Federalism Vol. 1

An overview

The quality of any national education system depends on its teachers. In recent years in South Africa, teacher supply has become a matter of national concern.

In 1994, the South African teacher education landscape was fragmented across a wide variety of institutional sites. Ten years later, initial teacher education was taking place in a very different environment, shaped by a decade of far-reaching legislative, policy and structural changes. While change was necessary and inevitable after the democratic transition of 1994, successive waves of internal restructuring, college incorporation and higher education mergers placed heavy demands on both academics and management.

Education in South Africa is in crisis. Low literacy and numeracy rates, poor discipline, and a sense of despair pervade the education landscape. At the same time, educators are called upon to achieve more, with universities tasked to produce graduates capable of exercising responsible and reflective citizenship in a competitive and globalising world. However, universities face very complex demands and resource constraints. In this sobering context, this book provides an opportunity to learn from a bold experiment in teaching and learning taking place across two very different South African universities, one historically black, and one historically white and Afrikaans.

Reflections on School Integration approaches a contentious and topical issue with level-headed insight based on solid, rigorous research. Delegates at a colloquium to define a research agenda for the future, reviewed the latest international and local research and practice in the field of desegregation and integration of schools, took stock of the status quo in research and practice, and identified new directions research should be taking. This publication features the papers of a range of colloquium contributors. Both accessible and useful, it will be of value to those with an interest in contemporary education policy and developments.