Abstract
Active participation, and formal and informal contact on sports fields and in
physical education classes can contribute to the bridging of diversity in a play
setting. This ties in with the Revised National Curriculum Statement for Life
Orientation which emphasizes the holistic development of all learners. There
are widespread concerns about the inactivity and related disease profiles of
the South African Youth, as well as the divisions of the past that still prevail.
A national need for indigenous knowledge was identified and the opportunity
arose for documenting and selecting indigenous Zulu games as part of a
national survey. This study developed from this background. It aims to
provide material for socio-cultural development as well as to address the void
in the current educational dispensation regarding physical education as part of
the Life Orientation Learning Area.
Quantitative data on the trends, content and nature of these games was
collected through the completion of a questionnaire (De Jongh, 1984 and
adapted by Burnett, 2001), triangulated with information collected through
structured interviews, focus groups and observations of learners at play.
Visual and tape recordings assisted in the capturing of songs, physical skills
and various other play patterns.
Forty indigenous Zulu games and other play related activities were collected
from grade seven learners (age 10 to 17) (n=217), and adults (age 40 to 70)
(n=57) from rural and urban schools and communities in and around
Empangeni, Eshowe, Vryheid, Nongoma and Durban in the KwaZulu-Natal
Province of South Africa. The sample (N=274) comprised of Zulu-speaking
boys (n=87), girls (n=130), men (n=26) and women (n=31). A theoretical
framework for inventorising Zulu play and games, was developed and applied
for classification, analysis and documentation of these Zulu games. These
games were presented in an educational outcomes-based framework and
guidelines offered for the inclusion of indigenous games in a multicultural
classroom.
Thirteen of these games were, however, selected for curriculum development
purposes according to the criteria of the nature (indigenous content and
structure), popularity and potential for cross-field educational outcomes.
Appropriate strategies were offered for teaching, learning and pedagogy.
These thirteen selected indigenous Zulu games may meaningfully contribute
to the physical education curriculum for promoting ethnic understanding,
reinforcing social skills and to provide an opportunity to use fundamental
motor skills and movement concepts in dynamic settings in the multicultural
classroom in the South African context.
It is recommended that these indigenous Zulu games should hence be
introduced to all learners in the multicultural classrooms of all South African
schools, providing that sufficient time will be allocated and subject specialists
will be appointed for teaching physical education. Furthermore it is
recommended that research should be conducted on the indigenous games of
all other ethnic groups, not only the Zulu in KwaZulu-Natal, but throughout
South Africa to be included in a comprehensive physical education curriculum.
Prof. C. Burnett-Louw
Prof. W.J. Hollander