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CHAPTER TWO RACIAL INTEGRATION AND SENSE OF BELONGING
Introduction
Racial integration espoused that sharing of same space such as in a school format by diverse racial groups can happen harmoniously with no or at least less serious problems. The different races in this space can relate, share common goals and have an ownership of this common space. Thus having a sense of belonging, as they feel as part and members of the integrated group that fosters the development of social cohesion both on the individual and group level. Different authors (Bollen & Hoyle, 1990 and Friedkin, 2004) mention that there is no definite definition of social cohesion. Bollen and Hoyle (1990) refer to a “perceived social cohesion” as an important construct of social cohesion (p. 482). According to Friedkin (2004) social cohesion is seen as a “multidimensional phenomenon with multiple indicators [vested] on an individual and group level” (p. 410). Thus, in social cohesion, a sense of belonging is seen as a factor that crosses between the two levels and how “sense of belonging of an individual to a particular group and his/her feelings of morale associated with the membership in that group” Bollen & Hoyle, 1990, p. 482).
As a result of the historical-political context in South Africa it is important to consider these two construct (racial integration and sense of belonging) as they both on an individual and group level contribute towards social cohesion.
Racial integration in South African schools
Historical-political context
In South Africa, the election of the “National Party in the 1948…ushered in the formal policy of apartheid, also known…as ’separate development” (Louw & Foster, 2004, p. 181). The South African apartheid regime subsequently introduced various legislations that did not only separate different races but also privileged the White race over other races. These legislations include the Group Areas Act, 1957; the Bantu Education Act, 953 and the Job Reservation Act, 1956. Even as early as in the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century ‘race’ was used predominantly to explain the structure of the South African population (Louw & Foster, 2004, p, 172).
The objective of apartheid education was to fit Black people into subordinate positions in the racially-structured divisions of labour and aimed to reproduce this structure, according to Vally and Dalamba (1999: 9) the results of which are still being experienced today in the social and economic status of the Blacks and Indians. Durrheim and Dixon (2005) show in their study how racism persists through systematic practices in everyday settings, such as the continued practices of racial division on beaches in South Africa in what Green, Sonn and Matsebula (2007: 396) refer to as economic apartheid, where White affluence has replaced segregationist laws as a new mode of segregation and expression of whiteness. The apartheid South African government introduced various policies and enacted various legislations such job reservation through the Industrial Conciliation Act of 1956 where certain jobs were reserved for Whites only; as well as other legislatures to ensure White supremacy included Bantu Education Act of 1953; Bantu Self-Government Act of 1959; and Bantu Homelands citizenship Act of 1970.
The first democratic general elections of 1994 brought with it the new era that carried, among other promises, the transformation of South African policies, to ensure that all South African children would have access to the school of their choice and that no child would be turned away from school on grounds of race, ethnicity, class and/or religion. One of the mechanisms to ensure access was through school desegregation. Desegregation was about beginning to foster unity among South Africans, thus implicitly to improve social cohesion of our society.
Desegregation of education – a brief overview
A great deal of research on the desegregation of education has been conducted in South Africa and it is possible to divide the body of literature into distinct phases that reflect different conceptualisations of what desegregation means in a South African context.
According to Zafar (1999) the “first wave of school desegregation research in South Africa emerged from historically White and liberal universities in the late 1980s” (p. 2). It was grounded in a multicultural discourse and explored desegregation with respect only to White private and state schools. She cites the studies by Bot and Schlemmer (1986, 1989), Bot (1987), Christie (1990a), Metcalfe (1991), and Morrell (1991) that focused on White English-speaking schools enrolling non-White learners. The second wave of desegregation research includes studies by Carrim (1992, 1995, & 1998), Naidoo (1996), Soudien (1998a), and Zafar (1998) at former HoD and HoR schools, where learners of other races had been registered in Coloured and Indian schools despite the apartheid legislation in force at the time.
In the third wave, post 1998, the focus was more on school integration studies that focused on new realities that the South African Constitution (Act 108 of 1996) and the South African Schools Act, 1996, promulgated, children are to attend school on an equal footing and their ‘rights’ as learners are more entrenched. Studies cover learner relations and identities in terms of parental economic status and social class or learners’ socio-health status (especially in HIV/AIDS-affected families). Studies by Soudien (1998a &b), Jansen (1998, 2004), Dolby (2001), Nkomo, Chisholm and McKinney (2004), Soudien, Carrim and Sayed (1992), Soudien and Sayed (2004), Hemson (2006), Tihanyi (2006) and Møller (2006) covered some of the dynamics that the teachers have to grapple with in the classroom after 1994.
