Browsing by Author "Naicker, Perumal."

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The struggle for quality education in South Africa : the dynamics of integrating learner drifters from rural and township contexts into suburban schools.
Naicker, Perumal.; Chikoko, Vitallis.
The year 1994, heralded as a watershed year that would ring changes in the lives of all South Africans has come and gone but poor quality education has remained stubbornly rooted mainly in the majority of rural and township schools. Twenty years into democracy the exodus from rural and township schools has gathered momentum as new problems arise to compound those that have been prevalent these past years. Rural and township based parents who patiently awaited change in the form of quality education became despondent and started the trek to suburban schools in their struggle to find better quality education for their children to give them a better chance in life. The study investigated what it took for integration of drifters to happen in suburban schools. Integration entails areas such as maintaining learner attainment, bringing parents on board and utilising social, intellectual and cultural capital that drifters bring with them. A two-pronged theoretical framework made up of Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory and the student integration model posited by Tinto (1987) is used as the lens through which the phenomenon is studied. In this regard the theoretical framework purposefully combines the development phases of the child as it interacts with the various environments and the phases of separation, transition and incorporation that drifters would undergo when engaging with their changed circumstances at the suburban school. This is a qualitative study located within the interpretative paradigm. It was a multiple- site case study that gathered data from principals, teachers, learners and parents in three suburban schools. Semi- structured interviews supported by observation were the data collection instruments employed. The study explored whether suburban schools sought to understand and integrate drifters instead of assimilating them. The study found that while learner attainment was prioritised, the three suburban schools chose acculturalisation and acclimatisation ahead of embracing diversity in their efforts to integrate drifters. My thesis is that the dynamic of integration of drifters at suburban schools is dependent on selfdeveloped mechanisms at each of the confluences that draw on and develop the diversity of cultural, social and intellectual capital that all stakeholders have to offer which embraces the broad transformation agenda.
What makes school community partnership work? : a case study.
(2011) Naicker, Perumal.; Chikoko, Vitallis.
While school-community partnership is highly encouraged in South Africa, schools and their communities seem reluctant to take up this opportunity to develop themselves and in the process improve learner attainment. This qualitative study located in the interpretivist paradigm adopts a case study research design that utilises semi-structured interviews, observation and document analysis to collect data. This study explores the nature of school-community partnership seeking to understand what makes school-community partnership work and how the said partnership sustains itself. The evidence is drawn from a study of one school-community partnership in deep rural KwaZulu-Natal. From inception, the democratic government of South Africa indicated that the business of running education was not the preserve of government- it took place at the confluence of the school governing body and the government. Despite an enabling legislative framework, most school-community partnerships in South Africa do not seem to be succeeding. However, there appears to be some success ‘stories’ in this regard. The study focuses on one such ‘story’. There does not seem to be sufficient knowledge about what makes school-community partnership successful. Such knowledge is necessary if more school-community partnerships are to add value to the communities in question. This study therefore seeks to address, in a small way, the question: What makes school-community partnership work and how does it sustain itself? The study seeks to understand the findings by utilising a two-pronged theoretical framework, namely, Epstein’s (1995) spheres of influence and the asset- based approach to organisation development. The study’s findings suggest that action as opposed to rhetoric forms one of the important ingredients of this partnership. Such action is driven by visionary leadership. Through action, both the school and community enjoy tangible benefits such as the generation of employment and growing crops for food. A broad-based community asset mapping has harnessed many ‘players’ thereby allowing a multi-faceted partnership to unfold. Learner attainment has been positively impacted by these interactions. This inward looking, inclusive process in turn sustains the school-community partnership. The study recommended that plans be put in place to ensure continuity after the current crop of visionary leaders departs. A systems based approach was suggested as an interim measure.