English: Access to university in South Africa has been, and continues to be, a highly contested area that is plagued with many layers of complexity rooted in the social, political and educational past and present. Situated within an overarching commitment to fair and just higher education, in this thesis I have attempted to understand the complex field of access to university. I have done this by focusing on the transition from school to university, through the lens of the capabilities approach as developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum. The capabilities approach provides a framework for seeking to understand what young people entering universities are able to be and to do and what limits their being and doing. As such, the capabilities approach requires us to move beyond measurable access statistics to a more nuanced understanding of the agency and well-being of students admitted to university. Four research questions guided the study. 1. How do first-year students at the UFS experience the transition to university in their first year of study? 2. How do learners in Grades 10, Il and 12 from local UFS feeder high schools experience the process of preparation for and access to university? 3. How can these experiences of the interface between school and university be theorised using a capabilities-based social justice framework? 4. Based on the evidence from the research, what interventions could support efforts towards a more socially just transition for these students? Working within a pragmatic paradigm, the study employed a mixed methods research design. My starting assumption was that in order to thoroughly understand the transition to university, it is necessary to study both the final years of schooling and the first-year at university. As such, the study focused on the University of the Free State (UFS) and a sample of 20 feeder schools. A total of 2816 learners in Grades 10, Il and 12 completed the quantitative South African High School Survey of Learner Engagement (SAHSSLE) (adapted from the version used in the United States) in September 2009. The SAHSSLE provides a wealth of data regarding educational practices at school as well as learners' experiences and attitudes towards their education. A smaller sample of 33 learners also completed qualitative reflections on their school experience, plans for universities and their 'university knowledge'. At the university level, I collected qualitative data from 128 first-year students in 2009 using focus group methodology. In 2010 an additional sample of 142 first-year students were asked to provide a written description of their first month at university and to draw a picture of how they experienced the transition. The thesis covers much theoretical ground related to higher education and social justice as well as in the specific study area of access. In the access domain I make use of Conley's multidimensional model of university readiness together with research on effective educational practices that underpins the student engagement literature and instruments. Drawing on the theory and literature, I propose an ideal theoretical capabilities list for the transition to university. Following a detailed presentation of the empirical results structured in two main sections, namely: transition to university experiences and readiness for university; I then make use of the capabilities framework to theorise the transition to university. Taking the well-being of students as the starting point, the capabilities framework for the transition to university asks what the outcome of a successful transition should be. Rather than defining success merely as measurable performance (such as changing enrolment demographics, credits passed in the first-year or progression to the second year of study for example) which does not take student well-being into account; the capabilities framework presented argues that educational resilience should be regarded as the outcome of a successful transition to university. In this context, resilience is defined as follows: • Being able to navigate the transition from school to university within individual life contexts; G) Being able to negotiate risk, to persevere academically and to be responsive to educational opportunities and adaptive constraints; and o Having aspirations and hopes for a successful university career. A pragmatic capabilities list and framework for the transition to university is proposed and defended, together with specific recommendations for how this framework could be applied to facilitate the transition to university. The seven capabilities for the transition to university are as follows: 1. Practical reason 2. Knowledge and imagination 3. Learning disposition 4. Social relations and social networks 5. Respect, dignity and recognition 6. Emotional health and reflexivity 7. Language competence and confidence. These seven capabilities encompass the lessons learned from the literature review of university access and the first-year at university, the capabilities literature, and the empirical data within an overarching commitment to social justice and the promotion of the well-being of students. The thesis ends by considering what the UFS could do differently to facilitate the transition as well as what the UFS could do in partnership with schools.
