Towards decoloniality of the education training and development third-year curriculum: Employing situated learning characteristics to facilitate authentic learning

Abstract This article reports on how the traditional way of teaching and learning in a third-year undergraduate education, training, and development (ETD) module was transformed at a traditional university in South Africa. Many ETD scholars argue that curricula taught to students in the ETD profession are not relevant to the South African context and do not prepare students for the workplace. Thus, transforming the learning and teaching in the ETD module was deemed critical because of the theory vs practice gap, and, more importantly, for the students’ development of South African workplace skills and competencies to strengthen their employable opportunities. The study was located within a Critical Social Science perspective because the lecturer did not only want to understand the issues, but she wanted to effect positive change. Two experienced ETD industry practitioners were involved in the learning and teaching of the ETD module, and a decoloniality strategy, using six situated learning theory characteristics was employed to effect the transformation. The practitioners introduced students to authentic experiences, the students observed the practitioners at their workplaces, and the tasks and assessments were adjusted to the South African workplace context to enhance the students’ learning experiences and strengthen their development of indigenous South African ETD skills and competencies.


PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT
This article highlights how a third-year undergraduate education, training, and development undergraduate module's curriculum could be changed to focus on developing South African workplace skills and competencies.This is important given the socio-economic and political environment of the country and the role that ETD practitioners can play in upskilling the labour market.We argue for including African knowledge and workplace practices in the curriculum design so that the students can relate to what they learn, and more importantly, develop the necessary workplace skills and competencies.The data from the students and the two industry practitioners showed that the inclusion of the situated learning theory's characteristics could address the challenges that have arisen because of colonisation.The characteristics allowed for the development of the ETD students' authentic workplace competencies that would make them more employable and at the same time, contribute towards the development of an organisation's employees, and the South African nation's competitiveness in a technologically advanced global space.

Introduction
In this article, we report on findings from a PhD study entitled, Transforming the learning environment: Closing the theory and practice divide in an undergraduate Industrial Psychology Module (Hamman-Fisher, 2021).The study was prompted by a call for empirical studies to be conducted to find solutions to the theory and practice divide in the learning and teaching of Education, Training and Development (ETD) Practitioners in the Human Resource Management (HRM) profession, which is a sub-domain of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, located in the management sciences discipline (Augustyn & Cillié, 2008;Banerjee, 2021;Van der Merwe & Sloman, 2014).When the research was executed in 2015 and 2016, the demand for curriculum decoloniality became a pressing matter in South Africa through the national students' protests against colonised education (Fataar, 2018;Higgs, 2016;Le Grange, 2016).Deliberating on the protesting students' views was important to us because knowledge and practice in the HRM profession originated from both the Western and Afrikaner ideological perspectives in South Africa (Ruggunan & Sooramoorthy, 2016;Schreuder, 2001).Within this context, Ruggunan (2016) conceptualises curriculum decolonisation as a process of actively challenging the construction of colonial knowledge, skills and values through reflexivity, denaturalisation, and critical thought.
Drawing on a critical ontological perspective, we recognised the importance of addressing the ETD curriculum from a transformational and empowering perspective (Fataar, 2018;Freire, 1970;Habermas, 1984;Nyoni, 2019).The colonial deconstruction of knowledge within management sciences is not unique to South Africa; but has re-awakened in Western universities as well (Banerjee & Arjaliès, 2021;Eckhardt et al., 2021;Gantman, Yousfi & Alcadipani, 2015;Meyer & Quattrone, 2021).Eckhardt et al. (2021) direct attention to an event entitled Decolonising the Business School, which the ETHOS Research Center at Bayes Business School with the CRIS Research Center at Royal Holloway University of London hosted.Among the decolonial matters discussed is the transformation of white superiority observed within consumer research, consumption, markets and culture management discipline (Bonsu, 2009;Burton, 2009;Eckhardt et al., 2021), as well as the concern for racial justice in the era of the Black Lives Matter movement within business schools, and in the marketing field in the United Kingdom (Norris et al., 2020).
A recent learning and teaching study were also conducted on the islands of New Zealand to reconnect students studying entrepreneurship to Māori knowledge and practices in the classroom (Woods et al., 2022).In this study, the authors studied an entrepreneurship course offered to Māori students completing a postgraduate qualification in Māori Development at the University of Auckland Business School.They investigated how three Indigenous Māori adult student groups worked collectively on a virtual learning platform to make sense of entrepreneurship and its implications for their culture and community.The authors discussed and used the concept of "indigenising the classroom", and argue that the "process of indigenizing, is about connection and reconnection.It requires a constant reflecting inward on how imposed values, concepts, and practices constantly remove and separate Indigenous Peoples from existing, acting, and living as Indigenous" (Woods et al., 2022, p. 96).Cutcher and Dale (2023) reported on their findings of a case study conducted with an Indigenous-owned credit union in Australia in their article titled, We're not a White Fella Organization': Hybridity and friction in the contact zone between local kinship relations and audit culture in an Indigenous organisation.They unpacked the intricacies and inconsistencies at play between the union as an Indigenous organisation (representing the Aboriginal Elders and the Arnhem Land Progress Association) and the demands of the globalised financial services trade "by focusing on the 'contact zone' where kinship relations and audit culture meet" (Cutcher & Dale, 2023, p. 767).They demonstrated through the study "how organizational sites in settler colonial contexts can be understood as a 'contact zone' where specific aspects of audit culture and kinship relations interact and create tensions" (Cutcher & Dale, 2023, p 767).They used "post-colonial and Indigenous notions of hybridity" to examine how "hybridity is co-constituted in the contact zone" (Cutcher & Dale, 2023, p 767).They concluded that when "hybridity is coconstituted in the contact zone" it allows for the recognition of Indigenous people's lived realities (Cutcher & Dale, 2023).
The learning and teaching study conducted by Woods et al. (2022) calls for "inward reflection" and acknowledges that colonisation negatively impedes Indigenous people's capabilities and functions.On the other hand, Cutcher and Dale's study demonstrates that "post-colonial and Indigenous notions of hybridity" provide a mechanism for the acknowledgement of Indigenous people's every day practises and encounters.
Thus, the South African students' protest actions in 2015 and 2016 triggered an opportunity for critical reflection on the current hegemonies of ETD knowledge and practice on the one hand, and the need for hybridity to transform teaching and learning so that it was relevant to the South African workplace context on the other hand (Cutcher & Dale, 2023;Woods et al., 2022).
Moreover, Fataar (2018) and Nyoni (2019) advocate that curriculum decoloniality can be accomplished by changing the ideology that the Western perspective is the "prime producer of knowledge".Le Grange (2016) and Sardar (2008) caution that because Western civilisation and culture are responsible for colonialism and racism in Africa, it is most likely present in the knowledge creation and maintenance discourse.For this reason, Nyoni (2019) emphasises that African epistemology should be recognised as an equal partner in knowledge generation.Similarly, Adefila et al. (2021) and Higgs (2016) also accentuate the critical importance of dismantling Western colonisation in higher education in South Africa.Brown et al. (1989), Hondzel and Hansen (2015) and Mogodi (2013) state that curriculum projects are not static undertakings, but are continuously evolving endeavours.These authors recommend that curricula should be regularly reviewed to capture the evolving environments from which students draw their learning.To this end, Banerjee and Arjaliès (2021) and S. D. Ruggunan (2016) advocate that a world coexists in many other worlds, which are all interconnected.Hence, all worlds should not be situated and aligned to the rules of a universalised Western world.These researchers agree with Fataar (2018) and Nyoni (2019) that Africa, with all its intricacies, should be acknowledged as an equal global partner and construct its own native knowledge and practices for its socio-political and economic systems.Accordingly, in this article, we attempt to provide situated learning characteristics as a decoloniality strategy to transform the learning and teaching approach in the ETD third-year module and in so doing, respond to the challenge of exclusion, by creating more inclusive indigenous knowledge and practices of curriculum transformation experienced at the level of the classroom, the student, the lecturer and the workplace (Nyoni, 2019;Qhosola, 2017).Jansen (2017) argues that real curricula transformation did not occur in South Africa's higher education system despite the students' protests and attempts to decolonise the curriculum.He cautions that, unless the challenges in the public schooling system are attended to and adequately addressed, higher education's attempts at decolonising the curriculum will not succeed.He suggests that the concept of "decolonisation" is one-dimensional and limiting as some proponents of the concept use it specifically within an "African-only" interpretation, which still excludes the Coloured and Indian races in South Africa.He explains that the concept of "curriculum" includes more than the content taught; it is about a critical exchange between teachers and students, what is learnt, and the consequences of that knowledge for personal and social transformation.He talks about "curriculum-in-action" that requires lecturers at higher education institutions to understand and appreciate the new demands on their teaching and what it is they want their students to learn and know about (Jansen, 2017).Leibowitz (2017) also challenges the concept of "decolonisation" and introduces the term "cognitive justice" in her article about the higher education curriculum in South Africa.She draws on different views of "cognitive justice" and explains that it calls for the equal treatment of all forms of knowledge; it allows for the "unknown" and the fact that knowledge forms have absences, and should, therefore, be flexible; and that the concept should be used in conjunction with social justice (Leibowitz, 2017).Ndlovu-Gatsheni (2015) proposes the term "decoloniality" instead of "decolonisation".He explains decoloniality as an epistemological and political movement that should be used as an empowering vehicle for Africa's future.Similar to Leibowitz (2017) also draws on different scholars' interpretations of decoloniality.He states that the term is used to dismantle power relations and conceptions of knowledge that provoke the reproduction of racial, gender, and geo-political pyramids.He explains that decoloniality can be best understood as interconnected theories of knowledge, instead of abstract and disconnected forms of knowledge, and that the concept originated from a realisation that the contemporary world is uneven and sustained not only by coloniality, but also by teachings and social normalisation that portrays Africans as substandard and the Western world as the preferred option (Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2015).In the same vein, Adjei (2020) argues, in his report to the Centre for International Governance Innovation, for the protection of traditional cultural expressions and knowledge of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia.

