I've had the chance over the last couple of days to engage in conversation with two incredible educators here in South Africa. Last night we shared dinner with Wayne, the president of a local college, and today I got to meet Marion, a former teacher who now works in evaluation programs here in South Africa. I again learned and so much from sharing in these conversations! Here are some of the insights that I gained:
- South Africa has been through major curriculum revisions since its change in government in 1994. As each of the different provinces and different racial groups (Black, Coloured, Indian, and White) merged their education departments, they also merged their curriculums. It was important to unify the curriculum both to have a more universal system for education across the country, but also to provide equity for all students. During the Apartheid years, the quality of education drastically declined as you worked your way down the race hierarchy - white - indian - coloured - black. Black education was essentially an education for the working class, emphasizing the importance of not trying to "rise above one's station".) Yet, as so many education systems do, SA has tried a variety of different curriculums (more than 5 in the last 20 years), with some having far greater success than others and many teachers frustrated with the frequent changes and overwhelming amount of content. At this point, SA implements a very prescriptive, knowledge based curriculum. South Africa struggles to answer the question of what it means to create equal opportunities for all students, and hold everyone to high standards.
- With all of the changes, students have not necessarily thrived. South Africa is among the lowest performing countries on tests like TIMSS and PIRLS, and national math proficiency is only around 17%. Though low performance tends to go across the board, there are still breakdowns by class and race. Furthermore, despite legal opportunity for any child to attend any school, cost often creates two parallel education systems where the higher quality education is still predominantly, though not exclusively, white.
- Issues shared by Marion and Wayne facing South African education today include poor teacher training, varying degrees of early childhood education (some children, specifically from the townships, arrive at school having never held a book or a pen), and the high cost of education. Good quality education is still not accessible to everyone. Even for those who attend school, many drop out along the way, and of those who graduate from high school, only 50% can expect to find jobs. Another issue is a strong teachers union that can sometimes hinder educational progress. Marion shared some examples - officials are not allowed to observe in classrooms, there has been strong resistance to performance pay, and teachers fought having to demonstrate their qualifications by taking the exact same tests that their students take.
- As far as tertiary education goes, black students are still underrepresented in Universities. Although admission policies exist to help disadvantaged students get into college, there are significant barriers that keep many black children from attending university. (In a country where over 80% of the population is black, less than 20% of university students are black). Once kids get into college, their success varies. Wayne shared that a study done in South Africa tried to consider what factors - class, race, parent education level, etc. - had the greatest predictors of college success. The findings? The students were proportionally more successful based on the number of books that were in their home.
- Interestingly, the University of Cape Town has recently amended their admission policies in this respect. Although they are receiving some criticism for this change, they are sticking to their decision. Where previously student admission "points" were given based on a strictly racial quota, now there are different qualifiers for what it means to be "disadvantaged." Some of these qualities include income level, parent education level, and race. Marion described this as a way to equalize the complexities that contribute to what it means to need a little extra leg up.
- Through all that SA has been through, many people are very comfortable talking about race- in and out of the classroom. Marion shared stories of having to be careful when she travels to other countries, reminding herself that not everyone around the world is so open to race conversations. Wayne shared that in the years he has been in SA since Apartheid, he has seen widespread conversations, even joking, about race. Marion acknowledged that "the minute you avoid taking about race, you deny the society that we live in." Marion encouraged like the US to validate each student's language and culture, recognize the culture of power that exists, and create an openness to discussing race issues both in and outside of schools.
While these conversations have certainly not given me any answers to the questions I've set out to explore here in South Africa, they have given me many insights into the world of education here. I wonder if the reconciliation taking place in many aspects of society here in SA has not found its way into the schools yet. It's very interesting to have learned so much about the backdrop of society here, and then focus into the schools and educators who train the future leaders of South Africa. I think that the issues that face SA, much like those facing the US, are deeply layered and complex. Yet, I think there are lessons to be learned from each other, and I think that starting these conversations creates opportunity for digging into those lessons.
~emily~
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