributed to colleges of education and universities in South Africa which are responsible for
training teachers. From those questionnaires returned thirteen provided information useful for
analysis. Many questionnaires were returned undeliverable where colleges had been closed.
Since the initial collection of data was undertaken all colleges of education have either been
incorporated into universities or technikons or have been closed. Responses drawn from
questionnaires used are summarised as follows:
•
At colleges of education, Geography was taught as an academic major, either over four
years (year 2 is NQF level 5 and year 4 is NQF level 6) which is equivalent to two years at
university, or for two years (year 1 is equivalent to NQF level 5, and year 2 NQF level6)
which is equivalent to two years at university. No college offered Geography beyond the
equivalent of a second year university level.
•
In the colleges of education a wide variety of topics is offered at NQF Levels 5 and 6,
including Climatology, Population Geography, Regional Geography, Mapwork and
Geographical Techniques, Earth Science, Urban Studies, Hazard Studies, Applied
Climatology, Geographical Techniques, Environmental Geography and Geomorphology.
•
The universities offer Geography from first year level to the Ph.D. i.e. NQF Levels 5 to 8.
Geography departments have links with academic education departments in their
universities. They also have links with departments of Hydrology, Botany, Zoology,
115
Development Studies, Commerce, Tourism and Recreation. Geography methodology
courses are offered to Higher Diploma in Education students having Geography credits.
•
In the five education colleges which responded, a total of 889 students were studying
Geography. Numbers might thus be said to be modest. Generally there were more
females than males - this is to be expected since colleges of education usually attract more
female than male students. The colleges that were in the process of closing complained
about a decrease in numbers in recent years. It was mentioned that they have not been
permitted to enrol new students at all.
•
The universities had difficulty in assessing how many of their students would use their
Geography for teaching, so it was impossible to get numbers. However, within the
Geography teaching methodology courses being offered, a general decline in numbers of
aspirant teachers taking geography was reported, in some instances with Methodology
courses only being offered every alternate year.
Findings in the research on vocational outcomes of university geography reinforce the
observation. University departments without exception reported that the number of students
intending to pursue training to enter teaching had declined dramatically in recent years.
Reasons included the poor image of the profession and uncertainties arising from the
restructuring processes. From being the major employment outlet for geography graduates the
profession in their view now attracted very few new recruits. The observation applied at both
historically advantaged and disadvantaged departments but particularly so at the former. In
historically disadvantaged departments the employment opportunities still available in the
profession ensures reasonable numbers of prospective teachers. Regrettably no numerical data
were available to measure the trend. Its implications though are disturbing. In a matter of a
relatively few years a serious shortage of high school teachers of geography could occur. This
would seriously affect the ability of schools to offer the discipline or result in its being taught
by unqualified teachers drafted from other disciplines. This matter should receive urgent
attention from professional geographers and education authorities.
Implications of Closures and Mergers with Universities / Technikons.
Between 1998 and 2001, a process of relocating the training of teachers at colleges of
education was implemented. The process is now complete and colleges of education have
been absorbed by universities, and in some cases, technikons. The road was not smooth.
Negotiations were difficult and protracted, with issues on buildings and properties, students
and college staff having to be resolved.
In many instances universities have not wanted to take on new staff since they have been
restructuring and downsizing. Some college staff have been placed in university jobs - others
are being absorbed into posts in appropriate provincial education departments, or retrenched.
The general result of these changes has been an erosion of staff morale and a loss of
experienced staff from the education profession. The observation applies equally to
Geography educators.
Who will teach what?
Education students will probably continue to take Geography as a subject at university with
care by universities to ensure that students are well prepared, and the subject continues to be
well taught in the schools. The question on how they will then be equipped to teach social
116
science or natural science in the General Education and Training (GET) band (up to the end of
Grade 9) at school, or geography in the Further Education and Training (FET) band (up to the
end of Grade 12), remains to be seen. The issue of ensuring that students acquireappropriate
teaching methodological skills will have to be addressed.
Schools
The way in which Curriculum 2005 is conceptualised is problematic. It subsumes geography
in the social sciences and the natural sciences up to the end of the GET band. At the time of
the introduction of Curriculum 2005, at GET level, individual subjects were eliminated and
broader Learning Areas were introduced. What was traditionally Geography content was
divided largely between social sciences and natural sciences with some aspects being touched
on in other learning areas. The learning areas are gradually being phased in so that schools
have had to offer subjects and learning area content to different grades. In the FET band,
learners are being re-introduced to the subjects (including Geography) leading to difficulties in
adapting from the GET to FET mode of presentation. The training of student teachers in these
learning areas and subjects has been challenging.
Usually students registered for foundation, intermediate, senior (General Education and
Training - GETT) and FET teaching qualifications attend academic lectures at the same time.
They learn how to teach the subject in separate teaching methodology classes according to
their phase of specialisation if the institution resources permit this. Lecturers have had to
devise teaching methodology courses that cover learning areas for the GET band, and subjects
for the FET band.
Teachers at schools have also struggled to implement the learning areas. The structure of
C2005 initially included inaccessible terminology, and cumbersome preparation (range
statements, performance indicators, assessment criteria etc) which led to reluctance in
implementing new curriculum ideas at school.
References
Department of Education, May 2002. “Policy. Revised Curriculum Statements for Grades R – 9 (Schools)”.
Department of Education, October 2002. “Revised Curriculum Statements for Grades 10 – 12 (Schools) Draft”
Revised Draft of the FET Grades 10 – 12 Curriculum content. February 2003
Details on the National Curriculum Statements are available on the internet at http://education.pwv.gov.za
117
Part 7
Geographical Research
The South African Research Environment
To the geographer South Africa presents a research environment, which is undoubtedly one of
the most attractive in the world. It has great potential and enormous breadth of opportunity in
most fields of physical and human geography and in the exploration of relationships between
them. A seemingly limitless array of conditions and problems present themselves for research
in basic and applied fields.
Geographical research in this country is supported by an academic infrastructure set in the
departments of geography and their service units. All departments have programmes designed
to promote advanced research at the Masters and Doctoral levels of study. The academic
environment provided by the departments is competitive and encouraging and in most cases
efforts are being made to create as stimulating an environment as possible for students and
staff. Staff in our departments now accept that research is an essential dimension of a
university career. Today considerable pressure is exerted on academic staff to be productive
in research and in a substantial number of our institutions research productivity has become a
major measure (the primary measure?) of academic status and a basis of discrimination in
career advancement.
Important mechanisms to support research are in place in national institutions such as the
National Research Foundation (NRF), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR),
the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), and in university Research Committees and
Development Departments. In the private sector important foundations have been established
to support research activity and the state, provincial and municipal levels of government
increasingly call upon academic staff to undertake research in their various spheres of interest.
Today also research support is found in a lively consultancy industry involving the public
sector and private firms. More will be said on the funding process below.
South African geographers now also have increasing individual access to international
research bases. These include access to funding, opportunities for interactive and co-operative
work and the formation of research partnerships. Participation in such international activity is
naturally dependent on assessments of individual research productivity and quality and the
degree to which individual effort is made to build interactive contacts. It is not something,
which simply lands in one’s lap.
In addition, South African geographers have links to major international bodies significant in
the research field. Participation in such bodies is encouraged officially and professional
support and a degree of financial assistance is available to those who have sufficient quality
and drive to participate. One such body is the International Geographical Union to which
South Africa officially adheres through the agency of the NRF. But there are many other
international bodies of significance to geographers.
The South African natural environment and the complex social structures of its society offer
very attractive research opportunities for international scholars and an increasing number of
contacts and interactions is being built up in consequence. Departments in historically
disadvantaged universities are perhaps particularly well placed to benefit from such interaction
and several respondents in the field survey have noted that interrelationships have been
established, mostly with workers and institutions in the United Kingdom, Europe and the
118
United States. Most university institutions in South Africa now have such relations. These
interrelationships tend to be personality driven links rather than being outcomes of structural
institutional policies. To an extent they are opportunistic in nature at this stage. But the
potential opportunity they offer is very substantial and active concern should be exercised over
their development.
Field discussions have shown that the number of students entering the postgraduate Honours
degree in most departments has increased significantly since the 1970s and 1980s. Honours
student numbers in some departments are now very significant and can reach up to 40 students
in any one year. These circumstances are highly favourable as we have in our Honours
students the all important seedbed from which postgraduate research at the Masters and PhD
levels might come.
A high proportion (80%) of respondents in our field survey indicate that the political and
social transformation through which South Africa has been passing since the early 1990s has
exercised a major influence upon geographical research. This is particularly so in the case of
human geography and in the encouragement of work in environmental studies. The influence
is highly positive. New spheres of research have been introduced, relevance in contemporary
research is being stressed and many new opportunities for research have been created. It is not
always clear, however, how deeply the process of transformation is understood and
interpreted. Its influence in human geography is particularly evident I the extent to which
critical policy oriented research has become a major field of work in political geography.
Though there are clearly powerful structures in our society that are favourable for
geographical research equally a number of limitations exist and these must be briefly dealt
with. The first concerns the size of the academic geographical system in South Africa. The
number of academic geographers at our universities numbers fewer than 200 persons. Table
7.1 shows that the average size of academic staff in the departments of geography is eight
persons in both historically advantaged and disadvantaged departments. Small academic staff
numbers inevitably mean limitations on the spread of specialist research fields that might be
available in individual departments and limits on the number of students who might be
reasonably supervised.
Table 7.1: Comparison of Qualifications of Staff in Historically Advantaged and
Disadvantaged Departments, 2000
HADs
HDDs
UNISA
Vista
Staff
No
%
No
%
No
%
No
%
Total
86
100
61
100
10
100
28
100
PhD
51
60
21
34
2
20
3
11
M
21
24
29
48
7
70
18
64
<M
14
16
11
18
1
10
7
25
Mean
Staff
7-8
No
11
Depts
Source: Field Survey Data
7-8
10
4-5
8
1
6
The question of encouraging transformation in the geographical research environment remains
problematic in general. Our field data show that, disadvantage remains a factor in the HDDs.
Disadvantage is demonstrated, for example, in the distribution of qualifications of academic
staff who might be available to serve as supervisors or initiators of research (Table 1.6).
