Abstract
M.Ed.
In a country which has just acquired its democracy, education for all citizens is of
primary concern. The illiteracy rate in South Africa is high, especially in the rural
areas of the country. During this time when South Africa finds itself in a period of
transition and of prioritizing items on its agenda, education in general and in
particular education of those who had little or no education at all, is high on the
priority list. While the government has targeted illiteracy as a major issue, other
issues such as gender make the illiteracy situation even more complex, especially in the
rural areas where the traditional tenets of the communities are still observed.
The aim of this study is to explore the role gender plays in the involvement of adult
learners in literacy programmes in the rural Mapulaneng area of Mpumalanga
Province, in order to determine the possible implications for literacy programmes in
other similar rural areas of South Africa.
In order to achieve this aim, an interpretive design is applied and qualitative methods
of data—collection are utilized.
A literature study which consists of the exploration of the field of Adult Basic
Education and gender in global education, with special reference to South African rural
areas in particular, forms the theoretical background of the empirical research.
Empirical data was obtained through observations and interviews and processed and
analyzed by unitizing, categorizing and patterning, resulting in the findings of the
research.
Lastly, findings of this investigation are discussed in the light of relevant theory.
The following are the main research findings:
Gender does play a role in the involvement of learners in adult literacy
programmes in the rural Mapulaneng area of Mpumalanga.
There are learning needs that are specific to females but no particular needs
specific to males. However, some needs are not gender—related and are common to
both females and males. The main implications of the findings are:
Adult literacy classes should be conducted during the evening, in order to
accommodate workers, mostly men.
There is a need for teacher training of both female and male literacy teachers.
Some of the gender—related reasons for non—involvement of adult learners,
particularly those that pertain to the dominance of males, would be difficult to
address as they are deeply rooted in culture.
In order to address the needs of male and female adult learners, a holistic approach
should be applied. A holistic approach entails:
not only teaching literacy but addressing other needs of the learners;
not only addressing the expressed needs of learners (male and female), but also
addressing the needs that they are not aware that they have.