This phenomenological method was key to my study as the research objectives were to determine how teachers in a primary school construct transgender identity as well as determine the factors that shape primary school teachers’ construction of transgender identities. As the methodology for this chapter has been explained, I will proceed to give a detailed account of the location and context of my study.
Indian or Asian. The area has a relatively young population with majority of its residents being in the age categories between 25 to 54 years of age (Census, 2011). The population is made up of 52% female and 48% male, with English the main spoken language at 51%, followed by Afrikaans and Zulu, 31% and 14 % respectively (Census, 2011). Although seen as a tourist destination due to its warm Indian oceans, Amanzimtoti is in the midst of experiencing a great economic boom with the construction of KZN Automotive Supplier Park (ASP) which is intended to support original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in KZN and attract others to the region to support Toyota SA Motors, creating many job opportunities in the area (Raper, 2020).
Amanzimtoti has over seven primary schools, six pre-primaries and over five high schools (Raper, 2020). Most of these schools are ex Model C schools with two primary and high schools being Afrikaans medium schools. This study will be conducted at Ladybug Primary School in the historical township of Amanzimtoti. The school has an estimated learner population of 690, with 32 educators. The demise of apartheid resulted in many people relocating from rural areas to townships such as Umlazi in an endeavour to seek employment opportunities in its’
neighbouring suburbs. Consequently, the teacher population at Lady Bug Primary School is varied in terms of race, culture, religion, and gender. This variation aided to ensure that data obtained was saturated and rich. The reason for choosing this school as a research site was because it was near to my place of residence, thus making it convenient for me to gain access.
The school is over 40 years old and as all government schools in classification, Ladybug Primary School falls into the category of quintile 5. According to Nkosi (2018) this category of school is generally situated in an economically affluent neighbourhood with “fee-paying”
parents. Subsequently, the school fee is set at R15 000 per annum, with approximately 16% of the learner population requiring a fee consensus or government aided school grant.
The majority of learners that attend Ladybug Primary School are from the surrounding areas of Amanzimtoti, namely Adams Mission, Kwamakhuta, Illovo and Umlazi. Prior to Covid-19, the school would run various fundraisers throughout the year in order to raise funds for a number of needs of the school. Some of these included raffle sheets bake sales and the year- end Christmas concert. Funds raised by such events went towards a number of causes, namely the Grade 7 farewell and purchasing new computers for the computer lab. Further, parents and private companies in the area routinely donate towards such requirements to the school. The school does not receive any feeding aid from the government and most of the learners are able to bring a sufficiently packed lunch as there is no tuck-shop on site. In the rare cases where
learners do not bring lunch, the teachers have an emergency supply of bread, butter and peanut butter and make sandwiches in such cases. The total number of learners at Ladybug Primary School is 686 learners, with over 90% of this being Black learners. Refer to Figure 5.
Research site
Province KwaZulu-Natal
District Umlazi
Town Amanzimtoti
Urban/Rural/Township Urban
Total number of learners in terms of race and gender
Socio-economic and political context
653 Black African (327 males, 326 females)
10 Indian learners (6 males, 4 females) 16 Coloured learners (4 males, 12
females)
7 White learners (3 males, 4 females) Total: 686
Quintile 5
Figure 5: Research Site: Ladybug Primary School
Learners come from various backgrounds with diverse socio-economic households. Although majority of learners are first language Zulu speaking, many attend Ladybug Primary School to be better exposed to English.
The teacher population consists of a total of 35 educators, of which approximately 14 are government employed, while the rest are Student Governing Body (SGB) employed. The racial and gender demographics for educators are as follows:
• 11 Black African teachers (2 males, 9 females)
• 6 Indian teachers (1 male, 5 females)
• 16 White teachers (2 males, 14 females)
• 2 Coloured teachers (1 male, 1 female).
The school management consists of the principal (White female), vice principal (White male) and 3 heads of departments (all White females).
The school is adequately sized and consists of two teaching blocks, three floors each, one housing the Foundation Phase (grades R to 3) and the other accommodating the larger Senior Phase (grades 4 to 7). There is one grade R class, two grade 1 and 2 classes, four grade 3 classes and three grades 4, 5, 6 and 7 classes. Each class roughly accommodates between 28-34 learners. The school is very well resourced with a computer lab, large hall, two sick bay areas, two aftercare rooms, gender specific bathrooms on each floor and a separate administration wing (that includes a fully-fledged kitchen, staff room, offices, and foyer). Each classroom has a smart board and each educator, a PC. Further, the school has a separate computer lab for educators as well as a printing room. Ladybug Primary offers a wide variety of extra-curricular activities, some of which include soccer, cricket, netball, rugby, and swimming. Sporting facilities include a large swimming pool, cricket pitch, netball court and a large athletic field.
Physical Education or PE is carried out by two coaches and educators only assist with after school sport specific to certain terms in the school year.
Although the school premises are well maintained by two maintenance men, the littering of school grounds due to learners was a concern for the management and thus, the tuck- shop was closed and is now only available during large school events. During my time spent conducting my research, I was met with a diverse group of teachers, who mostly were welcoming and eager to be part of my research. Therefore, this site was optimal for my research as it allowed me access to a diverse group of accommodating educators in order to understand their perceptions and understandings of gender diverse individuals. I will now discuss the steps and procedures that I undertook to ensure my desired participants and research objectives.