« L'École au centre de la vie de la " communauté " ». La politique éducative sud-africaine a fait de ce slogan un moteur pour remédier aux inégalités scolaires héritées de l'apartheid au moyen de la gestion décentralisée des écoles. Mais comment répondre à cette injonction dans un pays où la notion de « communauté » est associée à la politique d'apartheid et où, à l'ère démocratique, les clivages sociaux et spatiaux restent forts ? Cette recherche déconstruit d'abord la notion de « communauté » et propose une analyse sous l'angle du lien social pour la dissocier de son contenu idéologique. À partir de l'étude ethnographique d'une bourgade rurale du KwaZulu-Natal, « racialement » et socialement mixte, elle explore les liens sociaux à l’œuvre. Après avoir mis en évidence l'existence d'un quasi-marché scolaire, la thèse montre, à travers les stratégies des écoles et les pratiques des parents, comment l'École vient consolider, maintenir ou fragiliser le lien social et œuvrer ou pas à « faire communauté ». / "Schools as centres of community life". The South African educational policy has used this motto as a driving force to reduce educational inequalities inherited from the apartheid era by decentralising governance at school level. In a country where the idea of "community" is linked to apartheid and where social and spatial cleavages remain strong in the democratic era, to what extent is it possible to achieve this goal? This research first deconstructs the notion of "community" and presents an analysis structured around the notion of social link, thus dissociating the concept of "community" from its ideological content. Based on an ethnographic study conducted in a "racially" and socially mixed rural town in KwaZulu-Natal, this research explores the social links at work. The thesis first reveals the emergence of a quasi-market situation among schools and then looks at schools' strategies and parental practices to show how the school system strengthens, maintains or weakens the social link and contributes or not to "fostering a sense of community".

The South African education system is in crisis; with low matric pass rates, high dropout rates, teacher strikes, rising pregnancy rates among teenaged learners, and assaults by learners on educators and other learners. The system is unable to cope with the multiple demands placed on it and a number of NGOs are stepping in to aid the system. This study is an evaluation of an NGO aimed at developing learners through the application of the Appreciative Inquiry approach. The Appreciative Inquiry approach is a method for generating change within an organisation by looking at what works in the organisation and facilitating active participation. The main findings from this study were that the programme seems to have positively affected learners‟ performance both academically and behaviourally; the programme was perceived to have raised the general standard of academic performance at the school. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

The South African education system is in crisis; with low matric pass rates, high dropout rates, teacher strikes, rising pregnancy rates among teenaged learners, and assaults by learners on educators and other learners. The system is unable to cope with the multiple demands placed on it and a number of NGOs are stepping in to aid the system. This study is an evaluation of an NGO aimed at developing learners through the application of the Appreciative Inquiry approach. The Appreciative Inquiry approach is a method for generating change within an organisation by looking at what works in the organisation and facilitating active participation. The main findings from this study were that the programme seems to have positively affected learners‟ performance both academically and behaviourally; the programme was perceived to have raised the general standard of academic performance at the school. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)