Abstract:

As the world is rapidly changing, curriculum policy makers, curriculum planners and developers as well as educators must respond by preparing their students for the society in which they will work and live. Desired attributes in graduates have been defined on a number of levels. However it is argued that, the 21st century competences needed in the knowledge society can be regarded as the overall rationale and goals for learning i.e. the intended curriculum. However, there may be a gap between the needs of the knowledge society expressed by the advocates of 21st century competences and the ways in which these competences are addressed in curricula i.e. the implemented curriculum. Since the dawn of a democratic dispensation, the South African Higher Education sector has been characterised by major changes and the government is of the viewpoint that the higher education, training and innovation system should cater for different global and societal needs by producing highly skilled individuals. This expectation on higher education implies that higher education teaching and learning needs to prioritise the development of curricula that aims to produce graduates who have the requisite attributes to meet the present and future needs of the economy and society.

This paper, situated within a South African Higher Education context, comes against a backdrop of an increased focus on 21st century graduate attributes in higher education and specifically, with regard to undergraduate programmes. This paper explores the perceptions of academics towards 21st century graduate attributes in undergraduate programmes in the Faculty of Humanities, at a South African University of Technology. Conducted within the intepretivist and qualitative paradigm of social inquiry, this paper’s goal is to gain a deep level of understanding of Faculty of Humanities lecturers’ lived experiences, multiple perceptions and meanings of 21st century graduate attributes in their daily teaching and learning context. The outcomes of this evaluation may provide insights on the development and delivery of appropriate pedagogical strategies that would enhance a 21st century student learning experience in undergraduate programmes.

Keywords:

Lecturers’ perceptions, undergraduate curriculum, pedagogy, 21st century graduate attributes.