In constructing their racialized identities, what are the challenges and threats they face. The word 'choice' is used with the writer's recognition of the dynamic nature of the interaction between individual and social context in the process of identity formation (Campbell 1992, cited in Francis 2005).
Historical Context of Chatsworth
To have a better idea of the main participants in this study, one needs to know the larger community from which they come. I will also discuss Mountainside Secondary in more detail so that a better understanding of the research site can be gained.
Mountainside in Context
Furthermore, colored and African families moving into areas not historically inhabited by their own race are bound to experience a sense of being different or of being "the other" (Carrim 1998). The school, which was previously racially exclusive, admitting only Indians, now admits colored and African students.
Organization of Thesis
In order to fully understand the type of school that Mountainside Secondary is, the history of the change in schooling in South Africa will be looked at in more detail. In order to fully understand the type of school that Mountainside Secondary is, the history of the change in schooling in South Africa must be looked at more fully.
Changes made in order to change Racial Composition of Schools
This resulted in the desegregation of the school, with students from Indian, Colored and African groups attending it. His study included schools where students of color and Native Americans constituted the dominant racial group in the school.
Conclusion
The second part of the chapter describes the research method, which includes semi-structured interviews, along with the reasons why it was chosen over structured interviews and unstructured interviews. The final section discusses data analysis as well as research ethics and how I incorporated this aspect into my research design. I chose a semi-structured interview over a structured interview as I wanted a degree of flexibility in the order of topics to be discussed.
In order to understand the data obtained during qualitative research, data analysis is required. The consents of the students' parents, the principal and the school management were also requested and obtained.
Introduction
They did not want to try to get along with students of other racial groups. From the above paragraph it can be seen that there are many contradictions and complex perspectives that emerged in my study. This contradiction shows the excitement of doing research as we don't get results that can be neatly divided into this or that.
As my chapter elaborates, this contradiction can be explained by the fact that the participants do not want to admit that they have discriminatory ideas, as this is inconsistent with the whole spirit of a nation striving for unity.
Participants do not use race as an identification marker
At Mountainside Secondary School, the Indian learners make up the majority group, making up eighty-two percent of the school population. One explanation why the Indian learners in the study did not mention race could be, as Tatum (2000) explains, that they are the majority racial group in the school and take this aspect for granted. Again, a possible explanation could be that the Indian learners were not subjected to discrimination due to the assimilation policy of the school which favors policies familiar to Indian learners.
Another explanation is that the Indian group is the majority in the school and so students belonging to other racial groups have to follow the majority students. Stars on the screen and in the music world have an effect on the people with whom students identify.
Participants are not following old categories of defining themselves
The next section will deal with how the participants develop themselves and how these deftnitions differ from previous ideas about themselves. Participants no longer hang on to old definitions of themselves and let this limit them. I didn't mention being Indian because even though we may be African, Indian or white, we are still the same person - only our color may be different.
Once again, the same scenario plays out as is the case in the answers of the previous two participants in that learners no longer define themselves in close-knit small racial denominations. The third theme that emerged from my study is that participants confuse culture and race, as will be discussed in the next section.
Participants are racialising culture
These educators thought that because a person was a Zulu speaking individual, they would automatically know how to do a Zulu dance. The reality in many cases was not like this, because the students lived in urban areas, in very western environments and rarely knew how to do this type of dance. As he says of his research, “People are assumed to be loyal to and representative of their perceived ethnic groups.
For example, an urban, middle-class, African learner in a high school would be accepted because she is supposedly Zulu, loyal to the Zulu kingdom, supportive of the IVP and yearning for Zulu. This despite the fact that this learner may be 'into' Kwaito music, like jeans and fast food and have had no exposure to or support for supposedly 'traditional' Zulu ways of doing things.
How participants perceived relationships
In terms of my research, participants responded in the following ways when asked how they compared to students from other racial groups at school. The change in the way participants think about other racial groups can be explained by the fact that schools have been desegregated for some time. From the above discussions, it seems inevitable that minority students would be traumatized by the interracial tensions evident in school.
For example, the African and colored students in the school studied come into contact with each other in response to the discrimination they experience. The stereotypes mentioned above also indicate that African students, and boys in particular, are most at risk at school.
How participants understood racial identity
These are the challenges they face in terms of developing their racial identities. Another explanation could be that they look to each other for support against racial practices as they know that other racial groups will not be able to give them this support (Tatum 1997:60). They are the strangers, looking to each other for validation and for support in negotiating racial identity in the rocky waters of a desegregated school.
In addition, participants in this study still felt that they had more in common with students of the same racial group.
Advantages, disadvantages and challenges associated with belonging to a particular race group
These are some of the challenges participants face when it comes to constructing their racial identity at Mountainside Secondary School. My findings correspond to a limited extent with those discovered by Soudien (1998:16) when he says of African students at a predominantly colored school: '. Jonas, a young African man at a former colored school, had this to say: “I think I can say I'm proud to be here.”
They would feel like they had to sacrifice their true selves to be accepted at school.
Participants' futures
Of African students attending private, predominantly white schools, he says: "As a group, they will be relatively free to change their position in society and act in accordance with their own perceived interests, they will have some control over their future work activities and, well after choice within this country". In terms of racial identity, therefore, this would be an affirming experience for African students. Indian and Colored participants, however, expressed reservations about their future in South Africa.
The above responses show us quite clearly that the African participants are very positive about their future in South Africa as black empowerment favors them in South Africa. Indian and black participants, on the other hand, are pessimistic about what the future holds as they do not have as much priority as African students in black empowerment programs.
Conclusion
In the next section on how the participants define themselves, it became clear that my sample group of eight students does not adhere to old traditions of naming themselves. It can thus be seen that the participants begin to weld themselves into a national consciousness, the rainbow discourse, rather than confining themselves to narrow enclaves of race. In addition, my study of eight learning participants reveals that participants confuse culture with race.
Consistent with the idea that students get along better with other racial groups than was seen at the beginning of school desegregation, it was also noted that participants do not see it as imperative to identify with a particular racial group. On the other hand, African students felt that in the new spirit of black empowerment in South Africa that spawned practices such as affirmative action, they were in an advantageous position and felt very positive about their future in this country.
Conclusion
In terms of racial identity formation, this will be a positive experience for African and Colored learners, as they will be accepted and not feel as if they are different or strange compared to other learners. The Indian learners in the school enjoyed the most power and in terms of identity construction this would be a confirmation. Colored and African learners, on the other hand, were the recipients of negative stereotypes, so it would be extremely harmful to them in terms of racial identity construction.
My research revealed that the Indian students at the school, who make up the majority, felt that they had a distinct racial advantage over students from other racial groups. In terms of race-based identities, these participants do not feel valued in the new South Africa.
Recommendations
Vally and Dalamba's (1999:58) research also found that the dominant group, which constituted the racial majority in the school (in their study, whites were the dominant race), enjoyed advantages that were denied to the subordinate racial groups who were the minority in the school. school, this type of dynamic would negatively impact the racial identity of subordinate group members. Neither at the national nor at the provincial level are there initiatives to help students develop anti-racist and anti-discriminatory awareness at school. Fortunately, the Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor, has anticipated this problem and is advocating that certain schools no longer charge fees in the future to ensure that every student has fair access to educational opportunities.
These methods, which involve triangulation, may perhaps remove some of the contradictions evident in my study. My name is Kasambal Govender and I am a master's student in the School of Education, at the University of Natal, Durban.
