SAE3701 NOTAS
Glossary/ word list
Colonialism= unequal relationship between colonists and the colonial power, and colony and
indigenous people.
Colonisation= large political body or country which with some exceptions, conquers and rules over
territories that are outside of its own country’s borders
Colonization process is also about ideological control of colonized people through schooling for
example.
Mission education= education provided for learners by missionaries and churches
1800’s – 1953. Also associated with the education of black SA learners.
Precolonial Society= period before the arrival of colonisers in specific territory.
In SA context precolonial societies existed before arrival of Dutch in 1652 and before the extensive
colonization process by the British in 1800’s.
Apartheid Education= education system existed during apartheid period.
‘blanket term’ for different education systems at the time. ‘black, coloured, Indian and white’
Bantu education- parliamentary act that was passed in 1953 that introduced mass state schooling
specifically for black/ African learners.
Group Areas Act= this piece of apartheid legislation decreed that different SA race groups.
Including coloured and Indian people) had to live, school, run businesses in designated areas.
Much of SA current urban and rural landscape has its roots in apartheid spatial planning.
LEARNING UNIT 1
Historical overview of South African Education
Precolonial education
Prior to mission education ‘precolonial’ or ‘pre-industrial’ education was the norm for the majority
of South Africans.
Christie- the right to learn (Chapter 1)
Precolonial societies ‘informal’ education state and private schooling ‘formal education
‘informal’ refers to the way children and adults learnt in precolonial societies. There were no formal
schools, people learnt from ‘experience’, from ‘older members’ of the community and through the
‘oral transmission’ of knowledge and ‘social values’ (morals)
Seroto- African Journal of Indigenous knowledge systems (2011: 78)
Western viewpoint; formal schooling and education were synonymous (same)
Education should be understood as ‘the whole process by which one generation transmits its
culture to the succeeding generation’
Education is a ‘process by which people are prepared to live effectively and efficiently in their
environment’
Indigenous education was closely intertwined with Social life it embraced;
• Character building
• The development of physical aptitudes
, • The acquisition of moral qualities that are an integral part of adulthood.
The education of the African before the coming of the European can be described as an education
that prepared one for responsibilities as an adult in ones home, village and tribe.
Education within local communities involved;
• The oral histories of the group
• Tales of heroism and treachery
• Practice in the skills necessary for survival in changing environment.
Oral tradition, oral culture and oral lore;
➢ Broadly messages or testimonies that are transmitted orally from one generation to another.
➢ Often took the form of ballads, songs, chants
➢ Main focus was to teach about morality, religion, philosophy, wisdom, geography, history,
politics etc.
Seroto (2011;79)
Indigenous education in Africa was intimately integrated with the social, cultural, artistic, religious
and recreational life of the people.
Education took place through the socialization process which had to do with the acquisition of
cultural norms, values and beliefs, and rules or interaction with others.
The process of socialization begins within the context of the family
❖ Family has a fundamental function of shaping a child’s attitudes and behavior.
❖ The family also determines the child’s initial social status and identity in terms of race,
religion and social class.
Education is seen as the means whereby individuals ‘are recruited to the members of a culture
and whereby culture is maintained’
Education of indigenous people transmitted;
i) Informally by parents and elders through a socialization process
ii) Formally through initiation rites or apprenticeship/ craftsmen
Formal and informal education
Informal education- the lifelong process by which every person acquires and accumulates
knowledge, skills, attitudes and insights from daily experiences and exposure to the environment.
Formal education- the institutionalized, chronologically graded and hierarchically structured
educational system.
Seroto 2011:84
Music and dance
Music and dance play a special role in SA society
People have sung and danced to express joy or sadness to reinforce cultural beliefs and values.
Sang and dance were often regarded as living records of past and present events and traditions.
Indigenous music equipped young generations with knowledge about past and present events and
traditions.
It was through music and dance those social norms, traditions and beliefs of a community were
depicted.
,The co-existence of different and simultaneous rhythms created a strong sense of community and
a highly interactive mode of learning.
The colonial period: mission education
1. What did 19th century colonialism entail in Southern Africa? (pg 11)
❖ Brought about political and social change but still maintained social inequalities and
injustices for black and working class people.
❖ Introduced formal education in SA through missionary schools which also provided formal
education to black learners, however this was still inferior and along racial lines eg.
Learners and black people had to follow different rules.
❖ European way of life was imposed on Bantu people through missionaries, merchants and
colonial government who sought to decentralize and destroy tribes and homelands.
