DR CM KWENDA

THE FUNCTION OF THE SCHOOL IN

MODERN SOCIETY
THE PSCHOLOGICAL FUNCTION
 Developing healthy minds which can
function in the 21st century world
 Habits of mind (work ethic, world-views,
perceptions, attitudes, creativity,
innovativeness, inventiveness, etc.)
 Developing problem solving skills
 Competitiveness, assertiveness, etc.
 What other psychological dimensions do
we seek to achieve in the school?
THE SOCIOLOGICAL FUNCTION
 Promoting democracy ( a buzz-word which
means different things to different people and
sometimes means ‘nothing at all’)
 Recycling social relations
 Promoting tolerance of diversity
 Creating social citizens
 Creating a sense of individual and group identity
 What other social dimensions are there and
what purpose do they serve?
THE EMOTIONAL FUNCTION
 Creating emotionally stable individuals.
 Creating empathetic people
 Removing egocentrism
 Providing a safe, nurturing and
supportive environment
 Promoting moral development
 Promoting spiritual development
THE POLITICAL/PHILOSOPHICAL FUNCTION
 Creating conforming citizens (self-
policing)
 Creating critical citizens
 Creating productive citizens
 Creating political citizens
 Raising political consciousness for a
just society
 Creating an ethical society
THE DEBATE AND THE DILEMMAS
 What are the real issues that we can raise in
support of schools within the South African
context?
 When does the school become implicated in
the failure of modern society in general, and
South African society in particular?
 Some have lost faith in the legitimacy of the
school as an institution and now educate their
children at home. What are your views
regarding this 21st century development?
THE DEMOCRATIC SCHOOL
 Democratic access
 Democratic governance
 Democratic curriculum
 Democratic pedagogy
 Democratic practices
CHALLENGES FACED IN DEMOCRATISING SCHOOLS

Lave and Wenger’s Community of Practice Concept

 The school can be a marginalizing space for some

children.
 Some enter the school as ‘centre’ positioned, others

as ‘periphery’ positioned.
 There is a goodness-of-fit when the sociocultural

capital of a child is aligned with the expectations of

the school.
 A badness-of-fit occurs when the sociocultural

capital of a child is not in line with that of the

school.
CHALLENGES FACED IN DEMOCRATISING SCHOOLS

Lave and Wenger’s Community of Practice Concept

 Children with a badness-of-fit are positioned on the

periphery of a school’s social and academic life.

 They have to work their way towards the centre through

initiation, enculturation, legitimation and acceptance.

 Sometimes legitimation and acceptance never occur.

 The problem is that democratising schools is interpreted

as standardizing and uniformazing the role players.

 In fact democratisation should mean giving all an

authentic voice while each remains who they are.

WHY SOME SCHOOLS ARE NOT DEMOCRATIC

 Ethnocentric tendencies which persist in South African

society because of the legacy of a deeply divided past.
 Stereotypes, biases and prejudices which were socially
constructed during the apartheid years and which continue
to be passed from parents to children in some families.
 Intercultural conflict stemming from racism, sexism,
xenophobia, etc.
 Deep inequalities which translate into a socio-economic
divide which is still largely determined by race. This creates
an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality which is difficult to overcome.
 Life experiences which continue to be deeply challenging for
children living in poverty, which distorts the idea of equality,
dignity for all in diversity and mutual respect.
WHY SOME SCHOOLS ARE NOT DEMOCRATIC

 Some school cultures which make a change of mind-

set difficult.
 Some school values are deeply entrenched and
embedded and resistant to change.
 Learners from previously disadvantaged backgrounds
who enrol at former Model C schools are sometimes
viewed from a deficit model perspective which
considers them to be lacking in the cultural capital
required to ‘belong’ within these schools.
 Such learners and their parents are considered to be
‘add-ons’ and in need of enculturation to ‘fit in’.
WHY SOME SCHOOLS ARE NOT DEMOCRATIC

 Instead of the extra-curriculum being used to

normalise and harmonise diverse learners,
teachers and parents, it has sometimes resulted
in division, privileging and marginalizing.
 The hidden curriculum at some schools works
against fostering a sense of equality in difference.
 Indigenous knowledge continues to be side-lined
in formal education, resulting in those relating
with these ways of knowing feeling alienated
within formal education.