“You Can't Oppress Yourself”: Negotiating the Meaning of Opportunity in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Abstract

This investigation examined how black South African adolescents conceptualized their outlooks on the past and future, taking into account their intrapersonal, interpersonal, and social-historical perspectives. This paper reports an analysis of themes that emerged in relation to achievement issues. Qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews showed that, despite having come of age in a society that was designed to oppress, these students were committed to high educational goals, determined to seize the opportunities that they perceived were now available to them, and held generally positive views about their futures. Results are discussed in terms of the intersection of achievement motivation theory and cultural psychology.