119
While qualifications are not necessarily an absolute guide to the quality of teachers or of
supervision, the differentiation in qualifications is important. The academic staff in the HADs
is significantly better qualified than the staff in the HDDs (Table 7.1). Of the total, 60% of the
academic staff in the HADs have a PhD and 24% have Masters degrees. The corresponding
proportions at the HDDs are 34% and 48% respectively. The qualifications of staff at UNISA
are marginally weaker where 20% have PhDs and 70% Masters degrees but significantly
weaker in Vista where only 11% have PhDs and 64% Masters degrees. The level of
qualification attained by academic staff is particularly important in the research field where
experienced supervisors are a necessity. A further element in the transformation process is the
ethnic composition of the staff at South African departments of geography. Though changes
which have been achieved in staffing in our departments are not without significance, the field
survey shows that 67% of the academic staff in the departments remains White. Considerable
development is required in this sphere.
Extending the point made in the last paragraph, something must be said also about the ethnic
composition of the research student body. Although we do not have detailed statistics on the
ethnic composition of the research student body at all universities we currently have data for
10 of our departments. The data show that 37% of the 129 Masters students in those
departments were Black at the time of the survey. The proportion naturally varies from
department to department but the data indicate that significant progress has been made in
transforming the research student body. At the PhD level the proportion of Black research
students falls to 29%. More work is clearly required at both levels.
While the changing ethnic composition of the research student body indicates a desirable
trend, it is well to remember that many of the Black students have come from weak
educational backgrounds. Many originally came from poor school backgrounds and social
environments, which lack intellectual opportunity, stimulus and challenge.
Despite
undergoing education at the undergraduate and Honours levels respondents in our field survey
frequently noted that students continue to have difficulty with language in both writing and
comprehension at the advanced levels of study. This is a problem over which academics in
our departments can have little control and although they will help wherever they can it is a
problem that must be solved at the school level and solved urgently.
A final issue concerning the research environment is the question of research funding.
Research funding is a highly complex matter, very difficult to penetrate. Our field survey did
not have the capacity to penetrate deeply into the financial relations of research funding.
Discussion with respondents was confined to the general circumstances surrounding research
funding.
As noted previously the major sources of research funding available to South African
geographical researchers are:
University Research Committees
Funds drawn from awards made to universities under the SAPSE system for scientific
papers published in accredited journals. Not all universities award authors of papers a
portion of these funds.
National Research Foundation, incorporating the CSIR (Council for Scientific Research)
and the Human Sciences Research Council (and former CSD).
Public Bodies including government departments, provincial departments, municipalities
and other local authorities.
Other Public agencies including, for example, the South African Water Commission
120
Consultancies with public or private organisations.
International funding agencies and funds raised through international interaction through
research partnerships.
Private sources including major foundations
Major initiative grants have recently been set up by the Department of Arts, Science,
Culture and Technology to support research projects of national significance.
Our field survey showed that the most common source of funding was the University Research
Committees. All respondents indicated they had drawn funds from that source. They note
that, though criteria for research awards are strict, this source is familiar and enjoys relative
ease of application. They also remarked, however, that funding drawn from this source is
limited and that fairly small projects only can be supported. Limits exist also on how often
applications may be submitted. The conclusion is that this source, although of major
significance, is suitable only for modest research projects and activities.
All respondents are aware of the NRF as a major source of funding. It is important to note at
the outset, however, that the scientific identity of geography and its specialised sub-disciplines
constitutes something of a stumbling block in making effective use of the NRF as a funding
body. In practice not all sub-disciplines of geography have been recognised for funding by the
NRF and perceptions of discrimination have become highly problematical. The recent merger
in the mid-1990s) of the Centre for Science Development (CSD) with its interest in the social
sciences and humanities and former FRD (Foundation for Research and Development) that
promote the natural sciences to form the NRF also appears to have generated a degree of
uncertainty over how geography is to be dealt with in the future. This is a matter of significant
concern and requires negotiation and resolution.
It is noted that the NRF has recognised only a very few sub-disciplines of geography for the
scientific rating of research workers. Moreover a very limited number of research workers
from those sub-disciplines have been rated. Our discussions with respondents showed that
there is full understanding and approval of the process of rating and that it brings South
African research into line with overseas practice. That some researchers may attain rank status
while others in different fields but in other respects fully equal as peers in research quality and
level of output, will not, has come to be a source of unhappiness and dissatisfaction. There
have been expressions of hope that the structural difficulty will soon be overcome.
Beyond the difficulties of identity are other problem issues which have been raised by many
respondents in the field discussions. The first of these is that a relatively small proportion
(26%) of respondents indicate that they achieved success in applications that have made to the
NRF for funds. Successful applicants naturally express satisfaction but many of those less
successful are despondent. Explanations proffered for the low level of achievement indicate
that the number of applications made is probably small and that the quality of applications is
poor (in quality of research topics and quality of application and presentation). Respondents
nonetheless have made the following critical observations:
The preparation of research proposals is complex and difficult for inexperienced younger
applicants.
The procedural processes involved in making application are very bureaucratic and
cumbersome and at times intimidating.
Assessors are not necessarily qualified in specialist research fields of applicants. Assessors
from unrelated fields may be called upon to make decisions on applications.
121
Few universities appear to have mechanisms in place to assist members of staff in the
preparation of applications and in formulating proposals for research. Younger
inexperienced research workers are particularly affected by this problem.
There are perceptions that some fields of research are disadvantaged and will not be
funded. Those perceptions include those concerning funding of specialist fields which do
not form part of the current research agenda. Several academics with research in
environmentally based fields, for example, were particularly concerned over this issue.
There are perceptions that discrimination was being exercised against individual research
work and that team research was being favoured. There was general agreement that team
research is an excellent format in which to incorporate and train younger research workers
and particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The feeling was equally strong
though that individual initiative and productivity should not be stifled. One very
productive research worker, for example, was concerned to say that “writing papers with
someone else is a pain – we must accommodate independence”. Moreover, many
respondents observe that in practice it is often very difficult to form effective teams of
workers in a formal structured way. The respondents maintain that effective partnerships
are most often developed between individuals who have a common experience and
interests and that such groupings, when they occur, should be strongly supported.
It has also been noted that formal teams are not only difficult to establish but that it is
doubly difficult to form teams at the time of the application, ahead of funding becoming
available, as is now required. Potential members of teams are loathe to join up on the
uncertain promise of possible funding. It is much easier, it is maintained, to recruit team
members at a time when firm financial offers can be made.
One quite unexpected finding has been that several senior and experienced research
workers have expressed a sense of demoralisation and scepticism over many of the issues
raised and particularly over the issue of recognition. This is an unacceptable and
unfortunate situation we would wish to overcome.
These points constitute a long list of criticism but they are raised here in a constructive
context and in the hope that some attention may be given to their resolution to raise the
level of participation of geographers in the work of the NRF.
Responding to some of these criticisms the Faculty of Science in the University of Cape Town
has instituted a procedure designed to provide guidance and support in the writing of project
proposals to the NRF to ensure the best possible chance of success. The procedures draw on
the personal expertise of active researchers and peers who are themselves involved in writing
proposals to guide less experienced colleagues. In that light it suggests that:
a. all staff members intending to submit an application for funding to the NRF should
nominate and establish the willingness of two senior colleagues who are able, if
appropriate, to provide guidance in the preparation of their grant applications, and who are
able to serve as preliminary reviewers of their applications.
b. Before the applications are submitted to the Department of Research Development, the two
nominated colleagues confirm that they have read the applications, and are satisfied that
they should be sent to the NRF in the form submitted. (Faculty of Science Memorandum,
University of Cape Town)
It would be highly desirable for similar action to be taken in all universities.
Funding provided from the SAPSE award system, for accredited scientific journal publications
is, in the eyes of a significant number of workers, their major source of funding. They appear
to use these funds as a core around which additional monies might be added. Great
122
appreciation was expressed by all respondents who have access to these funds. It is hoped that
universities, which at present do not award research workers, will in future do so. It is
important to note, however, that, except for the most productive workers, these funds must
also be fairly limited in their potential.
Research funding drawn from public bodies like government and provincial departments and
municipalities is important in several departments. Funding from the departments of Land
Affairs, Water Affairs and Forestry and from several municipalities were particularly noted.
Research work undertaken in these contexts is often in the nature of consultancy but there are
clearly opportunities for pursuing specialist interest research through the development of
relations with these bodies. Such research would always naturally have to be relevant to the
interests of the bodies concerned. Some projects have been very productive in promoting the
training of students and particularly students from disadvantaged universities. Several
respondents under this head noted that the potential for the expansion of research in this
context is considerable but that the research capacities of academic departments is severely
constrained and serves to limit the level of research.
Consultancy research has for long been a dimension of the work of geographers and has
recently expanded considerably. Its growth is a response to demand arising from the
transformation of our society and the incorporation of research workers who were previously
excluded from participation in the work of the state and provinces. Moreover, considerable
encouragement is given to the incorporation of members of staff and research students from
historically disadvantaged institutions. Consultancies are being pursued by both physical and
human geographers and from the responses received some workers clearly gain access to
substantial funding sources. Most respondents indicated that their consultancies will normally
contain a dimension of basic research which enables them to make contributions to the
discipline through scientific publications. Several respondents indicated that they rely on
funds earned in consultancy to support broader research activity. The general point that arises
from the consultancy issue is that there appears to be a growing demand for services from
geographical consultants. That circumstance demands a marketing process and deliberate
effort to widen the scope of consultancy.
As for international funding sources, relatively few respondents in the survey indicated that
their departments had established international links from which research support might be
drawn. At present it appears that international linkages are developed in response to
individual actions. Most respondents, however, feel that a potential exists to raise research
funds from international sources. To access the opportunity, however, there is a great need to
network with overseas research workers, to develop functional links, which might be exploited
to raise funds to support joint projects. In developing such links there is an equal need to raise
the academic and research profiles of local research workers to attract the attention of overseas
agencies. It is recognised that it is very difficult to attract such attention when working in the
research periphery and great effort has to be expended on the process. The problem affecting
the establishment of joint research projects is the question of access to local research funds to
support such projects. There is a need for this to be further explored.
Finally, the question of access to research funds from private sources must be raised. The
majority of respondents suggested that opportunities exist to raise funds from private sources
and foundations but that little had as yet been done in this respect. Once again there is a need
here to raise the research profile so as to attract funds from such sources.