Problematising Decoloniality
Combining the arguments of these scholars, we use the concept of decoloniality in this article as "curriculum in action" (Jansen, 2017), a vehicle for cognitive and social justice (Leibowitz, 2017), and as interconnected theories of knowledge (Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2015), where the one theory is not viewed as more superior than the other.Hence, in the PhD study, the lecturer used six of Lave and Wenger's (1991) situated learning characteristics as a decoloniality strategy to transform the learning and teaching of the ETD third-year module and simultaneously, expose the students to South African workplace realities and contexts.

Objectives and research question
Based on the above discussion, the objectives of this article are to report on how: • Two ETD practitioners were involved in the learning and teaching of the education, training and development module to introduce students to authentic experiences, real-life South African workplace case studies, examples and observations; • Six situated learning characteristics were used as a decoloniality strategy to transform the learning and teaching in the EDT module; and • The tasks and assessments were adjusted to the South African workplace context.
Accordingly, the research question that we addressed is: How was the learning and teaching in the third-year ETD module's curriculum transformed to focus on South African indigenous knowledge, practices and workplace contexts?

Context of the study
The PhD study was conducted at a traditional public university in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.The university was classified as a previously disadvantaged black college; historically, established to serve a specific racial group during the Apartheid era (Cele et al., 2016;Council on Higher Education, 2010, 2013;Walker & Badsha, 1993).Since its inception, the college fought its way to become a university and a multi-racial and socially just higher education institution for all people in South Africa (Volbrecht, 2002;Walker & Badsha, 1993).Presently, the university is recognised internationally and ranks among the top ten universities on the African continent (Pretorius, 2019).
The university offers various levels of undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications.The ETD module within which the study resided is hosted in the Department of Industrial Psychology in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.It is an undergraduate, third-year, exit-level module.Students who successfully complete their undergraduate degree can continue studying towards an Honours Degree in either Industrial Psychology or Human Resource Management.
However, most graduates seek employment immediately after their first degree.Because of this occurrence, researchers and industry argue that graduates do not acquire the relevant skills and competencies needed for the South African workplace (Graham et al., 2019;Koopman, 2019;Nyoni, 2019).Consequently, a possible justification for graduate unemployment in South Africa may be the disjointedness between the skills requirements of South African employers and the lack of relevant workplace skills and competencies of graduates (Graham et al., 2019;Koopman, 2019;Nyoni, 2019).
Despite the democratic government's inventiveness to upskill and reskill its labour market with various initiatives such as labour legislation, the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Policy, the Industrial and Sectorial Charters, Human Resource Development Strategy, and the National Skills Development Strategy, the South African landscape remains a daunting place for employers to find employees with the skills and competencies that meet their expectations (Mavunga & Cross, 2017;National Planning Commission, 2011).In this context, employers rely on ETD practitioners' expertise to implement training and development initiatives, which can enhance employee performance positively and contribute to business results (Coetzee & Truman, 2019;Van der Merwe & Sloman, 2014).Ultimately, alleviating poverty and inequality, while improving the nation's competitiveness (Mavunga & Cross, 2017;McGrath & Akoojee, 2007).

