To Disrupt and Maintain Educational Slavery: Evidence From Postapartheid Schools in South Africa

• In Event: Roundtable Session 57
  In Roundtable Session: Educational Slavery and White Supremacy

Abstract

While twenty years ago, celebrations of the overthrow of apartheid rang throughout the world, South Africa’s current educational system reflects deep racial inequalities. Based upon interviews with school principals and analysis of school level data, this paper engages in systemic analyses of how South Africa maintains apartheid-era schooling. As traditional western schools are implemented with increasing fidelity, the problems associated with such (including racial inequalities, high drop out and failure rates, and ill-equipped educators) become further entrenched. The paper argues for a transformed system of education that builds upon a globally integrated, multi-knowledge framework that fosters student talents under a commitment to the world’s most inclusive state constitution, rather than reliance upon structures intended to stratify.

Authors

• Christopher B. Knaus, University of Washington - Tacoma

• M. Christopher Brown, Alcorn State University