❖ Colonisers introduced more trade/industry and commerce in SA and taught the European
way of life (lifestyle, values and teachings) and work ethics. More black labourers wre
needed to do manual labour in colonial trade and commercial industries, as well as for
nationalist white people.
Missionary- Merchants + traders + colonial government
2. Explain what Christie (1996:69) means when she states that “Missionary activity often went
hand in hand with merchants and traders and the colonial government’ (pg. 11)
▪ Missionaries often worked closely with merchants and traders as well as the colonial
government. They all sought the same aim of peace while differing civilization and to establish
a society based on individual property and personal industry.
▪ Missionaries spread the Gospel and taught Christian values to black learners and indigenous
black people in SA which helped merchants, traders and manufacturers open their markets
and justified the actions of Christian teachings.
▪ Missionaries promoted ideas and practices which fitted in with the merchants/traders as well.
▪ Missionaries taught Western attitudes and values to black SA and not only changed the idea of
religion but the believed and emphasized work by producing goods to sell.
Missionary
3. How did colonization and missionary education change precolonial societies? (pg 11)
o Colonialism attempted to undermine traditional, indigenous/ autochthonous social structures.
This was done through conquest and ideological control.
o There was emphasis on Christianity which undermined existing beliefs amongst indigenous
peoples.
o Schooling and literacy were encourage and were provided by missionaries and church schools.
o Literacy was considered important so that children could read the bible.
o Mission schools often provided a workforce for capitalist, colonial society.
4. Missionary education expanded during the 19th and 20th centuries (until 1953/4) mainly due to
British and European missionaries. What was taught in schools in the 19 th century? (pg. 12)
• Basic reading and writing (literacy)
• The Christian doctrine
• Manual work and physical training- mission education stressed the value of hard work and
discipline.
• There were gender divisions- some boys were taught/trained to be carpenters, blacksmiths and
masons where some girls learnt needlework and cooking.
• Some learners were trained as catechists and teachers to organize services, spread the
Gospel among their people and teach basic education in mission schools.
, 5. What educational changes were introduced in the first half of the 20th century? (pg12)
- Period saw the continued but expanded work of missionary schools where more missionary
where ‘set up’. Some of these schools were established in this period for higher education
and training but most only offered 2-3 years of schooling.
- As people became more urbanized the focus of missionary schools/work also broadened.
They were no longer simply operating from mission stations, they now worked in
compounds and locations (Christie 1999:76)
6. What kinds of values did mission schools attempt to transmit? (pg 12)
➢ Values of western culture and western work
➢ Christian values through teaching the Gospel and the Bible to black learners
➢ The Christian doctrine was used to spread western attitudes and values
➢ Values of hard work and discipline through work.
Christie’s criticisms on mission education
7. What criticisms of mission education does Christie put forward? Discuss the validity of her
criticisms (pg 12)
• It has been argued by Christie that mission schools taught discipline and the value of hard
work which meant that social class positions were often reproduced. For example; working
class children went into working class positions in the economy.
• Critics argue that these values helped to prepare black people to accept a subordinate
position in society by accepting rather than questioning colonization.
• Although some mission schools were racially mixed there were segregationist practices in
schools, especially boarding schools.
• Critics argue that low levels of schooling were the norm. learners often went to primary
school only and had 2-3 years of schooling.
• Missionary values prepared people for subordinate roles in society and in the workforce.
Some schools taught skills which were useful in the workplace (wagon making and needle
work) but these skills tended to maintain social class differentiation. Few learners became
professionals.
• Many black learners went on to become members of the working class rather than attaining
the ‘higher’ status of the middle class.
8. Are previous SA education systems ‘enfolded’ in the present? Think about Christie’s discussion
of mission schools- do they differ from current schools? Are there similarities? (pg 13)
▪ Previous SA education systems are ‘enfolded’ in the present.
▪ Many education systems of the past have similarities. Or example, they still have separate
systems of schooling in place which are segregated along social and racial lines.
▪ There are educational inequalities which still exist. For example, private schools have fewer
numbers of learners with adequate financial resources coming rom private funding while
state/ public schools are government funded and lead and lead to inferior quality and
standards of education and are often overcrowded.
▪ Government schools, especially those in black rural areas, may have a negative effect on
learner performance and teachers may feel discontent and unsatisfied often leading to
strike actions.
▪ Previous education systems have also changed the way the government views education
and educational reform by providing education afor all children at primary and secondary
levels.
▪ Curriculum changes have taken place, no longer focusing not only on providing basic
education and skills but also teaching vast content material and skills to offard edqual
opportunity for all learners in the workplace.