Theoretical underpinnings
Lave and Wenger's (1991) Situated Learning (SL) Theory and the African structure of education (Nyoni, 2019) are premised on Dewey (1916), an educational theorist, and Vygotsky (1978Vygotsky ( , 1981)), a psychologist, views on learning.Dewey (1916) and Vygotsky (1978Vygotsky ( , 1979Vygotsky ( , 1981) ) suggest that learning should be designed to capture meaningful and relevant authentic activities.Essentially, learning should be introduced to students by experienced mentors, who cultivate students' development of skills for a specific domain (Dewey, 1916;Lave & Wenger, 1991;Vygotsky, 1978).Lave and Wenger (1991, p. 35) highlight the "concerned (engaged, dilemma-driven) character of situated activity".In the same way, the Utopia Education Structure upholds Vygotsky's beliefs that learning occurs when students engage with authentic contexts and activities, under supervision, to translate theory into practice (Nyoni, 2019).This author explains that learning in the African society takes place when individuals who share common interests congregate to participate in ceremonies, rituals, imitations, and demonstrations (Nyoni, 2019).Moreover, learning is believed to occur formally and informally, in social environments and through participation with meaningful indigenous knowledge and activities (Hondzel & Hansen, 2015;Lave & Wenger, 1991;Nyoni, 2019;Vygotsky, 1978Vygotsky, , 1981)).Lave and Wenger (1991) formulated SL as a theory while examining five ethnographic studies to conceptualise the concept of apprenticeship, when the terms, SL and apprenticeship were used synonymously.They wanted to discover the relationship between the traditional understanding of the term, apprenticeship, and the historical practice of apprenticeship (Lave & Wenger, 1991).In the first study, the Yucatec midwife's apprenticeship, the transference of midwifery knowledge, skill, and experiences was transferred to the next generation (mothers to daughters).The second study, which concerned the Vai and Gola tailors, showed that apprentices, who were non-relatives, to the mentor tailor, acquired tailoring techniques while residing with a mentor tailor, who assisted them when required.The third study involved apprentice quarter mentors, who leave home for approximately three years to join the navy.They were provided with mentor instructors, officers, and other registered persons, to learn about the profession, which was supported by the application of technology.The fourth study examined the acquisition of meat-cutting skills.It found that meat-cutting apprentices join a union and are placed in trade schools.They participate in on-the-job training in supermarkets to learn meat-cutting skills that are passed on from their mentors.The final study emphasised that alcoholic members join Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and attend regular meetings that trigger the transformation of reform through their membership in AA (Lave & Wenger, 1991) Although the above five studies are context-specific, they accentuate the following three viewpoints of apprenticeship learning.Firstly, that learning takes place in informal and formal learning situations.Secondly, the supervisor takes on the role of a mentor.The apprentice observes the mentor and models the mentor's behaviour to construct their unique understanding of what is being learnt (Vygotsky, 1978).This resonates with Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1978).Finally, learning occurs in a community of practice, which is part of the cognitive apprentice model (Lave, 1996;Lave & Wenger, 1991).
The apprenticeship concept was also developed by Brown et al. (1989) who believe that learning and doing are connected in the learning process.Similar to Lave and Wenger (1991) and Nyoni (2019), Brown et al. argue that knowing and doing are interdependent within social and physical contexts (Brown et al., 1989;Lave & Wenger, 1991;Nyoni, 2019).The situatedness of learning is thus, understood through four different, but related factors, namely: (i) situated knowledge and learning; (ii) learning and tools; (iii) learning and enculturation; and (iv) authentic activities (Brown et al., 1989;Lave & Wenger, 1991).Lave and Wenger (1991) argue that learning does not result from gaining abstract knowledge, which is transported and reapplied in later contexts.Rather, students gain knowledge and skills to perform activities by engaging in activities under the conditions of legitimate peripheral participation (Clancey, 1995;Lave & Wenger, 1991;Young, 1993).Lave and Wenger (1991) explain that peripheral participation is entrenched within a community of practice, which allows students to learn from mentors and others over a period, both formally and informally.Learners observe more experienced practitioners to understand concepts, and their application, acquire skills and model behaviours of a specific profession.The concept of a community of practice epitomises a group of individuals who share a common interest and commitment to a specific domain, and, as a result, hold a collective competence that separates its members from others (Lave & Wenger, 1991).
Moreover, the SL theory contains authentication elements (Engelbrecht et al., 2021).The concept of authentication in developing ETD practitioners refers to developing ETD practitioners with specific skills and competencies for the South African workplace (Engelbrecht et al., 2021).It involves identifying authentic roots in the local system, which directs its future development in a mature, relevant, and original manner (Abo-El-Nasr & Eltaiba, 2016).These authors explain that such a process is actionable and continuous and involves the reviewing and transforming of practices to align them with the indigenous political, economic, social and cultural landscape of a native country within which graduates will operate (Abo-El-Nasr & Eltaiba, 2016).Cutcher and Dale (2023) explain a similar process of incorporating and allowing indigenous knowledge and practices in their case study of an indigenous credit union in Australia.These authors used an inductive approach to gather their data led by the people and their cultural practices and everyday contexts.Finally, according to Van Zyl et al. (2016), the curricula at universities should be stakeholder inclusive and designed to find ways of developing knowledge, for graduates to acquire relevant competencies, which would enable them to make a meaningful contribution to the South African economy.
The SL characteristics of Herrington and Oliver (1995) were adapted in the study to comprise of (i) collaborative construction of knowledge; (ii) articulation through multiple roles and perspectives; (iii) authentic context and expert performance; (iv) integration of authentic activities; (v) scaffolding and coaching strategies; and (vi) reflection and evaluation of students' own learning.The lecturer added another question, which requested the students to reflect on whether or not the involvement of the two ETD practitioners and the implementation of the SL characteristics assisted in transforming the teaching and learning approach in the module.This question was deemed important for three reasons.The first reason was that the third-year students were exposed to traditional teaching and learning pedagogical strategies in their first-and second-year IPS modules.Hence, they would be in a position to notice a change if a different approach was implemented in the EDT third-year module.The second is based on Bell and Mladenovic's (2015) view that reflection in an SL process allows students to analyse their performance, make comparisons between themselves, their peers and professionals in a community of practice, and understand how they can apply their learning to future situations.The last reason is based on Kemmis (1985) perspective that reflection enables students to explore their experiences to construct new understandings.The meaning of each characteristic and the question that was added, are explained in Table 1 below.Therefore, Lave and Wenger's (1991) SL Theory, which encompasses the concepts of apprenticeship, social constructivism, community of practice and stakeholder inclusivity was used as the PhD study's theoretical framework.Our use of these Western theorists could be questioned, given that this article is about decoloniality and empowerment.However, we follow the views of Jansen (2017) and Leibowitz (2017) who argue that the 'decolonisation drive against everything Western is misconstrued and limiting; and we embrace Cutcher and Dale (2023) concept of hybridity that is "co-constituted in the contact zone" where Western and indigenous practices meet and interact.Our view is that Lave and Wenger developed a learning and teaching theory that is all-encompassing, which can be used as an alternative learning and teaching approach in modules at tertiary institutions.Doing so will advance Ndlovu-Gatsheni's (2015) concept of "decoloniality".

