Postgraduate Academic Writing Support as Institutional Teaching and Learning Strategy

Abstract Book of the 4th World Conference on Teaching, Learning, and Education

Year: 2026

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Postgraduate Academic Writing Support as Institutional Teaching and Learning Strategy

Prof. Dr. Tennyson Mgutshini

ABSTRACT:

Postgraduate academic writing support is often placed at the edge of the academic project, as if it were a remedial service for students who arrive without the required skills. This paper argues that such a view is too narrow for large and complex universities. From the perspective of higher education leadership and postgraduate capacity development at the University of South Africa, academic writing support is approached here as a core teaching and learning strategy, directly connected to postgraduate success, research quality, supervisory capacity and institutional transformation. In an open and distance learning institution serving diverse master’s and doctoral cohorts, writing development cannot be left only to individual supervisors or occasional workshops. It requires coordination, planning, resourcing and a clear institutional commitment to making the expectations of postgraduate scholarship more explicit and more accessible. The paper situates the Academic Writing for Postgraduate Students project within wider commitments to postgraduate excellence, epistemological indigenisation, social justice and international collaboration. It considers how writing support can be aligned with digital education, supervisor development, postgraduate policy, student support and research management. In doing so, the paper offers a leadership perspective on academic writing as part of the infrastructure of postgraduate education, rather than a peripheral support activity.

Keywords: Academic Writing; Higher Education Leadership; Research Management; Student Success; Postgraduate Pedagogy