Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Multigrade teaching has been used in Namibia since the introduction of formal education; however, it became more prominent after independence, when the government proposed it to be the norm. Yet, regardless of its prevalence in rural schools – as high as 40% – qualified teachers are still not trained to teach multigrade classes. The primary aim of the research study therefore was to investigate multigrade teaching at three rural primary schools in the Ncuncuni circuit in the Kavango region. By employing a phenomenological methodology, the study explores the experiences and challenges as encountered in multigrade classrooms by six teachers. While a number of the challenges are common to experiences in typical monograde classrooms in Namibia – such as shortages of resources, poor parental involvement, and high rates of learner attrition – there are others that are specific to a multigrade setting. Given the growing number of multigrade schools in Namibia, particularly in rural settings, where infrastructure is already poor, the urgency for properly trained multigrade teachers can no longer be ignored. Among the key recommendations made by this study is that appropriate and sufficient teaching and learning materials, such as self-instructional and self-learning materials, should be provided to schools offering multigrade teaching. In acknowledging that the introduction of professional training will take time, and that the current teachers in multigrade classrooms are in dire need of support, the study would also like to recommend support from regional offices in the form of specialist advisers. There are numerous teachers in multigrade classrooms – many of whom will never receive any formal training. These teachers require immediate and on-going support if the Ministry of Education hopes to provide quality teaching and learning to learners.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study is a multi-site ethnography that focuses on young people from one low-income, Cape Town neighbourhood, an area that I got to know well between 2008 and 2012, when I worked and conducted research there. I explore how young people from this area, that I call Rosemary Gardens, learn in three different places. These places are, firstly, classrooms at Rosemary Gardens High School, secondly, a community-based hip-hop/ rap group called the Doodvenootskap, and, thirdly, a youth radio show called Youth Amplified, which involved many young people from Rosemary Gardens. In each of the three places a ‘spatio-dialogical’ analysis was used to examine learning that emerges through collaborative interactions between people. Dialogic learning may take place when young people are exposed to multiple, different perspectives, which manifest through language. This form of learning is ‘spatialised’ because it occurs through sets of social relations that coalesce at particular moments to form ‘places’. Places are junctions or points of intersection within networks of social relations. I use the work of Bakhtin (1981; 1986) and Bourdieu (1977; 1991) to illustrate how, in each of the three places, language operates as a socio-ideological system that is divided, in flux and differentially empowered. This work on language as a social system was put into conversation with Lefebvre’s (1991) spatial theory, producing tools that were used as lenses through which to interpret the ethnographic fieldwork. What emerged was the centrality of the workings of language as a social system at Rosemary Gardens High School, Youth Amplified and amongst the Doodvenootskap. The control desired by educators, combined with the bureaucratic forces that restrict spontaneity in their teaching practices, resulted in the use of highly prescribed language forces dominating dialogic interactions at Rosemary Gardens High School. The different cultural influences and historical traditions, which produce the Doodvenootskap, led to the group reclaiming and reinventing varieties of language. At times this produced more sufficiently interactive forms of dialogic learning, amongst this group, and on other occasions they merely reiterated the words of others, without reflection or rigorous thought. Critical pedagogy, at Youth Amplified, laid the foundations for multiple contrasting perspectives and different linguistic forms to manifest. In the media and in the imaginary of the South African middle and upper classes, schools in neighbourhoods that were formerly reserved for ‘Black’ and working-class ‘Coloured’ children are generally perceived to be dysfunctional places. Young people who live in the neighbourhoods in which these schools are located, are assumed to learn very little. Research with youth from Rosemary Gardens discovered that this kind of negative portrayal is only one view of a multi-faceted set of stories. On a daily basis, young people from Rosemary Gardens use language in interactions with peers and adults, exchanges that shape their consciousness and influence how they make sense of the multiple social worlds which they partially produce.