In search of best practice IN SOUTH AFRICAN DESEGREGATED SCHOOLS MOKUBUNG NKOMO & SALOSHNA VANDEYAR Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Published by HSRC Press Private Bag X9182, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa www.hsrcpress.ac.za First published 2008 ISBN 978-0-7969-2224-3 © 2008 University of Pretoria Copyedited by Judy Tobler Typeset by Stacey Gibson Cover by Flame Design Print management by comPress Distributed in Africa by Blue Weaver Tel: +27 (0) 21 701 4477; Fax: +27 (0) 21 701 7302 www.oneworldbooks.com Distributed in Europe and the United Kingdom by Eurospan Distribution Services (EDS) Tel: +44 (0) 20 7240 0856; Fax: +44 (0) 20 7379 0609 www.eurospanbookstore.com Distributed in North America by Independent Publishers Group (IPG) Call toll-free: (800) 888 4741; Fax: +1 (312) 337 5985 www.ipgbook.com Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za List of figures v The research team vi Preface vii Acknowledgements ix Executive summary x Acronyms and abbreviations xiii Introduction 1 1฀ Background฀and฀Context 3 2฀ Theoretical฀and฀Conceptual฀Framework฀฀฀4 Customisation of the teaching and learning process 4 Contextualised teaching process 4 3฀ Research฀Methodology฀฀฀6 Phase 1 The survey: Perceptions of ‘best practice’ in desegregated South African schools 6 Sampling procedure 6 Sampling and selection of schools 9 Response rates 10 Data analysis 10 Phase 2 The case studies: Peering into the desegregated classroom 10 Data analysis 11 Profiles of the case-study schools 11 Teacher profiles for the case-study phase 18 A synthesis of school profiles 20 4฀ Research฀Findings฀฀฀21 Phase 1 The survey: Perceptions of ‘best practice’ in desegregated South African schools 21 Responses of teachers 21 Responses of learners 24 Responses of parents 25 Responses of members of school governing bodies 27 Responses of members of school management teams 29 Phase 2 The case studies: Peering into the desegregated classroom 32 Setting the scene: Classroom climate 32 Curriculum delivery 34 Interactions in a class of diverse learners 38 Management of a class of diverse learners 41 The teacher as a role model 42 Conclusion: Effective practices for teaching a class of diverse learners 44  Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 5฀ Analysis฀and฀Discussion฀of฀Findings฀฀฀45 Phase 1 The survey: Perceptions of ‘best practice’ in desegregated South African schools 45 Transcending the theory/practice nexus 45 Teacher capacity development in multicultural and diverse classrooms 45 Teaching and learning material 47 The nature and extent of social interaction in the school 47 School support 48 Phase 2 The case studies: Peering into the desegregated classroom 49 The teaching and learning environment 49 Pedagogy: How learning takes place 50 Social interaction and diversity management 52 6฀ Conclusion฀฀฀54 7฀ Recommendations฀฀฀55 Appendices฀฀฀56 Appendix 1: Teacher Questionnaire 56 Appendix 2: School Management Team Questionnaire 59 Appendix 3: School Governing Body Questionnaire 62 Appendix 4: High School Learners Questionnaire 67 Appendix 5: Primary School Learners Questionnaire 70 Appendix 6: Parent/Caregiver Questionnaire 74 References฀฀฀78 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za v Figure 3.1 Distribution of respondents by race 7 Figure 3.2 Distribution of respondents by gender 7 Figure 3.3 Silverstream Primary teacher and learner profile 2004 12 Figure 3.4 Riverwood Secondary teacher and learner profile 2004 14 Figure 3.5 Gandhi Secondary teacher and learner profile 2004 16 Figure 3.6 Mbongeni Primary teacher and learner profile 2004 17 Figure 4.1 Teacher responses to workshops, instructional materials and learner grouping 21 Figure 4.2 Teacher responses to what constitutes ‘best practice’ 22 Figure 4.3 Teacher practices as perceived by learners 24 Figure 4.4 Parents’ perceptions of school practices 26 Figure 4.5 School governing bodies’ perceptions of ‘best practice’ 27  Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za vi The members of the research team, in alphabetical order, were: Brutus Malada, Human Sciences Research Council Rakgadi Phatlane, University of Pretoria Makola Phurutse, Human Sciences Research Council Ramodungoane Tabane, University of Pretoria  Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za vii Every moment in life is filled with small events that become its histories. The small events, at least some, grow to become big events. It is these small events that are sometimes fascinating, and to witness their growth in slow motion is enlightening, instructive and exhilarating. These fledgling efforts always coexist with powerful contrary traditions that may retard their fruition, even destroy them. So, proper nourishment is vital for survival. In the short democratic moment we have had since 1994, the mega-stories have occupied large spaces and captured the public imagination. Examples are De Klerk’s speech announcing the official unbanning of political prisoners and detainees; and the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as the first president of the democratic republic. These, by all measures, are big historical events. This monograph represents an attempt to record what could be regarded as nascent events in a few schools that have the potential to grow and to graduate from minority status to generalised best practice. They can be imagined as a few flickering candles that, if properly nourished, can spread and become a million luminous candle lights. One of the daunting challenges facing South Africa in the contemporary period is that of achieving social cohesion. Schools and all other sites of learning are at the cutting edge of the project to weave a common identity, based on democratic values and principles that simultaneously respect