123
Research Output
•
The Student research sphere - postgraduate research at Masters and Doctoral levels
Research training at the Masters and Doctorate levels is a traditional and fundamentally
important dimension of activity in all departments of geography in this country. Research
training is based on the customary practice of a close academic association between students
and supervisors or research directors. Masters degrees are most often regarded as a research
training ground where students expect exposure to training in research approaches, methods,
techniques, field methodologies, analytical processes, interpretation, report writing and
preparation, and the final presentation of a thesis document. Originality, while desirable, is
not a requirement of the Masters degree.
A recent development in Masters degree work is the establishment of programmed taught
Masters degrees. While these programmed degrees have not replaced the traditional thesis
degrees they are rapidly gaining popularity.
The PhD is regarded as a degree where students are expected to display personal academic
quality and originality in the research they undertake and in the thesis presented.
Field data suggests that the number of graduate research students at the Masters level has
increased significantly over the past five years. The level of PhD students, however, has
remained steady (Table 7.2). The indications are that the majority of Masters students are
White (approximately 60%) while about 70% of PhD students are White. These data suggest,
however, that a significant shift has taken place in the ethnic proportions of the research
student body and that Black students are steadily but slowly making progress in their
development.
•
Numbers of Graduate Students in Departments
Field data (Table 7.2 & Fig. 7.1) shows that student numbers at the Masters degree level in the
11 HADs vary quite widely from department to department. Numbers in the departments
taken as a group, however, have increased significantly over the past five years. The mean
growth over the period years was 94 per cent. Student numbers rose from 159 in 1996 to 344
in 2000. Several, (4), HADs departments had around 50 registered Masters students in 2000,
five had 14 to 24 students and one, 5 students. The mean number per department was 31 in
that year.
The number of Masters students at HDDs has remained small with the exception of the
University of Durban - Westville (UDW) and the University of Western Cape (UWC) - this
despite the fact that several of these departments have large Honours classes. The mean
number of Masters students in the HDDs is probably about 8 (excluding the large number in
UDW). Variations occur, apparently, mainly because of variations in capacity and drive to
develop a graduate school in individual departments. An additional factor is that many
students are transferring from less popular institutions to preferred universities.
Difficulties are clearly being experienced in retaining black graduate students. This is an issue
that requires further investigation. A preliminary explanation provided by respondents is that
difficulties are being experienced in recruiting black students as members of research teams.
The difficulties arise from practical issues such as difficulties of association, finding suitable
accommodation, family responsibilities, cost of living, travel and so on at the place of research
(if it in a previously advantaged university). One senior researcher in a HAD noted the
following:
124
Table 7.2: Graduate Student Number Trends in Historically Advantaged and
Disadvantaged Departments, 1996 – 2000
Masters
Doctorates
HADs
‘96
‘97
‘98
‘99
‘00
‘96
‘97
‘98
‘99
‘00
Cape Town
37
41
36
42
53
10
12
9
10
11
Free State
8
21
9
12
16
5
6
7
6
7
Natal Durban
20
32
40
36
48
5
4
3
4
4
Natal Pmburg
10
12
12
12
16
9
7
7
7
8
Port Elizabeth
3
4
3
56
78
3
3
3
2
2
Potchefstroom
6
7
9
13
14
0
1
1
1
1
Pretoria
8
9
26
30
30
9
10
11
11
8
Rand Afrikaans
35
35
47
35
14
1
2
3
2
2
Rhodes
11
10
8
4
5
2
1
4
4
5
Stellenbosch
17
16
19
24
46
6
5
4
5
4
Witwtersrand
4
3
3
11
24
1
4
5
3
1
Total
159
190
212
275
344
51
55
57
55
53
Mean HADs
14
17
19
25
31
5
5
5
5
5
HDDs
Fort Hare
0
1
7
11
10
0
0
0
0
3
North
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
North West
ND
ND
4
5
9
0
0
0
0
0
Transkei
2
2
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
Venda
1
1
2
9
3
0
0
0
0
1
Zululand
5
2
3
3
4
2
3
2
2
1
ND
ND
ND
ND
53
ND
ND
ND
ND
5
Western Cape
9
10
8
7
12
1
1
1
1
2
Mean HDDs
3
3
4
6
13
UNISA
9
9
9
9
9
7
7
7
7
7
ND
ND
ND
ND
0
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND
Durban-Westville
Vista
"If we wish to keep a good black postgraduate student, there is a need to find a bursary of
approximately R35 000. The sum would probably be greater if the location was in one of the
major cities. The bursary does not necessarily include all research expenses and black
students expect to have a whole bunch of expectations and responsibilities that have to be
taken into account. This responsibility includes obligations to their families. Such students
have to have several sources of funds to provide adequate support".
The number of PhD students in departments of geography tends to be fairly low in general. Of
the 11 HADs only three had a significant number of PhD students in 2000 (Table 7.2 & Fig.
7.1). Others had numbers which ranged from 1 – 7 and the mean is 5 students. Numbers are
very low in the HDDs. This is disquieting as it points to a very low potential in the
preparation of the next generation of Black professional academic geographers. In several
instances some of these students would be studying part-time. Demand for study at the senior
level is clearly limited. Respondents observed that there are few vocations, other than that of
university academic, in which a PhD degree would be a requirement.
125
Masters degree training has experienced a major structural shift in recent years with the
introduction of programmed, taught masters degrees. These degrees are structured to require
students to undertake formal coursework in a given curriculum as a first step and subsequently
to present a thesis of a scale less than that required for the conventional research based
master's degree. The minimum time spent on this type of degree will be more than one year.
All departments offer the conventional, research based Masters degree. Ten departments now
offer taught Masters degrees. In addition some have teaching links to programmed Masters
degrees which are offered in related departments.
Figure 7.1: Mean Graduate Numbers, 1996-2000
60
UNISA
Mean HDDs
50
Number of M's & D's
Mean HADs
40
30
20
10
0
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
Year
The demand for taught Masters degree programmes is strongly vocationally driven and
directed in particular towards degrees in Environmental Management or Development
Geography. Of a total of 14 Masters degree programmes listed by the 10 departments of
geography, 10 are structured as Environmental Science or Environmental Management
programmes. The programmes in linked departments are all directed at Environmental
Management Training. Other Masters programmes offered include one in Urban Studies, two
in GIS for Spatial Analysis and Decision-Making and one in Quaternary Science.
Taught Masters programmes tend to be qualifications of a quasi-professional nature.
Important implications arise from the introduction of programmed Masters degrees. In the
first instance, because they are vocationally orientated, they are becoming increasingly popular
and, are, according to reports, beginning to draw students away from conventional thesis based
Masters degree studies.
Respondents have raised questions on the quality of the content of programmed courses.
Doubts have arisen in particular in cases where students from other disciplines are permitted to
register for Masters programmes in geography departments. The problem concerns the level
126
at which basic academic courses in the programmes are offered and whether students in the
programmes reach a required standard in such courses. The view is that academic courses in
Masters programmes should reach the level of Honours courses – many respondents maintain
that they do not and that they only reach the equivalent of undergraduate levels.
A further question concerns the degree to which the shorter dissertation required in a Masters
programme is adequate as a basis of research training and experience. Respondents also raised
questions on whether the type of research undertaken in shorter dissertations required
sufficient rigour and was of a nature to contribute to the development of the discipline.
Limited data is available on the distribution of advanced student research by fields of research.
Evidence obtained from ten universities, however, suggests that it is heavily concentrated
upon aspects of Environmental Management. Indeed in the ten departments, 51% of advanced
student research is focussed in that field. Research in aspects of Urban Geography follows
with 16% of the total and Geomorphology with 14%. Other significant fields of research
include aspects of tourism and development studies. The sample distribution is consistent
with the structures of contemporary geographical research in general.
Analysis of the Composition of South African Geographical Research
This is a difficult focus of study, with an inadequate source of readily accessible data. The
only such source available to the research team at present is the National Report of
Geographical Research prepared by the National Research Foundation for the 29th
International Geographical Congress in Seoul, Korea in August 2000. The report provides a
list of published research produced in the four-year period 1996 - 2000. The items listed have
been grouped with reference to the 23 Commissions and 8 Study Groups of the IGU. Though
the listing is comprehensive it does not necessarily guarantee that all relevant research
publication have been included in the net.
At the outset, three institutions did not make returns for the report (University of Natal,
Pietermaritzburg, University of Fort Hare and University of Transkei) and no entries appear
for those departments. The analyses, which follow, are thus based on the data drawn from 18
departments of geography in South Africa. The six branch campuses of Vista University have
been taken as a single department and where other departments have branches they have been
grouped with main campuses.
The listed data provides information on the author, home institution, the research topic and
topic title, the publication outlet and date of publication. These data have been subject to a
content analysis.
Table 7.3 displays the research output distributed over the departments in historically
advantaged (HADs) and historically disadvantaged (HDDs) departments, the University of
South Africa, Vista University and several outside institutions which include the Human
Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and the Agricultural Research Council (ARC).
The HADs departments in general display a output that suggests an average of about 26 papers
per department over a period of 4 years. That average in turn suggests that the mean output
per staff member in the HADs is four papers in the four years or about one paper per year
(assuming that the mean size of the HADs is 7 academics). There are some weak areas, which
are difficult to explain, but in general, activity can in no way be described as being excellent or
even good. The best one can say is that it is average. Many respondents expressed the
opinion that at least two papers per academic per year would be a reasonable measure of good
performance. The distribution of research in the HDDs is erratic. The performance of some
127
departments is fully equivalent to their HADs counterparts, others are very weak. Two
departments are not represented. The performance of the two institutions initially established
for Indian and Coloured students (UDW and UWC) is equivalent to that of the HADs. The
historically Black departments have an average of 16 papers per department but the
distribution is skew and understates the performance of three of the departments, where the
total of publications is fully equal to those from departments in HADs.