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation argues that, for several reasons, school boards serving the various Seventh-day Adventist schools in the Western Cape have not carried out their functions and responsibilities effectively and efficiently. Although the school boards meet on a regular basis, there appear to be several problems that contribute to a lack of effective performance by the board. Through an analysis of data constructed from interviews and questionnaires, the study reveals that many board members feel that they are not fully equipped to carry out the responsibilities of a governor, and furthermore that they do not belong because they do not feel a part of the decision-making process in the school. They therefore are willing to spend time and effort to equip themselves for the task through capacity building programmes and ongoing training. I contend that, in addition to capacity building programmes, the voices of individual members need to be heard as they participate, deliberately, in decision-making processes. This dissertation contends that if the boards are to function optimally, all stakeholders, particularly the school board members, should engage in capacity building programmes and also experience deliberative, democratic citizenship. They must be given an equal voice to participate in deliberations concerning policy formulation and other decision-making processes. This will help them to realise their democratic right to participate and also to experience inclusivity as a free member of the society in which they live. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie proefskrif argumenteer dat skoolbestuursrade wat verskillende Sewende-dag Adventisteskole in die Wes-Kaap beheer om verskeie redes nie hulle pligte effektief en doeltreffend nakom nie. Hoewel die beheerrade gereeld vergader is daar blykbaar verskeie probleme wat bydra tot ’n gebrek aan die vervulling van hulle pligte. Deur die ontleding van data saamgestel uit onderhoude en vraelyste is daar gevind dat veral die raadslede, en tot ’n kleiner mate ander belangstellendes, voel hulle is nie ten volle toegerus om die verantwoordelikheid van ’n raadslid te dra nie. Hulle voel ook dat hulle nie deel is van belangrike beslissings wat in die skool geneem word nie. Daarom is hulle bereid om tyd te maak om hulle vir die werk van ’n raadslid toe te rus. Ek hou voor dat behalwe vir die gebruik van kapasiteitsbouprogramme moet die individue se stemme gehoor word en moet hulle ’n kans gegun word om saam te praat en ook aan belangrike beslissings deel te neem wat verband hou met die skool en die opvoeding van die leerder. Hulle moet hulle demokratiese burgerregte uitvoer, deelneem aan die ontwikkelinge wat in die skool plaasvind en daardeur sal hulle stemme ook gehoor word.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The study aims to research discipline in schools and I explored alternative forms of discipline. The literature indicates that alternative forms of discipline exist to the canings that were inflicted in the past, which have now been outlawed. However, effective alternatives to corporal punishment are not obvious. Before deciding on alternatives, it is advisable that teachers go through an experimental phase, and be prepared to make adjustments along the way. The literature also shows that classes with fewer behavioural problems have teachers who tend to use non-violent and child-centred approaches to classroom discipline. Studies show that the vast majority of disciplinary problems result from the circumstances in which such learners find themselves, which are characterised by problems at home, learning barriers, trauma, and ineffective teaching methods. I conclude that the application of corporal punishment aggravates such problems, rather than solving them. Present-day educators are required to fill a greater pastoral role than they did in the past, as learners nowadays tend to face many more difficult challenges than they used to do in the past and also are likely to experience less support outside the school. Most educational psychologists recommend that educators place learners, in cases of them suffering from emotional problems, child abuse, sexual abuse, HIV/AIDS, or alcohol and drug abuse, in an intensive process of counselling, with them being referred to experts in the fields of reference (Porteus et al., 2001:45). I conclude that attempts to improve classroom discipline can be effective if the whole school community is involved. One of the ways in which the whole school community can become involved in attaining a better discipline system is through the adoption of a code of conduct that is arrived at by means of consultation, persuasion and agreement with all role-players concerned. The maintenance of such a code is, however, only likely to be successful if it is strictly enforced and the appropriate sanctions are imposed against those who violate it. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie doen navorsing oor dissipline in skole, en spesifiek alternatiewe vorme daarvan. Die literatuur dui op die bestaan van alternatiewe vorme van dissipline na die afskaffing van lyfstraf in Suid-Afrikaanse skole. Alternatiewe vorme van dissipline is egter nog nie duidelik sigbaar nie. Voordat daar besluit kan word oor alternatiewe vorme is dit egter raadsaam dat onderwysers eers eksperimenteer en die haalbaarheid van alternatiewe vorme probeer vasstel. Die literatuur dui aan dat klaskamers met min of geen dissiplinêre probleme, onderwysers het wat nie-geweldadige en kindergesentreerde benaderings volg. Studies dui aan dat kinders met dissiplinêre probleme uit huise kom met leerprobleme, trauma, en oneffektiewe onderrig metodes. My gevolgtrekking is dat lyfstraf sulke problem vererger, eerder as om dit op te los. Daar word van hedendaagse onderwysers verwag om meer as ooit tevore 'n pastorale rol te vervul. Sielkundiges adviseer dat leerders met ernstige dissiplinere problem eerder na deskundiges verwys behoort te word in plaas daarvan om dit in die klaskamer te probeer oplos. My gevolgtrekking is dat klaskamer dissipline kan effektief toegepas kan word indien die hele skool, ouers en gemeenskap betrokke word. Dit kan slegs geskied met 'n gedragskode wat deur wye konsultasie, beraadslaging en in ooreenstemming met al die rolspelers daar gestel word. Die handhawing van so ʼn kode kan slegs slaag indien dit streng toegepas word en indien daar strafmaatreëls in plek is vir diegene wat die kode verbreek.

