Search

This paper sets out to explore how academics can become agents of meaningful educational change and social cohesion, by implementing a Pedagogy of Compassion. The education triad comprises the teacher, the learner and the content (curriculum), which unfolds within historical, political, social and educational contexts. Changing one aspect of this triad – the curriculum- without due consideration to the others, will not effect the desired change. In the context of the university, the demographics of the learner has radically changed and a massive drive to decolonise the curriculum has been initiated, but little if any attention has been given to academics who deliver the curriculum. I argue that the Achilles' heel in the decolonisation of the curriculum project of South African universities is the academic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper peers through the window to look at how a teacher brings about meaningful educational change in a diverse classroom. Utilizing three sets of arguments from the field of educational change, I traced educational change within a teacher during the course of an academic year. Data capture comprised a mix of semi-structured interviews and observations. Findings were multi-fold: First, the teacher's professed beliefs cohered well with her practices and played a significant role in how she responded to diversity in the classroom. Second, if change attempts are to be successful, individuals must find meaning concerning what should change as well as how to go about it. In the South African context there is much literature on what should change, but there is very little on what strategies and programmes can be implemented to effect change in teachers' beliefs about diversity. The educational literature underscores the centrality of the personal domain of the teacher in sustaining educational change. This paper illustrates that the concept of identity is a social, historical, and generational construct that is fluid and susceptible to change. It shows how change can be sustained in the personal domain of the teacher and illustrates that teaching is ultimately a class act of human compassion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilising a qualitative case study approach, this research study set out to understand discrimination experienced by immigrant students in their interactions with South African students and the prejudice immigrant students expressed against Black South African students. Findings reveal that the discrimination experienced by immigrant students could be clustered into four broad themes, namely categorisations and prototypes; practised stereotypes; academic and social exclusion; and work ethic. Furthermore, statements immigrant students make about South African students seem to fall into two broad categories, namely lack of value for moral integrity and lack of value for education. Educating students to value human dignity and to view each other as cosmopolitan citizens of the world could be a way to ensure social cohesion and harmony of future generations to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to explore difficulties and challenges that confront African immigrant teachers as they attempt to reconstruct their professional identities in South African schools. The study was qualitative in nature and utilized narrative inquiry and the case study approach. Data-gathering techniques included a mix of semi-structured interviews, observations, focus group interviews, field notes and researcher journals. Data were analysed using grounded theory and content analysis methods. Findings of the study revealed that immigration status, employment status, attitudes of indigenous learners and holding on to former culture or way of knowing due to lack of induction or mentoring, were impediments to the successful reconstruction of African immigrant teachers' professional identities in South African schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognizing that teacher commitments are consequential for classroom practice, this study sets Out to determine the extent to which the ethos of South African schools has been transformed towards integration in the truest sense. Findings emanating from this research indicate that teachers do not enter their classrooms as blank slates' with respect to diversity questions; teachers respond differently to the challenge of school integration; and a few teachers went against the grain and responded to school integration in a way that holds immense promise for the South African schooling system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The changes in post-apartheid South Africa have been accompanied by considerable changes in the education system. The most notable include desegregation of schools, development of a National Qualifications Framework, adoption of new language policies for education, and introduction of outcomes-based curricula. However entrenched assessment practices appear to be hampering the efforts to transform school education. An analysis of the assessment practices of three Grade 4 educators in multilingual classrooms revealed that the educators were unable or unwilling to adapt their assessment practices to the changing demands of South African school education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]