Table 7.3: Geographical Research Output from Historically Advantaged and
Historically Disadvantaged Departments, 1996 to 2000
Department
No Publications
Sub-totals
Percent
Historically Advantaged Departments
Cape Town
92
22
Free State
12
3
Natal, Durban
31
7
No Return
-
Port Elizabeth
12
3
Potchefstroom
11
3
Pretoria
29
7
Rand Afrikaans
2
-
Rhodes
21
5
Stellenbosch
17
4
Witwatersrand
32
8
Natal, Pietermaritzburg
259
62
Historically Disadvantaged Departments
Fort Hare
No Return
-
North
24
6
North West
1
-
No Return
1
Venda
4
6
Zululand
26
6
Transkei
5
19
Durban-Westville
29
7
Western Cape
20
5
49
12
UNISA
3
3
1
Vista
24
24
6
Outside Bodies
27
27
6
417
417
Total
Source: National Research Report to the International Geographical Union, 1996 – 2000. National
Research Foundation, 2000.
100
The participation of black African authors, though not insignificant, remains relatively low.
Only seven single authors in the period were black Africans. Moreover, indications are that
the ratio of African single authors to African members of staff in South African departments
was approx. 1 to 6. By comparison a ratio of 1 to 2.2 applies for white members of staff and 1
128
to 2.8 for Coloured and Indian staff. Black African authors working as co-authors numbered
28 in the period 1996 - 2000 - a ratio of 1 African author to 1.5 members of staff. Though
somewhat better, this ratio compares poorly with that of white co-authors where there were
two authors to every one member of staff and with Coloured and Indian authors with a ratio of
1 to 1.
It should be noted that the high performance of some HDDs is a little misleading. In several
cases the output is the outcome of work produced by white members of staff in those
departments. This is the case in particular at the University of the North, University of
Zululand and Vista University.
Figure 7.2: Research Papers: Black and White Authors and Co-authors, 1996 - 2000
Black African
Single Authors
11%
White Single
Authors
34%
Co-authors
including Black
African Authors
12%
White Co-authors
43%
n = 417
Table 7.4: Papers Published by Single and Co-authors, 1996 to 2000
Papers
Number
Percent
Papers by Single Authors
185
43
Papers by Co-authors
232
57
Total Papers
417
100
Papers by Black African Single Authors
44
11
Papers by White Single Authors
141
34
Papers by Co-authors including Black African Authors
50
12
Papers by Co-authors who are White
182
44
Total Papers
417
100
Papers by Black African Single Authors
29
7
Papers Including only Black African Co-authors
35
8
Total Papers by Black African Authors
64
15
129
It is evident from the data that, while some significant progress in lifting the level of research
productivity of black African members of staff has been achieved, transformation is by no
means complete. Much encouragement needs to be given to potential African authors and the
resources of HADs should be harnessed to assist colleagues in the HDDs. The achievement of
that goal should be an urgent objective (Table 7.4 & Fig. 7.2).
At a finer grain of analysis, the distribution of research output indicates that high productivity
tends to be concentrated in the hands of a relatively small number of authors. Three black
African authors for example produced no less than 79% of the singly authored papers
produced by the seven black African authors.
There is evidence to show that a few White, Coloured and Indian single authors, too, are high
producers. The proportion contributed by their work, however, constitutes a small fraction of
the total number of papers produced. It is likely to conform to a distribution, which might be
encountered in a population of authors say in the United Kingdom or the United States.
Fields of Research
The record of academic fields of interest identified by South African professional geographers
in the 1998 Guide to Departments of Geography in SA (SSAG, 1998) provides an indication
of the research fields to which South African Geographers are likely to contribute.
The spectrum of interest is wide in its finer-grain breakdown. A total of 82 fields of interest
are listed in the guide. Many of these fields, however, attract a listing frequency of 5 entries or
less (66 or 80% of the fields listed).
The breadth of the spectrum is a reflection of the fragmentation of broader, basic subdisciplines such as geomorphology, climatology, economic geography, population geography
and so on into narrower areas of specialist interest, on the one hand. On the other, it is
indicative of the formation of new specialist fields of work and, in particular, of the new fields
such as environmental science, environmental studies, environmental management,
development geography, and tourism and recreation geography.
The grouping of specialist sub fields into broader summary areas of interest provides insight
on the research spectrum. Table 7.5 displays the distribution of research in what may be
termed the core areas of interest.
The breadth of the spectrum is a reflection of the fragmentation of broader, basic subdisciplines such as geomorphology, climatology, economic geography, population geography
and so on into narrower areas of specialist interest, on the one hand. On the other, it is
indicative of the formation of new specialist fields of work and, in particular, of the new fields
such as environmental science, environmental studies, environmental management,
development geography, and tourism and recreation geography.
The grouping of specialist sub fields into broader summary areas of interest provides insight
on the research spectrum. Table 7.5 displays the distribution of research in what may be
termed the core areas of interest.
Expressions of interest reduced to the primary divisions of the discipline show that physical
geography has continued to occupy the second position after human geography. Physical
geography draws 26% of the interest listed in 1998 as against 44% by human geography. The
recent rise of interest in sub-fields of environmental studies has meant that they now account
for 11% of the interest listings. If environmental studies is regarded as a new emerging form
130
of physical geography and its proportion is added to that drawn by physical geography, the
traditional balance between physical and human geography is restored.
Table 7.5: Core Summary Areas of Interest of Academic Geographers in South Africa, 1998
Summary Areas
Frequency
Percentage
Rank
Environmental Studies
33
11
1
Geomorphology
22
8
2
Development Studies
21
7
3
Climatology
20
7
3
Urban Studies
19
7
3
Economic Geography
19
7
3
Population Geography
11
4
7
Tourism/Recreation
11
4
7
Political Geography
9
3
9
Biogeography
8
3
9
Human Geography
7
2
11
Geographical Education
6
2
11
Soil Geography
6
2
11
192
66
GIS
16
6
Remote Sensing
10
3
Research Techniques
8
3
Cartography
7
2
Total
41
14
Human Geography
128
44
1
Physical Geography
76
26
2
Skills
41
14
3
Environmental Studies
33
11
4
Geographical Education
6
2
5
Regional Geography
4
1
6
History/Philosophy
1
<1
7
289
100
Total
Skills Fields
Primary Divisions
Total
Source: Guide to South African Departments of Geography, 1998. SASG, 1998.
Following the trends in undergraduate and Honours curriculum structuring, regional
geography has effectively disappeared as a separate field of interest. It should be noted though
that, at the detailed level of research, many projects are undertaken on a local regional scale
and, in that sense, the field remains significant. The recent rise of interest in skills training is
reflected in a proportion of no less than 14% of the interest listings being attributed to that
field.
131
How does the expression of academic interest compare with the pattern of actual research
output? Table 7.6 & Fig. 73 display the comparison in distribution across the primary
divisions of the discipline.
The relative positions of physical and human geography, environmental studies, and
geographical education conform in rank though levels of frequency of occurrence differ.
Expressions of interest in skills are high but the level of research actually undertaken in the
field is low. Academics are clearly more interested in the training and application of skills
rather than in research on the skills themselves. The relatively low contribution made in
environmental studies research, too, is important. It suggests either a low commitment to
Table 7.6: Comparison of Expressions of Interest and Actual Research Output
Frequencies by Primary Divisions of Geography
%
Research Output
Frequency
%
Interest Frequency
Primary Divisions
Physical Geography
76
26
138
33
Human Geography
128
44
224
54
Environmental Studies
33
11
23
6
Regional Geography
4
1
-
-
History/Philosophy
1
<1
5
1
Geographical Education
6
2
14
3
Skills
41
14
13
3
Totals
289
100
417
100
Source: Guide to South African Departments of Geography, 1998. SSAG, 1998 and National Research Report to
the IGU, NRF, 2000.
Figure 7.3: Interest versus Research Output
RESEARCH
Geography
Primary Divisions
Output
Skills
Geographical Education
History/Philosophy
Regional Geography
Environmental Studies
Interest
Physical Geography
Human Geography
0
5
10 15 20
25 30 35 40 45 50 55
Percentage
132
research in the field or limited potential for basic research in environmental studies as such. It
probably also reflects a tendency for research which has an applied environmental dimension
to be conducted within the basic sub-disciplines of the discipline and for the outcomes to be
published in those fields.
Moreover, research on environmental evaluations and
environmental impact assessment is often presented and published in reports and may not be
captured by the formal research net. There can be little doubt that much work of that type is
being undertaken in consultancies and environmental management practices.
The proportion of research being undertaken on Geographical Education topics is small. It is
encouraging though to see that it remains a significant concern. Working in this field has great
value in the general development interests of the discipline.
The Spectrum of Geographical Research Sub-fields
Analyses of the relative contribution made by sub-fields to the undergraduate and Honours
curriculum have shown that over time some classical fields of geography have retained there
position and strengthened; others have declined and yet others have been added to the
spectrum. That pattern is characteristic also of research output by sub-fields.
Table 7.7 & Fig. 7.4 show the relative contributions made by geographical sub-fields to the
overall research spectrum. South African geographical research tends to be highly
concentrated in relatively few broad sub-fields - the 6 leading sub-fields namely climatology,
urban studies, geomorphology, political geography, development geography and
environmental studies account for nearly two thirds (62%) of the published work captured in
the national report. The 15 top fields account for 88% of the research registered.
Six of the top 15 fields are classical sub-fields of the discipline and 9 are sub- fields, which
have been added more recently. These fields have become important for a number of reasons
including:
Figure7.4: South African Geographical Research, 1996 - 2000
•
Percentage
0
2
4
6
Climatology
Urban Geography
Geomorphology
Political Geography
Development Geography
Environmental Studies
Gender Studies
Tourism
Biogeography
Geographical Education
GIS
Land Issues
Land Degradation
Population Geography
Recreation
8
10
12
14
16
18
62% of
research output
Research Output Fields
n= 366
Fragmentation and the adoption of post modern contexts and in particular aspects such as
gender and recreation studies
133
•
Responses to new priorities emerging in South Africa's transforming society development studies, land issues, local government and environmental management
•
Responses to international trends and local opportunities - particularly tourism
•
•
Priorities in skills development and applications
The spectrum of research output displays a strong relationship to the distribution of
interests and the fields represented in the undergraduate and Honours curricula. Table 7.8
shows the comparison for the six top research fields. The six research sub-fields listed, as
previously noted, contributed 62% of entries listed in the National Research Report in
2000 (Table 7.6 & Fig. 7.4).