difference; this is a conceptual/philosophical formulation that is at variance with the prevailing and undemocratic assimilationist practices seen in many desegregated schools in post-1994 South Africa. It is this challenge that motivated us to convene a colloquium in 2003 to discuss the current state of school desegregation and innovative ways to forge ahead in improving the present paltry state of affairs. It was, by most accounts, a worthwhile interaction that resulted in the publication of the proceedings titled Reflections on school integration. Three recommendations that were high on the colloquium priority list of areas needing further research attention were identified, namely: • theneedtoinvestigatethedegreetowhichvisualrepresentationinschooltextbooks reflects the diversity of the social world; • howteachereducationaddressesdiversityineducation;and • theneedtotrackpatternsofschooldesegregation. We then undertook to produce a trilogy in monograph form. The first was Carolyn McKinney’s Textbooks for diverse learners, which was published in 2004. The second monograph, authored by Crispin Hemson and titled Teacher Education: The challenge of diversity in South Africa, was published in 2006. Both were published by the HSRC Press. This monograph completes the trilogy. A second colloquium was held in 2006, and the proceedings will be published sometime in 2008. Above all, the aim of this mosaic of related research in diversity is to enhance social cohesion and to strengthen and deepen a culture of human rights and democracy through the medium of education. Hopefully, these combined research studies will have an impact on policy reform and better practice in schools.  Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za viii The colloquium also expressed an interest in continuing the research dialogue. Individuals and institutions are currently carrying out a number of research activities around a variety of dimensions relating to diversity and social cohesion. Mokubung Nkomo December 2007  Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za ix We wish to thank the South Africa-Netherlands Research Programme on Alternatives in Development (SANPAD) for providing the grant that made this research possible. Had it not been for the co-operation of the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provincial education departments and their district offices, the data could not have been captured. We wish to express our sincere gratitude and to thank them for recognising the importance of evidence-based research as a basis for sound policy formulation and practice. At the ground level, we enjoyed similar co-operation and support from school principals, teachers, learners, members of school governing bodies and parents in general. Our Dutch collaborator, Maaike Hajer, has been most co-operative and made critical inputs during the research process. Her selflessness and generosity have been instructive. Various other individuals have assisted in different ways: Linda Chisholm, in earlier reflections that gave birth to the research process aimed at investigating issues of diversity and social cohesion within the school context; Carolyn McKinney, in injecting the necessary energy at the point of conception; and Jonathan Jansen, for his unflinching support. Processing of the quantitative data would have been an extremely daunting task, but was made more palatable by the technical assistance offered by the University of Pretoria’s Department of Statistics. We wish to thank in particular, Rina Owens, who was always cheerful and available. Yu Ke availed herself to perform some technical operations that made the graphics intelligible, and thus deserves a word of gratitude. It is important, however, to indicate that none of the dramatis personae are responsible for any errors and omissions that may be found in the report. That responsibility rests squarely on our shoulders.  Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za x In the last decade or so, South African schools have been undergoing a series of crucial transformations. These include introducing a framework for improving access to basic education for all, abolishing laws that restricted some learners from enrolling in certain schools on the basis of race, reformed curriculum, upgrading the infrastructure, improving teacher and management competencies, and establishing a national qualifications framework. Notable challenges resulting from decades of deliberate neglect of certain sectors of the population are learner achievement and race and racism in schools. The concept of race and the practice of racism have been the defining signature of South African society including, crucially, schooling, where the drama of identity formation was and will continue to be most prominent. This study explored issues of ‘best practice’ in desegregated schools, and observed that despite a number of ongoing challenges to innovation, there are a growing number of school managers, teachers and parents who are grappling with issues of diversity and inequality in ways that provide the possibility for changing institutional cultures. The specific objectives of the study were: • Tosolicittheopinionsandperceptionsofstakeholderswithintheschoolsectors about diversity as well as to determine the demographic profile of selected desegregated schools. • Toidentifyanddocumentthepracticesofteacherswhoareaddressingissuesof diversity and inequality, including race (and racism), gender and class, and who typify different types of innovation and challenge. Research questions The following research questions guided the study: • What‘bestpractice’inschoolswithdiverselearnerscanbeidentifiedindealingwith issues of diversity and inequality such as race, class and gender in desegregated