Methods
The PhD study was situated within a critical social science perspective that aspired not only to explain, understand, and interpret society, but also to emancipate human beings from the circumstances that prevent them from becoming change agents (Freire, 1970;Habermas, 1984).Thus, a critical-emancipatory education action research design (CEAR), namely, McKernan's Action Research (AR) Time Process Model, was used in the study (McKernan, 1996).The CEAR design corresponds with the theoretical framework of this study in the following ways: (1) Both regard learning as being socially constructed.(2) CEAR relies on stages to achieve its objectives.(3) It deviates from the traditional AR models in terms of planning for total curriculum reform.(4) It considers the curriculum a practical, technical, and critical reflective process involving all participants to bring about improvements and positive change.

SL characteristics
Explanation of meaning 1. Collaborative construction of knowledge According to Lave and Wenger (1991), collaborative construction of knowledge implies that the students should be provided with opportunities to explore with the other role players in the learning process, various ways to connect theory and practice in order to complete the activities and assessments in the module.Thus, the lecturer decided to invite two experienced EDT practitioners to co-teach and facilitate the students' learning in the module.
2. Authentic context and expert performance Brown et al. (1989) explain that an authentic context refers to the way in which knowledge is used in a reallife setting.Thus, an authentic context relates to the ETD contexts as they appear in a real working environment.It relied on the two experienced industry practitioners' presence to frame and make examples of how the context taught should be applied in the ETD work setting.
3. Articulation through multiple roles and perspectives Lave and Wenger (1991) propose that the ability of an apprentice to speak the language and tell the stories of a profession in a collaborative setting is fundamental to their learning about a profession.Hence, instead of presenting the training management content in a linear way, a situated learning environment provided the student with the opportunity to probe into an area of study from multiple roles and perspectives, which consisted of the lecturer, the two experienced ETD practitioners, tutors, their peers in group work activities and observations in the workplace.

Integration of authentic activities
Within the context of a situated learning environment, authentic activities allow students (apprentices) to unpack possibilities of how to approach real-life tasks and situations by observing and learning from mentors (Brown et al., 1989;Lombardi, 2007).Accordingly, the students were allowed to choose the tasks within smaller groups and decide how to approach and execute them according to their learning needs.
5. Scaffolding and coaching Brown et al. (1989), Collins et al. (1989), Griffin (1995) and Young (1993) argue that scaffolding and coaching provide students with support and guidance during critical times to help them mentor and complete activities.They maintain that this requires of teachers to provide apprentices with skills and links that will enable them to complete assigned tasks.This was achieved in the study through the discussions and interactions that took place in the lectures and tutorials, in one-on-one and group consultation sessions with the lecturer, tutors and the ETD practitioners, in the ETD practitioners' workplace visits and in observing real-life ETD contexts and interactions.
6. Reflection and evaluation of students' own learning Collins et al. (1989) explain that a situated learning environment encourages students to reflect on their own learning to promote understanding.In order to promote reflection in the study, the students had to engage and reflect on the authentic contexts and authentic activities in the lectures and tutorials, outside of the lectures, in the workplace and in their group work with their peers, to learn and understand how to complete the assessments in the module. (Continued) There were two cycles in the study.The first cycle took place in the second semester of 2015 and the second cycle in the second semester of 2016.It should be noted that the national student protests in South Africa impacted both these semesters.The protest started in the second semester of 2015 and continued until the end of the second semester of 2016.
We focus on the results of cycle 2 in this article, the second semester of 2016, because it was the most improved cycle of the PhD study.There were two participant groups.The first comprised a group of 52 third-year registered students in the module, while the second participant group was the two experienced ETD industry practitioners (Babbie, 2020).The study's aim and objectives were explained to the participants and their consent was obtained before data were collected.The participants were also informed of their rights to confidentiality, that they could withdraw at any stage of the data collection process, and did not have to answer a question if they felt uncomfortable doing so (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).All 52 students gave their consent and completed the questionnaire.Thus, we had a 100% response rate.
The study used a mixed methods data collection process to allow for triangulation of the results and to increase the validity of the findings because the study was qualitative in nature (Babbie & Mouton, 2020;Creswell & Creswell, 2018).Creswell and Creswell (2018) explain that using different data collection techniques is advisable for qualitative studies to strengthen the trustworthiness of the findings.A questionnaire was used to gather data from the students, while semi-structured interviews elicited data from the two ETD practitioners.The results are presented in the next section.

