Johannes L. van der Walt

Multicultural Concerns of Educators in the Western Cape Province of South Africa

In the new democratic South Africa that emerged after 1994, educators are having to cope with the demands of multicultural situations that are developing in the former racially and ethnically segregated schools, and in the process striving for the equal treatment of the learners, the removal of discrimination and prejudice, the inculcation of respect, and an appreciation for diversity. In an empirical study to determine the extent to which educators harbor concerns about multiculturalism in their classrooms, a survey was done including 628 teachers in 13 multicultural, well-performing schools in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. It was found, inter alia, that educators have not been adequately prepared to meet the challenges confronting them in the increasingly multicultural schools in which they are teaching. They are, however, aware of the challenges posed by the new multicultural school environment and show real concern about dealing with them effectively.

Philosophical-Pedagogical Criteria for Assessing the Effectiveness of a Christian School.

An analysis of recent publications in the field of school effectiveness studies shows that virtually no contributions have been made in that knowledge domain with respect to the effectiveness of Christian schools. To address this shortcoming—while keeping the undesirability of a package approach to Christian education in mind—a philosophical-pedagogical approach to a more systematic assessment of Christian schools is offered. A number of other considerations regarding the assessment of the effectiveness of Christian schools are left for further discussion and investigation.

Research method in education: The frame by which the picture hangs

Abstract Research should be legitimized and clarified by the philosophical frame by which it metaphorically hangs. Such clarity is important in so far as it helps to provide a foundation for guiding researchers’ evaluations of the quality of their research findings. This article focuses on certain philosophical pre-conditions and justifications, that is, the underlying, pre-theoretical or pre-scientific provisos/specifications/provisions for a researcher’s thinking and hence for his or her decisions about which methodology to follow and methods to apply when researching a problem. In order to achieve this aim, the authors discuss the four ‘sides’ or ‘panels’ of the philosophical frame by which a researcher’s research method, in general, tends to hang, figuratively speaking: namely, (a) integrated personality orientation; (b) transcendental orientation; (c) teleological orientation; and (d) nomothetic orientation. Overlooking this ‘frame by which a researcher’s methodological picture hangs’ might have serious repercussions for how one conducts research.

How citizens with integrity can contribute to social justice in an unequal society

Abstract Life in South Africa and elsewhere in the less developed world abounds with examples of social injustice, to such an extent that one could justifiably speak of unjust and unequal societies. In South Africa, a divide between the newly rich and the very poor has developed, coupled with a high crime rate which is one of the results of this inequality. This paper examines the thesis that social injustice can be eradicated in all unequal societies through educating the upcoming generations to be people with integrity, people who can be truly “organic” individuals, that is, with a spirit of serving others and caring for their interests. Education should be aimed at forming, guiding, equipping and enabling future citizens of the country to become driven with a spirit of selflessness and unselfishness. This will imbue in them a readiness to share with others and in doing so, to act and behave to the common good of all living in that particular society. This study has implications for education in all unequal societies, those still riddled with social injustice and suffering deep social divides.

The divine dreams of a sample of South African children: the gateway to their spirituality

As part of a research project on religion, spirituality and education, the authors attended to the role that childrens divine dreams could play in religious education (RE). They contend that such dreams can indeed be used by RE teachers as the gateway to understanding the spirituality of their learners. They defend their claim by firstly developing a conceptual‐theoretical framework with respect to religion, spirituality and childrens divine dreams, and then presenting the results of an explorative quantitative‐qualitative investigation in three schools. They find their claim to have been vindicated, and suggest that although RE teachers should not necessarily teach divine dreams per se, they should, nevertheless, explore the possibility that (at least some of) the contents of childrens divine dreams may be useful for the purpose of teaching them RE from religion itself, rather than teaching them only about religion.