Thesis (MEd (Education Policy Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / The aim of this paper is to obtain an indication of the impact of an outcomes-based assessment policy on the workload of six teachers of a secondary school. Since the implementation of Outcomes Based Education (OBE) there are great expectations to implement new approaches in relation to planning, instruction and assessment guidelines that teachers should follow. Despite these guidelines assessment remains a problem area because teachers are still grappling with the assessment principles of OBE. The new outcomes-based approach to assessment encourages teachers to integrate their instruction with classroom-based assessment. Teachers however do not appear to be integrating their instruction with their assessment. Teachers are blaming the lack of integration to a lack of time. This research is an attempt to assess the time teachers spend on instruction, assessment and extra mural activities. Although this is a qualitative research, it offers a quantifiable reality that is relative to the context of six selected teachers and the context in which the teachers and school is situated. Policy is not static and thus it should be continuously tested to determine whether the aim of the particular policy is practicable. Thus I am of the opinion that research of this nature can be an important mechanism for policy enactment because indicators inform policy makers about the policy. The findings of this research proposes to "put in numbers" what teachers have to say, in other words, to reflect the quantified realities of the workload of teachers.

Thesis (MEd (Education Policy Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / On the surface the National Assessment Policy is transformative in nature because it promotes notions of shaping educational practice that will enhance the interests of learners in a meaningful way. It promotes ideas of transparency and a partnership between learners and educators that presupposes that learners are fully involved at every stage of their learning in decisions that affect their progress. This creates the impression that teaching and learning take place in a democratic environment where constant consultation and consensus are the order of the day. The policy ultimately envisages a kind of learner who would have the ability to participate as a critical citizen in society. Looked at from a critical perspective, this criteria-referenced outcomes framework seems to be a contradiction to transformative policy and practice. The predetermined criteria outlined in the policy seem to negate its intention of creating a schooling system through which critical citizens can emerge. The focus of this thesis, therefore, is firstly to make a critical analysis of assessment in OBE and its stated transformation objectives and, secondly, to reconceptualise assessment practices in South African schools by making an argument for critical action. This analysis will explore the issue of power relations in the classroom and their impact on participatory, deliberative and democratic classroom interaction as a condition imperative for a transformative OBE curriculum. This issue is pertinent and central not only to the improvement and promotion of teaching and learning, but also because of the profound implications it has for how we view educational transformation in South Africa.