Glossary/ word list
Colonialism= unequal relationship between colonists and the colonial power, and colony and
indigenous people.
Colonisation= large political body or country which with some exceptions, conquers and rules over
territories that are outside of its own country’s borders
Colonization process is also about ideological control of colonized people through schooling for
example.
Mission education= education provided for learners by missionaries and churches
1800’s – 1953. Also associated with the education of black SA learners.
Precolonial Society= period before the arrival of colonisers in specific territory.
In SA context precolonial societies existed before arrival of Dutch in 1652 and before the extensive
colonization process by the British in 1800’s.
Apartheid Education= education system existed during apartheid period.
‘blanket term’ for different education systems at the time. ‘black, coloured, Indian and white’
Bantu education- parliamentary act that was passed in 1953 that introduced mass state schooling
specifically for black/ African learners.
Group Areas Act= this piece of apartheid legislation decreed that different SA race groups.
Including coloured and Indian people) had to live, school, run businesses in designated areas.
Much of SA current urban and rural landscape has its roots in apartheid spatial planning.
LEARNING UNIT 1
Historical overview of South African Education
Precolonial education
Prior to mission education ‘precolonial’ or ‘pre-industrial’ education was the norm for the majority
of South Africans.
Christie- the right to learn (Chapter 1)
Precolonial societies ‘informal’ education state and private schooling ‘formal education
‘informal’ refers to the way children and adults learnt in precolonial societies. There were no formal
schools, people learnt from ‘experience’, from ‘older members’ of the community and through the
‘oral transmission’ of knowledge and ‘social values’ (morals)
Seroto- African Journal of Indigenous knowledge systems (2011: 78)
Western viewpoint; formal schooling and education were synonymous (same)
Education should be understood as ‘the whole process by which one generation transmits its
culture to the succeeding generation’
Education is a ‘process by which people are prepared to live effectively and efficiently in their
environment’
Indigenous education was closely intertwined with Social life it embraced;
• Character building
• The development of physical aptitudes
, • The acquisition of moral qualities that are an integral part of adulthood.
The education of the African before the coming of the European can be described as an education
that prepared one for responsibilities as an adult in ones home, village and tribe.
Education within local communities involved;
• The oral histories of the group
• Tales of heroism and treachery
• Practice in the skills necessary for survival in changing environment.
Oral tradition, oral culture and oral lore;
➢ Broadly messages or testimonies that are transmitted orally from one generation to another.
➢ Often took the form of ballads, songs, chants
➢ Main focus was to teach about morality, religion, philosophy, wisdom, geography, history,
politics etc.
Seroto (2011;79)
Indigenous education in Africa was intimately integrated with the social, cultural, artistic, religious
and recreational life of the people.
Education took place through the socialization process which had to do with the acquisition of
cultural norms, values and beliefs, and rules or interaction with others.
The process of socialization begins within the context of the family
❖ Family has a fundamental function of shaping a child’s attitudes and behavior.
❖ The family also determines the child’s initial social status and identity in terms of race,
religion and social class.
Education is seen as the means whereby individuals ‘are recruited to the members of a culture
and whereby culture is maintained’
Education of indigenous people transmitted;
i) Informally by parents and elders through a socialization process
ii) Formally through initiation rites or apprenticeship/ craftsmen
Formal and informal education
Informal education- the lifelong process by which every person acquires and accumulates
knowledge, skills, attitudes and insights from daily experiences and exposure to the environment.
Formal education- the institutionalized, chronologically graded and hierarchically structured
educational system.
Seroto 2011:84
Music and dance
Music and dance play a special role in SA society
People have sung and danced to express joy or sadness to reinforce cultural beliefs and values.
Sang and dance were often regarded as living records of past and present events and traditions.
Indigenous music equipped young generations with knowledge about past and present events and
traditions.
It was through music and dance those social norms, traditions and beliefs of a community were
depicted.
,The co-existence of different and simultaneous rhythms created a strong sense of community and
a highly interactive mode of learning.
The colonial period: mission education
1. What did 19th century colonialism entail in Southern Africa? (pg 11)
❖ Brought about political and social change but still maintained social inequalities and
injustices for black and working class people.
❖ Introduced formal education in SA through missionary schools which also provided formal
education to black learners, however this was still inferior and along racial lines eg.
Learners and black people had to follow different rules.
❖ European way of life was imposed on Bantu people through missionaries, merchants and
colonial government who sought to decentralize and destroy tribes and homelands.
