Attitudes of white teachers towards racial integration of schools in South Africa
Titel:
Attitudes of white teachers towards racial integration of schools in South Africa
Auteur:
Skuy, Mervyn Vice, Hilary
Verschenen in:
Educational research
Paginering:
Jaargang 38 (1996) nr. 2 pagina's 135-146
Jaar:
1996
Inhoud:
Until recently, schools in South Africa were strictly segregated according to race. And particularly in 'government' (state) schools, white teachers taught white children only. With the dismantling of apartheid, schools are becoming integrated. This study surveys the attitudes of teachers at certain previously segregated English-medium secondary schools towards racially integrated schooling. Further, their attitudes were compared with those of teachers at private schools which had already undergone a minor or major degree of integration respectively. The sample comprised 276 teachers at 12 government and six private schools. The overall results obtained on a specially devised Teacher Questionnaire indicated that a significant but small majority of 59 per cent generally supported the integrated approach. A multivariate analysis indicated main effects for the level of integration of the private schools, the age, qualifications and home language of the teachers. The most negative attitudes to integration were demonstrated by teachers speaking Afrikaans (the language of the dominant group under the apartheid regime), with 75 per cent of Afrikaans-speaking teachers expressing opposition to racially integrated schooling, as compared with 31 per cent of their English-speaking counterparts. Notwithstanding their positive attitudes, the majority of the sample anticipated problems in implementing integrated schooling. This was, however, not the case for the more integrated private schools.
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