Poster #42 - Unboxing "Born-Frees": Freedom to Choose Identities

• In Event: 21.063 - MTCC Poster Session Three
  In Poster Session: 21.063-4 - Division K Section 4 Poster Session

Abstract

This qualitative case study set out to explore how ‘born-free’ students constitute, negotiate and represent their identities in South African schools twenty years after democracy. Data comprised a mix of semi-structured interviews, observations, field notes and a researcher journal. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings reveal that the demographic diversity of 'born-free' students seemed to extend towards many competing views of identity. They did not possess distinctive views on their generations’ identity. Racial identity seemed to play a pivotal role. Some 'born free' students expressed optimism with the freedom their identity provided, while others felt constrained by the enduring historical legacy of apartheid, transmitted through knowledge in the blood. They began to question externally imposed identities.

Author

• Saloshna Vandeyar, University of Pretoria