Legalised desegregation through the implementation of the South African Schools law (Law no. 84 of 1996) sparked the hope of an opportunity to promote integration between learners and more than that, that the former would also extend to the larger community. The media has however indicated that racial-integration in schools is not necessarily experienced as positive by all the role players and that the process does not present itself as being problem-free. The goal of this study was to investigate the experiences of racial minority groups within majority school contexts; the challenges that are posed to them within the contexts; the factors that may play a role in their adjustment and functioning within the context; the negotiation of racial-ethnicity and social identity that accompanies it, and the possible relationship that exists between the former and their emotional intelligence (EI). These goals were realised through the launch of a theoretical, as well as an empirical investigation of aforementioned aspects related to the life worlds of racial minority groups in a majority school context. The empirical investigation was conducted from an INTERPRETIVISTIC-positivistic paradigm. Two schools where white and black learners are respectively in the minority were involved in the study. All the learners (grade 9-12) that were regarded as part of the racial minority group in the involved schools, were asked to complete an EI-questionnaire, the EQ-i:YV, after which six participants (three males and three females) from each school were selected on the basis of their scores achieved on the previously mentioned questionnaire. Afterwards qualitative techniques (focus groups, semi-structured interviews, observations and reflection) were implemented to investigate the (racial and social) identity negotiation, adjustment and functioning of the participants in their respective school contexts. The former was also related to their EI. Triangulation and crystallisation were implemented to verify the findings. Racism was identified as the biggest stumbling block to successful integration in the white school context, whereas language appeared to be the biggest stumbling block of the white participants’ adjustment and functioning within their black school context. Social categorisation emerged as a reality in both school contexts and white learners appeared to be evaluated as the higher-status group in both schools. From the results it appears that no relationship worth mentioning exists between the white participants’ EI and their identity negotiation within a black school context, whilst it appears as if a small relationship exists between the black participants’ EI and their identity-negotiation within a white school context. It appears however that a strong relationship exists between participants’ EI and their adjustment and functioning within their majority school context. The following additional factors (that are not applicable to EI) that can play a possible role in the adjustment and functioning of racial minority groups in majority school contexts have also been identified: home circumstances, faith, recognition of sport and/or cultural achievement and the support of one or more parents. AFRIKAANS : Daar is met die wettiging van desegregasie deur die Suid-Afrikaanse Skolewet (Wet no. 84 van 1996) gehoop dat die geleentheid geskep sou word om integrasie tussen leerders te bevorder en dat voorgenoemde na die breër gemeenskap sou uitkring. Uit die media blyk dit egter dat rasse-integrasie in skole allermins positief deur al die rolspelers beleef word en dat die proses nie sonder probleme verloop nie. Die doel van hierdie studie was om ondersoek in te stel na rasseminderheidsgroepe se belewenis van meerderheidskoolkontekste; die uitdagings wat binne hierdie kontekste aan hulle gestel word; die faktore wat moontlik ‘n rol in hulle aanpassing en funksionering in hierdie kontekste speel; die onderhandeling van ras-etniese en sosiale identiteit wat daarmee gepaard gaan, en die moontlike verband wat tussen voorgenoemde en hul emosionele intelligensie (EI) bestaan. Hierdie doelstellings is gerealiseer deur ‘n teoretiese, sowel as ‘n empiriese ondersoek na voorgenoemde aspekte van die leefwêrelde van rasseminderheidsgroepe in meerderheidskoolkontekste te loods. Die empiriese ondersoek is vanuit ‘n INTERPRETIVISTIES-positivistiese paradigma onderneem. Twee skole waar wit en swart leerders onderskeidelik in die minderheid is, is by die studie betrek. Al die leerders (graad 9-12) wat as deel van die rasseminderheidsgroep in die betrokke skole beskou kon word, is gevra om ‘n EI-vraelys, die EQ-i:YV, te voltooi, waarna ses deelnemers (drie seuns en drie dogters) op grond van die tellings wat hulle op voorgenoemde vraelys behaal het, geselekteer is. Kwalitatiewe tegnieke (fokusgroepe, semi-gestruktureerde onderhoudvoering, observasie en refleksie) is daarna geïmplementeer om die (ras-etniese en sosiale) identiteitsonderhandeling, aanpassing en funksionering van die deelnemers in hul onderskeie skoolkontekste te ondersoek. Voorgenoemde is ook met hul EI in verband gebring. Triangulasie en kristallisasie is geïmplementeer om bevindinge te verifieer. Rassisme is as die grootste struikelblok tot suksesvolle integrasie in die wit skoolkonteks geïdentifiseer, terwyl taalprobleme die