Results
Price's (2005) questionnaire was used to collect data from the student participants in each cycle.The questionnaire comprised seven questions and was augmented to achieve the objectives of the PhD study.For example, the rating scale was changed from Not important at all; Not Very Important; Undecided, Important and Very Important, to Strongly agree, Agree, Undecided, Strongly disagree, and Disagree.The first six questions in the questionnaire were based on the situated learning characteristics, as explained in Table 1.Question number 7 was the question that was added as explained in the previous section.The students' responses in percentages are reflected in Table 2 below.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the two ETD practitioners at the end of the semester (Nieuwenhuis et al., 2016).Their responses were qualitative in nature and were analysed through content analysis, using a three-stage open coding process (Creswell & Creswell,2018;Henning, 2004).Stage 1 in the open coding process involved a general reading and noting of all the responses.In Stage 2, the data were sorted into main themes based on the seven SL characteristics and the added question.Stage 3 was the last stage of the open coding process

SL characteristics
Explanation of meaning 7. Question that was added: Did the involvement of the two ETD practitioners and the SL characteristics transform the learning and teaching in the module?
The lecturer's intention with this question was twofold.Firstly, she wanted the students' opinions on whether the involvement of the two ETD practitioners and the six SL characteristics differed from what they were accustomed to (in their first-and second-year IPS modules).Secondly, to ascertain if the students perceived that the different approach of how the lecturer facilitated their learning and teaching in the module transformed their views about how training management should be taught.
where the responses were further divided into sub-themes.The themes and sub-themes that emerged from the two ETD practitioners' responses are summarised below.

Theme 1: Working collaboratively with the lecturer teaching the EDT module
The two practitioners reported on how they saw their roles and responsibilities in the ETD module.Both of them were clear that they were invited to actively participate in the learning and teaching of the students inside and outside of the classroom.They assisted the students in completing their practical activities as would be expected from ETD Practitioners in the industry.In addition, one of the two practitioners also reported that she understood her role as offering support to the lecturer.Lastly, both practitioners reported that they provided students with feedback on the activities they were assigned to complete.

Theme 2: Provision of authentic activities through sharing of experiences, storytelling and visits to workplaces
Three sub-themes emerged under this theme.

Sub-theme 1: Storytelling
The practitioners reported that they engaged with the students through storytelling.As part of storytelling, they shared their own work experiences through examples and how to deal with unforeseen and difficult situations that could occur in South Africa's unique ETD landscape.

Sub-theme 2: Engagement with the students at their workplaces
Both practitioners reported on how they dealt with the students when the students visited them at their respective workplaces.The purpose of the visits was to provide the students with real-life contexts and activities where the students could observe, interact, and learn how to complete the practical side of the training manual, which was the primary assessment.Industry practitioners demonstrated the learning gaps in the organisation that were derived from the training needs analysis and triggered the design and delivery of a training intervention.They relayed and revealed the content and activities that should be included in the training intervention to bridge the employees learning gap, relevant learning practices and strategies that could be employed in Agreed: 96% Disagreed: 0 Undecided: 4% SL characteristic 6: Reflect and evaluate your own learning in the module -did you learn how to apply the theory to real-life situations and contexts?Agreed: 96% Disagreed: 0 Undecided: 4% 7. Question that was added: Did the involvement of the two ETD practitioners and the SL characteristics transform the learning and teaching in the module?Agreed: 92% Disagreed: 4% Undecided: 4% the 21 st -century organisation, appropriate assessment methods that could be employed to determine if the outcomes of the training intervention are achieved, and relevant evaluation models to determine the return of investment as a consequence of training interventions.

Sub-theme 3: Development of students' workplace competencies
Both practitioners said that the students could develop workplace competencies because of the interaction between the students and the two practitioners, through listening to their stories and real-life examples, and through observing real-life interactions in the practitioners' respective workplaces.The students reflected on everything they were exposed to and constructed and presented their own interpretations to resolve the training challenges.The industry practitioners provided students with feedback which was then contemplated upon for the students' assessments.

Theme 3: Traditional versus new SL approach that was used in the ETD module
One practitioner reported that with her involvement in the module, she could see the gaps in her own learning about ETD when she was a student.Unlike the students in the module, she did not have any exposure to practical work in her undergraduate modules.In addition, both practitioners reported that as a result of the practical activities to bridge the gap between theory and practice, students were provided with opportunities to develop critical skills (time management, resilience, tenacity, determination and dedication) that are required by the ETD profession.Hence, the practitioners' reported that the implementation of the SL characteristics was different to what they were exposed to when they were undergraduate students.

Theme 4: Evaluation of implemented SL characteristics to decolonise the curriculum
The two experienced ETD practitioners' responses indicated that they evaluated the implementation of the SL characteristics in the module.Both practitioners reported that the focus on authentic activities and real-life South African workplace scenarios assisted the students in developing relevant knowledge, experience and skills they would need to join an ETD practice as a graduate.One practitioner also indicated that, by the time the graduates join the industry, they have already been exposed to ETD realities in organisations.Both indicated that developing ETD competencies was especially important for students with no work experience when they apply for positions in the ETD profession upon graduation.

Theme 5: Improvements reported
Two sub-themes emerged under this theme: students applying their knowledge and eagerness to learn, and an evaluation of students 'performances.The responses are summarised below.

Sub-theme 1: Students' applying their knowledge and eagerness to learn
Both practitioners stated that the students applied their knowledge and experiences to complete the tasks.They reported being pleased with the students' theoretical foundation that the lecturer in the lectures facilitated.One practitioner also stated that, during her interaction with the students, she observed that they were keen and enthusiastic to engage with her, and were comfortable expressing and defending their perspectives and knowledge on issues discussed.