The Road to Religious Tolerance in Education in South Africa (and Elsewhere): a Possible ‘Martian Perspective’

Abstract Combining Dennetts notion of detached curiosity with Alexanders notion of transcendental pragmatism, we propose in this paper, from a ‘Martian perspective’, that religious understanding and tolerance in education may be pursued from at least two different angles: (a) via the spiritual substrata of religions or via confessional pluralism or (b) via a combination of both. On the basis of a hermeneutic reconstructive interpretation of (a), we subsequently argue that current South African policy on education and religion has effectively placed a ban on confessional pluralism by relegating religious education to parental homes and religious institutions such as churches, temples and mosques. We conclude that it provides no opportunities for helping learners to understand the religious differences that they will have to engage with in future as adults. We suggest that it effectively engineers a pedagogy of religious essentialism and the subsequent reemergence (of an almost Bourdieuian model) of cultural and spiritual intolerance.

Empowering academics the Viskerian way

Abstract Academics and/or scholars increasingly feel that their academic voice (combined or individual) has been squelched by the demands of performativity in its various guises, and resultantly, that they have been caught up in a process of steady disempowerment. Rather, it should be their right to be free to use their positions in the pursuit of scholarship as their conscience and their expert knowledge of their subject dictate. Academics should be free to question for themselves the boundaries of their limitations, and not have these imposed on them by the state or government bureaucracy. In order to help empower academics to regain their academic voice and identity, this article transposes six of the philosophical ideas of Belgian philosopher Rudi Visker to the world of academia. It explores the possibilities of using these ideas as instruments for the promotion and maintenance of academic freedom.

The Spiritual Dimension of Quality of Life, with Special Reference to Education and Spirituality

Quality of life’ is notoriously difficult to define. However, analysis of this concept and related ones such as ‘the art of life’ and ‘happiness’ helps us reflect about what the good life and happiness could or should mean in practice. Several quality of life matrices serve as guiding lights in our search for what can be regarded as a good or satisfactory life, the good life and happiness. Based on the discussion of the matrices and their application, we conclude that the quest for the good life and happiness cannot be quite meaningful unless the spiritual dimension of human beings and of life in general is taken into account, and we develop a special matrix for this purpose. We also conclude that education plays an important role in guiding and assisting young people in their quest for the ultimate, ultimate truth and meaning. Our matrix encapsulates this notion. Our matrices can serve as instruments in the hands of educators in helping the learners in their quest for the ultimate, ultimate truth and meaning, happiness, a good or satisfactory quality of life or the good life.

Spiritual well-being and lifestyle choices in adolescents: A quantitative study among Afrikaans-speaking learners in the North West Province of South Africa

Objective: This article reports on an investigation into the connection between spirituality and the lifestyle choices of adolescents in the North West Province of South Africa. Method: An examination of the theoretical connections between these two entities in the lives of adolescents was followed by a quantitative study in which a questionnaire consisting of an adapted version of the Youth Risk Behaviour Survey and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale was used. Results: The empirical investigation shows that a significant correlation exists between the two variables and it appears that spiritual well-being can have a positive influence on the lifestyle choices made by adolescents. Conclusion: Further research must be carried out to assess the impact of spirituality on risk behaviours and lifestyle choices.

The effectiveness of a course for helping educators cope with the demands of the IQMS

Abstract In 2004, the South African Education and Labour Relations Council announced that an agreement had been reached to integrate several existing programmes on quality management in education into a new programme entitled Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) for School-based educators. In order to help educators in a particular Province of South Africa to cope with the demands of this programme, an Advanced Certificate in Education was instituted. The first cohort of teacher-students taking this particular ACE was subsequently subjected to an empirical survey intended to determine the effectiveness of the training. It was found that although the ACE was deemed to be generally helpful for meeting the IQMS requirements, it also failed in several respects. The survey also exposed several aspects of outcomes-based education with which school educators seem to be constantly struggling. Certain changes will have to be made to the ACE itself, but also to the current South African outcomes-based curriculum approach.