ACADEMIC SUPPORT FOR FIRST-YEAR SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15270/46-1-179Abstract
Students in their first year face the great challenge of transition from school to university,where independent and self-directed learning is called for. Students must navigate multifaceted
life adaptations – physical ones such as moving away from home, and psychological ones such
as moving into young adulthood, from the familiarity of the homogeneous school environment
to the heterogeneous culture of the university, often from rural to urban, to a different language,
to mixing with diverse race groups. Moving from the control, protection and predictability of
school life, learners are free for the first time to test their autonomy and experiment with
choices. Equally, the challenge of providing the best teaching and learning to this group rests
with the educators in first year.
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