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Conference participants value feedback and engagement
Author: Pia Nänny
Published: 13/10/2017

Conferences such as the annual Education Students' Regional Research Conference (ESRRC) have great value and researchers, students and supervisors should be encouraged to attend.

This is the opinion of Dr Audrey Wyngaard, who attended the conference hosted by Stellenbosch University in S​eptember in her capacity as Deputy Director / Research Analyst​ from the Research Directorate of the Western Cape Education Department (WCED).

The ESRRC provides a collegial space to postgraduate students from Stellenbosch University (SU), the University of Cape Town (UCT), the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), with research interests in education, to share their research and work in progress.

“I grant researchers permission to conduct research in the schools of the WCED. I read their research proposals and evaluate their research requests. Attending the conference allows me to meet the researchers and the supervisors, to have discussions with them and to find out about the progress of their research studies," said Dr Wyngaard.

Lynne Herrmann, a part-time Masters student at CPUT and the person responsible for teacher professional development in one of the teacher unions, appreciated the opportunity to present her research and to receive critical feedback.

She also valued the engagement with fellow students and academics.

“Something that really stood out for me was the 'equality' between students and lecturers. The attitude of the lecturers was very positive and uplifting," she added.

Nicola van der Westhuizen, a PhD student from SU, said attending the ESRRC was a wonderful experience.

“I had the opportunity to receive valuable feedback regarding my research." 

Phumla Kese from the Department of Curriculum Studies at SU benefitted from the network opportunities with colleagues in her domain from other institutions.

“I also enjoyed the pre-conference workshops. Furthermore, I found the presentation content of the speakers very interesting."

Postgraduate students benefitted from two workshops – one on Abstract Writing and one on Presentation Skills – organised in July and August to assist them in their preparation for the conference as well as their greater postgraduate journey.

Prof Maureen Robinson, Professor in the Department of Curriculum Studies at SU and a member of the organising committee, felt that the conference had definitely achieved its goal, namely to support and build a new generation of education scholars. She added that it was important that all universities actively promote the conference amongst their postgraduate Education students.

“The ESRRC provides a platform on which to safely test new ideas among fellow research students, and to practise defending concepts, methodologies and findings," said Prof Robinson.

The theme of the conference – “Education in an Era of Decolonization and Transformation: The Voice of Student Researchers" – linked directly to that of the 2017 theme of the South African Education Research Association (SAERA) conference, to be held in Port Elizabeth in from 23-26 October. This is to signal that the student conference is part of the national research picture.

Next year's conference will be organised by UWC, and preparations are already underway. ​