Abstract:

At different times South Africa has become home to peoples from different countries. When the Dutch colonized the Cape in the 1600s they brought with them slaves from Malaysia, Indonesia, and India. The growth of the South African mining industry in the 1800s and 1900s attracted workers from many Southern African countries. Since the advent of democracy in 1994, South Africa has experienced another wave of newcomers – people fleeing wars, drought and poverty from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Angola, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Somalia and Ethiopia. These refugees seek education and employment. Provided that they are not subject to victimization, harassment and xenophobia, these refugees add value to the country. Proceeding from the feminist axiom that the personal is political this presentation narrates the pedagogic journeys of teachers who have been granted refugee status in South Africa and who have been employed by Sacred Heart College (SHC), a private, privileged school in Johannesburg. In an arrangement that juxtaposes privilege with destitution, SHC runs the 326 (3-6pm) programme on its campus, in which refugee teachers who have obtained teacher qualifications from their countries of origin are employed to teach refugee children. The programme is based on a modified version of the South African National Curriculum. The narratives explore the notion of a pedagogy of ‘refuge’ as refugee teachers and students try to negotiate the curriculum so as to blend into the fabric of the South African education system while being sensitive to their unique social and pedagogic needs. The presentation is premised on the contention that curriculum is not neutral or apolitical, but is shaped by who teaches what to whom, why and how.

Keywords:

Curriculum leadership.