❖ Colonisers introduced more trade/industry and commerce in SA and taught the European
way of life (lifestyle, values and teachings) and work ethics. More black labourers wre
needed to do manual labour in colonial trade and commercial industries, as well as for
nationalist white people.
Missionary- Merchants + traders + colonial government
2. Explain what Christie (1996:69) means when she states that “Missionary activity often went
hand in hand with merchants and traders and the colonial government’ (pg. 11)
▪ Missionaries often worked closely with merchants and traders as well as the colonial
government. They all sought the same aim of peace while differing civilization and to establish
a society based on individual property and personal industry.
▪ Missionaries spread the Gospel and taught Christian values to black learners and indigenous
black people in SA which helped merchants, traders and manufacturers open their markets
and justified the actions of Christian teachings.
▪ Missionaries promoted ideas and practices which fitted in with the merchants/traders as well.
▪ Missionaries taught Western attitudes and values to black SA and not only changed the idea of
religion but the believed and emphasized work by producing goods to sell.
Missionary
3. How did colonization and missionary education change precolonial societies? (pg 11)
o Colonialism attempted to undermine traditional, indigenous/ autochthonous social structures.
This was done through conquest and ideological control.
o There was emphasis on Christianity which undermined existing beliefs amongst indigenous
peoples.
o Schooling and literacy were encourage and were provided by missionaries and church schools.
o Literacy was considered important so that children could read the bible.
o Mission schools often provided a workforce for capitalist, colonial society.
4. Missionary education expanded during the 19th and 20th centuries (until 1953/4) mainly due to
British and European missionaries. What was taught in schools in the 19 th century? (pg. 12)
• Basic reading and writing (literacy)
• The Christian doctrine
• Manual work and physical training- mission education stressed the value of hard work and
discipline.
• There were gender divisions- some boys were taught/trained to be carpenters, blacksmiths and
masons where some girls learnt needlework and cooking.
• Some learners were trained as catechists and teachers to organize services, spread the
Gospel among their people and teach basic education in mission schools.
, 5. What educational changes were introduced in the first half of the 20th century? (pg12)
- Period saw the continued but expanded work of missionary schools where more missionary
where ‘set up’. Some of these schools were established in this period for higher education
and training but most only offered 2-3 years of schooling.
- As people became more urbanized the focus of missionary schools/work also broadened.
They were no longer simply operating from mission stations, they now worked in
compounds and locations (Christie 1999:76)
6. What kinds of values did mission schools attempt to transmit? (pg 12)
➢ Values of western culture and western work
➢ Christian values through teaching the Gospel and the Bible to black learners
➢ The Christian doctrine was used to spread western attitudes and values
➢ Values of hard work and discipline through work.
Christie’s criticisms on mission education
7. What criticisms of mission education does Christie put forward? Discuss the validity of her
criticisms (pg 12)
• It has been argued by Christie that mission schools taught discipline and the value of hard
work which meant that social class positions were often reproduced. For example; working
class children went into working class positions in the economy.
• Critics argue that these values helped to prepare black people to accept a subordinate
position in society by accepting rather than questioning colonization.
• Although some mission schools were racially mixed there were segregationist practices in
schools, especially boarding schools.
• Critics argue that low levels of schooling were the norm. learners often went to primary
school only and had 2-3 years of schooling.
• Missionary values prepared people for subordinate roles in society and in the workforce.
Some schools taught skills which were useful in the workplace (wagon making and needle
work) but these skills tended to maintain social class differentiation. Few learners became
professionals.
• Many black learners went on to become members of the working class rather than attaining
the ‘higher’ status of the middle class.
8. Are previous SA education systems ‘enfolded’ in the present? Think about Christie’s discussion
of mission schools- do they differ from current schools? Are there similarities? (pg 13)
▪ Previous SA education systems are ‘enfolded’ in the present.
▪ Many education systems of the past have similarities. Or example, they still have separate
systems of schooling in place which are segregated along social and racial lines.
▪ There are educational inequalities which still exist. For example, private schools have fewer
numbers of learners with adequate financial resources coming rom private funding while
state/ public schools are government funded and lead and lead to inferior quality and
standards of education and are often overcrowded.
▪ Government schools, especially those in black rural areas, may have a negative effect on
learner performance and teachers may feel discontent and unsatisfied often leading to
strike actions.
▪ Previous education systems have also changed the way the government views education
and educational reform by providing education afor all children at primary and secondary
levels.
▪ Curriculum changes have taken place, no longer focusing not only on providing basic
education and skills but also teaching vast content material and skills to offard edqual
opportunity for all learners in the workplace.