Sub-theme 2: Evaluation of students' performance
Both practitioners indicated that the students had good theoretical knowledge, which assisted them in identifying the links and completing the practical activities.They also indicated that their interaction with the students assisted the students in developing skills that would render them more employable.In addition, one practitioner said that the revised intervention strategies (as a result of the feedback received at the end of the semester in 2015) empowered the students as they received more examples of how to apply the theory learnt to practical situations in the workplace.
The content of the module, its outcomes and the assessments are also relevant to this article and are presented in Table 3 below.

Discussion
As noted already, the PhD study was conducted during the national students' protests in 2015 and 2016.Hence, the lecturer was acutely aware of the students' demands for decolonised curricula and a focus on indigenous content and real-life practices and experiences.She reflected on how she was teaching the module until 2014.She did not consult with ETD practitioners nor did she expose the students to workplace realities so that they could observe the discipline in practice.She relied on the textbook's content and examples of case studies from different countries and contexts and did not create opportunities for the students to visit workplaces and observe actual workplace practices and contexts.Thus, she did not create opportunities for the students to learn from and engage with experienced practitioners in their field so that they could develop workplace skills and competencies.For these reasons, the lecturer approached two experienced ETD practitioners at the end of the first semester of 2015 and invited them to participate in the study by coteaching and facilitating the ETD module's curriculum in the second semester of 2015, and again in the second semester of 2016.The two practitioners accepted the invitation and the lecturer arranged two consecutive meetings with them before the start of the second semester in 2015.The lecturer explained in the first meeting that she intended to implement SL characteristics as a decoloniality strategy to transform the module's curriculum and that she wanted to work collaboratively with them to provide the students with authentic context and expert performance, integrated authentic activities, and scaffolding and coaching strategies.
In addition, as per the SL theoretical orientation, the lecturer also requested the two practitioners to act as the students' mentors and workplace coaches.The lecturer explained that their role would be to provide the students with real-life South African industry examples and practices that take place within the ETD organisations (Nyoni, 2019;S. D. Ruggunan, 2016;Webbstock, 2017).For example, the ETD practitioners provided the students with real-life training manual topics such as customer service, and change management training as a result of technological advances.They would provide the students with feedback and guidance, and allow the students to visit them at their workplaces so that the students could observe and learn industry-specific practices and contexts to enhance their own understanding of how to integrate theory and practice in the assessments that they were required to complete (Brown et al., 1989;Lombardi, 2007).Students could observe which materials and practices related to improving customer service could be implemented.They were exposed to the ETD-specific documentation and how their skills and competencies could be cultivated when they observed an actual training session in the workplace.
In the second meeting, the lecturer and the two practitioners discussed the module's curriculum, the main outcomes and the assessments that the lecturer planned for the students (refer to Table 3).The practitioners indicated that they would draw on their experiences, storytelling and real-life examples as part of their interaction with the students in the lectures.The lecturer and two practitioners collectively decided that the students could consult with them outside of the lecture times and could also email and discuss their questions and challenges with the practitioners.The workplace visits were increased from three (in 2015) to six (in 2016) to give the students ample exposure to real industry practices and contexts.Lastly, detailed rubrics were constructed, which were provided to the students so that they would be clear about the intricacies of the tasks and assessments in the module.The two practitioners explained in their responses in the semi-structured interviews after the semester had ended, the following about their roles: My first role was to share with the class the practical.That is, what would be the expectations of industry.The things that they learn about, how does it play out in industry.The second part of my involvement, was to support the lecturer with problems or scenarios or a case for the students.So, I could go in my environment, and I'd identify and provide students with the projects that my colleagues and I were working on to give students the opportunity to apply some of those concepts and key learnings that takes place in the class.[Practitioner 1] I had been asked to provide some insights on what is administering training, actually doing training, coordinating and facilitating the entire process.So, I would start from the practical, from my experience to show what we would have to do on the day of training, the facilitation of the training, as well as what happens afterwards.If they had any questions I answered them.I also provided them with my contact details, so they could contact me after the lectures if they still had any questions.This was my involvement in developing their ETD skills.They would also make use of the information I'd given in terms of what you would do before, with the budgeting and the booking of the rooms and all of that up until feedback forms, which is after the training programme.[Practitioner 2] These responses exemplify the summary of the first theme reported in the Results section regarding the collaboration and what the two ETD practitioners perceived as their roles in the learning and teaching of the ETD module.
As reflected in Table 2, 86% of the students agreed that there was collaboration between the lecturer and the two ETD practitioners.Therefore, the lecturer upheld the first SL characteristic listed in Table 1, collaborative construction of knowledge, and monitored the students' progress throughout the semester (Herrington & Oliver, 1995).
What was significant about the collaborative construction of knowledge was that the students were exposed to practitioners who modelled authentic work behaviours and expert performance (the second SL characteristic, as explained in Table 1).Moreover, the presence of the two ETD practitioners in the lectures, in student consultations and at their workplaces allowed the lecturer to realise the third SL characteristic of authentic articulation through multiple roles and perspectives (refer to Theme 2 in the Result section).
The involvement of the two ETD practitioners inside and outside of class, and their contribution of real industry examples through storytelling and feedback to the students assisted the lecturer in transforming the teaching and learning context because the students were exposed to the South African ETD workplace contexts and realities In addition, the fact that the students visited and observed the practitioners at their workplaces and how they interacted with different staff members and clients, broaden their views and understanding and in so doing, allowed them to experience views from multiple roles and perspectives.As such, they could negotiate and defend their understanding by articulating how to apply the content learnt, which is what Billett (1994), Dweck and Leggett (1988), Herrington et al. (2002) and Whitcomb and Taylor (2014) advocate should happen when the successful transfer of learning theory and practice from practitioners to students take place.What the lecturer had done also speaks to Laakso and Adu's (2023) discussion of the "unofficial curriculum where the real teaching takes place".SL characteristics number 4, integration of authentic activities and 5, scaffolding and coaching, were also realised through the involvement of the two ETD practitioners and the students' exposure to workplace realities and practices.The students' responses in their questionnaire reported 100% and 96% agreement with these two SL characteristics questions (refer to Table 2).The practitioners explained how they assisted the students: I believe from my experience; I was able to give them [students] examples, answer practical questions and the unexpected or the unforeseen.In any ETD intervention you might come across situations that you have not planned for.I believe that I could guide them based on the experience and what we have done in the past.So, if something goes wrong, or something happens that they could not have planned for, a classical example, in my industry and current sector, we had the challenge with Fees Must Fall.That is" kind of" unforeseen, we could not have planned for.That is the kinds of situations that you could find yourself in as a practitioner.So, I was able to guide them and give them examples of what we did in the past.[Practitioner 1] It was to design a training facilitator course.One was in a call centre environment.They had to come up with their own topics and their own things that they would run with throughout the course that they would design.They would also make use of the information I'd given in terms of what you would do before, with the budgeting and the booking of the rooms and all of that up until feedback forms, which is after the training.[Practitioner 2] The above explanations of the practitioners illustrate how they scaffolded the tasks and coached the students to complete their assignments.Moreover, it also reflects how the students were introduced to the realities of the workplace when they undertook their assessment activities (refer to Theme 5 in the Result section).This finding is important because the students' learning experiences could be transferred and applied in the workplace as a result of their exposure to South African ETD realities.The lecturer created a platform for the students to interact with experienced ETD practitioners, learn from their expert performance, and model their behaviour.In doing so, she replicated Brown et al. (1989) concept where the apprentices (students) learn from the mentors (practitioners) in an authentic working context, which signifies the centrality of activity in learning and shows the intrinsically context-dependent, situated, and enculturated nature of learning, which is what SL is all about (Lave & Wenger, 1991).SL characteristic number 6, for students to reflect on their own learning and development, was also realised in the module.The students reported a 96% agreement with this question in the questionnaire.The practitioners explained this characteristic as follows: I was able to show them [students] examples, or help them prepare, as a professional, you know.Also, how to reflect and review.So, post training and post intervention, to typically go back to see if you [the student] achieved what you planned to achieve or to review and to see if there are any gaps and make sure that you fill the gaps.But, also giving them an opportunity to go apply and figure it out themselves; because I think it is also helpful for them to go find out things together.Learning also takes place when they have to figure it out themselves, come back, and then we rethink on it.[Practitioner 1] So, I gave them an outline of my expectation, gave them a few.They then had to go put things together, come back and then we would assess whether we are on the right track.