Table 7.7: South African Geographical Research Output by Sub-fields, 1996 to 2000
Sub-fields
No of Papers
Percent
Rank
Climatology
71
17
1
Urban Geography
57
14
2
Geomorphology
39
9
3
Political Geography
38
9
3
Development Geography
35
8
5
Environmental Studies
21
5
6
Gender Studies
21
5
6
Tourism
17
4
8
Biogeography
14
3
9
Geographical Education
14
3
9
GIS
10
2
11
Land Issues
9
2
11
Land Degradation
8
2
11
Population Geography
6
1
14
Recreation
6
1
14
366
88
Sub-total Top Fifteen Fields
Table 7.8:
Rank
Comparison of the Top Six Fields of Interest and their Occurrence
in the Undergraduate, and Honours Curricula and in Research Output
Field of Interest
Undergrad Curriculum
Honours Curriculum
1
Enviro Studies
Enviro Studies
Enviro Studies
Climatology
2
Geomorphology
Development Studs
Urban Geography
Urban Geography
3
Development Studs
Urban Geography
Geomorphology
Geomorphology
4
Climatology
Geomorphology
Development Studs
Political Geography
5
Urban Geography
Climatology
Climatology
Development Studs
6
Economic Geog
Economic Geography
Economic Geography
Enviro Studies
6
•
Research Output
Tourism/Recreation
The pattern is not surprising as one would expect the research discipline to be rooted in its
underlying educational support base. Though the composition of the group of six subfields is consistent their ranking in the series varies. Only in research output does one field,
economic geography, fall away to be replaced by political geography. The discrepancy is
134
explained by the rise in importance of politically oriented work in the transformation
environment in South Africa, on the one hand, and the rise of development geography, on
the other. Urban geography has also, since the 1970s, in important respects absorbed
aspects of economic geography.
That climatology occupies the first rank in research output in the recent period arises from
work which is being undertaken in three major research programmes currently underway at the
Universities of Cape Town, Witwatersrand and Zululand. One of these programmes is being
supported by a major Initiative Grant supported by the National Department of Arts Science,
Culture and Technology. That work has meant that the traditional leader of the field in
physical geography, the geomorphology collective, has dropped to second place. It
nevertheless remains a very important basic field which is also finding significant outlets in
applied work.
Urban Geography continues to occupy a high rank in human geography, which it has done
since the 1960s. That more than 50% of South Africa’s population now lives in urban areas is
likely to ensure the continued growth of this sub-field.
The environmental studies collective occupies the lowest of the six leading research sub-fields.
In other respects studies in the sub-field are shown to head the lists and its importance as a
sphere of geographical education is now firmly rooted. That the shift in this research sphere
should occur is not surprising. On the one hand, workers in the sub-field are very commonly
occupied as practitioners in consultancies and their output most frequently takes the form of
applied reports to clients, many of whom will be public authorities. Such work may miss the
research net. On the other hand, it has already been noted elsewhere, some active heads of
work included under the environmental studies collective do not necessarily provide a context
for basic research - they are oriented more to applied practice. This includes particularly
aspects of environmental management.
The environmental studies research collective could be displaced from the six top ranking subfields were tourism and recreation geography to be classed as a single collective. That finding
indicates the importance which those fields have gained in very recent times as the tourism
industry has progressed in this country. There is little doubt that very substantial potential for
further growth in tourism based research exists - more particularly in applied spheres. The
field should be strongly encouraged as one which not only has growth potential in a academic
sense, but is also highly relevant in an applied sense where it might assist in expanding
opportunities for employment.
A reading of the Research Report by individual topics will show a wider spectrum of specialist
research areas which fragment the basic sub-fields of the discipline that make up the
collectives. A listing for the sub-fields climatology; geomorphology and environmental
studies illustrate the point:
•
•
Climatology:
Climate modeling in tracing climatic change.
Studies in atmospheric ozone.
Fog water research.
Transport of aerosols.
Climatic variability, including occurrences of dry and wet spells.
Geomorphology:
Paleogeomorphology of sediments.
135
Sedimentation and environmental change.
Karst geomorphology.
Soil erosion studies.
Fluvial geomorphology.
Periglacial geomorphology.
Applied geomorphology.
•
Environmental studies
Environmental participation in decision-making.
Environmental impact assessments.
Environmental issues.
Waste management.
Perusal of the research output in detail, moreover, shows how many individual contributions
have relevance, in one way or another, to circumstances in contemporary South African
society. Many papers serve to inform interested parties about conditions and circumstances,
others concern investigations on issues relevant to development or management. Many have
conclusions, which include recommendations for action.
Another way of examining research output is to analyse it by regional groupings and the
distribution of output over the twenty-three IGU Commissions, eight Working Groups and the
ICA in the period 1996 to 2000 (Table 7.11).
South African geographical research shows a concentration of effort in thirteen groupings
(Table 7.9 & Fig. 7.5) which contribute nearly 84 % of the total number of publications.
Table 7.9: Top Contributions of South African Geographical Publications to IGU
Commissions and Working Groups, 1996 - 2000
Commission / Study Group
Percentage
Rank
22 Urban Development and Urban Life
17,0
1
02 Climatology
16,8
2
20 Sustainability of Rural Systems
7,4
3
23 World Political Map
6,0
4
08 Geography and Public Administration
5,0
5
11 Health, Environment and Development
4,8
6
06 Gender and Geography
4,3
7
10 Geomorphological Response to Environmental
Change
4,3 (65,6)
7
SG1 Biogeography
4,3
7
SG3 Geography of Sustainable Tourism
4,3 (74,2)
7
07 Environmental Change and Extreme Hydrological
Events
19 Population and Environment
3,4
11
3,4
11
05 Dynamics of Marginal and Critical Regions
2,6
13
Total
83,6
136
A rather heavy concentration of publications (78,6%) was produced by three regional
groupings – Western Cape, 30,9%, Gauteng, 27,1% and KwaZulu-Natal, 20,6%. These are
the regions containing the major historically advantaged departments. The comparison is
problematic though as the weighting of academic staff is skewed in the favour of the three
regions (Table 7.11).
Table 7.10:
Geographical Research Output from Historically Advantaged and
Historically Disadvantaged Departments, 1996 - 2000
Department
No of Publications
Sub-totals
Percent
Historically Advantaged Departments
Cape Town
92
21.5
Free State
12
3
Natal, Durban
31
7
No Return
-
Port Elizabeth
12
3
Potchefstroom
11
3
Pretoria
29
7
Rand Afrikaans
2
0.5
Rhodes
21
5
Stellenbosch
17
4
Witwatersrand
32
8
Natal, Pietermaritzburg
259
Total
62
Historically Disadvantaged Departments
Fort Hare
No Return
-
North
24
6
North West
1
-
No Return
1
Venda
4
6
Zululand
26
6
Transkei
55
Total
19
Durban-Westville
29
7
Western Cape
20
5
Total
49
12
UNISA
3
3
1
Vista
24
24
6
Outside Bodies
27
27
6
417
417
100
Grand Total
Source: National Research Report to the International Geographical Union, 1996 – 2000. National Research
Foundation, 2000.
Also refer to Figure 7.7
137
Table 7.11: South African Geography: 1996 – 2000, Distribution of Publications Placed
Publication
Western Cape
Gauteng
North/North West
KwaZulu-Natal
Eastern Cape
Orange Free State
Total
No
%
No
%
No
%
No
%
No
%
No
%
No
%
SAGJ
10
8,5
16
12,4
4
10,0
10
11,6
2
6,1
1
8,3
43
10,3
Other Geog
Journal
14
12,0
24
18,6
5
12,5
3
3,5
12
36,4
0
0
58
13,9
Spec Journal
27
23,1
33
25,6
9
22,5
36
41,9
5
15,2
3
25,0
113
27,1
23
19,7
24
18,6
7
17,5
11
12,8
7
21,2
1
8,3
73
17,5
SAJSci
4
3,4
6
4,7
1
2,5
6
7,0
0
0
0
0
17
4,1
Chap/Reps
39
33,3
26
20,2
14
35,0
20
23.3
7
21,2
7
58,3
113
27,1
Total
117
417
100,0
Other Journal
129
40
86
33
138
Sources: South African National Report, International Geographical Union,
1996 – 2000. National Research Foundation, 2000
Other Geog
Journal
13.9%
SAGJ: South African Geographical Journal
Spec Journ: Specialised Journal
12
SAGJ
10.3%
SAJSci
4.1%
Spec
Journal
27.1%
SAJSci: South African Journal of Science
Chap/Reps: Chapters in Books and Published Report
Figure 7.6:
Geography Publications
in Journals, 1996 - 2000
138
Other
Journal
17.5%
N=417
Chap/Reps
27.1%
Figure 7.7: Geographical Research Output, 1996 -2000
Geographical Research Output
HDD Subtotal (Black)
13.2%
HDD Subtotal
(Coloured & Asian)
11.8%
UNISA Vista
0.7% 5.8%
Outside Bodies
6.5%
HADs Subtotal
62.1%
Also refer to Table 7.10
Interesting variations occur between the three major regions. The only research focus common
to all three is Commission 22, Urban Development and Urban Life. A degree of commonality
exists in Commissions 20,(Sustainability of Rural Systems), 10 (Geomorphological Response
to Environmental Change), and 02 (Climatology). The variation demonstrates a healthy
diversity and spread of research effort.
Table 7.11 & Fig. 7.6 display the type of publication used by South African geographers in the
publication of their research. Most research (27% of publications) is published in specialised
international journals which concentrate on work drawn from one or other of the major subfields of the discipline. This finding emphasises the trend towards specialisation in the
discipline and suggests growing research maturity.
Equally important are chapters in books as research outlets. While there is a tendency for
publications in journals to be weighted most highly, the publication of scholarly books should
be encouraged. A comment by Nigel Thrift in a recent paper in Geoforum (2002) is apposite.
He notes “---a general decline in the production of learned books and monographs in favour of
journal articles. The RAE 2001 Panel saw this as a problem in the UK, not just because it
tended to signify a general erosion of longer-term scholarly projects (in contrast to some other
disciplines) but also because it meant that geographers were producing too few of the kinds of
books that could publicise the achievements and worth of the discipline more generally.
Certainly in the U K, learned books by historians and scientists (or at least popular science
writers) regularly top non-fiction bestseller lists and do an invaluable job in popularising those
pursuits. Books by geographers should do the same” (p 297).
