DUE 15 May 2025; 100% trusted, comprehensive and
complete reliable solution with clear explanation
Given this, you are required to complete a reflective essay of
about 1800 – 2000 words in which you reflect on what you think
(1) makes and/or constitutes an exceptional educational
researcher in a context like South (Africa), and (2) what do you
think will inform and shape your own becoming of an
educational researcher.
In answering these questions, you asking expected to draw from
the following ideas and texts:
Decolonising Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples
(1999) by Linda Tuhiwai Smith.
Ideas of intervention, curiosity, courage, justice (be it epistemic,
ontological or social), and critique
Reflective Essay: Becoming an Exceptional Educational
Researcher in South Africa
Introduction
Educational research is not a static endeavor, but one that
evolves in response to societal changes, the pursuit of
knowledge, and the challenges faced by those within the
educational system. In the South African context, these
challenges are deeply entrenched in the country’s complex
, historical and socio-political fabric, which makes educational
research a particularly urgent and transformative tool. However,
what does it mean to be an exceptional educational researcher in
such a context? And how does one’s own journey as a
researcher come to be shaped in such an environment?
This essay seeks to reflect on what constitutes an exceptional
educational researcher in South Africa, drawing from the ideas
of Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s Decolonising Methodologies:
Research and Indigenous Peoples (1999), and concepts such as
intervention, curiosity, courage, justice (epistemic, ontological,
and social), and critique. By examining these key themes, I aim
to articulate both the qualities required of an exceptional
researcher and how I see myself becoming such a researcher
within the South African context.
Exceptional Educational Researcher in South Africa
1. Understanding the Historical Context
To begin with, being an exceptional educational researcher in
South Africa requires an in-depth understanding of the country’s
tumultuous history, particularly the legacies of apartheid and
colonialism. South Africa's educational system, shaped by these
historical forces, remains marked by stark inequalities, structural
violence, and epistemic injustices. The effects of these systemic
issues are seen in educational underachievement,
marginalization of minority groups, and an entrenched class
system that continues to affect access to quality education.