{"id":165751,"date":"2020-09-14T19:31:05","date_gmt":"2020-09-14T17:31:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/we-asked-university-students-to-tell-their-own-stories-in-photos-heres-why\/"},"modified":"2020-09-14T19:31:05","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T17:31:05","slug":"we-asked-university-students-to-tell-their-own-stories-in-photos-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/we-asked-university-students-to-tell-their-own-stories-in-photos-heres-why\/","title":{"rendered":"We asked university students to tell their own stories in photos: here’s why"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In South Africa, university students who come from low-income households in rural areas are at a disadvantage<\/a>. Having generally attended poorly resourced schools, they\u2019re not well resourced or prepared to participate in the processes of making and sharing knowledge at tertiary education level. <\/p>\n

When they enter universities, they tend to have lower English language proficiency than middle class, urban students. They also tend to be less comfortable using the modes of expression that dominate South African universities. They may find it difficult to speak directly to lecturers, or answer questions in class. This may be due to their lack of confidence in speaking English. It could also stem from being unaccustomed to speaking directly to authority figures because African cultural norms typically discourage this.<\/p>\n

Research<\/a> shows that academic staff are often unaware of the socio-linguistic barriers students from rural backgrounds face. For this reason, university students from rural areas can be wrongly seen as inarticulate or less intelligent. They may be treated as if they have nothing valuable to add to the world\u2019s body of knowledge, or as if they cannot benefit from it. <\/p>\n

The philosopher Miranda Fricker describes this as a form of injustice<\/a> \u2013 where a person is wronged in their capacity as a knower and speaker, due to prejudice on the hearer\u2019s part.<\/p>\n

What we know about students and what they value<\/h2>\n

The Miratho project<\/a> is a longitudinal, mixed methods research project. It aims to explore what needs to change to make South African universities more inclusive, particularly in relation to helping students from low-income backgrounds to succeed. Since 2016, researchers have been investigating the university journeys of young people from rural and urban homes across the country. The methods used include a survey, secondary quantitative data, four annual life-history interviews with 65 students, and participatory workshops.<\/p>\n

The first two interactions (2017 and 2018) were life-history interviews with all 65 students, but our first publication focused on data from 30 students who migrated from rural towns and villages to three large urban universities. Our findings<\/a> highlighted what students valued most.<\/p>\n

Based on their accounts, students valued: <\/p>\n