Textile education during the 2020 pandemic: experiences in US, South Africa and Germany

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a major impact on higher education across the world. In this paper we consider how textile education has been impacted and what approaches have been employed to maintain quality education and laboratory experience when traditional methods are not appropriate. This paper considers three different countries – United States, South Africa and Germany. Each has been affected in a different way, has a different sociological makeup, and has developed distinct solutions to the challenge. Methods related to HyFlex, flipped classrooms, and blending learning have been applied by all three institutions. Lectures have been presented as pre-recorded videos, synchronous video conferencing, and hybrid. Similarly, laboratory and studio experiences have been handled through pre-recorded video, guided “at home” experiments, and modified in-person experiences. This paper gives an overview of the laboratory and studio experiences, time spent in preparation, and reaction of the students to remedies. It also addresses best practices from each country in the three continents.

Children's Rights to Mother-Tongue Education in a Multilingual World: A Comparative Analysis between South Africa and Germany

The importance of the mother tongue, and, more specifically, of mother-tongue education, is recognised globally. Use of the mother tongue is regarded as one of the most effective ways of acting and performing cognitively, socially and communally. The aim of this article is to encourage and promote the implementation and realisation of mother-tongue education through certain school/education models in order to achieve equality and liberation and to increase the incidence of high-performance education systems in a multilingual world. A comparative analysis of South Africa and Germany will also be undertaken with regard to language policies and the mother-tongue education situation in these countries' school systems. Several other aspects such as the choice of language as a fundamental right, the importance of international instruments, as well as some lessons to be learnt for both South Africa and Germany in respect of mother-tongue education, will be discussed. It will be concluded that, despite the existence of a multilingual world, the crucial importance of the use of the mother tongue and mother-tongue education should not be underestimated and/or ignored.

Contextuality and Intercontextuality in Public Theology: On the Structure of Churches’ Public Engagement in South Africa and Germany

Contextuality and intercontextuality remain important themes in the burgeoning field of public theology. The authors employ a comparative and descriptive approach to contribute to this complex of themes. It is done by investigating and comparing the concrete ways in which churches in South Africa and Germany structure their public engagement. The authors find both significant similarities and differences and conclude with two consequences for reflection on contextuality and intercontextuality in the field of public theology.