SARChI Chairs

Prof Shireen Motala

Prof Motala was awarded the South African Research Chair: Teaching and Learning (SARChI: T &L) in July 2020. This is a Tier 1 national research chair supported by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and by the National Research Foundation (NRF). The SARChI: T&L is located within the FoE. Prof Motala was the Head of the Postgraduate School (PGS) at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) until September 2020 and is a professor in the Faculty of Education (FoE). She is a member of the Academy of Science in South Africa (ASSAf).

She has held numerous leadership roles related to higher education including Chairperson of the Education Policy Consortium (2006-2010), Chairperson of the UNESCO South African Commission (2001-2006) and first inaugural president of the South African Research Association (SAERA) (2013-2014). She was appointed by the Minster of Higher Education and Training to serve on the Council of Higher Education (CHE) for two terms from 2010-2018. In 2013, she served on the Ministerial Committee to review the national Senior Certificate examination. She is currently a trustee at the South African Institute for Distance

Education. She is on the Assessment and Accreditation committee of UMALUSI-the Council for quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training.

An NRF rated researcher, Prof. Motala has initiated collaborations between universities across Africa and with Asian and European institutions which have led to the formation of long-term regional and international partnerships. As a leader in research, she was the principal investigator for the international Consortium for Research on Equity, Access and Transitions in Education (CREATE). Her recent publications include three co-edited books

• From Ivory Towers to Ebony Towers: Transforming Humanities Curricula in South Africa, Africa and African American Studies (Jacana, 2020)

• Transforming Universities in South Africa: Pathways to Higher Education Reform (Brill, 2020),

• Creating the New African University (Brill, 2023).

Promoting scholarship and a sound intellectual culture have been in the forefront of Prof. Motala’s activities. In her tenure in the Chair she aims to develop the next generation of scholars in order to contribute to societal transformation.

Selected Projects

Motala, S. (2025). Beyond decolonisation: joining the dots–between the material and the epistemic in higher education in South Africa. Comparative Education, 1-18.

Jansen, J., Motala, S., & Singh, M. (2025). Beyond decolonisation: criticism, comparison and conjectures from the global south. Comparative Education.

Tabe, H. T., Motala, S., & Chiramba, O. (2025). Transformative Practices in ODeL: Advancing Higher Education Teaching and Learning. Progressio, 14-pages.

Projects

Lead Investigator:

A postcolonial critique of curriculum Change in South African Higher Education.

Access and Success: Supervision for Quality Postgraduate Education: Postgraduate Size and Shape Study in South Africa

Prof Jace Pillay

Prof Jace Pillay holds a South African National Research Foundation Research Chair in Education and Care in Childhood. He heads a research team focusing on the educational, psychological, and social care of orphans and vulnerable children.

Prof Salim Vally

Prof Salim Vally holds the Research Chair in Community, Adult and Worker Education (CAWE). He is also a visiting professor at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. He completed his doctorate at UKZN and studied at Wits and York universities. He was a visiting lecturer at the universities of York, Columbia, Virginia and Fort Hare. His scholarly interests include educational and social policy as they relate to human rights, democracy and socio-economic justice.

Prof Elizabeth Henning

Prof Elizabeth Henning is the South African National Research Foundation Chair for “Integrated Studies of Learning Language, Mathematics and Science in the Primary School.” She leads research in mathematical cognition and language in the early years of school as well as primary school children’s learning of science concepts and reading of science texts. She is a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association. She combines instructional film production with research.