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Reframing embodied learning in a blended learning environment to facilitate and promote decolonial practices in Graphic Design in Higher Education, South Africa
Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2026
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| _version_ | 1867613904113238016 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Du Plessis, Mia |
| author2 | Stockhall, Rosalind Grey |
| author_browse | Du Plessis, Mia Stockhall, Rosalind Grey |
| author_facet | Stockhall, Rosalind Grey Du Plessis, Mia |
| author_sort | Du Plessis, Mia |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135769 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:43:33.016Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135769 Reframing embodied learning in a blended learning environment to facilitate and promote decolonial practices in Graphic Design in Higher Education, South Africa Du Plessis, Mia Stockhall, Rosalind Grey Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Visual Arts. Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. Du Plessis, M. 2026. Reframing embodied learning in a blended learning environment to facilitate and promote decolonial practices in Graphic Design in Higher Education, South Africa. Unpublished masters thesis. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/6506e757-0064-46a9-9cc9-a71aef807d7d During my time as a Graphic Design educator at a private institution of higher education in the Western Cape, South Africa, I noticed a trend of Eurocentric-inspired approaches being applied to an industry-led practical brief among Graphic Design students. In a post-colonial, post-apartheid South Africa, this trend was concerning, as it reflected a reiteration of neo-colonial narratives in graphic design education. I was able to explore this trend further by investigating the blended learning model for graphic design education at the private institution of higher education and exploring approaches to embodied learning and decoloniality in the online component of the model. Theoretical perspectives on decolonial theory and learning theory informed the research. Decolonial theory in the context of pedagogy in post-apartheid South Africa was studied to establish the importance of a decolonial approach in higher education in South Africa. Through a situative perspective on learning, the role of a community of inquiry (CoI) framework in the blended learning model for graphic design education was linked to embodied learning and utilised to promote a pedagogy of care in the online component of the blended learning model. The notion of embodied learning was challenged through questioning its role and execution in the blended mode of delivery. The theoretical framework of the study informed the primary objective of establishing how a situative perspective on embodied learning could promote decolonial approaches to graphic design education in the online component of the blended learning model. To conduct the study, an empirical and mixed-methods approach was utilised, which included an interpretative questionnaire for staff, multiple semi-structured group interviews with students and an analysis of a practical student brief using the CoI framework. The data revealed three primary findings: first, that a disconnect exists between students and educators due to different assumptions about the approach to the online component of the blended learning model; second, that decolonial approaches are challenged through a lack of intentional online communities in the blended mode of delivery; and third, that the CoI framework could provide a valuable structure for the development and facilitation of graphic design education in the blended learning model. The study has revealed valuable insights into current approaches to higher education for graphic design education through blended learning. Implications from the findings include suggestions to utilise technological tools to create online spaces that build community among Graphic Design students, and to establish communities of practice that address institutional culture and approaches to graphic design education. Lastly, educational institutions that offer Graphic Design at a tertiary level are encouraged to challenge industry norms, rather than adhere to them. Masters 2026-04-10T06:20:33Z 2026-04-10T06:20:33Z 2026-03 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135769 en Stellenbosch University 81 pages : ill. application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Du Plessis, Mia Reframing embodied learning in a blended learning environment to facilitate and promote decolonial practices in Graphic Design in Higher Education, South Africa |
| title | Reframing embodied learning in a blended learning environment to facilitate and promote decolonial practices in Graphic Design in Higher Education, South Africa |
| title_full | Reframing embodied learning in a blended learning environment to facilitate and promote decolonial practices in Graphic Design in Higher Education, South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Reframing embodied learning in a blended learning environment to facilitate and promote decolonial practices in Graphic Design in Higher Education, South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reframing embodied learning in a blended learning environment to facilitate and promote decolonial practices in Graphic Design in Higher Education, South Africa |
| title_short | Reframing embodied learning in a blended learning environment to facilitate and promote decolonial practices in Graphic Design in Higher Education, South Africa |
| title_sort | reframing embodied learning in a blended learning environment to facilitate and promote decolonial practices in graphic design in higher education south africa |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135769 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT duplessismia reframingembodiedlearninginablendedlearningenvironmenttofacilitateandpromotedecolonialpracticesingraphicdesigninhighereducationsouthafrica |