The Indian teacher's perception of the Black teacher's occupational world
The aims of this study were threefold : * Firstly, by means of a literature study, it examined the possible misconceptions that Indian teachers have of the black teachers' occupational world and the circumstances which have led to these misconceptions. * Secondly, an empirical survey consisting of structural questionnaires were constructed in order to ascertain the Indian teachers' perception of the black teachers' occupational world. * Thirdly, certain recommendations were made which could possibly eliminate the Indian teachers' misconceptions of the black teachers' occupational world. Education in South Africa is marked by severely discriminatory inequalities of provision. These inequalities coincide with ethnically fragmented structures of control centred on "own affairs" departments of education answerable to the white, Indian and coloured chambers of the tricameral parliament, while black education falls under the Department of Education and Training. The Department of National Education plays an overall co¬ordinating role. In all, the South African education system comprises eighteen separate departments of education, linked through weak co-operative arrangements and separated by marked resource imbalances. Indian teacher training in the RSA has reached such a significant stage in its administrative and curricular development that one is apt to overlook the vicissitudes through which it has passed. Inadequate communication, fostered by the policy of separate development (apartheid), has resulted in Indian teachers having little understanding of the black teachers' occupational world. In view of the limited and misleading information, perceptions of each other's professions are often misconstrued and consequently, a large degree of misunderstanding and mistrust exists between the two groups. Perception in this context is identified as the understanding or view that educators have of their occupational world as life-world. The education system that has evolved in South Africa this century is one of extraordinary complexity. The objectives of the National Party were segregated, differentiated, and unequal education for different racial groups, and political control over all education in the interests of whites. In short, its policy was to divide and control. Black education has always served the needs of those who provided it. Since its inception, black education has never addressed the needs and aspirations of the blacks in South Africa. Decades of apartheid education and rising pupil numbers have resulted in gross inequalities and huge backlogs in provision, especially in black education. The conditions under which black teachers work are poor and demoralising. Quality in education is in the first place dependent upon the quality of the teacher, his qualifications, experience, competence in the classroom, professional confidence and commitment. In all these areas the black teacher is under siege and fighting for survival. In order to establish the Indian teachers' perception of the black teachers' occupational world, teachers from Indian secondary schools were approached with the request to complete a questionnaire. Prior to the submission of the mailed questionnaire a simple random sample, within the target population, of teachers riving in and around Durban, were interviewed. On the basis of these informal unstructured interviews, the questionnaire was refined before submission to the effective population. Statistical analyses were conducted to fulfil the aims of the investigation and to test the research hypotheses stated. On the basis of the aims of this study certain recommendations were also formulated : * That the South African Teachers Council must be established. * That educational institutions be established and/or expanded where black teachers can improve their qualifications through attendance and/or distance education. That the training of adequately qualified teacher educators should become a top priority in black education systems. That the sensitivities of each community be respected. The present research is an exploratory study in determining the Indian teachers' perception of the black teachers' occupational world. It is the hope of the researcher that the present study will serve as a catalyst for further research.
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