grootste struikelblok in die wit deelnemers se aanpassing en funksionering in hul swart skoolkonteks blyk te wees. Sosiale kategorisering blyk in albei skoolkontekste ’n realiteit te wees en wit leerders blyk in albei skole as die hoëstatusgroep geëvalueer te word. Uit die resultate blyk dit dat daar geen noemenswaardige verband tussen die wit deelnemers se EI en hulle identiteitsonderhandeling binne ’n swart skoolkonteks bestaan nie, terwyl dit blyk of daar ’n geringe verband tussen die swart deelnemers se EI en hulle identiteitsonderhandeling binne ’n wit skoolkonteks bestaan. Daar blyk egter ’n sterk verband tussen deelnemers se EI en hulle aanpassing en funksionering binne hul meerderheidskoolkontekste te bestaan. Die volgende addisionele faktore (wat nie op EI betrekking het nie) wat moontlik ’n rol in die aanpassing en funksionering van rasseminderheidsgroepe in meerderheidskoolkontekste kan speel, is ook geïdentifiseer: huislike omstandighede, geloof, prestasie op sport en/of kulturele gebied en die ondersteuning van een of meer ouers. Copyright / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

By the end of the twentieth century, there were many secessionist groups, but, the move towards Taiwanese secessionism has arguably been the most significant of these. It triggered the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis, which resulted in a historical military confrontation between Mainland China and the US. As will be shown, from 1988 to 2000, Lee Teng-hui, as president of Taiwan, manipulated the political Cross-Straits relationship to promote what was ultimately a secessionist policy. This caused Mainland China to react strongly and triggered sharp tension between Taiwan and Mainland China. This thesis considers what motivated Lee Teng-hui to implement a secessionist Cross-Straits policy and why he supported unification while adopting a substantive secessionist policy. It looks at how he was able to instigate Taiwanese hostility towards Mainlanders, to transform the hostility into a sense of Taiwanese national identity and ultimately into Taiwanese secessionist ideology. A historical approach was used in exploring the origins of secessionism, and descriptive and analytical methods to review systematically and comprehensively political developments in the ROC and its civil war, and to study Lee Teng-hui’s life; the national identity of Taiwan and Mainland China; the implementation of Lee Teng-hui’s political Cross-Straits policy; and the reaction of Mainland China. The study showed that the main cause of Taiwanese secessionism was ethnic conflict between Taiwanese and Mainlanders. It originated from the 228 Incident of 1947, in which Mainlander-led troops slaughtered many Taiwanese. Soon after, the Mainlander-led government fled to Taiwan from Mainland China, and many Taiwanese (including Mainlanders) were killed during the State of Emergency in the 1950s and 1960s. Since the Mainlander-led government fled to Taiwan in its original central government form, the Mainlander élite occupied key positions in the government during the 1950s and 1960s. It resulted in unfair power-sharing for Taiwanese, and caused the Taiwanese élite to believe that they had to establish their own government (nation). Lee Teng-hui had participated in the CCP and had been under political surveillance by the Mainlander-led government for over twenty years. He weathered these political difficulties, but by reasonable inference, there was a close relationship between the political oppression by the Mainlander-led government and his secessionist political Cross-Straits policy. Because Taiwanese residents were indoctrinated by Chiang Ching-kuo and his father, Chiang Kai-shek’s administration for about 40 years, Chinese ideology was dominant and Lee Teng-hui initially paid lip-service to Cross-Strait unification whilst working towards secessionism as reflected in the Chingdao-Lake Incident (1994); the private dialogue between Lee Teng-hui and Shiba Ryotaro (1994); the address at Cornell University (1995); and his two-state theory (1999). However, due to strong pressure from Mainland China, he did not reach his secessionist goal during his presidential term (1988-2000). In conclusion, this thesis shows that Taiwan Island’s geopolitical importance is at the heart of the US’ support for Taiwan’s secession from the Mainland. Therefore, Lee’s secessionist Cross-Strait policy aside, US national interests lie in containing Mainland China and it has, therefore, always played an important role in the secessionist issue and always will. From the perspective of Mainland China, either in terms of nationalism or national security, Taiwan’s secession is a life-and-death issue. If Taiwanese authorities were to declare independence, the only option for Mainland China would be to launch a unification war. For the US, Taiwan is only a pawn that it uses to contain Mainland China. Therefore, in the Cross-Strait issue, the US has more options than Mainland China, namely, to use military intervention in the future to deter Chinese unification or to decide to share common peaceful international relations with Mainland China by accepting Cross-Strait unification. / Thesis (DPhil (International Relations))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Political Sciences / unrestricted