Trust in Postgraduate Education

Video 1: Why do we need trust in higher education?

This video was produced by Sinethemba Oz Konzaphi, Sioux McKenna, and Shiloh Marsh

Here’s a few questions that might guide your viewing:

1. Grant Cyster points out that trusting someone doesn’t mean you trust them to always get everything right, rather it means trusting them to try with integrity. What does the relationship between trust and creating space to make mistakes mean for postgraduate supervision?
2. Chrissie Boughey distinguishes between leading the academic project and managing the university. How does this distinction pertain to postgraduate education?
3. Anthea Adams makes a connection between trust and being seen and valued. How does this play out in higher education?
4. A few speakers indicate how trust is significant because education is a relationship. What are the implications of this for postgraduate supervision?
5. Masixole Booi indicates that trust is needed if universities are to decolonise. How can we be open to diverse forms of knowledge and making knowledge while maintaining a strong critical perspective?
6. Patrick Onyango points out that the university is an eco-system. What aspects of the university inspire trust in you, and which foster mistrust?

 

Video 2: Why do we need trust in higher education?

This video was produced by Sinethemba Oz Konzaphi, Sioux McKenna, and Shiloh Marsh

Here’s a few questions that might guide your viewing:

1. Abongile Sonkosi suggests that students need to be careful in placing trust in the university. What are your views on this?
2. Jan McArthur suggests that students are often deliberately mistrusted and asks how they then learn to be trustworthy. How can we explicitly build trust in supervisory relationships to ensure that trustworthiness is a graduate attribute?
3. Olebogeng Mokgantshang suggests that universities do not inspire or instil trust and calls for us to reflect on how to address this. What examples can you think of where universities undermine trust in our postgraduate students?
4. Marike Kluyts suggests that our focus on the knowledge content is sometimes at the cost of building trust in the university as a social good. Do you agree?
5. Disa Mogashana calls for universities to shape an inner person who is trustworthy. Is this part of our role?
6. Yanela Ndabula suggests that sometimes mistrust emerges because we do not make our expectations and peculiar ‘ways of doing’ explicit to students. How can we build trust through more transparency about the postgraduate journey?

 

Thanks to all who attended the Higher Education Close Up conference and provided their inputs into this video. Visit the conference website to learn more about the theme of Trust: https://tinyurl.com/hecu11