Thesis (MEd)-- University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Migration has been described as “the quintessential experience” of the contemporary period (Berger, 1984). Across the world this global phenomenon has been chiefly driven by conflict, persecution and poverty resulting from destabilisation in the various home countries of millions of individuals. Within the process of worldwide migration, South Africa receives perhaps the largest number of asylum seekers in the world and according to the UNHCR (2010) the majority of migrants entering South Africa are children or youth. Crucially, this increased migration into South Africa is occurring at a time when the majority of South Africa's general populace is still struggling with the aftermath of apartheid and increased levels of poverty and unemployment. In this qualitative, interpretative study I focus on how a group of 20 African migrant youth that live in Cape Town and attend one local school engage with the migratory experience and navigate their way through local receiving spaces. I assert that these spaces, which include both home and school, mark the youth in very particular ways and bring into focus key aspects of identity, culture, social worlds, imagination and aspiration. The main conceptual contribution of the thesis is the idea that we are all migrants in the current world, whether we physically move or whether our lives are moved by the impact of increasing global flows. Consequently, we need to develop, it is argued, a frame of thinking that makes the migrant central, not ancillary, to historical process. For that purpose I utilise the theoretical lenses of Pierre Bourdieu, Arjun Appadurai, and Tara Yosso to argue that the African migrant youth in the study are not passive recipients bombarded by the forces of globalization and migration, but are active agents in the shaping of their local realities. By linking individual biographies to the questions they raise about larger global, social and historical forces I attempt to offer a temporalized account of late-modern life that incorporates the contemporary conditions that the African migrant youth face as they navigate urban social arrangements, and the daily educational challenges of their local school. A further contribution of the thesis is the documenting of the particular internal and external resources that the 20 African migrant youth drew on to motivate and assist them to navigate their schooling and social lives, as they faced up to the growing uncertainties of their new "foreign‟ spaces. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Migrasie is al beskryf as “die wesenservaring” van die moderne tyd (Berger, 1984). Oral ter wêreld word hierdie globale verskynsel hoofsaaklik aangedryf deur konflik, vervolging en armoede wat die gevolg is van destabilisasie in die onderskeie lande van herkoms van miljoene mense. Binne die wêreldwye migrasieproses is Suid-Afrika die land wat waarskynlik die grootste getal asielsoekers ter wêreld ontvang, en volgens die Verenigde Nasies se hoëkommissaris vir vlugtelinge (UNHCR, 2010) vorm kinders of jeugdiges die grootste groep migrante wat Suid-Afrika binnekom. Wat van kardinale belang is, is dat hierdie toenemende migrasie na Suid-Afrika plaasvind op ʼn tydstip waarop die meerderheid van Suid-Afrika se breë bevolking steeds worstel met die nalatenskap van apartheid en verhoogde vlakke van armoede en werkloosheid. Hierdie kwalitatiewe, kwasi-interpretatiewe studie fokus op die wyse waarop ʼn groep van 20 jeugdige Afrika-migrante, wat in Kaapstad woon en dieselfde plaaslike skool bywoon, migrasie-ervarings hanteer en hulle weg deur die plaaslike ontvangsruimtes baan. Ek voer aan dat hierdie ruimtes, wat sowel die huis as die skool insluit, 'n baie duidelike stempel op jeugdiges laat en die aandag op sleutelaspekte van identiteit, kultuur, maatskaplike wêrelde, voorstellings en strewes vestig. Die hoof- konseptuele bydrae van die tesis is die gedagte dat ons almal in vandag se wêreld migrante (van welke aard ook al) is, of ons nou fisiek verskuif en of die impak van toenemende wêreldwye strominge verskuiwings in ons lewe veroorsaak. Daarom, word daar geredeneer, moet ons ʼn denkraamwerk ontwikkel wat die idee van die “migrant” sentraal tot die historiese proses stel, eerder as ondergeskik daaraan. Vir dié doel gebruik ek die teoretiese lense van Pierre Bourdieu, Arjun Appadurai en Tara Yosso om aan te voer dat die jeugdige Afrika-migrante in die studie nie passiewe ontvangers is wat deur die kragte van globalisering en migrasie rondgeslinger word nie, maar dat hulle aktiewe agente is wat hulle plaaslike werklikhede self kan vorm. Deur individuele lewensverhale te koppel aan die vrae wat dit oor groter globale, maatskaplike en historiese kragte laat ontstaan, bied ek ʼn getemporaliseerde weergawe van die laat-moderne lewe, met inbegrip van die eietydse omstandighede wat jeugdige Afrika-migrante in die gesig staar namate hulle hul weg deur die stedelik-maatskaplike organisasie moet vind, asook van die daaglikse opvoedkundige uitdagings van hulle plaaslike skool. Verder lewer hierdie tesis ʼn bydrae deur die interne en eksterne hulpbronne te dokumenteer wat hierdie 20 jeugdige Afrika-migrante gebruik het om hulle te motiveer en te help om hulle skool- en maatskaplike lewe te rig namate hulle die toenemende onsekerhede van hulle nuwe, “uitlandse” ruimtes moes aandurf.

