Promoting social change amongst students in higher education : an evaluation of the listening, living and learning senior student housing programme at Stellenbosch University

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The positioning of Stellenbosch University in a rapidly changing higher education context necessitates transformation, the promotion of diversity, and social integration among all students on campus. Although a vast variety of recruitment and support initiatives are in place to diversify the student population and to enhance student success, it is not sufficient to simply widen access for African, coloured and Indian students to Stellenbosch University. Change with regard to the institutional culture and social climate of the institution also needs to be effected. One intervention aimed at achieving this is the Listening, Living and Learning programme, promoting social change among students.The Listening, Living and Learning (LLL) programme is a senior student housing programme, and a co-curricular living-learning community, and is the first of its kind in South Africa. The students in the LLL houses are ideally a diverse group of students, learning to live together, hosting conversations with guest speakers about the theme of their house and participating in a small project. The initiative aims to develop students as agents of change. Since its establishment in 2008, the outcomes of the LLL programme have not yet been evaluated. This study is embedded in a broader programme evaluation of the LLL initiative and evaluated only one of the programme outcomes: increased levels of interaction among students in a LLL house lead to reduced stereotyping and diminished bias.All the students enrolled in LLL for 2013 (N=99) participated in the study. An applied, quantitative approach was followed. A web-based, electronic survey (Student Attitude Questionnaire) was conducted in a one-group pre-test post-test design that was completed by 79 students. The questionnaire measured tolerance towards five constructs of 'the other' – gender, race, language, socio-economic status and nationality. The results indicated for all five constructs – gender, language, race, socio-economic status and nationality – a change in senior students' stereotypical and discriminatory attitudes, increasing to a more intolerant level from the pre-test to the post-test. The changes were not statistically significant.The deduction can be made that increased levels of interaction among students in a LLL house, over a five-month period, did not lead to reduced stereotyping and diminished bias. The short timespan between measurements and the adjustment, as well as developmental processes of the students, impacted the results. However, valuable information was gathered in terms of students' interpersonal and intrapersonal development; as well as feedback on the programme content and outcome.This research study contributes, firstly, to a starting point for discussion to allow HEIs to consider learning communities as part of the co-curricular sphere in South Africa. Secondly, the research indicated the vital role learning communities play in students' in-class and out-of-class development. Thirdly, the study highlights the need for discussion and research on the integration of curricular and co-curricular learning in South Africa, as well as the establishing of partnerships between all role players in student affairs and faculty.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University