Beyond the Pandemic: Rethinking and Revitalising our Pedagogical Practices in Higher Education Institutions

Prof Mncedisi Maphalala is a Director of the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at the Durban University of Technology and a former Dean in the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand. He holds a D.Ed in curriculum studies from the University of Zululand. His career in Higher Education spans over 16 years as a Research Professor (North-West University), Professor at the University of Zululand and UNISA and Institutional researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand. He has also previously worked for the KZN Department of Education (as a teacher, HOD and Deputy Principal); between May and August 2015, he was a Visiting Scholar at the University of North Dakota (USA).   Prof Maphalala is an established researcher who has edited three books and two special journal issues and published a number of book chapters and research articles in peer-reviewed journals. Prof Maphalala has presented research papers at various local and international conferences. As a postgraduate supervisor and mentor, Prof Maphalala has supervised to completion  Masters and doctoral candidates. He has conducted a number of large-scale commissioned research projects by external organisations such as the South African Institute of Distance Education (SAIDE), Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), and Council on Higher Education (CHE). He has served on the Umalusi Research Forum, a sub-committee of the Umalusi Council, for a four-year term. He also serves on the CHE working group on Higher Education Practices Standards, Guidelines and Criteria Development and Quality Assurance Framework Capacity Development. His research interests are teacher education, self-directed learning, blended learning and Scholarship of Teaching & Learning.