THE DESIGN AND STRUCTURE OF A RESOURCE-BASED LEARNING ACADEMIC STAFF DEVELOPMENT MODEL

Abstract

World-wide, including South Africa (SA), the reputation of higher education depends on its ability to recruit and retain quality staff. HE needs people with expertise and the commitment to sustain - and improve - the performance of institutions in an increasingly competitive environment. Quality human resource management will be the key to success. Effective knowledge transmission and production are the central business of South African higher education (SAHE). The context of knowledge transmission and production is rapidly changing, because of transformation demands. One such change is the paradigm shift from knowledge transmission to learning. The key to this lies in better and different approaches to learning and guidance, e.g. not only in new forms of learning, but also in transformation of roles and new delivery modes - of which resource-based learning (RBL) is one. This study attempted to improve RBL practice in HE where it is regarded as one of the most useful, successful and acceptable approaches to curriculum delivery. RBL is also easily adapted to various styles of instruction and learning. In order to address the above-mentioned complex challenges, the aim of this study was to design and structure a Resource-based Learning Academic Staff Development Model. This proposed model investigated three areas of staff development, namely RBL competence (i.e. knowledge, skills, attitudes and application), RBL roles and RBL improvement strategies. Findings were based on questionnaire responses from 46 RBL academics, focus group discussions and commentary from RBL experts. The main findings were: o The majority of participants confirmed their lack of RBL competence, which simultaneously emphasised the need for the proposed model and identified improvement strategies. o The majority of RBL academics reported difficulty balancing HE and governmental demands (government versus institution). o High workloads and limited time increased the probability of stress. o Attitudinal factors also influenced RBL performance as those who were strongly motivated demonstrated initiatives towards innovation and progress. Finally, the proposed model targets not only the RBL academic, but also the institutional profile in a strategiC and systemic way by means of a cyclical process so that RBL Performance Excellence is achieved.