Desegregation, integration and social cohesion
The third wave of school desegregation research focuses increasingly on “intra-black dynamics” (Zafar, 1999). As Dolby (2001) have suggested, the discourse on school desegregation and integration have moved beyond a problematisation of racial issues to include discourses in psychology on social cohesiveness, and perhaps more tangible aspects of life that some of the learners choose to identify themselves with, like their ‘hanging out’ preferences. Increasingly, the past is not an organising principle for them, since most of them indeed started school in the democratic dispensation where they probably were treated ‘fairly’ and ‘equally’ by the school system.
Generally, ‘desegregation’ refers to the reassignment of learners and staff by race or ethnic identity. The primary aim of desegregation is to “correct racial imbalance, particularly in previously advantaged schools where the majority of learners were White” (Fife, 1997, p. 39; Ranchod, 1997, p. viii). Desegregation primarily “refers to physical proximity in relation to race or colour” (Vally & Dalamba, 1999, p. 22). Thus, definitions of desegregation generally focus on the movement of members of one race to a previously mono-racial environment. In the context of South Africa, more often than not, it is migration from Black townships to the more advantaged and affluent White surrounding environments.
By contrast, ‘integration’ is defined as “affirmative efforts that facilitate the elimination of racial and ethnic differences and at the same time provide a multi-ethnic atmosphere and the mechanisms to encourage mutual respect, understanding, and acceptance” (Dash, 1988). Because integration is essentially concerned with “the interactions and relationships between learners, teachers, content and context” (Vally & Dalamba, 1999, p. 22), the goals of racial integration (as opposed to desegregation) is strongly aligned with the individual behaviours and group characteristics associated with socially cohesive groups along the dimension of civic culture and common values. Put differently, the objectives of racial integration promotes a society in which members share a common set of values and behaviours through which to conduct their relations with one another (Forest & Kearns, 2000).
Thus, where desegregation focuses on ‘how many in the classroom’, racial integration focuses on ’what is happening in the classroom’. To illustrate this point, Carter (2006) says that “placing diverse bodies next to each other would not heighten…academic achievement for the descendants of those once excluded from the more resourceful [as this] would not occur by some process of social osmosis” (p. 2). Thus, racial integration implies that learners of “different ethnicities, religions, races or cultures are encouraged to interact” (Dash, 1988, p. 40) on an equal and mutually respectful footing. In this context, integration can be linked to what Carter (2006) in her study refers to as socio-cultural context. She focuses on what happens in the school and the classroom when learners from diverse backgrounds come together, and how issues such as language policy, learner hairstyles, learner attitudes towards other races (both learners and teachers), gender relations, achievement expectations and access to school can impact on one’s sense of belonging.
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
1.2 School desegregation in South Africa
1.3 Social cohesion
1.4 Rationale and problem formulation
1.5 Aim of the study
1.6 Research question
1.7 Research Design
1.7.1 Case Study
1.7.2 Research Site
1.7.3 Participants
1.7.4 Data collection and analysis
1.8 Limitations
1.9 Central concepts in the study
1.9.1 Social cohesion
1.9.2 Integration
1.9.3 Belonging
1.9.4 Racial descriptions as used in this study
1.10 Chapter planning
CHAPTER TWO RACIAL INTEGRATION AND SENSE OF BELONGING
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Racial integration in South African schools
2.2.1 Historical-political context
2.2.2 Desegregation of education- a brief overview
2.2.3 Desegregation integration and social cohesion
2.2.4 Integration and inclusion
2.3 Social cohesion
2.3.1 Introduction
2.3.2 Identity, belonging and mental health
2.3.2.1 Social constructions of race
2.3.2.2 Racial identity, belonging and mental health
2.3.3 Approaches to the study of social cohesion
2.3.3.1 Individual indicators of social cohesion
2.3.3.2 Group indicators of social cohesion
2.3.3.2.1 Group Membership
2.3.3.2.2 Community belonging
2.3.3.2.3 Feeling at home in the community
2.4 Conclusion
CHAPTER THREE INTERACTIVE QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS RESEARCH DESIGN
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA)
3.3 IQA Research design
3.4 Rigour
3.5 Ethical consideration
3.6 Summary
CHAPTER FOUR PHASE TWO DATA ANALYSIS, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4. 1 Introduction
4.2 Phase Two Overview
4.3 Discussion
4.4 Summary
CHAPTER FIVE DIASCUSSION OF RESULTS, IMPLICATIONS, CONTRIBUTION OF STUDY AND LIMITATIONS
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Discussion of results
5.3 Contribution of study and implication of findings
5.4 Limitations
5.5 Recommendations for further study
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