Reculturing of teachers in the restructuring of a democratic educational system in South Africa

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In 1999 the Minister of Education, Professor Asmal, while praising the policy achievementsof the first five years of government, described the education conditions of the majority ofSouth Africans as a national emergency. In his assessment large parts of the system wereseriously dysfunctional, characterised by rampant inequality, low teacher morale, failure ofgovernance and management and poor learning.In this study I will argue that a legal framework and idealist policies for change areimportant, but they will not adequately change schools and their cultures. A democraticculture can only be successfully established in a new democracy on the preconditions that thehearts, minds and attitudes of educators and learners are changed.I also argue that the rationale behind restructuring is school improvement and theimprovement of the quality of education, but that unless the reculturing of teachers as wellas learners enters into the equation, the objectives of restructuring will never be achieved.This study analyses the restructuring that has taken place since 1994, considers possible waysof reculturing teachers and discusses the role of developmental appraisal in the process ofreculturing.The research document consists of five chapters. The introductory chapter provides theorientation for the study. This is followed by a chapter dealing with a theoretical perspectiveon reculturing teachers in the restructuring of schools in a democratic South Africa. ChapterThree focuses on the different policies and legislative frameworks of restructuring of schoolsthat have been introduced since 1994; it also examines the processes of reculturing by meansof professional development and in particular developmental appraisal and the instilling ofmorals and values as points of departure. Chapter Four reports on a questionnaire conductedin the Paarl, Wellington, Malmesbury and Franschhoek areas in the Western Cape.The study concludes with a comparison of the findings in the empirical study and those of theSouth African Education for All (EFA) 2000 Report. When educators reculture themselvesand their schools, they need to change the conditions of their work and make a paradigmshift. Recommendations are made on how to bring about these changes.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University