CALL FOR PAPERS: SPECIAL ISSUE

Cultivating self-directed learning in diverse educational settings - South African Journal of Education, Volume 45 (Suppl. 1), October 2025

Guest editors: Elsa Mentz and Josef de Beer

Self-directed learning has become a sine qua non in the complex landscape of the 21st century, characterised by transformation and rapidly changing information. Learners should be assisted to develop the skills to, as self-directed learners, take responsibility for their own learning. Unfortunately, many South African classrooms and learning environments are characterised by a transmission-mode pedagogy that does not enhance self-directed learning (Mentz & De Beer, 2019; Mentz & Oosthuizen, 2016). Knowles (1975:18) describes self-directed learning as "a process in which individuals take the initiative, with or without the help of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning goals, identifying human and material resources, choosing and implementing appropriate learning strategies and evaluating outcomes." The strong focus on good throughput rates in summative assessments often results in the marginalisation of pedagogies such as problem-based and cooperative-learning approaches that might enhance self-directed learning. An important question is whether self-directed learning receives sufficient emphasis in both pre-service and in-service teacher education. Do teachers have the knowledge and skills to apply processes and provide conducive contexts that would support the development of self-directed attributes in learners? (Hiemstra & Brockett, 2012). In this special issue we explore strategies, methods, and best practices for promoting self-directed learning across various educational contexts, including formal schooling, higher education, informal learning environments as well as different cultural contexts.

Types of Manuscripts Expected

We are in search of innovative contributions that would enhance the scholarship of self-directed learning manuscripts that deal with questions such as the following:

• How can contexts conducive for the enhancement of self-directed learning be created in learning environments?

• How could pedagogical and assessment approaches, strategies and/or methods result in enhanced self-directed learning in various contexts?

• How can best practice be implemented to enhance self-directed learning?

Deadline for Submissions

Proposals for manuscripts should be emailed to josef.debeer@nwu.ac.za and elsa.mentz@nwu.ac.za as soon as possible. Proposals should include:

a) the proposed manuscript title

b) a brief abstract of 300 words

c) authors' names, ORCID IDs, email addresses and affiliation.

Abstracts should be submitted by no later than 11 October 2024. Prospective authors will be informed of the outcome of the evaluation of the manuscript proposals soon thereafter. Complete manuscripts should be submitted to Estelle Botha (estelle.botha@up.ac.za) before 31 December 2024. All submitted manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review, and authors will be informed of the outcome of the review within 8 to 12 weeks after submission of the manuscripts. We intend to complete the editing of the special issue by 31 October 2025. The issue will be published online in a fully citable format.

References

Hiemstra R & Brockett RG 2012. Reframing the meaning of self-directed learning: An updated model. Adult Education Research Conference. Available at https://newprairiepress.org/aerc/2012/papers/22. Accessed 23 August 2024.         [ Links ]

Knowles M 1975. Self-directed learning: A guide for learners and teachers. Chicago, IL: Follett Publishing.         [ Links ]

Mentz E & De Beer J 2019. The use of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory in researching the affordances of indigenous knowledge for self-directed learning. In J de Beer (ed). The decolonisation of the curriculum project: The affordances of indigenous knowledge for self-directed learning. Cape Town, South Africa: AOSIS (Pty) Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4102/aosis.2019.BK133        [ Links ]

Mentz E & Oosthuizen I (eds.) 2016. Self-directed learning research: An imperative for transforming the educational landscape. Cape Town, South Africa: AOSIS (Pty) Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4102/aosis.sdlr.2016.03        [ Links ]