Thesis (MEd)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis analyses some of the major education policies in Namibia since the introduction of a democratic government in 1990. The analysis reveals that democratic participation through stakeholder representatives is an ideal framework to promote democracy in education discourses, that is, in policy formation, school governance and teaching and learning. However, there is a dilemma of a lack of inclusion, which is incommensurable with modern democratic theorists’ conceptions of democratic citizenship (both Western deliberation and African ubuntu). The thesis asserts that Namibia’s historical and cultural background has to be taken into consideration if a defensible democratic citizenship education is to be engendered and advanced. An examination and interpretation of the three phases of Namibia’s historical background, its pre-colonial, colonial/apartheid and post-apartheid education systems, were carried out in order to understand the current state of education and the type of citizens the country is developing through its education system. Central to this investigation were different conceptions of democratic citizenship, which indicate that deliberation, inclusion, equality, reasonableness, publicity, belligerence, hospitality, compassion and African humanness (ubuntu) are the features of a defensible democratic citizenship education. The exploration of the distinction between deliberation and ubuntu shows that Namibia’s context requires a minimal democratic citizenship framework with ubuntu if a lack of inclusion is to be eliminated. The discussion on democratic conceptions also draws on a minimalist and maximalist continuum of democratic citizenship education. The thesis argues that a minimalist form of democratic citizenship education, in conjunction with African ubuntu – which constitutes less deliberation and non-belligerence with more compassion, careful listening, respect and dignity – engenders conditions for an inclusive policy framework, school governance, and the cultivation of democratic citizenry through teaching and learning in Namibian public schools, and may eventually promote a defensible democratic citizenship education. This framework may create a favourable environment and potential for all participants to co-exist, and for the marginalised groups to also contribute to conversations. This framework is also considered plausible because it takes into account the local people’s historical background and cultural practices. Complementing the argument of this thesis is the exploration of the link between Namibia’s education system, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Moreover, an appeal is made for the Namibian citizenship education system to consolidate the idea of cosmopolitanism, that is; hospitality and forgiveness, if the NEPAD initiative is to be successful and if certain Millennium Development Goals were to be achieved by 2015. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ontleed sommige van die hoof onderwysbeleide in Namibia sedert die instelling van ‘n demokratiese regering in 1990. Die ontleding onthul dat demokratiese deelname deur rolspelerverteenwoordigers is ‘n ideale raamwerk om demokrasie in onderwysdiskoerse te bevorder, dit is, in beleidmaking, skoolbeheer asook onderrig en leer. Nietemin, daar is ʼn dilemma van ‘n gebrek aan inklusiwiteit, wat nie vergelykbaar is met moderne demokratiese teoretici se konsepsies van demokratiese burgerskap (beide Westerse beraadslaging en Afrika ubuntu) nie. Die tesis voer aan dat Namibië se historiese en kulturele agtergrond verreken moes wees, indien ʼn verdedigbare demokratiese burgerskap voortgebring en ondersteun sou word. ʼn Ondersoek en interpretasie van die drie fases van Namibië se historiese agtergrond, haar pre-koloniale, koloniale/apartheid en post-apartheid onderwysstelsels, was uitgevoer om te verstaan wat die huidige stand van onderwys en die soort burgers is wat die land daardeur voorberei. Sentraal tot hierdie ondersoek was verskillende konsepsies van demokratiese burgerskap, wat aandui dat beraadslaging, inklusiwiteit, gelykheid, redelikheid, openbaarheid, strydlustige interaksie, gasvryheid, meelewing en Afrika-menslikheid (ubuntu) die eienskappe van ‘n verdedigbare demokratiese burgerskaponderwys is. Die ondersoek van die onderskeid tussen beraadslaging en ubuntu toon dat die Namibiese konteks, indien ‘n gebrek aan inklusiwiteit geëlimineer moet word, ‘n minimale demokratiese burgerskapsraamwerk met ubuntu benodig. Die bespreking van demokratiese konsepsies is ook gebed in ʼn minimalistiese en maksimalistiese kontinuum van demokratiese burgerskaponderwys. Die tesis argumenteer dat ‘n minimalistiese vorm van demokratiese burgerskaponderwys in samehang met Afrika ubuntu – wat minder beraadslaging en nie-strydlustige interaksie met meer meelewing, versigtige luister, respek en waardigheid veronderstel – toestande vir ‘n inklusiewe beleidsraamwerk, skoolbeheer en die kweek van demokratiese burgerskap deur onderrig en leer in Namibiese publieke skole bevorder en mag so uiteindelik ‘n verdedigbare demokratiese burgerskaponderwys bevorder. Hierdie raamwerk mag ‘n gunstige omgewing en die potensiaal vir alle deelnemers om met mekaar saam te leef asook vir gemarginaliseerse groepe om tot gesprekke by te dra, skep. Hierdie raamwerk kan ook as aanneemlik beskou word, omdat dit die plaaslike mense se historiese agtergrond en kulturele praktyke verreken. Die argument van hierdie tesis word ondersteun deur die ondersoek van die verband tussen die Namibiese onderwysstelsel, die ‘New Partnership for Africa’s Development’ (NEPAD) en die Millennium Ontwikkelingsdoelwitte. Meer nog, ‘n beroep word gemaak vir die Namibiese burgerskap onderwysstelsel om die idee van wêreldburgerskap, dit is, gasvryheid en vergifnis te konsolideer, indien die NEPAD-inisiatief suksesvol en sekere Millenium Ontwikkelingsdoelstellings teen 2015 bereik wil word.