[Practitioner 2] Reflection was an integral part of the SL approach that the lecturer implemented in the module in 2015 and 2016.In so doing, she followed Lave and Wenger (1991), Lave (1996), Brown et al. (1989), Herrington and Oliver (2000), and Bell and Mladenovic (2015) who clarify that reflection in a situated learning process allows students to critically analyse their performance, make comparisons between themselves, their peers and professionals in a community of practice, and comprehend how they can apply their learning to future situations.This perception also resonates with Kemmis (1985) views that reflection enables students to explore their experiences, which yields new understandings.Accordingly, the lecturer and the practitioners could observe that the students were more confident and negotiated and defended their understandings in the classroom among themselves, their tutors, the lecturer and the two practitioners (refer to Themes 4 and 5 in the Result section).
The students' responses to the last question that was added, which asked them to reflect on whether the learning and teaching approach was different from what they were used to in their first-and second-year IPS modules, show that 92% agreed (refer to Table 2).This finding relates to Theme 4 of the two practitioners where they evaluated the implemented intervention strategy.They reported that the employed decoloniality strategy helped the students to develop the competencies needed to join the workforce as a graduate.They explained: The fact that they [students] were expected to work on real life projects, gave them the skills of the profession and better equips them for the world of work.So, when they go into any environment, they have already done the work even though many of them don't have formal work experience.They basically have been exposed to what is expected of them in the world of work.[Practitioner 1] Yes, definitely, definitely.I feel that with this exposure at the undergraduate level really prepares students in terms of developing skills.Working towards a deadline, their resilience, their tenacity, their determination and dedication to completing tasks.[Practitioner 2] The practitioners' explanations resonate with Collins et al. (1989), Lave and Wenger (1991), and Young's (1993) argument of how SL is a different learning approach to the traditional one used in education.These authors explain that, contrary to the schematic representation in which meaning is stored and retrieved from memory, SL is the alignment through problem-solving in which alternatives are generated and examined that require actions and the implementation of such actions.Thus, SL is an effective learning and teaching approach to use when the intention is to move away from the traditional way of teaching and learning.It also speaks to the articulation characteristic of the SL theory as it helps to facilitate the clarity of tacit knowledge in the learning process.As Hasanpour-Dehkordi and Solati (2016) maintain, the ability of an apprentice to speak the language and tell the stories of a profession is central to their enculturation into that profession.Furthermore, the practitioners indicated that the students learnt how to perform work in the ETD department and developed appropriate ETD skills and competencies by participating in rich authentic activities.They explained: …my view is in the skill.To see them work with the theory and put the theory into practice.So, I believe that it contributed.The fact that they were expected to work on a real-life project, gave them the skills of the profession and better equips them for the world of work.So, when they go into any environment, they have been already done the work even though many of them don't have formal work experience.They basically have been exposed to what is expected of them in the world of work.[Practitioner 1] I feel that with this exposure at the undergraduate level, really prepares students in terms of developing skills.Working towards a deadline, their resilience, their tenacity, their determination and dedication to completing a task.ETD material is not easy to get together.I mean in work you have a few months to put it all together, they had about two and a half months.So, it does prepare them in terms of time management and all the skills that they need going into the workforce for the first time.[Practitioner 2] An inference could be made from these responses that the employment of SL characteristics in the module provided more opportunities for the students to develop industry-specific skills and competencies.This inference corresponds with Batson (2011), Brown et al. (1989), Lombardi (2007) and Resnick's (1987) views that, when students engage with practitioners to perform real industry activities, they are able to make connections to the workplace.Furthermore, Practitioner 2 also reported that he noticed that the students became motivated and eager to learn in his interaction with the students (refer to Theme 5).He explained: … they were keen and wanted to know what the topic was all about.
The one evening that I spoke about the needs analysis, I identified through the engagement with students their willingness to want to know more about what is happening in corporate.
What I also liked about the sessions was that there was the engagement and I was very comfortable with their level of knowledge.They could also highlight examples from their background.I can remember students telling me about how they do it and be amazed at the different ways of doing it.This finding speaks to Özüdoğru and Özüdoğru (2017) views that students perceive the application of SL as constructive and motivating.Because of their findings, these authors appeal to academics to no longer employ a traditional learning approach, but rather rely on a SL environment to trigger students' interest and motivation (Herrington et al., 2002;Özüdoğru & Özüdoğru, 2017).Similarly, Lombardi (2007) explains that students are motivated by a SL context because they grapple with solving real-life problems.Consequently, student motivation is linked to SL through its collaborative and social situatedness where students learn best in communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991).
Moreover, both practitioners reported that practical activities and assessments were not included in their third-year training management modules when they were students.Practitioner 1 (who studied training management at one of the other three universities in the Western Cape) explained: My experience was definitely very theoretical at the time I studied and I do believe that with my postgraduate experience, I worked a little, so when I was in the classroom I could really see, I could understand the context, I could think of examples.I could also apply it back to the work environment.My post grad allowed this, because I had a little bit of work experience I could appreciate the studies much more.
Practitioner 2 (who studied training management at the university where the PhD study was conducted) said: I remember my ETD module being very traditional and theoretical and when I studied I did not necessarily understand as much as when I went into industry and I was able to apply it.Then I could see the value and draw the links, connect the dots.
The above attests to the traditional way in which ETD at the undergraduate third-year level is taught at most of the public universities in South Africa (Augustyn & Cillié, 2008;Pillay & Wijnbeek, 2006;Van der Merwe & Sloman, 2014).It also supports Lave (1996), Herrington and Oliver (2000), Herrington et al. (2002) and Resnick (1987) views that there is a gap between the educational experiences of people and their everyday situations in the workplace.As a result, Lave conducted a study in the United States that focused on the way mathematics was applied by adults in a supermarket (Lave, 1996).The results showed that the application of theory to a real-life situation was more effective than abstract formal classroom learning (Lave, 1996).This insight laid the foundation for developing an SL theory (Lave, 1996;Lave & Wenger, 1991).
Finally, Lampert andBall (1990, 1998) and Orlando (2019) explain that teachers often employ traditional teaching practices that they were exposed to despite the evolution of transformed teaching methods.We agree with this viewpoint, because for many years, we too, approached our teaching in the manner we were taught in our undergraduate years.However, in 2015, in light of the national students' protest and the demand for decolonisation, the lecturer wanted to effect change and implemented a decoloniality strategy based on the SL theory's characteristics as reported in this article.Therefore, with the involvement of the two ETD practitioners and the implementation of the SL characteristics in the ETD module in 2015 and 2016, the lecturer created a collaborative and enabling learning environment for the students to move away from the traditional teaching practices (a colonised instructional design) to the inclusion of indigenous knowledge and contexts, within a decoloniality pedagogy.

