 Fulbright
Scholar Stories |
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Carol Patitu, assistant professor, Educational Administration,
and associate director, Student Affairs Administration in
Higher Education Program, Texas A&M University
Lecturing and Research: Education, A Study of the Needs
of South African University Students in a Post-Apartheid
Era; Teach in Master's of Education Program
South Africa
February 2000-December 2000
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Patitu (right) and Colleague Renuka Vithal at the University
of Durban-Westville
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Carol Patitu's 1999-2000 lecturing and research grant to South
Africa became an important personal journey. Patitu was accompanied
by her husband, of Tanzanian descent, and her seven-year-old son.
Until she traveled to southern Africa to teach graduate students
at the University of Durban-Westville (UDW), the scholar had never
met her husband's family. They are of the Wanyakyusa ethnic group
and live in a village near Tukuyu, Tanzania, where Patitu, her
husband and son were able to spend several days in June 1999.
She commented that despite the cultural and language barrier,
warmth was effectively communicated between the family members
through the use of hand gestures and facial expressions. This
opportunity to meet with the Tanzanian side of her family for
the first time is one that the scholar and her family will cherish
for years to come.
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Students in Patitu's "Introduction to Educational
Research" class.
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Back in South Africa, Patitu taught at the University
of Durban-Westville, helping the graduate students there refine
their educational research skills, including time management,
analysis of data and presentation of results. In collaboration
with other scholars, she conducted a study assessing the educational
needs of 1500 South African university students at three institutions,
including M.L. Sultan Technikon, the University of Natal and the
host institution. The written and oral presentation of their findings
will
ensure collaboration that extends beyond the duration of the scholar's
grant.
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