Thesis (MEd) -- Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explored the views of thirteen youth at Victoria High School about what they regarded as achievement and how this influenced their lives and what they thought about their futures. The starting premise of the study was that all learners think about achievement. The goal of the study was thus to show how different learners connect this understanding of achievement with their respective aspirations and the kinds of social and schooling worlds they inhabit. The key contribution of the study is the ways it links the social, cultural, and economic worlds of each of the thirteen learners to what they say about what they do and what they want to do, who they are and who they want to be, and what they think they do and what they think they want to do. The study shows that the life-worlds of each of the learners are significantly different yet the ways they go about making sense of that world are fairly similar. In that regard it is shown that the school, and what learners, parents and educators think it is and does, plays a crucial role in the sense-making process. As Berkhout (2008) notes, the different contexts that shape the lives of individuals are not simply external forces but rather are integral parts of their identity-making process. The study used the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Arjun Appadurai to bring together a framework by which to understand what learners said about their worlds and their aspirations, as well to develop a narrative that showed the rich and complex ways in which learners engaged with their realities. The study followed an interpretive qualitative approach to explore the issue of achievement and based its arguments on interviews conducted with thirteen youth between the ages of fifteen and seventeen years old. In this regard, a key finding was that learners approached the notion of achievement in developmental, cumulative, and progressive ways. These views included wanting to be popular, gaining new knowledge, preparing for future material acquisition, developing skills to lead decent lives, acquiring happiness, developing the ability to overcome their challenges and circumstances, and gaining skills and recognition that set up their futures. Five staff members at Victoria High school were also interviewed for their views of the schooling context and the kinds of cultures and legacies that framed their practice. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die tesis is gefokus op die denke van dertien studente van Victoria Hoërskool aangaande die nosie van prestasie, en hoe hierdie denke hul lewens beïnvloed sowel as wat hulle dink van hul toekoms. Die vertrekpunt van die verbande studie was dat alle leerders oor prestasie dink. Die doel van die tesis (daaruitvoortspruitend) was dus om aan te toon hoe verskillende leerders ʼn verband aanlê tussen hul beskouing van prestasie, hul aspirasies en die maatskaplike- en skoolwêrelde wat hul beleef. Die kern bydrae van die tesis is die verbande wat gemaak is in die verbande studie tussen die sosiale, kulturele en ekonomiese wêrelde van elkeen van die dertien leerders ten opsigte van hul beskouing aangaande wat hulle doen en wil doen, wat hulle is en wil wees, en wat hulle dink hulle doen en wil doen. Die tesis toon aan dat die leefwêreld van elk van die leerders merkbaar verskillend is, maar dat die wyse waarop hulle betekenis gee aan hul leefwêreld tog redelik ooreenstem. In hierdie verband is dit getoon dat die skool, en wat leerders, ouers en onderwysers daaromtrent dink, ʼn kardinale rol speel in hul betekenisvormingsproses. Berkhout (2008) voer in hierdie verband aan dat die verskillende kontekste wat die lewens van individue vorm nie slegs eksterne magte is nie, maar eerder integrale dele van hul identiteitsvormings proses is. Die studie maak gebruik van die werk van Pierre Bourdieu en Arjun Appadurai om ʼn raamwerk te ontwikkel om leerders se beskouinge van hul wêrelde en aspirasies te verstaan, sowel as om ‘n narratief te ontwikkel wat die ryk en komplekse wyses waarop leerders met hul realiteite omgaan, aan te toon. Die tesis, en verbande studie, het ʼn interpretatiewe, kwalitatiewe benadering gevolg om