schools? • Howdoschools,andparticularlyteachers,addressthephenomenonofcultural diversity and effectively facilitate instruction for all students? Research methodology The study was divided into two phases. In Phase 1, using a combination of purposive and representative sampling, a survey instrument was administered in nine schools in three provinces (Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal). The survey sought to elicit the perceptions and opinions of various stakeholders (school management teams [SMTs], teachers, learners, parents and school governing bodies [SGBs]) on what they regarded as ‘best practice’ in a desegregated school environment. Phase 2 consisted of classroom observation over a three-day period, semi-structured interviews with teachers, and focus group interviews with learners. In analysing the data for Phase 1 and Phase 2, codes were developed for the different questions. The codes were then grouped into themes and sub-themes, and are discussed accordingly. Findings Phase 1 The survey: Perceptions of ‘best practice’ in desegregated South African schools The study found that in all but three of the nine desegregated schools, the learner population had become quite diverse, with fairly high numbers of learners from previously disadvantaged schools. In contrast, the profile of the teaching staff was  Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za [...]... mainly in the formerly Indian schools and in middle-class white schools This research was focused on schools that were typical of those experiencing substantial desegregation These nine schools represented the sample for the first phase of the research study Based on the findings of the survey and a set of predetermined criteria, four of the nine schools were selected for the second phase of the research... the research team identified three schools in each of three provinces in South Africa – a total of nine schools The provinces were Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal In each of these provinces, we ensured that our sample consisted of a combination of both primary and secondary schools The schools were each exemplars of schools in which there had been rapid desegregation post-1994 The selected schools. .. Perceptions of best practice in desegregated South African schools This section reports on the key findings of Phase 1 of the study It is structured according to the following categories: teacher responses; learner responses; parent responses; SGB responses; and SMT responses Responses of teachers Teachers are central in the whole process of best practice in desegregated schools as they spend most of their... category consisted of English-medium schools that were situated in middleclass, urban, Indian suburbs These schools previously catered solely for Indian learners who spoke English Again, the early 1990s witnessed the ‘trickling in of a few African learners As a result of the official desegregation of schools in 1996 after the South African Schools Act, there was a substantial intake of African learners... to happen in this regard This also relates to change in the mindsets of people about the culture of learning and teaching in former African schools and the training of African teachers at DET colleges of education While we are acutely aware of the dynamics at play in this regard, our study did not set out to address this phenomenon This makes for a whole new research study 20 Research findings Phase... mix of all races, although the majority of residents are white School background and context Gandhi Secondary School was deliberately chosen in order to counter the prevailing tendency of doing research mainly in former Model C schools, which are Anglophone in ethos and in which instruction is conducted in the majority of these schools, exclusively in English Recent research indicates that formerly Indian... ‘edutainment’ – in the sense of making learning fun, especially in the primary schools – made the content of the lessons accessible to the learners Recommendations Greater effort should be made to diversify the profile of the teaching staff in desegregated schools In the short term, a moratorium should be implemented to target Africans for all new appointments, taking into account their qualifications in. .. consisting of five of the nine schools, had the following profile: Well-resourced schools situated in middle-class to upper-class, predominantly white, urban suburbs For most of their lives, these schools catered exclusively to white learners The early 1990s witnessed the ‘trickling in of a few black learners, and the schools were reclassified from being white public schools to being Model C schools. .. result of the very low representation of African teachers at these desegregated schools Teachers who were interviewed in the second phase of the study were those identified in the learner questionnaires as exemplifying good teaching practice We also solicited the principals’ input as a balance against possible bias on the part of learners It should be noted that none of the teachers interviewed was African. .. over-dominance of white teachers This trend is observable across the three provinces and nine schools, with the exception of one school, which reflected a high percentage of Indian teachers Research findings by Sekete, Shilubane and Moila (2001) and Sujee (2004) also point to the general trend of a considerable change in learner composition in integrated schools, coupled with minimal changes in the . synthesis of school profiles 20 4฀ Research฀Findings฀฀฀21 Phase 1 The survey: Perceptions of best practice in desegregated South African schools 21 Responses. Analysis฀and฀Discussion of Findings฀฀฀45 Phase 1 The survey: Perceptions of best practice in desegregated South African schools 45 Transcending the theory/practice