The management and governance of racial integration in public secondary schools in Gauteng

Lloyd Conley

doi:10.19108/koers.82.3.2325

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper was to establish the effectiveness of school management and governance structures in managing racial integration in public secondary schools. A qualitative study was conducted utilising Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Lewin’s Change Management Theory. A sample of grade 10 learners and educators, which included members of the School Management Team (SMT), School Governing Body (SGB), which represented the four previous education departments, was purposefully selected. Semi-structured, individual interviews and focus group discussions, including a questionnaire with open-ended questions, were used to gather data. The findings, obtained through content analysis, indicate that SMTs and SGBs experience difficulty in managing and governing racial integration in public schools due to the following: policy and practice issues, poor interrelationships, need for capacity building of educators, and on-going racial conflict. Based on the findings, recommendations are made on how SMTs and SGBs could effectively manage racial integration in public secondary schools. Keywords: governance, management, racial integration; Critical Race Theory, Lewin’s Change Management Theory

Highlights

The democratic order in South Africa has created numerous structural and systemic changes entrenched in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996)
Four major themes emerged from the qualitative data analysis, all centred on the challenges of the management and governance of racial integration in public secondary schools, namely: policy and practice issues, poor interrelationships, capacity building of educators and on-going racial conflict
Schools have programmes that deal with discipline issues, but there is an absence of racial integration policies and programmes or support intervention for combating racism within www.koersjournal.org.za the school

Summary

Introduction

The democratic order in South Africa has created numerous structural and systemic changes entrenched in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996). Research by scholars (Carrim & Soudien, 1999; Meier, 2005; Vandeyar, 2008) found that dominant approaches — such as assimilation, multicultural education and anti- racism — were used to integrate learners from diverse racial backgrounds in the classroom; these approaches have not completely led to successful racial integration. The antiracist approach is “an action-orientated strategy for institutional systemic change to address racism and the interlocking systems of social oppression” (Dei, 1996:25). These approaches have led to continued marginalisation that is still practiced in many schools (Meier, 2005)

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Conclusion