These two research outlets were followed by publications in Other (non-Geographical)
Journals and Other General Geographical Journals. Geographers in the Eastern Cape Region
were the only group, which tended to use Other Geographical Journals as their major research
139
outlet. That many geographers use non-geographical journals to publish material says much
for the broader relevance of geographical research
Publication through our own national journal is significant (10,3%) but is none the less modest.
The explanation probably lies in the avoidance of a parochial approach to publication. It is
recognised that an emphasis on international publication is very healthy. The South African
Geographical Journal though is fully recognised internationally and it remains important as a
high quality window on South African geography. South African geographers should be
strongly encouraged to support the journal as matter of academic development strategy.
In concluding this section on geographical research, it is important to note responses made by
academic geographers to questions related to:
• the impact which political and social transformation in South Africa might be exerting on
research, and
• the degree to which geographical research is contributing to development practice.
The responses are perceptions which academic geographers have of the impacts and the degree
to which geography is contributing to these fields. Table 7.12 displays the responses recorded.
Table 7.12: Respondent Responses on the Impact of Transformation, and Levels of
Contributions to Development Research and Policy Related Research
Transformation Impact
%
Contribution
to
Development Research
%
Contribution to Policy
Research
%
Strong
80
Good
54
Good
54
Weak
4
Weak
27
Weak
33
No comment
16
No comment
19
No comment
13
Total
100
100
100
In the first instance the table shows that 80% of the respondents suggest that the transformation
process in South Africa is having a positive impact upon geographical research. Particular
responses included perceptions that the composition of geographical research is shifting and is
being influenced by priorities being recognised in the transformation process. Particular
aspects of research in that respect include work on land issues, the formation of local
government, development geography and applications of physical geography (in water
management research for example) among others. Opportunities for work in the environmental
studies collective is also noted strongly. Respondents in general felt that the transformation
process was giving rise to a wide range of new opportunities for research and participation.
The perceptions of academic geographers suggest also that a strong structural shift towards
applied work has taken place in geographical research. Just over half of the respondents say
geography in South Africa is making significant contributions to development work and
research which is being undertaken for policy making. Opportunities exist for direct
involvement in development work and although geographers themselves are not involved in
policy making directly, they should attempt to raise their profile in ways which could involve
them in that process. Many respondents feel that Geographers have a particular contribution to
make in both these fields but that their current involvement is too low.
It is evident from the discussions that it cannot be assumed that Geography as whole is
responding to environmental influences or is making contributions to these fields. It is rather a
140
matter of contributions being made by particular individuals, which is important.
opportunities for participation appear to exist, however.
Many
Structural shifts towards applied relevance are a particularly important aspect of contemporary
geographical research and have significant relationships to vocational development. It is
apparent that significant opportunities exist for applied work in consultancies and in the
application of basic studies in areas of relevant application. The process also raises the very
important issue of the urgent need for the marketing and greater dissemination of geographical
research and geographical education. This is an area, which should be urgently addressed by
the professional body of the discipline – the Society of South African Geographers.
A Note on the IGU Regional Congress, Durban, August 2002
South Africa through the National Committee for the IGU, under the leadership of Professor L
M Magi, was invited by the IGU Executive to hold a regional congress in Durban in August
2002. This was the first major IGU conference held in Africa and its content throws further
light on the composition of contemporary South African research.
A total of 526 participants took part in the Conference and delegates were drawn from a total
of 46 countries. Of the total 76.6% of the participants were drawn from 12 countries (Table
7.13).
Table 7.13: Distribution of Participants in the IGU Durban Conference, 2002
Country
South Africa
United States
United Kingdom
France
Italy
Germany
Japan
Australia
Russia
Canada
Netherlands
Finland
Total
Attendees %
25.9
11.6
6.3
6.3
5.1
4.9
4.4
2.7
2.5
2.5
2.3
2.1
76.6
African Countries
South Africa
Cameroon
Kenya
Zimbabwe
Cote de Ivoire
Nigeria
Namibia
Rest of Africa
Total Africa
Attendees %
25.9
0.6
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.2
0.2
2.2
28.1
N = 526
Not unexpectedly, South Africa, the host country, contributed the highest proportion of
participants with 25.9% of the total. A high proportion of participants came from developed
countries. If South Africa is numbered among these, then 85.7% of participants came from the
developed world. The dominance of West European participation in the activities of the IGU
remains evident.
African participation, other than South Africa, was very disappointing (Table 7.14 & Fig. 7.8).
Only 2.2% of participants were drawn from the rest of Africa and they came from only six
141
countries (Cote de Ivoire, Cameroon, Kenya. Namibia, Zimbabwe and Nigeria. The Durban
Regional Conference was conceived to encourage African participation in the work of the IGU.
That objective was not attained. The obvious reason was one of cost – the meeting was just too
expensive for most potential African participants – despite a discounted registration fee.
Table 7.14: Distribution of Participants by World Regions
World Regions
Attendees %
14.2
34.7
6.7
4.4
25.9
85.9
5.7
2.2
2.0
2.7
1.5
14.1
100.0
North America
West Europe
East – SE Asia
Australia & New Zealand
South Africa
Total Developed World
East Europe
Rest of Africa
Central- South America
Rest of Asia
Israel
Total Developing World
Grand Total
Figure 7.8: IGU Regional Congress, Durban, August 2002 - Participants by
World Regions
East – SE Asia
6.7%
Australia- New
Zealand
East Europe 4.4%
Rest of Asia
5.7%
2.7%
North America
14.2%
Rest of Africa
2.2%
Central- South
America
2.0%
Israel
1.5%
West Europe
34.7%
South Africa
25.9%
N=612 (papers offered)
142
Composition of Contributions to the Conference
A total of 612 papers was offered to the Conference.
contribution was 157 papers or 25.9% (Table 7.15).
Table 7.15:
Of that total the South African
Distribution of Papers by Field. IGU Conference as a Whole and
South Africa
Whole
South Africa
Conference
Com/WG
Number
%
Number
Climate Change – Periglacial Environments
5
0.8
1
C-02
Climatology
34
5.6
4
C-03
Coastal Systems
8
1.3
1
C-01
Field
%
C-04
Dynamics of Economic Spaces
0
0
0
C-05
Evolving Issues of Geographic Marginality
20
3.3
4
C-06
Gender and Geography
28
4.6
5
C-07
Geographical Education
49
8.0
10
6.4
C-08
Geographical Information Science (GIS)
17
2.8
3
1.9
C-09
Geography and Public Policy
37
6.0
21
13.4
C-10
Geography of Information Society
10
1.6
1
C-11
Geomorphic Challenges for the 21st C
20
3.3
10
6.4
C-12
Hazards and Risks
18
2.9
3
1.9
C-13
Health and Environment
16
2.6
10
6.4
C-14
History of Geographical Thought
8
1.3
0
0
C-15
Karst
0
0
0
0
C-16
Land Degradation and Desertification
14
2.3
6
3.8
C-17
Marine Geography
5
0.8
0
0
C-18
Modelling Geographical Systems
15
2.5
4
C-19
Monitoring Cities of Tomorrow
33
5.4
5
C-20
Population and Environment
12
2.0
3
C-21
Sustainability of Rural Systems
17
2.8
5
C-22
Political Geography
9
1.5
4
WG-01
Biogeography
13
2.1
1
WG-02
Diversity in Mountain Systems
5
0.8
0
WG-03
Fluvial Systems Research
13
2.1
3
3.2
3.2
3.2
WG-04
Applied Geography
4
0.7
0
0
WG-05
Geog of Tourism, Leisure / Global Change
40
6.5
7
4.5
WG-06
Global Change and Human Mobility
15
2.5
1
WG-07
Land Use and Land Cover Change
38
6.2
7
4.5
WG-08
Cultural Geography
19
3.1
7
4.5
WG-09
Local Development
12
2.0
2
WG-10
Water Sustainability
29
4.7
8
F-01
Megacity Task Force
5
0.8
1
3
5.1
J-01
Catchment Management/Water Quality
6
1.0
J-02
Manag Environment/Rural Sustainability
14
2.3
5
3.2
P-01
Rio + 10
1
0.2
0
0
P-02
Geography and Racism
6
1.0
4
S-01
Geog of Transformation/Transformation of
7
1.1
7
6
1.0
Key Notes
Introduction
0
0
1
Total
612
143
100
157
100
The number of papers actually presented to the Conference totalled 474 papers or 80% of the
total offered. Of the 157 papers offered by South Africa 148 were actually presented (93% of
papers initially offered).
The question of no shows in IGU conferences has been of long standing. It is an unfortunate
occurrence but apparently unavoidable.
The number of South African papers presented by single authors numbered 90 papers or 57.3%
0f the total. The number of South African papers presented by co-authors was 67 or 42.7% of
the total. The number of South African papers presented by Black authors was 31 papers or
19.7% of the total. Of these papers 17 were presented by single authors and 124 by coauthors.
The contribution to the conference as a whole can probably not be taken as being fully
representative of international geography at the present time. The composition of the
membership is likely to be selective.
The South African contribution differs from the overall contribution to the conference (Table
7.15 & Fig. 7.9).
A high proportion of papers is concentrated in the Policy – Political Geography field (22.9%).
This tends to emphasise the significance of the political transformation process in the South
African society. Note though that the field is well represented in the conference as a whole.
Geomorphology continues to be a leading field in the discipline.
The environmental collective is now a leading field maintaining the important role it had
assumed by 1996. Note also the leading position it assumed in the conference as a whole. This
field has clearly become a driving force in contemporary international geography as much as it
has in South African geography (Table 7.16 & Fig. 7.9).
The Climatology collective, though still in the top four fields, has dropped relative to its
leading position in 2000.
Table 7.16: Top Collective Fields: IGU Conference – Whole Conference and South
Africa 2002
3.3.1
Collectives
Public Policy/Political Geography
Geomorphology Collective
Environmental Collective
Climate Collective
Education Collective
Tourism Collective
Development Collective
Cultural Collective
Urban Collective
Gender Collective
Coverage
144
South Africa
Whole Conference
(Percentages)
(Percentages)
22.9
14.6
14.6
7.6
6.4
4.5
4.5
4.5
3.8
3.2
86.6%
9.6
9.5
11.9
10.3
8.0
4.5
4.8
2.8
6.2
4.6
72.2%
Figure 7.9:
Top Collective Fields: IGU Conference 2002, South versus Whole
Conference
24
22
20
18
16
P ercentage o f 14
Top
12
C o llect edF ields 10
8
6
4
2
0
86.6%
72.2%
South Africa
Whole Conference
South Africa
Whole Conference
Public
GeoEnviron
Policy/
Climate
morphomental
Political
logy
Geog.
