UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA
College of Education
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
TMS3731: Teaching Social
Sciences in the Senior Phase
Assignment 2 — Semester 1, 2026
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
TMS3731
Module Code:
Teaching Social Sciences in the Senior Phase
Module Name:
Assignment 2
Assignment:
24 June 2026
Due Date:
50
Total Marks:
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for TMS3731 — UNISA 2026
, UNISA | TMS3731 Teaching Social Sciences – Assignment 2
Question 1: Human Rights Education – Grade 9 History: Apartheid in South
Africa
Human rights education (HRE) in South African schools is firmly grounded in the post-
apartheid constitutional order, which enshrines dignity, equality, and freedom as the foun-
dational values of a democratic state (Tibbitts and Fernekes, 2011). When learners make
discriminatory comments during a history lesson on apartheid, the teacher faces both a dis-
ciplinary challenge and a significant teachable moment. Responding thoughtfully to such an
incident is itself an act of human rights education because it models the very values the cur-
riculum seeks to promote (Department of Education, 2001:3).
1.1 Two Democratic Values to Promote
The first democratic value to promote is human dignity. Section 10 of the Constitution
of the Republic of South Africa (1996) declares that every person has inherent dignity and
the right to have that dignity respected and protected. When discriminatory comments are
made in the classroom, they directly violate this right. The teacher must make explicit that
no learner’s background, race, or culture diminishes their worth as a person. Locating this
value within the apartheid lesson is particularly powerful: learners are studying a system that
legally denied human dignity on the basis of race, and discriminatory comments in the present
moment are a direct echo of that injustice (Tibbitts and Fernekes, 2011).
The second democratic value is equality and non-racism. The Manifesto on Values, Edu-
cation and Democracy (Department of Education, 2001:5) lists non-racism explicitly among
the ten core values that schools must transmit. Post-apartheid South Africa was founded on
a deliberate rejection of racial hierarchy, and the Social Sciences curriculum is one of the key
sites where this rejection is enacted pedagogically. When a learner makes a racially discrimina-
tory comment, the teacher reinforces equality not by dismissing or punishing in isolation, but
by engaging the class in a reflective conversation about the historical roots and contemporary
harm of such attitudes.
1.2 One Strategy to Encourage Inclusivity and Respect
A restorative dialogue circle is the most appropriate strategy in this context. Rather than
responding punitively, the teacher pauses the lesson and convenes a brief circle discussion
Page 2 of 15
College of Education
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
TMS3731: Teaching Social
Sciences in the Senior Phase
Assignment 2 — Semester 1, 2026
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
TMS3731
Module Code:
Teaching Social Sciences in the Senior Phase
Module Name:
Assignment 2
Assignment:
24 June 2026
Due Date:
50
Total Marks:
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for TMS3731 — UNISA 2026
, UNISA | TMS3731 Teaching Social Sciences – Assignment 2
Question 1: Human Rights Education – Grade 9 History: Apartheid in South
Africa
Human rights education (HRE) in South African schools is firmly grounded in the post-
apartheid constitutional order, which enshrines dignity, equality, and freedom as the foun-
dational values of a democratic state (Tibbitts and Fernekes, 2011). When learners make
discriminatory comments during a history lesson on apartheid, the teacher faces both a dis-
ciplinary challenge and a significant teachable moment. Responding thoughtfully to such an
incident is itself an act of human rights education because it models the very values the cur-
riculum seeks to promote (Department of Education, 2001:3).
1.1 Two Democratic Values to Promote
The first democratic value to promote is human dignity. Section 10 of the Constitution
of the Republic of South Africa (1996) declares that every person has inherent dignity and
the right to have that dignity respected and protected. When discriminatory comments are
made in the classroom, they directly violate this right. The teacher must make explicit that
no learner’s background, race, or culture diminishes their worth as a person. Locating this
value within the apartheid lesson is particularly powerful: learners are studying a system that
legally denied human dignity on the basis of race, and discriminatory comments in the present
moment are a direct echo of that injustice (Tibbitts and Fernekes, 2011).
The second democratic value is equality and non-racism. The Manifesto on Values, Edu-
cation and Democracy (Department of Education, 2001:5) lists non-racism explicitly among
the ten core values that schools must transmit. Post-apartheid South Africa was founded on
a deliberate rejection of racial hierarchy, and the Social Sciences curriculum is one of the key
sites where this rejection is enacted pedagogically. When a learner makes a racially discrimina-
tory comment, the teacher reinforces equality not by dismissing or punishing in isolation, but
by engaging the class in a reflective conversation about the historical roots and contemporary
harm of such attitudes.
1.2 One Strategy to Encourage Inclusivity and Respect
A restorative dialogue circle is the most appropriate strategy in this context. Rather than
responding punitively, the teacher pauses the lesson and convenes a brief circle discussion
Page 2 of 15
