Race and Inclusion in South African Education: Analysis of Black-African Learners’ Perceptions in Previously Advantaged White Schools

Abstract

South Africa has adopted inclusive education system since 2001. The White Paper 6 was the first indication that inclusive education was to be implemented in schools. The implementation of inclusive education coincided with the political changes to de-racialize the population and bring national unity and cohesion. However South African remains one of the racially and ethnically divided nation in the world. This paper therefore analyses the role of race in relation to inclusive education. Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Realism (CR) were used as lenses to understand the phenomena of race and inclusion. Interviews were conducted with selected black-African learners who attended school in previously advantaged white South African Secondary schools. An inductive analytical framework was used to understand the patterns and trends from the interview data. Among the findings is that while there have been policy shift towards inclusive education, exclusionary tendencies are still prevalent due to racially based attitudes in South African schools.