abstract... - Blogabond

This is the abstract for my Independent Study Project. If you are interested in reading the entire paper (50 pages), email me at CariLeighAnn@gmail.com and I will forward you a copy. Thanks to all of those that have followed my ramblings throughout my experience in South Africa. I've been home for over a month now, but my journey isn't over yet...

ABSTRACT
This study seeks to reveal the various discourses among South African learners surrounding issues of racial and national identification, by examining their reactions to the proposed school pledge. The primary objective was to include the voice of the youth in the current debate surrounding the suitability of the proposed pledge, while seeking to understand the ways in which young South Africans navigate ideas of national identity. The research is particularly relevant at this time, because the implications of instituting a school pledge are not yet fully understood. The capacity of a pledge to instill values in the youth and aid in the creation of a unified national identity is examined in this paper, which focuses on the opinions of learners from three high schools in the Western Cape.

In order to gain insight into the opinions of high school learners on the school pledge, I arranged focus group discussions at three schools in the Western Cape. Each school was predominantly mono-racial, and the findings have been analyzed with regard to the particular racial identifications of the learners: ‘coloured’, ‘white’, and ‘black’. The focus group transcriptions were analyzed in order to identify the main themes that emerged in the discussions about the school pledge, and these themes are reported with a critical interpretation of their role in the creation of youth identities.

The research discovered many similarities between learners of differing racial backgrounds with respect to their opinions about the pledge. Four main themes emerged from the conversations, including perceptions of youth rights, nation-building and nationalism, racial and linguistic exclusivity, and the role of history in reconciliation. Analysis of these themes reveals the tendency of South African youth to remain entrenched in the racial categories of apartheid, and produces uncertainty over the potential of a school pledge to aid in the creation of a truly unified national identity.

written by

CariLeighAnn on June 22, 2008 from Roanoke, United States

from the travel blog: Semester Abroad: South Africa

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