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A historical-educational appraisal of parental responsibilities and rights in formal education in South Africa [1652-1910]

The grounds for asserting that parents of all cultures can be held responsible and accountable for
the care and education of their children derive from sources such as the primordial nature of
humanity, the precepts of state statutes and international protocols that refer to educational issues
and the tenets of scripts that apply to adherents of a particular philosophy of life - for example the
Bible as the guide for parents who subscribe to a Christian philosophy of life.
The issue of parental say in formal education as provided for in current education legislation is
perhaps not an entirely unique development. In this thesis the development of the concept of
parental responsibilities and rights in relation to formal schooling in South Africa during the
Colonial period was investigated. An attempt was made to determine what Colonial parents - who
were predominantly Protestant Calvinist and who consequently subscribed to a Christian philosophy
of life - did to ensure that their children's formal education met with their approval and fulfilled
their expectations. A further aspect examined related to the identification of the specific issues in
education that these parents believed they should be afforded the right to regulate in order to
ensure that their children's formal education - as an extension to their primary education -
conformed with the fundamental principles of their philosophy of life.
The research affirmed the significance a philosophy of life holds for the perception of what it is that
constitutes authentic education. It can consequently be concluded that parental involvement in
formal schooling should not be seen as intrusion in a realm beyond the jurisdiction of the parent,
but as cases of judgement, discernment and selection dictated by the parent's philosophy of life. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (History of Education)

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/17183
Date11 1900
CreatorsLe Roux, Cheryl Sheila, 1954-
ContributorsBooyse, J. J. (Johannes Jacobus), 1952-
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Format1 online resource (ix, 430 leaves)

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