Pedagogy of Poverty: Experiences of Poor Children in Postapartheid Schools

• In Event: Child Poverty, Rights, and Policies: Perspectives From Five National Contexts

Abstract

Objectives
This paper examines the experiences of poor children in post-apartheid South African schools. It draws on the perspectives of the parents whose children attend schools that have inadequate resources in the poor neighborhoods. These parents, as well as their children, were historically marginalized by apartheid laws that perpetuated poverty among Black communities. Initiatives to ameliorate poverty have been prohibited by the neoliberal policies currently implemented in this nation.

Theoretical Framework
My analysis of poor schools that cause child poverty in South Africa is different from others who relate this problem to issues of bureaucracy and mismanagement of budgets. Instead, I posit that the underlying crisis of poverty in township schools is inextricably connected to the larger neoliberal agenda of privatization and markets that perpetuates social inequalities (Chomsky, 1999; Garson, 2002; McChesney, 1998; Pillay, 2002) In 1996 South Africa adopted a neoliberal economic policy which recommended the complete privatization of non-essential state owned corporations (Gumede, 2005). This policy brought hardship for poor people (Bond, 2000; Desai, 2002). In education, poor schools that serve poor children remained with inadequate resources, albeit the effort to increase funding. Instead of addressing the problem of poor schools, parents were encouraged to engage in school choice (Author, 2005), which is another form of neoliberal education reform.

Methods and Data Sources
This paper draws on a qualitative study that explored the common-sense assumptions that inform the school choices of parents. I conducted focus group interviews with 122 Black parents from different sites in the Gauteng province. The interview groups consisted of four to five participants. The interview questions were open-ended, asking a range of issues from why parents choose to send their children to certain schools; the good and bad qualities of these schools; funding issues; racial challenges; and hopes for their children’s future. In this paper I focus on the interview with poor parents who live in poor township neighborhood and also send their children to poor schools.

Results
The findings showed that poor parents are concerned about the lack of resources in schools that serve their children. All parents agreed on the importance of redressing inequalities in schools, especially those that serve children from poor neighborhoods. However, they were also aware of resource disparities in wealthy White schools pointing out that this disparity has resulted in the mistreatment of poor Black children in the education system in general.

Scholarly significance
The study is important because it shows that while poor parents are marginalized by the institutions, they have nuanced awareness of the socio-economic and political structures that shape their children’s education. They are aware of the poor conditions in which they live as well as the inadequacies of poor schools that serve their children. Parents know that without good schools, their children will end up being unemployed in this neoliberal economy and thus perpetuate the existing poverty in township neighborhoods.

Author

• Bekisizwe S. Ndimande, The University of Texas - San Antonio