die idee van prestasie te verken en het die tesis argumente baser op onderhoude met dertien leerders tussen vyftien tot sewentienjaar oud. ʼn Kernbevinding in hierdie verband was dat leerders die idée van prestasie op ontwikkelings-, kumulatiewe- en progressiewe wyses benader. Beskouinge van leerders in die verband sluit onder andere in, die behoefte om populêr te wees, die verkryging van nuwe kennis, voorbereiding om materiële goedere in die toekoms te bekom, die ontwikkeling van vaardighede noodsaaklik vir ʼn ordentlike lewe, die strewe na geluk, die ontwikkeling van die vermoë om hul uitdagings en omstandighede te oorkom, en die ontwikkeling vaardighede en erkenning noodsaaklik vir hul toekoms. Onderhoude is ook gevoer met vyf personeellede van Victoria hoërskool om hul beskouinge ten opsigte van die skoolkonteks en die soort kulture en erfenisse wat hul praktyk informeer te bepaal.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to determine the nature of the youths` subjectivity at a school in a diverse rural mining environment. The study was done in an isolated rural mining environment. Space is an important point of departure and a thorough background of the contextual factors are given. The participants in this study are daily confronted with challenges such as long distances, poverty, unemployment and alcohol and substance abuse. Space, subjectivity and cultural capital are used to understand youth development and youth experience. The main premise of the study is that the environments of these youth greatly overlap. There is a dynamic relationship between their living and school environment. Distinctive processes, social networks, relationships and cultural groups are found in each of these environments. Another focus of this study was to determine how these young people bridge their different lived spaces, negotiate and adapt within these environments. Qualitative reseach methods were used in formal and informal interviews. Participants had the opportunity to present their experiences in storyline. A narrative-based, interpretive, -descriptive research paradigm was the most appropriate research method of capturing the wide variety of living experience. The study demonstrates how these youth are positioned within their environments in order to embody their space subjectivity. By making use of their own resources, networks and interactions, they navigate their overlapping spaces and thereby lead meaningful lives. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die navorsing in hierdie studie wou die aard van jeugdiges se subjektiwiteite by `n skool in `n diverse plattelandse mynbou-omgewing vasstel. Die studie vind plaas op `n afgeleë plattelandse mynbou-omgewing. Ruimte is `n belangrike vertrekpunt en `n deeglike agtergrond van die kontekstuele faktore word gegee. Die deelnemers in die studie word daagliks gekonfronteer met uitdagings soos ver afstande, armoede, werkloosheid, tienerswangerskappe en drank-en dwelmmisbruik. In die studie word die lense ruimte, subjektiwiteit en kulturele kapitaal gebruik om jeugwording en jeugmeemaking in `n plattelandse mynbou-omgewing te verstaan. Die hoofuitgangspunt was dat die omgewings waarin die jeugdiges hulle bevind, veelvuldig oorvleuel. Daar bestaan `n dinamiese verwantskap tussen die jeugdiges se woon- en skoolomgewing. Binne elke ruimte is daar eiesoortige prossesse, sosiale netwerkverhoudinge en kulturele groepe. Die studie fokus ook op die maniere hoe hierdie jeugdiges hul verskeie beleefde ruimtes oorbrug en hoe onderhandeling en aanpassing binne die ruimtes plaasvind. Kwalitatiewe navorsingsinstrumente: formele en informele onderhoude is gebruik om my navorsingsvraag te beantwoord. Die deelnemers is geleentheid gegee om hulle ervaringe in storielyn te weergee. `n Narratiewe interpretatiewe beskrywende navorsingsparadigma was die toepaslikste om die ryke verskeidenheid van geleefde ervaringe oor te dra. Die studie toon hoe die deelnemers op spesifieke maniere deur hulle omstandighede geposisioneer word ten einde vergestalting aan hul jeugsubjektiwiteite te gee. Deur gebruik te maak van hul eie bronne, netwerke en interaksies navigeer hierdie deelnemers hul oorvleuelde ruimtes om sodoende sinvolle lewens te leef.