22.9
14.6
14.6
7.6
9.6
9.5
11.9
10.3
Education
DeTourism velop- Cultural
ment
Urban
Gender
6.4
4.5
4.5
4.5
3.8
3.2
8
4.5
4.8
2.8
6.2
4.6
The fields of geographical education, development geography, cultural geography and gender
studies in geography have maintained significant levels of contribution. Interestingly though
the urban geography field appears to have waned relative to its former importance. The
geography of tourism now appears as a significant field in contemporary international and
South African geography.
145
Part 8
7
Geography in the Workplace: Disciplinary Perspectives of Practising
Non-academic Geographers8
Introduction
Graduates in geography who are working in non-academic sectors have a critical role to play in
the reorientation of geographic teaching and research in post-apartheid South Africa. Being
involved with the day-to-day application of geographic knowledge and skills, these graduates
are well positioned to inform the relevance, or otherwise, of geography in different contexts.
Despite all these, the experiences of practising geographers have been largely ignored in
academia, not least because university geography departments do not keep record of where
their students go after graduating. Other than through membership of the profession society,
there are no established channels of communication between academic geographers and those
working in non-academic environments. This not only weakens the already small community
of geographers in the country, but seriously undermine the contribution geography can make in
national affairs.
Against this background, the State of the Discipline Project sought to tease out the views of
practising non-academic geographers on the content and direction of South African geography,
and to find ways of opening communication among geographers who work in entirely different
environments. Interviews were conducted in the form of telephonic conversation, e-mails and
face-to-face discussions. As alluded to above, tracking down practising geographers was, and
still remains, a difficult task. The only possible way of finding out who practising geographers
are and where they are working was through a snowball technique. Through this technique,
twenty-eight practising geographers were identified and interviewed. For the purpose of this
study, the last university attended was taken to represent the institution of the interviewees. In
few instances where interviewees studied overseas, their last university in South Africa was
recognized. Many of the respondents had attended more than one university in South Africa.
The majority of the people interviewed graduated in the 1990s and occupied middle and top
management positions. These came from the following universities:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Potchefstroom University for CHE
Rand Afrikaans University
University of Cape Town
University of Durban Westville
University of Natal
University of Pretoria
University of Stellenbosch
7
Contribution by research team member, Dr Maano Ramutsindela, Department of Geography, University
of the North when project began (2000) and now at the Department of Environmental and Geographical
Sciences at the University of Cape Town.
8
The phrase has been used to refer in the report to geography graduates working in non-academic sectors.
In no way does its use imply that geographers working in higher education institutions are locked in
ivory towers.
146
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
University of Transkei
University of Venda
University of Zululand
University of the North
University of the Western Cape
University of the Witwatersrand
14. Vista University
The following deductions came from responses to the ten questions used as a framework for
interviews.
1.
Current job description
Respondents were asked to give a brief description of their current job in order to find out
what graduates were actually doing. The study found that geographers are involved in a
range of activities in government projects (e.g. managing, developing and monitoring of
projects), research, private sector, and consultancy (Table 8.1).
Table 8.1:
Employment Portfolios of Respondents
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
2.
Social Impact Assessment
Project Management
Land Redistribution
Budgeting
Land Reform Legislation
Receptionist
Marketing
Monitoring and Evaluation
Managing the Premier's Office
Developing Spatial Data Framework
Planning
Developing Material for Sustainable
Urban Development
Conflict Resolution
Developing and Managing Ground Water
Resources
Research
Consultancy
Identity as professionals
Following their job descriptions, interviewees were asked about their own identity as
professionals. The idea was to find out how they see their own professional background in
non-academic environments, where they are many, and sometimes, competing professional
identities. It was found that the majority of graduates see themselves as geographers, with few
showing multiple identities as both geographers and environmental scientists (Table 8.2).
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Table 8.2:
Professional Identification
Number of Responses
13
4
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Identification
Geography
Geography and Environmental Science/Studies
Geography and Development Studies
None
Environmental Science
Policy
Philosopher
Health Worker
Administrator
Planning
Geography and Natural Science
Still on the question of professional identity, interviewees were further asked how their
geographic knowledge and skills are appreciated, or otherwise, by their colleagues who
come from other backgrounds. We wish we could have received comments from nongeographers as well. The question was aimed at teasing out perceptions of geography and
geographers.
Comments on this question can be grouped into three broad clusters:
Lack of recognition of geographic knowledge and skills by colleagues. This is
revealed in the following comments:
‘People hardly relate my work with my geography background’.
‘They see a variety of base skills, sometimes they are jealous about the varied nature of my
studies, sometimes critical about how unspecialised geography appear’.
Association of geographers with geographically related skills.
comments on this were:
Some of the
‘They see me as somebody who understands maps’.
‘They appreciate my knowledge of planning and environmental issues, and my ability to interpret
maps’.
Appreciation of the integrative nature of the discipline. The following comments
shed some light on this:
‘They appreciate my understanding of integrated planning and development.’
‘They realize that there are special skills that geographers have that complement other activities in
the department [of Traditional and Local Government Affairs] … I have been appointed to several
interdisciplinary and interdepartmental task teams.’
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3.
Training as a geographer
The study paid attention to issues of curriculum development in geography. Gaps in the
training of geographers were assessed in three ways:
Through the skills needed by practising geographers.
It was found that further training is needed in management, computer skills, refresher
courses, socio-political issues, communication, economics, research and report writing,
and statistics. It would be useful to consider these aspects in geography curriculum
restructuring and development at all levels of education.
Through an audit of the knowledge and skills found useful in job situations.
All respondents acknowledged the usefulness of the integrative nature of geography,
which helps them in data analysis, the implementation of projects and in understanding
the link between socio-political issues and environmental problems. As one respondent
said, ‘it helps me get a very good grasp of the framework of sustainable development
and all the issues involved without looking at it from a single angle’. The type and
nature of occupation determined the usefulness of particular sub-disciplines. For
instance, those working in land reform projects found settlement, economic and
political geography relevant to their projects, while ecology and topography were
considered important in Water Affairs.
By soliciting views on the directions university geography teaching and research
should follow.
The question was framed in these words: ‘what do you think should be the main focus
of geography teaching and research at South African universities?’ Practising
geographers strongly felt that the subject should strengthen the integration of social,
physical and behavioural aspects. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the discipline
should reflect current problems and strive to bridge gaps between theory and practice.
As one respondent puts it: ‘geography at universities should focus on applying
geographic knowledge rather than theorizing the discipline. Make students think and
solve problems rather than only cram and read books’. To that end, fieldwork was
considered highly useful.
4.
Role of geographers
Asking the question on the roles of South African geographers in the 21st century
consolidated the respondents’ views on geography and geographers. It is strongly felt
that geographers should develop teaching and research programmes that contribute
towards an integrated understanding of social, physical and behavioural issues in
Africa. It was also stressed that there is a need to show the relevance of geographical
skills in the global environment.
5.
Links with academic geographers
The last aspect of the research involved the strengthening of ties between academic
geographers and those in non-academic sectors. Such ties are vital for the ‘life and
149
health’ of the discipline. Geographers in non-academic sectors proposed four main
ways of establishing and maintaining the ties:
Through newsletters and web sites.
By working together in, say, projects.
Through a society or club
By linking up with institutions
Conclusion
There is no doubt that the experiences and opinions of geographers in non-academic sectors are
useful pointers for the future development and direction of geography. It is therefore necessary
to develop and maintain a continuous relationship among geographers at different stations of
life. The participation of a significant number of practising geographers at the Fourth Biennial
Conference of the Society of South African Geographers in July 2001, and, in the IGU 2002
Regional Meeting in Durban, is a very welcome development. Effective ways of maintaining
and developing that momentum should be explored and strongly encouraged strongly with their
colleagues in the universities and colleges. Ways should be developed for practising nonacademic geographers to interact more closely with their academic colleagues.
------------------------
150
Part 9
Identities, Imaging, Attitudes and Concerns –
Contemporary Personal Insights
Ways in which individual academics view themselves, image their discipline and project their
attitudes, levels of confidence and general opinions say much about the health of the discipline
and provide important insights on its status, current faults and potential future. A discipline
practised by individuals who identify positively and have pride in their discipline clearly rests
on strong foundations. One practised by doubters and individuals who express negative images
of their work is clearly in difficulties. These matters are the subject of the last substantive
section of the report. The comment which follows is drawn from free ranging conversations
held with individual academics during the field survey. Respondents were very prepared to
express comment and criticism.
Asked to indicate how they commonly identified themselves professionally to fellow
academics and strangers, a high proportion (74%) of the respondents expressed a positive view
in identifying themselves as geographers.
Although not specifically asked to comment on their level of confidence in the discipline some
72% did so. If it is assumed that the 28% of the sample who did not find it necessary to
comment are comfortable in the discipline then the proportion of the sample who are
comfortable and positively confident is high. We might say therefore that the great majority of
geographers enjoy a satisfactory level of morale. None the less a degree of reservation exists
in the minds of some – 22% commenting on the issue were not confident. Those with a low
level of confidence most frequently indicated that their perceptions arose not for reasons which
would suggest a general weakness in the discipline but very often for external reasons. Some
of these are noted below.
A good 23% of respondents indicate that they identify themselves through the title of the
specific sub-field in which they have specialised and work – such as geomorphologist,
climatologist, physical geographer, environmental scientist, urban geographer and so on. The
great majority of these people are physical geographers (20.6%). A probe for reasons
established the view that many geographers believe that their fellow scientists and members of
the public have a poor image of the discipline as a science. A common remark was that
“outsiders have a stereotype attitude towards geographers”. Several academics observed that
they would not identify themselves as a geographer to a scientific audience. One noted that
“they would immediately think that my science is not good enough”! Another remarked that
“the people with whom I circulate these days are almost invariably scientists. To call oneself a
geographer is very often an invitation to be excluded”. A third went so far as to say that the
“identity of geographers is an on-going embarrassment”! Another department noted that
“we've taken the view that Geography by itself is dead, but that we combine well with other
science, social studies and commerce departments”. The functional response was the
construction of a curriculum which was strongly applied and multi-disciplinary in nature.