Afrikaans: Toegang tot 'n universiteit in Suid-Afrika was, en sal voortaan 'n hoogs omstrede veld bly, wat geteister word deur verskeie komplekse lae wat gegrond is in die sosiale, politiese en opvoedkundige hede en verlede. Geleë binne die oorkoepelende verbintenis tot billike en regverdige hoëronderwys, poog ek in hierdie tesis om die kompleksiteit van die gebied van toegang tot universiteit, te verstaan. Ek het dit bewerkstellig deur te fokus op die oorgang van skool tot universiteit, deur die lens van 'n "bekwaarnheidsbenadering" [capabilities approach], soos ontwikkel deur Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum. Die "bekwaamheidsbenadering" verskaf 'n raamwerk wat poog om te verstaan wat jongmense wat universiteite betree kan wees en kan doen en wat hul wese en dade beperk. Sodanig vereis die "bekwaamheidsbenadering" ons om verby meetbare toetredingstatistiek te beweeg, na 'n meer geskakeerde begrip ten opsigte van agentskap en welstand van studente wat toegelaat is tot universiteit. Vier navorsingsvrae het hierdie studie gelei: 1. Hoe ervaar eerstejaarstudente aan die UV die oorgang tot universiteit in die eerste jaar van hul studies? Binne die pragmatiese paradigma, volg die studie 'n gemengde navorsingsontwerp. My aanname, as vertrekpunt, was dat om 'n deeglike begrip van die oorgang tot universiteit te toon, is dit noodsaaklik dat beide die finale jare van skoolopleiding en die eerste jaar op universiteit bestudeer moet word. As sodanig fokus die studie op die Universiteit van die Vrystaat (UV) en 'n steekproef van 20 voederskole. 'n Totaal van 2816 leerlinge in Grade 10, Il en 12 het 'n kwantitatiewe vraelys getiteld Suid-Afrikaanse Hoërskoolopname VIr 2. Hoe ervaar leerlinge 111 Grade 10, Il en 12 van plaaslike UV voederskole die voorbereidingsproses vir universiteit en toegang tot universiteit? s. Hoe kan hierdie ervarings van die koppelvlak tussen skool en universiteit geteoretiseer word deur gebruik te maak 'n "bekwaamheidsgebaseerde" sosiale geregtigheidsraamwerk? 4. Gebaseer op bewyse van navorsing, watter intervensies kan pogings tot 'n meer sosiaal-regverdige oorgang vir hierdie studente, ondersteun? Leerderbetrokkenheid (SAHSOLB)('n aangepaste weergawe van 'n vraelys in gebruik in die Verenigde State) in September 2011, voltooi. Die SAHOLB verskaf 'n rykdom van data met betrekking tot opvoedkundige praktyke in skole, asook leerlinge se ervarings en houdings ten opsigte van hulopvoeding. 'n Kleiner steekproef van 33 leerlinge het ook kwalitatiewe refleksies met betrekking tot hul skoolervaring, planne ten opsigte van universiteite en hul "universiteitskennis", voltooi. Op universiteitsvlak, het ek kwalitatiewe data van 128 eerstejaarstudente in 2009 ingesamel deur middel van fokusgroep-metodologie. In 2010 is 'n bykomende steekproef van 142 eerstejaarstudente gevra om 'n geskrewe beskrywing van hul eerste maand op universiteit te verskaf en om 'n prentjie te teken van hoe hulle die oorgang ervaar het. Die tesis sluit omvattende teoretiese agtergrond met betrekking tot hoëronderwys en sosiale geregtigheid, asook in die spesifieke veld van toegang, in. Rondom die domein van toegang, het ek gebuik gemaak van Conley se multi-dimensionele model van universiteitsgereedheid, tesame met die navorsing oor effektiewe opvoedkundige praktyke wat studentebetrokkenheid literatuur en -intrumente, onderskraag. Voortspruitend vanuit die teorie en literatuur, stel ek 'n ideale teoretiese "bekwaamheidslys" vir die oorgang tot universiteit, voor. Na anleiding van 'n omvattende voorlegging van die empiriese resultate, gestruktureer in twee hoofafdelings, naamlik: oorgang na universiteit ervarings en gereedheid vir universiteit; gebruik ek dan die "bekwaarnheidsraamwerk" om te teoretiseer oor die oorgang totuniversiteit. 'n Pragmatiese "bekwaarnheidslys'' en +raamwerk vir die oorgang totuniversiteit word voorgestel en verdedig, gesamentlik met spesifieke voorstelle hoe hierdie raamwerk toegepas kan word om die oorgang totuniversiteit te fasiliteer. Deur die welstand van studente as vertrekpunt te neem, vra die "bekwaamheidsraarnwerk" vir die oorgang tot universiteit wat die uitkomste van 'n suksesvolle oorgang moet wees. Eerder as om sukses bloot as 'n meetbare prestasie (soos verandering van inskrywingsdemografie, krediete geslaag in die eerstejaar of vordering tot die tweede jaar van studie byvoorbeeld) te definieer wat nie die student se welstand in ag neem nie; voer die voorgestelde "bekwaamheidsraarnwerk" aan dat opvoedkundige veerkragtigheid as die uitkoms van 'n suksevolle oorgang tot universiteit geag moet word. In hierdie konteks word veerkragtigheid as volg gedefinieer: Om in staat te wees om die oorgang van skool na universiteit te bewerkstellig binne individuele lewenskontekste; o Om in staat te wees om risiko te beding, om akademies te volhard en om te reageer op opvoedkundige geleenthede; en • Om aspirasies en hoop te hê vir 'n suksesvolle universiteitsloopbaan. 'n Pragmatiese "bekwaamheidslys" en raamwerk VII' die oorgang tot universiteit IS voorgestel en verdedig, tesame met spesifieke aanbevelings vir hoe hierdie raamwerk toegepas kan word ten einde die oorgang tot universiteit te fasiliteer. Die sewe bekwaamhede vir die oorgang tot universiteit is as volg: l. Praktiese denke 2. Kennis en verbeelding 3. Ingesteldheid tot leer 4. Sosiale verhoudings en sosiale netwerke 5. Respek, waardigheid en erkenning 6. Emosionele integriteit 7. Taalvaardigheid en selfvertroue Hierdie sewe bekwaamhede omvat die lesse geleer uit die literatuuroorsig van universiteitstoegang en die eerste jaar op universiteit, die "bekwaamheid" literatuur, en die empiriese data in 'n oorkoepelende verbintenis tot sosiale geregtigheid en die bevordering van die welstand van studente. Die tesis word afgesluit deur om te oorweeg wat die UV anders kan doen om die oorgang te fasiliteer, asook wat die UV in samewerking met skole kan doen.