A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements
For the Degree of
PhD in Community Psychology
University of Zululand, 2007. / South Africa hails from a legacy of racial discrimination and other related forms of discriminatory practices. In the decades prior to the democratic elections of 1994, race separation was the defining feature of schooling. However, post-democracy, racial integration became the defining feature. Racial integration in schools has not proceeded smoothly, partly because both learners and educators were not prepared for the complexities that accompany racial and cultural mixing. The absence of an educational programme geared pointedly towards multicultural education in the South African context, thus becomes vital. The primary purpose of this study was to generate guidelines for such a programme.
Through a phenomenologica! approach, this study focused on the experiences of a total of eight learners and seven teachers, who constituted the sample. Qualitative research methods were used in the form of vignettes, open-ended questionnaires, focus-group interviews and direct observation, with a view to obtaining deeper insight into the experiences of integration, as well as the problems facing both iearners and teachers in respect of integration in a secondary school. In addition, the study explored solutions to integrated schooling as seen by the participants.
The Contact Hypothesis, together with the results of the data analysis, was used to underpin the guidelines for multicultural education. The themes that emerged were: the
need for equal status among learners, common goals, cooperation rather than competition, quality activities specifically designed to promote positive integration, authority sanction for integration, as well as compromise in respect of language, relevant education, role of teachers, learner initiatives, forced integration, parent involvement, accepting differences, promoting cultural awareness, the need for open communication, and tolerance. The researcher was thus able to access themes that were then used to develop guidelines for multicultural education in the South African context.
The outcomes of the investigation were discussed within the context of international and local literature, which reviewed contact as a means of promoting positive integration, as well as. multicultural intervention strategies.
The study concluded with a brief discussion on the limitations of the investigation and recommendations for further research. It is anticipated that that this research endeavour will provide insight into the effective role that educators, learners, parents and the community can play in improving racial integration in secondary schools in South Africa.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uzulu/oai:uzspace.unizulu.ac.za:10530/140 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Enoch, Sharon D. |
| Contributors | Edwards, S.D. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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