Editorial: Envisioning Critical Futures for Higher Education

Abstract

Higher education is at a critical crossroad, urgently needing transformation to address dynamic global challenges and historical legacies. This Special Issue of the African Journal of Inter/Multidisciplinary Studies (AJIMS) features research papers presented at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) Learning and Teaching Imbizo 2022 and two invited guest papers, all contributing to a progressive vision for the future of higher education. Under the theme Envisioning Critical Futures for Higher Education, the selected articles examine existing frameworks, pedagogical changes, and systemic obstacles while proposing innovative strategies for fostering a more inclusive, creative, and equitable academic environment. Central to this collection is a call for higher education institutions to reimagine, re-envision, and recreate new futures for higher education – ones that acknowledge both recent disruptions and deeper historical contexts. It is a call to rethink approaches to learning, teaching, and research in ways that promote inclusivity, equity, and transformation. The featured articles focus on critical areas, including support for postgraduate study, critical pedagogy, gender equity, curriculum decolonisation, academic literacy, and student engagement, all essential in shaping the ongoing evolution and transformation of higher education. These contributions emerge at a critical juncture when technological disruptions, socioeconomic inequities, and epistemological contestations demand urgent attention from all higher education stakeholders. We commence by providing an overview of the five articles in this issue that were presented at the Imbizo, followed by the two invited guest contributions.