Abstract
M.Ed.
A research team from the Department of Educational Sciences at the Rand Afrikaans University has recently engaged in a group project to establish to what extent the school has educated children towards democracy by the time they reach std.10. Statements by various educationists and politicians, alluding to the fact that a democratic attitude has to be taught because it is not an innate human characteristic, prompted the researchers to select this theme.
Each member of the team did research on a specific aspect of democracy. This study focuses on "freedom, tolerance and the rights of minorities in a democracy.
It was decided that a questionnaire would be an appropriate research instrument. It was compiled on the basis of literature studies of the different aspects of democracy. Six of the 37 questions related to the aspects of freedom, tolerance and the rights of minorities in a democracy.
Std.10 pupils and teachers representative of all secondary schools in the Witwatersrand area were deemed to be best qualified to respond to the questions posed in the questionnaire.