This article argues that theories of "decoloniality" provide valuable insights into the social relations of "Model C" schools that have been brought into visibility in particular ways by the wave of student protests during and after 2016. Our starting point is to provide a brief outline of the central arguments made by a…

This paper explores how equity and access are achieved in the post-apartheid South African higher education landscape. I argue that access should refer to both physical (access as a student to an institution) and epistemological access (skills to understand, interpret academic work). I use conceptual analysis in this study to analyse relevant…

The colonial nature of South African universities remains a source of debate among students and academics. Decolonization as rethinking academic institutional practices seems less controversial; the specificity of how to decolonize the academia is the core of divergent arguments and contesting ideologies. Consequently, many suggestions and methods…

A significant amount of literature on the student movement in South Africa is characterised by two limitations. Firstly, a significant amount of this literature is found in un-academic and non-peer-reviewed sources, such as social media, online newspapers, blog posts and other platforms. Secondly, some of this literature is characterised by an…

This article examines early developmental histories of learners who attended a government-funded school for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in South Africa from 1992 to 2014. A total of 141 complete historical admission records of learners were analysed. Frequencies, means and correlations were determined for perinatal conditions and…

This paper explores academics' interaction in an online forum, situated on the intranet of a South African university, where perceptions of racism within a larger discourse about transformation are shared and debated. The communicative model of democratic discourse directs the interpretation of an emancipatory discursive interaction, following a…

Language policy is an influencing factor of the educational outcome for pupils in Africa. Colonial languages have been largely used and African Languages are neglected. Despite this, the South African Constitution (1996) declares eleven official languages. However, curricular developments favour Afrikaans and English. To analyse the implementation…

This article explores the experiences of teachers who participated in the League of the Empire's "Interchange of Home and Dominion Teachers" scheme through a tripartite approach to "British World" space. First, it identifies the mechanisms through which exchanges were established. It analyses the patterns of teacher mobility…

This paper is concerned with the role of standards and standard setting in shaping the expansion of post school education in highly unequal society. It draws on an account of the debates and policies on standards in the UK from the 1980's to today and the wider lessons that can be learned from them. It argues that relying on any type of standards…

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…

This paper reports on the findings of an international comparative research project where the roles of teachers in the implementation of inclusive education in mainstream-classroom settings in South Africa and Finland were investigated. Inclusive education within this project is broadly defined as welcoming all students to general-education…

Transitional justice and education both occupy increasingly prominent space on the international peacebuilding agenda, though less is known about the ways they might reinforce one another to contribute towards peace. This paper presents a cross-national analysis of truth commission (TC) reports spanning 1980-2015, exploring the range of…

This article considers the nature and trajectory of the African National Congress's (ANC) education policy discourses from its founding in 1912, until its repatriation from exile by 1992. The broad issue that this article considers is how to explain why the ANC was inadequately prepared to address the educational challenges of a democratic South…

This research is a study of the educational systems of South Africa and the United States in a comparative perspective. The research examines the success and failures of the two systems, taking black student dropout rates as a case study for understanding the structural, philosophical and public policy foundations of the genesis and development of…

Set against the backdrop of a changing pluralistic South African society, this article traces the shifts concerning religion in public education, followed by an examination of the discernible motivations that undergirded the establishment of women's "madrasahs" (Islamic educational institutions). Collectively representing an alternative…