Abstract
D.Ed. (Educational Psychology)
Since 1989 most of the schools in Lenasia which were under the
auspices of the now dissolved House of Delegates, began to 'admit
black children. Most of these children live at the informal
settlements in Lenasia. Soon after the admission of these
children many Indian teachers expressed their difficulties with
them, especially with regard to language, teaching and learning.
Teachers also complained that children from the informal
settlement lacked discipline, they often came to school late and
they had difficulty in completing their homework. As a result of
the several complaints from teachers the researcher decided to
conduct a study on the experiences of children from the informal
settlements at predominantly Indian schools in Lenasia. A pilot
study revealed that the experiences of the children at the
informal settlements also needed to be taken into consideration.
Standard six children from the informal settlements, parents from
the settlements and members of the camp education committee were
identified as the target populations in the study. A qualitative
research design that is explorative, descriptive and contextual,
specifically to the experiences of standard six children from the
informal settlements was used for the study. The study was
conducted in two distinct phases.
Phase one of the study involved the collection of data on the
experiences of standard six children from the informal
settlements both at their schools as well as their place of
residence. Data was collected through the use of phenomenological
interviews, focus group discussions, life studies and a
projective test.
Phase one of the study also focused on the analysis of the data
that were obtained. The analysis of the data showed that children
from the informal settlements had several negative experiences
both at their schools as well as at the informal settlements
which caused them to feel disempowered...