Abstract
M.A.
Identities are embedded in ‘shared experience’ and are, by implication, inherently social. It thus follows that identities are not formed, claimed, protected nor resisted in a vacuum. Contextual factors, which are influenced not only by historical processes and events, but also by current social, political and economic forces, are significant determinants of identity. In this study, one of South Africa’s former Model C schools was chosen as the research site in which to investigate the relationship between different, but related, contexts, the identities of learners, and the friendships that they formed. Three contexts were examined, namely the historical background of schooling in South Africa, the current school environment and the social context, which refers to relationships between teachers and learners. The teachers, in particular, were found to play a crucial role in shaping the learners’ identities. Their views, attitudes towards schooling and methods of teaching were informed largely by apartheid education, and most of their teaching experience was gained within this context. The general feeling among the teachers was that things had worked better in the past, under a system of segregated education. Although they did not reject or disregard the principle of equal education for all, they were not prepared or equipped beforehand to deal with the changes that the Schools Act introduced, and hence little effort was made on the part of the teachers to actively challenge racial stereotypes in a manner that underlies anti-racist education. De-racialised education did not only result in diversity in terms of ‘race’. It also changed the language and religious profile of the school. In its interrogation of these, and other, identity markers, this study assessed the ways in which the contexts, mentioned above, have impacted on the learners’ conceptions of themselves and others. It is clear that the immediate school context, which is ordered largely by teachers, provides little opportunity for seeking out shared experiences beyond obvious similarities, such as ‘race’, age, grade, sex, and language. However, despite the similarities among members of friendship groups, in terms of the more overt identity markers, learners display a tendency to group around other shared experiences, such as likes or dislikes, similar tastes or hobbies, and it is these experiences that, learners argue, have brought them together as friends.
Professor Peter Alexander
Professor Tina Uys