Zuza ithemba! - hope for lasting peace through sustainable peace education in Richmond, KwaZulu-Natal.
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Date
2009
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Abstract
This study aims to undertake a thematic investigation of core issues and concerns around
peace, conflict and security for residents of three municipal wards of Richmond,
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. I provide a contextual analysis of the socio-economic and
political circumstances prevailing in 3 municipal wards of Richmond, suggest core
contextual issues to consider when designing a sustainable peace education programme for Richmond and finally, reflect on my application of Freirean methodologies in the study.
While collecting the data I was project manager of a UKZN peace education programme
in Richmond and my research participants were either directly involved in the
programme, or peripherally, as NGO workers in complementary peace projects in the
area. Data was gathered from minutes of project meetings, structured interviews, and
collegial reflections on the project work, but predominantly from informal face-to-face,
telephonic and email dialogues with participants during the course of regular project work.
Both the theoretical and methodological approaches I adopt for this action research study
are centrally framed by a Freirean pedagogy which emphasizes authentic dialogue,
praxis, problem-solving education, the importance of social and personal transformation,
collaborative inquiry and the production of knowledge that is collectively owned and shared.
My findings, which I present in the form of discussions around the generative themes
which emerged from the data, largely corroborate my documentary analysis of the
context. Historical violence issues such as “unfinished business”, police and military
complicity in the political violence, and the proliferation of weapons emerge as powerful
generative themes, while displacement of people and families, trauma and fractured
families (which also stem from the history of violence), emerge as serious current social challenges to peace and stability. Substance abuse and prostitution, poverty and
unemployment, and lack of development also feature strongly as generative themes. One
of the key findings of this study is the extent to which political partisanship, power
struggles and patronage hamper the implementation of peace and development initiatives.
While I suggest some specific contextual issues which need to be considered when
designing an holistic peace education programme for Richmond, I recommend that
significant stakeholders (including affected communities and their leaders, the university,
various NGOs, religious groupings, organs of state, and traditional healers) unify and
direct their respective capacities towards a common goal of peace and reconciliation in
order to address these issues: creating a culture of healing through jointly organizing
cultural events and peace rallies, helping to establish and support Peace Committees, training people in non-violent conflict resolution skills, providing counseling for survivors of political and domestic violence, supporting fractured and vulnerable
families, providing better recreational spaces and job opportunities for the youth. Each of
these initiatives would furthermore provide a useful opportunity for non-formal peace
education. In addition, I suggest the university could partner with the provincial
Department of Education to explore ways of integrating peace education throughout
existing school curricula, and the establishment of learner peace clubs where learners
could form peace committees to provide in-school peer mediation services.
I conclude by reflecting on my application of Freirean methodologies. While I lament my
failure to apprehend the extent to which my privileged background and my position as a
member of the elite class prevented me from experiencing authentic dialogue with my
primary participants, and how I consistently missed opportunities to dialogue and employ
core Freirean pedagogical techniques such as problem-posing, and how I failed to get to the point of “re-presenting” to participants the generative themes as problems, and coinvestigating
solutions to these problems, I manage to end on an optimistic note by
recognizing the significance of the personal transformative learning I gained from the experience.
Description
Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2009.
Keywords
Education--Social aspects., Peace--Study and teaching., Peace--Education--KwaZulu-Natal--Richmond., Theses--Leadership and management.