The study reported in this paper centred on the question whether the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 had any effect on the status of religion / religious education in South Africa. Although South Africa is geographically far removed from Eastern Europe, the socio-political situation in South Africa was deeply affected by the fall of the Wall,…

During South Africa's apartheid era, the social and political ideology of Afrikaner nationalism Othered those who disrupted an idealised vision of white heteronormative Afrikaner masculinity. While protections from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation were enshrined in the post-apartheid constitution in 1996, anti-LGBTQ violence…

National education policies reference a representation of an imagined subject of schooling derived from a broader social imaginary that underpins the projects of the state, in a process which I refer to here as 'the logic of policy'. I offer an account of how this representation is derived and propose three conceptual elaborations of this view. I…

Formal education was used by the apartheid government to prepare black South Africans for manual labour, thus there was little curricular focus on the development of higher-order cognitive skills. With the abolition of apartheid in 1994, the education system was re-valued and re-evaluated to provide wider access to quality education; the focus of…

The idea of using values as a means of guiding our research decisions and judging the validity of our claims of knowledge is well established in literature on the self-reflective genre of action research. Values in action research should always result in virtuous behaviour--to promote the general social good. However, ideas of what constitutes the…

This book is a collection of essays by 50 eminent experts/analysts representing a broad range of ideological perspectives and interest groups. Its aim is to contribute to the process of democratic nation-building and the creation of a culture of tolerance by educating South Africans about the intricacies of community reconciliation and…

The present period of social transition has stimulated debate among South African social workers concerning divergence and subsequent lack of unity within the profession. This article highlights the interrelationship and the complexities of forging professional unity among social workers in South Africa. (FC)

The article questions why experienced MEd students, on a course in pedagogy in social justice education, resorted to actions that clashed with this approach. Drawing on student and staff accounts of the course, the authors, teachers on this course, pose questions as to whether these reactions resulted from increased safety in the class, from…

Identifies relative deprivation as a subjective feeling of discontent based on a belief that one is getting less than one feels entitled to. Investigates the relationship between relative deprivation, ethnic identification, and racial attitudes in South Africa. Discusses the connections between these beliefs and recent sociopolitical changes. (MJP)

Analyzes the impact of South African political, economic, and social conditions on the library and information environment and the implications for education in librarianship. The discussion covers key issues to be addressed by the library profession and the need for a reformulation of educational objectives. (103 references) (Author/CLB)