Abstract
M.A.
In the fourteen years since democracy, there have been many legislative changes in
South Africa, especially in the educational sector. Although policies have changed at
a macro level, there remains a need to investigate the effect of these policy changes
at a micro level. This is an ethnography of two formerly whites-only, Afrikaans-only
primary schools. In this study I found that although society and legislation have
changed dramatically, what happens in the schools has not necessarily changed.
There is widespread resistance to policies such as OBE, the disciplinary code, as
well as religious legislation. Furthermore, there is a large element of racism within
the schools which is mediated through the personal belief systems of the two
headmistresses. Teachers resist legislative change because it does not accord with
their own agendas, and is perceived as politically motivated and unworkable in their
schools. In some cases, legislative change goes against the teachers’ identity.
Teachers respond to this change with resistance—which is often not well articulated
or organised. They stay in the profession because of a specific teacher identity that
includes a strong religious element.