Abstract:
This article takes the form of a meta-reflection on the educational contribution to the wider
community of the University of Pretoria made by Professor Graham Duncan. It is but a
snapshot of the academic life of a scholar of note. The epicentre of the article revolves around
his educational professionalism that emanated from an intrapersonal point of departure.
Through an ethnographic lens that informed my action research over many years, I document
my numerous scholarly encounters with my colleague and former student. My meta-reflection
is typical of my ontological-epistemological stance, mirroring some of the questions and ways
of thinking Professor Duncan as lecturer continuously asked himself. Two main questions are
focused on. Ontological: Who is Graham Duncan as scholar of teaching in higher education?
Epistemological: What epistemological grounding informs his view of his teaching practice?
As the nature of the article is ethnographic, I drew on texts created by Professor Duncan. These
included a drafted article and emails that had been sent to me. I engaged with these texts in
such a way that the article has become a living theory and affirmation of his and my educational
values regarding facilitating and assessing learning in an innovative fashion. My analysis of
his scholarly journey and texts offers rich qualitative data that are reported. The conclusion
drawn is that Graham Duncan is an exemplar of a constructivist professional.
