School Desegregation and a Call for Culturally Responsive Curriculum in Postapartheid South Africa

• In Event: Cultural Expressions and Creativity in Education: Voices From Africa and the Caribbean

Abstract

This paper explores and shares the need for a curriculum that bridges democratic principles and indigenous voice for nation building.
The dismantling of apartheid in 1994 brought an array of democratic changes in South Africa, including changes in curriculum and educational policies. One of the most momentous changes was the desegregation of public schools. While this is significant in South African education politics, it also presents some educational challenges, especially to Black and poor children in the township neighborhoods in regards to culturally responsive curriculum discourse (Gay, 1995; Ladson-Billings, 1994; Dei, 2011; Ngugi, 1986; Seepe, 2001).
I argue that if the South African school system is meant to build a democratic nation, with a distinct cultural identity that promotes indigenous knowledge and cultures, then we should call for a culturally responsive curriculum in South African classrooms, an experience that will also reflect the democratic values of the nation. Research (Vally & Dalamba, 1999; Author 2004; 2005) shows that while public schools in a post-apartheid era have increasingly desegregated, the classroom discourse has remained unchanged and the situation is far from accommodating curriculum content that represents all students, including those who are Black and poor. The school discourse as well as the classroom curriculum has not been successful in helping students of all cultural and class backgrounds to realize their education dream in this new educational dispensation. To be more precise, the classroom discourse has continued to be biased toward students from White upper class background, a practice that has led Black working class students to be pushed further to the periphery. This presentation problematizes classroom discourse that does not represent Black languages and knowledge, which persists in most desegregated South African public schools.
A call for culturally responsive curriculum in desegregated public schools is also a concern for Black parents who have expressed their dissatisfaction with schools that continue to be involved in re-colonizing their children’s minds. For example, I recently interviewed Black parents who were concerned about school curriculum that had put the Black culture on the margins in preference of White-upper class culture. Some parents who were interviewed lament a school subject called “Arts and Culture” which actually focuses on the culture of the peoples of Israel without much focus on the culture of the peoples of South Africa.
This presentation is situated within the qualitative tradition and through narrative analysis shares the inspirational work of selected teachers who are committed to teaching cultural diversity and the importance of African cultures in schools. These teachers are involved in decolonizing projects that call for culturally responsive curriculum to reflect the knowledge and culture of all students and communities.
Following on Ngugi, Fanon, and others who taught us about the importance of culture and identity, this presentation serves as a call for a curriculum that embraces the cultural roots of all children, especially those who do not self identify as ‘valued’ in the curriculum. We can challenge neo-colonialism in schools and curriculum content.

Author

• Bekisizwe S. Ndimande, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign