ERIC Number: EJ1204394
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Dec
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0256-0100
EISSN: N/A
Schools as Legal Persons: Implications for Religion in Education
South African Journal of Education, v38 suppl 2 Article 1542 Dec 2018
Implementation of religion policy in schools has provoked contradictions and contestations in South Africa and across the globe. Reports on costly and protracted court cases and legislative battles between schools and parents as well as between schools and departments of education over religion in schools have been increasing at an alarming rate. In this article, I highlight some of the school management issues involved in the implementation of religion-in-education policy in some selected South African schools. Based on mediation theory, the study used individual interviews to gather data from 12 school principals, who were purposively selected regarding their experiences on the implementation of the religion-ineducation policy in their schools. The study revealed that, despite the challenges raised by the implementation of the religion-in-education policy, the majority of the participating school principals displayed the qualities of a transformative mediator. I therefore recommend that school leadership programmes for school leaders offer mediation, and transformative mediation in particular, as a leadership and management course. Additionally, the teaching should focus on transformative mediation as a strategy that school principals can use to solve problems and handle disputes in schools. This is important because transformative mediation has potential benefits to the field of education.
Descriptors: Religious Education, Educational Policy, Leadership Training, Court Litigation, School Administration, Foreign Countries, Principals, Administrator Attitudes, Administrator Role, Administrator Education, Conflict Resolution, Civil Rights, Cultural Pluralism, Prosocial Behavior, Graduate Study, Christianity, Social Change, School Segregation, Religious Factors, Parent School Relationship
Education Association of South Africa. University of Pretoria, Centre for the Study of Resilience, Level 3, Groenkloof Student Centre, Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, George Storrar Road and Lleyds Street, Pretoria 0001, South Africa. Web site: http://www.sajournalofeducation.co.za/index.php/saje/index
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: South Africa
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A