These views in the sight of the survey team are extreme and not representative but they
certainly carry a dimension of truth, and should be regarded as a ‘wake-up call’. Structured
reasons for the expression of these views exist though and in the view of the respondents they
include:
151
•
A weak understanding of the objectives and content of the discipline – a persistence of the
capes and bays image. In consultancy work for example, geographers often use the
appellation of Environmental Scientist in preference to ensure a clearer understanding of
what geographers do. It is evident that the term geographer has never gained general public
acceptance or appreciation in South Africa as it has for example in the United Kingdom,
the United States, Canada and Australia.
•
Persistence of ill defined images gained through poorly presented school geography which
has little reference to the academic discipline and its applications.
•
Academic territoriality and historical hierarchies.
•
Suspicion of a discipline which claims to incorporate and integrate both biophysical and
human-social dimensions of study.
•
A tendency for the major sub-disciplines of geography, through scientific publications to
become more prominent than the mother discipline itself.
It is strongly evident from these observations that work on the question of disciplinary identity
and academic confidence is urgently needed. That need is reflected also in a range of critical
comment voiced by respondents on the general characteristics of the contemporary discipline.
It should be remembered that some 22% of respondents had indicated a low level of confidence
in the practice of their discipline.
Amongst major criticisms received were:
•
Increasing fragmentation of the discipline including a trend towards separation of physical
and human geography.
•
The fact that senior academics are being attracted into other occupations. Underlying
factors include conditions of service and remuneration levels.
•
Restructuring taking place in universities, which, in the eyes of a significant number of
respondents, is perceived to be having negative impacts. Tendencies toward the formation
of multi-disciplinary schools and studies which lead to the dissolution of departmental and
disciplinary identities are of particular concern.
•
The problem of succession. The perception is that a significant number of senior
academics have left the academic sphere and that a sufficient supply of quality, younger
geographers has not materialised to take their place. Comments such as - “I don’t know
who is going to replace the existing hierarchy” and “I don’t see young people coming up
who are research oriented – younger people are not being attracted into the academic
sphere” were not uncommon.
•
Too little rigour. Standards are not considered to be sufficiently high and the quality of
undergraduate students is declining. Difficulties experienced in assisting under-prepared
students are of particular significance to commentators on this issue.
•
Attempts at the school level to subsume geography into general social studies.
•
The perception that geography in South Africa does not seem to enjoy the same public
stature that it attains in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.
•
The perception that the national leadership, in the public and private sectors in South
Africa, does not have a clear image of geography or of what the discipline can deliver.
Commentators remarked, however, that middle management in government does seem to
be gaining an appreciation of the relevance of a geographical education – as is seen in an
increasing level of official advertisements which refer specifically to ‘geographer’. The
152
belief is though that the general public still has a poor image of the relevance of geography.
The images of related spheres including those of Environmental Science, Environmental
Management and GIS appear to be much higher.
•
Lack of vision on directions towards which the discipline is headed.
•
Fear of structural shifts towards environmental management at the expense of basic
scientific curricula.
While it is important to be aware of misgivings in the thoughts of practising academics it is
equally important to take cognizance of positive attitudes towards the discipline. One
comment very frequently voiced was that opportunities for geographers to make significant
contributions to the science of the biophysical environment, to understanding structures in our
contemporary society and to understanding relationships between humans and the natural
environment remain very high. Many respondents called for the discipline to take a broad
view of itself and to avoid programmes which focus purely on strict and narrow academic
priorities to the exclusion of applied dimensions of study – providing an appropriate balance is
maintained. Notwithstanding the observation made above, for example, many respondents
were very positive about the association of geography, environmental science and
environmental management. They maintain that in the association the discipline attains greater
strength, gains greater application and is likely to attract students and public attention.
Invariably respondents voicing doubts about the discipline coupled their comments with
statements calling for determined efforts to market the discipline more strongly and effectively
and for geographers to be more assertive in their academic and public relations. There are
strong needs here for individual academics, individual departments and the professional
Society to actively and urgently address these issues.
Though concern about disciplinary identity is significant and levels of confidence could be
higher, there is general agreement among respondents that these concerns should not be
interpreted as a desire to change the title of the discipline. A majority of respondents maintain
that strong internal confidence exists. – geographers know that they are doing useful and
constructive work and the established, historical title carries a distinguished academic heritage.
That heritage should not be abandoned. The problem is one of improving the external image.
Respondents expressed a view that a rising image is evolving at present and that it should be
cultivated as a matter of urgency.
Defining the Characteristics of a Geographer
The utility of a discipline becomes evident in the range of vocational abilities ascribed to
practitioners. Responses to a question designed to identify such abilities were remarkably
diverse. They ranged over at least 27 generic heads. Analysis of these data shows that, in the
eyes of the practitioners, the top abilities which geographers might be expected to display are:
Rank
Ability
1
Spatial analytical and interpretative skills.
2
Understanding of human – environmental relationships.
3
Integration skills.
4
Ability to appreciate the broad picture of human – environmental relations.
5
Professional methodology in analysis and interpretation.
153
6
Ability to exercise a multidimensional view.
7
Strong appreciation of relationships between space, place and time.
8
Ability to synthesise interrelations between phenomena.
9
Ability to think laterally.
10
Appreciation of the temporal dimensions of interrelationships.
11
An holistic approach to analysis.
12
Cartographic skills (including GIS) and skills in cartographic interpretation.
13
Concern for the analysis of problem issues.
14
Flexibility.
15
Ability to shift analyses across scales.
16
Familiarity with working in teams.
17
Field abilities in sub-disciplinary fields.
18
Abilities to work in applied fields and appreciation of the importance of applied
dimensions of geographic analyses
An exercise to establish the core competencies of a geographer recently carried out by the
department of geography in the University of Cape Town confirms these general qualities. In
that exercise the core competencies are that a geographer should :
1. Have a holistic view of the environment and its physical, biological, social, economic and
political components in time and space.
2. Have an awareness of the history and philosophy of geography.
3. Recognise that knowledge and understanding are dynamic entities.
4. Understand and interpret the dynamic patterns and processes underlying landscapes at
various scales.
5. Possess an awareness of the spatial manifestations, dimensions and implications of
physical, social, economic, political and cultural processes.
6. Be competent in the methodology of research and be able to conduct critical enquiries
pertaining to geographical phenomena and concepts.
7. Be able to access appropriate information from a variety of sources including libraries,
archives, public information databases and the Internet.
8. Have the skill to acquire, organise, analyse and synthesise information in order to solve
geographical problems.
9. Have knowledge of key geographical, biophysical and social theories and concepts and be
able to apply such understanding to practical problems in geography.
10. Understand the concept of sampling and be able to apply descriptive and analytical
statistics to geographical data.
11. Be able to understand and use maps, diagrams and other forms of representation of
geographical data.
12. Take measurements from maps and remote sensing products, develop basic cartographic
representations and use Geographical Information Systems to represent and analyse spatial
data.
154
13. Interpret maps and remote sensing products and make inferences from these interpretations.
14. Be proficient with tools and techniques of qualitative analysis (e.g. interviews and
questionnaires), be able to classify, analyse, and summarise data and draw inferences from
the results.
15. Make basic field and laboratory observations and measurements, represent these in the
form of field and laboratory notes, sketches, and interpret and analyse the results.
16. Work effectively as a member of a team or group in projects and investigations.
17. Demonstrate effective information and communication technology skills.
18. Communicate geographical understanding in writing, orally and using visual, symbolic
and/or other forms of representation.
19. Exhibit proficiency in self-management, interpersonal skills and written and oral
communication.
20. Manage and organise learning activities responsibly taking into account due ethical and
cultural considerations
There is general agreement also between both of these sets of data and the listed qualities of
geographers assessed in the United Kingdom Geography Benchmark Study of 2000 (Quality
Assurance Agency for Higher Education, 2000). A summary of the assessment runs as
follows.
A geographer should display a knowledge and understanding of:
Reciprocal relationships between physical and human aspects of environments and
landscapes.
Concepts of spatial variation and an ability to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of
spatial distributions in both physical and human phenomena.
Ways in which the distinctiveness of a particular place is constituted and continually
remade by physical, environmental, biotic, social, economic and cultural processes as also
the influence of place-specific characteristics on such processes.
The conceptualisation of patterns, processes, interactions and change in the physical world
as systems at a range of spatial scales. Geographers should know how to incorporate into a
systems framework natural environmental impacts on human activity (e.g. natural hazards),
human impacts on biophysical systems (e.g. air pollution, deforestation and soil erosion)
and the management of wild environments and landscapes.
The significance of spatial and temporal scale on physical processes, human processes and
their interactions. Geographers should comprehend how such processes operate at local,
regional and global scales to produce particular geographies.
Change as a central factor in understanding the physical and human worlds, their
interaction and interdependence. This understanding is particularly appropriate in
environmental social science.
Ideas of place, space and time which should inform geographer’s critical understanding of
the nature of difference within the human world. Geographers should demonstrate
knowledge of the main dimensions and scales of economic, social, political and
environmental inequality, and be familiar with a range of interpretations of the processes
creating geographies of difference and inequality.
Diverse manners of representations of the world. Maps have an important historic role as
representations of the world, and geographers should be conversant with their modern
155
forms and dimensions. They should have a similar depth of understanding of other
representational forms, including texts, visual images and digital technologies (particularly
GIS and Remote Sensing).
Major methodological strategies used in the analysis and interpretation of geographical
information and the appropriate contexts for their use.
A substantial range of analytical and observational strategies including most of the
following: social survey and interviewing methods, geographical field research, laboratory
based analysis, quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis and modelling strategies.
Familiarity with developing technology in these strategies is expected.
The assessment notes further that “it follows that geographical knowledge and
understanding should form the basis for informed concern about the earth and its people.
Geographers should be aware of the application of geographical concepts, techniques, and
expertise to problem solving, wealth creation and improving the quality of life, as in urban
planning, hazard assessment and sustainability and conservation.
The spread of abilities strongly illustrates the broad base, flexibility and adaptability of a
geographical education and training which are qualities of great value in the workplace – in
general and in specific vocational spheres.
156