Black parents' perceptions of open schools.
Date
1993
Authors
Umlaw, Ntombifuthi
Journal Title
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Abstract
The purpose of this research is to investigate and describe black parents'
understanding and experiences of the private open school system in the
Witwatersrand. Using a framework of multipluralism, the intention of the study
is two-fold. Firstly, it explores the various factors which enhance or inhibit the
open school choice. Secondly, it establishes the role of black parents within
the open school community, as well as their role within their own black
communities.
The information required to develop the comprehensive survey questionnaire
was elicited through a pilot study. The research data was generated using
structured interviews from a sample of Belgravia Convent parents.
The results show that the reasons which parents give for the choice of open
school education are informed by a number of identities. The study identifies
these as: social class, racial, religious and geographic identities. Gender
identity was found to have no influence. The motivators for the open school
choice are not restricted to the economic discourse, but are also extended
beyond the economic boundaries to include aspects which are located within
the political, racial, religious and geographic discourses. These multifarious
identities are found to articulate with one another in complementary and
contradictory ways when motivating the parents' choice of open school
education. An example of such a contradictory relationship is when the
motivators for the open school choice - the escape from the inferior standard
of township education, and the need for better education, the latter being
driven by the middle class aspiration of upward mobility - contradict the need
to maintain racial unity within the black communities, as well as with the desire
of not losing their cultural heritage. In other words, the low standard of
township education together with the social class status of parents stands at
a tension with both the political and cultural identities of parents. Hence
contradictions should be taken into account when analysing issues of choice.
Description
A research report submitted to the Faculty of Education, University of the
Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requlrernents for the
degree of Master of Education.
Keywords
Blacks -- Education -- South Africa., Private schools -- South Africa.