Browsing by Author "Kenny, Sinobia"

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    Exploring the lived experiences and identities of ‘coloured’ women as professional mathematics educators in higher education
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-12) Kenny, Sinobia; Davids, Nuraan; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Education Policy Studies.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : ‘Coloured’, as a marker of race, has become normalised in the political, social and economic rhetoric in a democracy. The study recognises the controversy and othering associated with the term ‘coloured’, but without delving into it, the label cannot be ruptured and disrupted. To date, the dominant research on ‘coloured’ women in South Africa has not only relied on stereotypical depictions of sexualisation and slander but have served to entrench these women as displaced and valueless. As a result, very little is known about the resilience and contribution of ‘coloured’ women. In attempting to rebuild the existing research and knowledge on women classified as ‘coloured’ by the brutal system of apartheid, this study brings to the fore the lived experiences of seven women. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to reflexively explore the particular experiences and identities of ‘coloured’ women as professional educators in higher education, with special attention given to employment in roles centred around mathematics and mathematics education. The racialised schooling experiences, tertiary education and winding career paths post-apartheid calls for a confrontation of race and race construction in South Africa. Critical Race Theory provided a relevant conceptual framework. Understanding how these seven women adopted the identity label of ‘coloured’, the extent to which it shaped them, and positioned or relegated them in South African society was not possible without consideration of identity and identity construction. In this regard, identity and identity construction concerning theories on (mis)recognition were studied. Using interpretivism and phenomenology as research paradigms, this study examined the lived experiences and identities of the seven women as they traversed through their schooling, and tertiary education, and as professional mathematics educators in various spaces of higher education. The study showed that public spaces and separate schools were sites where racialised hierarchical othering and inequalities mirrored a demeaning picture of themselves, questioning their worth and diminishing their self-esteem. The way mathematics was taught, reflected similar kinds of divisions and differentiated treatment. Separate learning and teaching meant that higher grade learners received more attention and time, while standard grade learners were neglected under the guise that they were incapable of performing well at mathematics. As ‘coloured’ women, they had limited opportunities to, and funding for tertiary education – most of the participants opted for government-restricted teaching bursaries as a way into tertiary education. Following their tertiary education, there were no apparent pathways into professional mathematics education for ‘coloured’ women, and they sought alternative winding routes. While the women were determined and successful at Stellenbosch University paving pathways into higher education, they continued to be at the mercy of higher education institutions who overlooked the challenges they overcame to participate in higher education, holding them to the same standards as those who had benefited from apartheid legislation. Consequently, their roles as professional mathematics educators transpired across a range of higher education spaces with no uniformity in their job titles and terms of employment.