THE INCLUSION OF UBUNTU IN POST-APARTHEID SCHOOLING – MANDELA’S TAKE

Abstract

This study explored the inclusion of Ubuntu in post-apartheid South African schooling – with a specific focus on Mandela’s take. The objective was to study possible benefits for the learners and the extent to which Ubuntu could affect desegregated schools in South Africa. The current discourse is born out of the findings of a major study on cross-racial interactions in desegregated schools, as found at one school in Gauteng, a province of South Africa. A qualitative approach study was conducted to obtain a purposive sample where learners were conveniently selected from grade 11 (both black and white learners). The Critical Race Theory (CRT) that was framed within the narrative design was undertaken to ascertain the extent to which integration processes have been implemented in former white schools in South Africa. The nature of this study fits well with CRT, as it helps to interrogate how marginalised black learners are now trying to co-exist in an environment that government purports to be integrated. Results show that although the country purports that schools are integrated, in essence the contrary is found in the schools. There is, in reality, continued polarisation and sheer segregation in the schools. Plans to revisit more than six sampled schools are afoot.