Student counseling services are a recognizable feature of higher education institutions locally and abroad. This article reviews the sociohistorical development and evolution of student counseling services in South African institutions of higher learning, with an emphasis on systemic influences, achievements, and contemporary challenges. This…

The high-poverty urban school building is a prime environment for racial misunderstanding between teenagers and adults: most teachers are white and middle class, while most students are nonwhite and live near the poverty line. In this reflective essay, Jay Wamsted, a white teacher, examines the complicated nature of a teacher-student relationship…

This article argues that learner-centred education needs to shift from a discussion only on pedagogical activities such as group-work and other cooperative learning strategies. It suggests that the focus of learner-centred education should be on the cultural world of the African child and how this influences the way in which he/she learns Western…

Since Betsy DeVos became the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, she has continued to push for a federally funded private school voucher program. These programs currently exist in 29 states and provide state support--through direct payments or tax credits--for students to attend private schools. Some states have historically used…

The Bantu Education system, which replaced missionary-run black schooling in the mid-1950s, expanded schooling to accommodate the basic economic needs of the South African economy but it was done as cheaply as possible. The state paid teachers' salaries and in return it expected obedience and conformity from its employees. It was a tight-fisted,…

The concept of "double jeopardy"--being both older and Black--describes how racism and ageism together shape higher risks for coronavirus exposure, COVID-19 disease, and poor health outcomes for older Black adults. Black people and older adults are the two groups most affected by COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. Double jeopardy, as a…

In this article, inspired by Toni Morrison's evocative description of places that are "never going away" and events that "will happen again," the author explores the historical legacies of racism, law enforcement, and educational inequality in Covington, Kentucky. The author argues that these legacies can best be understood by…

This essay attempts to show how the Social Darwinist thinking of white racial superiority, and so, ultimately, white supremacy, came to be institutionalised in law in South Africa. It looks specifically at the making and institutionalisation of the School Board Act (SBA) of 1905 of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. It argues that the SBA…

This article is a commentary on "Unwrapping the Suburban "Package Deal": Race, Class, and School Access," by Anna Rhodes and Siri Warkentien. Although guided by powerful ideals of equal opportunity, American schools are deeply unequal. As historians of education have taught, children of different racial, ethnic, and class…

Little is known about the school choice practices of Aboriginal families in settler-colonial societies, where they have been removed from their ancestral lands and/or have been subjected to discriminatory educational policies. Through the lens of settler-colonial theory, this study elucidates the "spatially positioned" school choice…

Student teachers in South Africa need to realise that although their classrooms are multilingual and multicultural, English remains the dominant language. Preparing student teachers for diverse classrooms require a pedagogical approach that will enable them to be agents of social change. This view supports transformative ideals in teacher…

Using a Critical Race Theory framework, this manuscript examines the scholarly literature on the intersection of tracking and its historical use as a method for establishing and maintaining racial segregation in American public schools. I begin by exploring accounts of tracking in American public educational institutions as researched by…

This article analyzes Carter G. Woodson's iconic Negro History Week and its impact on Black schools during Jim Crow. Negro History Week introduced knowledge on Afro-diasporic history and culture to schools around the country. As a result of teachers' grassroots organizing, it became a cultural norm in Black schools by the end of the 1930s. This…

In 1981, Cambridge, Massachusetts, became the first school district in America to replace its neighborhood schools with a "controlled choice" assignment plan, which considered parental preference and racial balance. This article considers the history preceding this decision to explore how and why some Americans became enamored with…

The problem addressed in this theoretical paper is that of learners and educators as agents of social transformation in dysfunctional schools of South Africa. While 80% of South African schools are said to be dysfunctional, learners and educators in these schools can be activated to challenge and actively struggle against any form of social…