Reports on aspects of an ethnographic study carried out in six newly integrated schools in post-aparthied South Africa. Presents evidence that these schools are sites of struggle between competing discourses that construct, maintain, and change social identities in these communities and the wider society. (Author/VWL)

Discusses outcomes-based education in South Africa, which has been only recently implemented to improve the quality of education and to address the demands for a skilled work force. Addresses the fundamental question: Will OBE improve the quality of education and transform schools in South Africa? (Contains 24 references.) (WFA)

Introduces this theme issue on postapartheid changes in South African education. Discusses political factors and consensus building in educational policy making, needs to expand access to all levels of education and simultaneously improve quality, and the challenges of reconstructing higher education and dismantling a deliberately inequitable…

A cohort of 782 Soweto (black South African) students was traced during students' first 4 years of schooling, 1987-90 (apartheid still in effect). Only 55 percent completed second grade in 4 years, but repetition in grade was a much greater problem than dropping out. Discusses postapartheid policy implications for improving educational efficiency…

Examines the administrative structure of the South African educational system present in the early 1990s and the reasons it does not provide an equal education to all. System problems are discussed with a focus on those caused by the current administrative structure. Issues include service duplication, unequal resource distribution, and…

Examines the effect of increased black student enrollment on admissions policies and procedures at the University of Cape Town (South Africa) from the 1983 passage of the Universities Amendment Act till 1995. Provides critical analysis of the university's academic development programs and alternative admissions criteria. Contains 24 references.…

Examines equity relative to South Africa's historically black universities in changing global and local circumstances. Innovations made in community-oriented teaching, research, and outreach provide the basis for conceptualizing an alternative to the market university model. Comparisons with U.S. universities are made. Contains 29 references. (MMU)

Reviews three books that examine teacher-education reform from an international comparative perspective: "The Crisis in Teacher Education: A European Concern," by Anthony Adams and Witold Tulasiewicz; "Global Perspectives on Teacher Education," edited by Colin Brock; and "Learning and Teaching in an International Context:…

Offers a critical account of the attempts to transform teacher education and development in South Africa by assessing three conceptions of "space" and related changes in time. Argues that the main direction of change in teacher education is from insulated space and interrupted time to porous space and continuous time. (CMK)

Recent educational reforms in South Africa have been framed by an outcomes-based education (OBE) policy. One of the assumptions underlying this nationally directed educational reform process is that teachers will be both willing and able to adapt their teaching and assessment practices accordingly. Yet, there is considerable evidence to suggest…

Purpose: Outlines a framework for social justice, describes both the social and educational context of South Africa, highlights inequitable funding practices, and then advocates for policy changes in the form of vertical equity. Design/methodology/approach: Provides a retrospective review of mandated segregation by race to hypothetical…

In South Africa there is widespread recognition amongst university educators that the new outcomes-based education (OBE) system can prevent instrumental thinking, particularly in view of OBE's agenda to encourage critical learning. However, what these educators do not necessarily take into account is that many students are not always ready to deal…

In South Africa, the policy of separate development means that there are four educational systems (for Whites, Blacks, Asians, and "Coloureds"). The disparities among these systems clearly favour the dominant minority group. Reflecting the same disparities and inequalities, special education is a matter of separating rather than…

Examines the relationships between national language policies, ideology, and education, using South Africa as an example. Emphasizes the politics of language, the nature of the ideology of language, and the functions of language policy in education. Considers effects of educational responses to cultural and linguistic diversity. (PGD)

This document examines the implementation of the Schools Act, which established the democratic governing bodies and the school governance, capacity-building program in KwaZulu-Natal. It is based on a study that: (1) recorded the existence/nonexistence of governing bodies and compiled a profile of the average governing body based on a sample of…