The first time I walked into a school in Athlone — a school with a proud history of anti-apartheid protest — I naively referred to it as a “proud coloured school”. I was doing research for the first time in South Africa, and was interested in how learners’ racial identities mediated the history they were taught. Indeed, I had selected this school as part of my sample because I had believed it to be “coloured”.
Although they frequently referenced cultural practices and attitudes they identified as “coloured”, the learners also evidenced an understanding that race is fluid and constructed. “My grandma got reclassified as white because she had pale skin,” said one girl, explaining the diverse and shifting identities that made up her heritage.
These identities mediated the social landscape of the school in a way which couldn’t be ignored. Yet, within this tension, learners were doing interesting and creative things with their racial identities. One learner who had moved to the Cape Flats from Malawi, for example, identified as coloured because her best friend was coloured and she didn’t speak isiXhosa, so wasn’t black.
Perhaps we would prefer to live in a world where children didn’t need to make politically-loaded decisions about their racial identities. But we need to take seriously the ways in which these learners express their identity, without assuming that they are naïve, unliberated or — as — that “all of the things that have shaped their culture” are derivative from their oppressors.
Education Education Latest News, Education Education Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Second teacher at Cape Town primary school tests positive for Covid-19According to a circular sent out by Hyde Park Primary School in Parkwood, the learners in the affected class were asked to return home and the school has appealed to parents and guardians to observe them over the next few days.
Source: IOL - 🏆 46. / 51 Read more »
Cape Town primary school teacher dies after contracting Covid-19A teacher from Montevideo Primary School in Montana in Cape Town has died of coronavirus (Covid-19) complications, the Western Cape Teachers Forum (WCTF) has confirmed.
Source: IOL - 🏆 46. / 51 Read more »