Participatory Communication and Perceptions amongst Staff Members at a Tertiary Education Institution

Abstract

Within the field of development, participation has become the normative approach in the past two decades. For development projects to be sustainable, the communication must be participatory in nature. Against this background, this research investigated the extent to which communication between personnel of a specific tertiary education institution is effective and participatory. The population for this study is the 100 staff members of the Faculty of Economic Sciences and Information Technology at the Vaal Triangle Campus of the North-West University in South Africa. The entire population was used in the study to ensure that all perspectives were included, whether academic, management or support services. A questionnaire was composed and handed out to all personnel to determine their perceptions regarding communication within and about the Faculty, after which the collected data was analysed quantitatively. The research findings reveal that within the larger paradigm of heteroglossia there is room for improvement. This study pointed out the various areas for improvement and offered theoretically grounded recommendations. The institution should develop a well researched marketing and communication plan that focuses on the different mediums that are used to communicate with personnel as well as the messages that are being communicated. Future research into development communication for social change and perceptions amongst staff members at tertiary education institutions should focus on the development of interesting messages to address the dynamic target group of academics, and also on continuous development of different communication and information campaigns within tertiary education institutions, to ensure that communication campaigns stay new and fresh.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n7p631