A Reflection on Sustainable Curriculum Practices and Emancipatory Postgraduate Supervision
Molaodi Tshelane 
Issue: Vol.6 No. 1 January 2025 Special Issue Article 12 pp.164 – 174
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/jelt.20256112 | Published online 28th October, 2025.
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Professor Sechaba Mahlomaholo’s impact in engaged scholarship has significantly influenced the dialogue on sustainable learning settings, highlighting education’s transformative potential and ability to elevate underprivileged communities. This study examined how sustainable curriculum practices are a liberatory approach to postgraduate supervision, using Africana Critical Theory (ACT) as the lens for the study. The project utilised the methodology of Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR), with twenty-five master’s and Doctoral (PhD) students and five supervisory staff members. The research incorporated team-building exercises, SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis, and free attitude interviews (FAIs) to investigate the dynamics and outcomes of this educational approach. The actions were documented through data rigorously examined through three tiers of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). These revealed three significant findings: improved student agency in research, heightened collaboration among academic disciplines, and a marked transition towards community-focused research agendas. These findings underscore the necessity of curricular approaches designed to empower and indicate substantial implications for curriculum reformers seeking to rectify systemic educational disparities. This study emphasises the advantageous role researchers play in fostering community transformation, hence promoting a more equal and just society in alignment with Professor Mahlomaholo’s ideology. This study encourages scholars to think and elaborate on these issues, promoting a more comprehensive application of these modalities to cultivate global optimism, peace, inclusivity, freedom, and equality within academic environments.
Keywords: Emancipation, Curriculum Practice, Postgraduate, Equality, Freedom
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Molaodi Tshelane is an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies, College of Education, School for Teacher Education at UNISA. He was a senior lecturer in the Department of Education Studies at Sol Plaatje University and the coordinator of the B.Ed. Honours in Curriculum Studies program. A senior lecturer at the Central University of Technology, Faculty of Humanities. He was also a Risk Champion and Discipline coordinator in the Faculty of Education at UFS. To add, has published several research articles in accredited international and South African journals, read numerous papers at educational conferences, and has written numerous chapters in academic books. He has supervised over 30 PhD and Master’s students to completion. He has also delivered several Keynote addresses at various teacher education forums and conferences. Lastly, he is a member of Sustainable Learning Environments (SuLe) and an associate editor of the Action Learning and Action Research Association (ALARA). He has formed a post-graduate studies support group named Scholarship of Sustainable Curriculum Practice (SSuCuP).
Tshelane, Molaodi. “A Reflection on Sustainable Curriculum Practices and Emancipatory Postgraduate Supervision.” Journal of Education and Learning Technology 6, no.1 (2025): 164 – 174. https://doi.org/10.38159/jelt.20256112
© 2025 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
