Rhodes University represents at the 5th International Legitimation Code Theory conference
Eleven Rhodes University staff and doctoral candidates presented at the 5th International Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) conference hosted by the Wits LCT Hub at the School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, in January 2024. These included Dr Jennifer Williams (Physics), Prof Jo-Anne Vorster (CHERTL), Prof Sioux McKenna (CPGS), Dr Kirstin Wilmot (CHERTL), Dr Ian Siebörger (Linguistics), Tanusha Dukhan (Pharmacy) and Sisonke Mawonga (CHERTL) as well four affiliated doctoral candidates, Olebogeng Mokgantshang, Retha Knoetze, Janét West and Emaculate Mvundura. The conference hosted 130 delegates from 17 countries and included 64 papers.
LCT is a theoretical framework offering a conceptual toolkit and analytical methodology that asks the important questions of why it is that certain knowledges are legitimated and others are not, and how it is that each discipline structures its knowledge and determines the kind of ‘knowers’ deemed worthy of disciplinary membership. It reveals the principles informing the different forms knowledge takes, providing useful explanations of how to build knowledge successfully in the disciplines. LCT has effectively been used alongside other theories, particularly Systemic Functional Linguistics, making it a useful framework for understanding genre and discourse among other aspects, as well as for educational research.
There is a growing body of research internationally that draws on LCT as an analytical framework to understand issues of access and success at all levels of tertiary education. In South Africa, it has particularly been taken up by those working in academic development to understand the nature of knowledge and its implications for teaching and learning. It is also being used more broadly to understand meta issues such as the rise of neoliberalism in the sector. LCT is a popular theoretical lens used in the CHERTL Higher Education Studies Doctoral Programme and for our own research. It also informs much of the academic development work that CHERTL provides at Rhodes University.