Conclusion and recommendations
The discussion in the previous section illustrates that the SL characteristics used in the PhD study were interrelated and interdependent.The inclusion of industry practitioners in the learning and teaching of the EDT third-year module and the fact that the students could consult and engage with them outside the classroom and in their respective workplaces provided an authentic learning environment.As a result, the students could learn from industry practitioners and observe their behaviours and interactions in real South African working contexts.
The practitioners became the students' mentors through the provision of authentic learning training manual activities.They modelled their industry-related experiences through their interaction with the students.In addition, students were exposed to multiple roles and perspectives through their engagement with the lecturer, the tutors and their peers, and the two experienced ETD practitioners and other staff members in the workplace.Scaffolding and coaching were provided in the engagement that aided the students' understanding of how they should apply the theory to the practice.Regular reflections assisted the students in evaluating their own learning and aligning their practices to complete the assessments.
The discussion also revealed that the scaffolding and coaching characteristic illustrates the social nature of SL.It was within this characteristic that interaction occurs between the students and the lecturer, the students and the tutors, the students and their peers, and the students and the practitioners.The students were able to observe and model the behaviours and interactions of the practitioners and see how the content plays out in a real working environment.The interaction signifies a community of practice where learning took place (Lave & Wenger, 1991) and the concept of apprenticeship, because the practitioners became the students' mentors and the students, became the apprentices who learnt from their mentors (Brown et al., 1989).Consequently, such a learning approach was ideally situated to increase the students' theoretical knowledge base and, equally important, facilitate the development of ETD skills and competencies.Moreover, the involvement of the practitioners inside and outside of the classroom, and the fact that the students could visit and observe the practitioners in their places of work, positively impacted their learning and the construction of knowledge in the ETD module.
These findings resonate with Cutcher and Dale's (2023) concept of "post-colonial and Indigenous notions of hybridity" because the lecturer applied the SL characteristics to real-life South African workplace realities and contexts.The experienced ETD practitioners worked alongside the lecturer and brought industry practices into the classroom.Moreover, they became the students' mentors in the classroom and at their respective workplaces where the students observed them in action.
These are the reasons why we argue that situated learning and its characteristics can be used as an alternate learning and teaching approach, and as a decoloniality strategy for curriculum transformation at institutions of higher learning.The discussion also demonstrated that implementing SL characteristics and the direct involvement of industry practitioners can facilitate the development of discipline-specific skills and competencies in students.Hence, an SL learning and teaching decoloniality strategy offers a solution to overcome the skills gap because it supports Brown et al. (1989), Collins et al. (1989), Griffin (1995), andYoung (1993) views that an SL environment provides opportunities for students to develop skills and competencies that they will not acquire in a traditional learning and teaching setting.Following Ndlovu-Gatsheni (2015), we argue that the concept of "decoloniality" is Africa's future.
Therefore, the implementation of the SL characteristics and the involvement of the two experienced ETD practitioners throughout the semester allowed the lecturer to merge the "Western theory" with "indigenous South African workplace realities and contexts", within a community of practice where the students could relate to, learn from and observe real-life interactions and practices.This is the most important finding of the PhD study and the basis of our argument that the lecturer used a decoloniality strategy to transform the manner in which she taught the thirdyear training and development module in 2015 and 2016, and onwards.