Understanding teachers' authority in Black schools in chronic crisis

dc.contributor.advisorMillar, Cliveen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorPetje, Mallele Ianen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-12-20T15:41:43Z
dc.date.available2015-12-20T15:41:43Z
dc.date.issued1989en_ZA
dc.descriptionBibliography: pages 126-137.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractBlack schooling has been plunged into deep crisis following persistent political and ideological assertiveness by users' against the intransigent State. Assertive practices in the State black secondary schools climaxed with the refusal by students to sit for examinations. Accompanying these assertive practices were the disintegration of order and the alarming failure rate, all of which put teachers in the midst of accusations from both the State and some users. The State blamed teachers for disorderliness, the lack of discipline of students and for not doing their work efficiently. Some users accused teachers of incompetency and often of sustaining the State hegemony. Teachers, however, redirected the accusations at the State for its authoritarianism. These labellings reflect the impact the interminable education crisis has had on teachers working within State schools which are the site of race and class struggle. The crisis bears heavily and negatively on teachers' authority to an extent where some scholars highlight that teachers have become professionally dysfunctional and have since lost authority (see below). The study takes these charges seriously and is geared towards understanding teachers' authority within the context of South African education system whose bias favours white, in particular Afrikaner supremacy and the domination of the ruling classes. This could mean that teachers' authority is either a creation of this supremacy/domination and its maintenance or a product of resistance towards such domination. In order to test this theoretical supposition, particular attention was given towards understanding the significance of teachers' authority, its social bases, the way it is exercised and its stability or instability in the context of the current education crisis. What came to light was the fact that teachers exercised a form of authority predetermined by the State whilst at the same time there were attempts to move away from that practice and establish an alternative authority. The new form of authority was interpreted as being influenced by an ideology whose ultimate aim was to transform the imposed status quo. The conclusions were that teachers' authority remained in crisis as did the schools, due to teachers' work which either conflicted with the educational policy or which propped up the system in the face of insurmountable resistance from users. It was suggested that teachers are likely to thrive in the crisis if they were able to collectively amass political professional power in alliance with the community to engage in counter-hegemony.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationPetje, M. I. (1989). <i>Understanding teachers' authority in Black schools in chronic crisis</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Education. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15890en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationPetje, Mallele Ian. <i>"Understanding teachers' authority in Black schools in chronic crisis."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Education, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15890en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationPetje, M. 1989. Understanding teachers' authority in Black schools in chronic crisis. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Petje, Mallele Ian AB - Black schooling has been plunged into deep crisis following persistent political and ideological assertiveness by users' against the intransigent State. Assertive practices in the State black secondary schools climaxed with the refusal by students to sit for examinations. Accompanying these assertive practices were the disintegration of order and the alarming failure rate, all of which put teachers in the midst of accusations from both the State and some users. The State blamed teachers for disorderliness, the lack of discipline of students and for not doing their work efficiently. Some users accused teachers of incompetency and often of sustaining the State hegemony. Teachers, however, redirected the accusations at the State for its authoritarianism. These labellings reflect the impact the interminable education crisis has had on teachers working within State schools which are the site of race and class struggle. The crisis bears heavily and negatively on teachers' authority to an extent where some scholars highlight that teachers have become professionally dysfunctional and have since lost authority (see below). The study takes these charges seriously and is geared towards understanding teachers' authority within the context of South African education system whose bias favours white, in particular Afrikaner supremacy and the domination of the ruling classes. This could mean that teachers' authority is either a creation of this supremacy/domination and its maintenance or a product of resistance towards such domination. In order to test this theoretical supposition, particular attention was given towards understanding the significance of teachers' authority, its social bases, the way it is exercised and its stability or instability in the context of the current education crisis. What came to light was the fact that teachers exercised a form of authority predetermined by the State whilst at the same time there were attempts to move away from that practice and establish an alternative authority. The new form of authority was interpreted as being influenced by an ideology whose ultimate aim was to transform the imposed status quo. The conclusions were that teachers' authority remained in crisis as did the schools, due to teachers' work which either conflicted with the educational policy or which propped up the system in the face of insurmountable resistance from users. It was suggested that teachers are likely to thrive in the crisis if they were able to collectively amass political professional power in alliance with the community to engage in counter-hegemony. DA - 1989 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1989 T1 - Understanding teachers' authority in Black schools in chronic crisis TI - Understanding teachers' authority in Black schools in chronic crisis UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15890 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/15890
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationPetje MI. Understanding teachers' authority in Black schools in chronic crisis. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Education, 1989 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15890en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentSchool of Educationen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherSchool discipline - South Africaen_ZA
dc.subject.otherBlacks - Education - South Africaen_ZA
dc.subject.otherTeacher-student relationshipsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherTeachers, Black - South Africaen_ZA
dc.titleUnderstanding teachers' authority in Black schools in chronic crisisen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMPhilen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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