Department of Education Policy Studies

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Browsing Department of Education Policy Studies by Subject "Academic achievement -- South Africa -- Western Cape"

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    The impact of household poverty on learners’ academic performance at a Cape Winelands school.
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-12) October, Wade; Davids, Nuraan; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study aimed to explore the impact of household poverty on the learner’s academic performance at a Cape Winelands school. Employing a qualitative, phenomenological case study design, the objectives of the study were to understand how the National Norms and Standards for School Funding (NNSSF) policy (DBE, 2006) is implemented in rural schools; gain insights into the academic challenges experienced by learners in a rural context; and explore the dynamics of the rural school and the learners within their communities.The data for this study was constructed from a purposively selected sample of six learners, two teachers and six parents/guardians of the learners from a primary school. In addition to conducting focus group interviews with the six learners and semi-structured interviews with the teachers and parents/guardians, the data from these interviews were analysed in conjunction with the NNSSF policy (DBE, 2006). Academic performance, household poverty and the rate of poverty in South Africa cannot be divorced from its political histories, such as the Bantu Education Act and the segregation in terms of the Group Areas Act. These policies affected the livelihoods of many parents post-1994. This resulted in many inequalities in terms of employment and educational regress in terms of the current population groups. Within this research, parents' unemployment is strongly linked to their lack of education. In many instances, both parents were unemployed and illiterate, and a culture of poverty developed within these households. This study differentiates itself from other studies on poverty as it focuses on household poverty, which aligns with the manifestation of family dynamics. The learners are put in the middle, and all negative effects of family dynamics influence the development of those learners within the school. The school seems to be the safest place for these learners, although many are driven away from school due to ill-discipline within the classroom. They often drop out and become part of many social problems within the community. This study found that most parents are unlikely to help their children due to their low levels of literacy. This study recognised that it is imperative to note that schools in rural communities continue to face tremendous challenges ranging from overcrowded, rundown classrooms, and low access to technological resources. At the centre of this, redress is the NNSSF policy (DBE, 2006), which is expected to address the past injustices in terms of inequality, but as is evident from this study, fails to achieve its stated objectives. In turn, implementation of the NNSSF policy seems to be neglected in rural schools. Teachers do not know about the NNSSF policy and how it affects their teaching at the school. This study found that the lack of teachers, resources, and classroom space impacts learners' academic performance to such an extent that they cannot read or write according to their grade level. Learners are being left behind, and no additional academic attention is given to those learners within the classroom. The learners' builds up an academic backlog, increasing as the learners move from grade to grade. Teachers become demotivated within the school and overloaded with tasks other than educating learners. The rural school must be seen as a community-based school. The school should manifest itself within the community as a place of excellence where learning and teaching prosper. This can only be done with the support of the parents at the school. The school's leadership should take cognisance of the community's diversity and form private partnerships to generate some additional income. This will also allow the school to become self-sufficient and function independently. This study also encourages a framework for rural schools to be drafted to allow for integration within the different communities.
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    Die impak van die ‘institusionele habitus’ van ’n werkersklasskool op die opvoedkundige wording van hul studente in ’n plattelandse dorp
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Heynes, Kim; Fataar, Aslam; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT : This study focuses on the impact of the institutional habitus of a working-class school in a rural town on the educational achievement of its students. The history of a country such as South Africa forms an important part of students’ humanity and ontology as citizens of the country, but more specifically as individuals embedded in various areas and educational communities of importance. Although apartheid was ended by democracy more than 20 years ago, it is still relevant to the progress of education in South Africa. South Africa is still trapped in a system in which education within workingclass institutions, such as schools, is produced to serve middle-class interests. The endemic nature of educational inequalities is highlighted by a large number of researchers, but a concrete discussion of a navigation route for equalising the playing field in relation to students' post-school aspirations remains elusive. The study is therefore underpinned by Bourdieu's trilogy – field, habitus, and capital – to determine how the institutional habitus of a working-class school shapes students' educational aspirations. The analytical lens is based on field and the impact it has on students' position in the social hierarchy of society. The lens is then sharpened to (institutional) habitus and capital in order to emphasise how the educational platform of the school is the foundation for students' future educational pathways. The study is placed in the qualitative interpretative paradigm in order to collect sound theory and data that is valid and desirable. Through the semi-structured interview method, the study thus shows that working-class students in Ida’s Valley are negatively affected by the social hierarchy of society. This flows into the institutional space of the school, where students enter the school from a lower hierarchical position. The data further shows that the school encourages educational inequalities through its disregard for an inclusive culture, which then underlies the students' future educational pathways. This has a negative impact on the educational formation of working-class students. Thus, students struggle to fight back against the dispositioned stream of education in South Africa in the midst of the positional impact of their town and school's unstable educational platform through the limited capital they own. For working-class students in Ida’s Valley, the prospect of a stable education is a cherished dream that rarely is realised.