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staff community at Howard College, a map to represent their workplace was found not to be necessary.
Students were also identified by the year they graduated secondary education, to give some insight as to how recently they had been enrolled in secondary education. To ensure anonymity, participants were not listed by name but rather by their subject of expertise. Academics are further identified by their position in the university to differentiate those who may have a similar specialty. A list of the participants and their code names can be found in Appendix One. The interview guide for staff members can be found in Appendix Two and the interview guide for students can be found in Appendix Three.
The perspectives provided by students serve to understand the experiences of eThekwini residents in the formal education system. Academics provide insight into the education and work done within local communities and how this work can be positively influenced by the cognitive, asset-based, and/or participatory development approaches. A thematic approach is used to analyse the data and this evaluation is expanded in this section.
4.1 Understanding the Level of Water Education
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such as cleaning dirty water, saving water, and so forth. These concepts are evidently components of the third and fourth stages of water education that is previously discussed in Chapter Two; importance and uses of water for human consumption. However, when asked what they believe has impacted their water consciousness up to that day, the same student explain that they had taken an interest in the concepts of environment and water and had therefore chosen to take Geography in secondary school. This student provides the following explanation:
I think it’s because I did geography (2012-2014, elective, from grade 10-12). So I’m aware of water and how we don’t have water in South Africa. And I’m trying my best to conserve water and I’m well aware of the whole drought issue. (Social Work, graduated secondary education in 2014, 2017).
Alternatively, during a separate one-on-one interview a student who had not taken Geography in secondary school, provides a different perspective when asked if they have been provided with water education. This student provides a contrasting response, demonstrating that the levels of water education within eThekwini are vastly different. This other student responded by stating the following:
I don’t think I’ve actually received water education, but I think I’ve been taught about water at some point in my life. … For me, I think that what they taught us isn’t water education … it’s like saying AIDS is a disease that you get if you don’t use a condom, but that’s not actually educating someone about anything, you’re just telling them how to not get [AIDS]. I feel as though we’re taught not to waste water, but I feel as though that’s not water education because that didn’t teach me anything about water… You know what I mean? They were just giving us tips on how to not waste water, but it wasn’t really education, because we didn’t gain anything from it. Well, I didn’t.
(Community Development and Anthropology, graduated secondary education in 2012, 2017).
In addition to these student responses, the majority of participants indicate that they believe they have received water education mostly in primary school and could not remember receiving any in secondary or tertiary education. Two participants believe that their water education is due to their own self-
education and tertiary education, through their own interests and initiative to read-up on the subject.
Another two participants did not believe that their water education truly comes from formal education, but rather through their own family members, particularly elders. One of the students said the following when explaining who has provided the most water education: “I think my gran, because I know when the water bill is high that she’s the one suffering.” (Industrial Psychology, graduated secondary education in 2012, 2017). Of all the interviews conducted, only one participant believed that they have been provided with water education throughout primary, secondary, and tertiary education and is well aware of the
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issues surrounding water and the appropriate conservation efforts that should be made. This participant has the following to say about how they truly came to understand the importance of water conservation:
“I keep all the taps closed, make sure there’s no leaks, I don’t wash my car anymore. The general impacts of the droughts, seeing how it affected people made me change. In my community there’s not much water and it’s a struggle to get it, to go and fill buckets.”
(Electrical Engineering, graduated secondary education in 2012, 2017).
This perspective resonates strongly with the input that UKZN academics provided during interviews. By seeing the impacts of water scarcity and the lack of availability, an understanding of water conservation seems to become more common. In understanding the student perspectives of their perceived level of received water education, academic staff members of Howard Campus also have some interesting experiences to share regarding the water education of eThekwini residents.
4.1.2 Staff Perspectives
The UKZN staff members that have been interviewed have experience teaching students about water, environmental and conservation issues, have participated in projects that engages locals regarding these matters, and/or have worked extensively on campaigns and with Municipality and government representatives on environment, water, sanitation, housing, and land issues. When asked what they believe is the understanding of water education within local communities, UKZN academics all had similar perspectives. There are two participants that believe in the extreme, implying that people do not value their surrounding environments and are not conscious of how their actions affect any surrounding water sources. One participant explained that many community members blame the municipality for the lack of water. Eight participants believe that people are aware of water conservation and the importance of water, while five of these participants explained that many residents directly rely on their surrounding environment and therefore understand how their actions affect the environment, and how these actions cycle back to affect them. One of these interviewees explained that,
When you work in informal settlements and you see how harsh the environment can be on people and then you see how they try to sustain it. … the understanding of the extent that the environment affects them. People’s awareness of environmental risk I think has increased quite dramatically in the last while. More of what’s becoming apparent to me is that people are understanding this relationship between environment and development. (Geographer, specializes in social and environmental dynamics, and Senior Lecturer, 2017).
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Five staff members believe that when evaluating local residents’ level of water education, considering the class dynamics and physical challenges that many locals face is important. They expressed that these factors can affect a participant’s level of environmental awareness, appreciation of natural resources, and the access to resources such as water and education. In particular, one interviewee explained that, “... people perceive the problem differently and if we go down to the rural areas … water is very highly valued, because people actually have to walk to a river to collect in buckets, otherwise there is a municipal tap provided.” (Environmental Scientist, specializes in environmental geology and geochemistry, and Lecturer, 2017). Additionally, when discussing wealthier residents the following participant believed that, “[t]he elite communities … live in better quality environments and are more likely to support campaigns to build environmental awareness, conservation issues, etc., so there’s a strong class component to that awareness.” (Geographer, specializes in urban/rural sociology, and Professor, 2017). There are therefore mixed opinions of who is prioritizing the conservation of water and what factors outside of education are imposing on their ability to practice water conservation.