Abstract:

In this article, we discuss the experiences of learners who face xenophobia in South Africa from the angle of scholarship of teaching and learning (SoLT). While extensive research has been conducted on xenophobia, few studies have specifically examined its impact on school-going children, whose presence in South Africa is not by default. We explore their lived experiences of learners and juxtapose how scholarship of teaching and learning can contribute to recurriculisation towards improve undergraduate teacher education module to promote diversity. To theorise our findings, we tap into Whitehouse and Lanman’s (2014) notion of social cohesion. For data collection, we used participatory action research approach. We posed two questions, what are the experiences of learners facing xenophobia and how can scholarship of teaching and learning in UoT can contribute towards diversity? Through a series of interviews and group discussions, we engaged with a diverse group of 13 participants, who consisted of 10 migrant learners and 3 colleagues from SoLT. The study found that teacher education has a role to play towards diversity and that scholarship of teaching and learning in UoT can broaden its scope to tackle problematic issues such as xenophobia, school violence among other trajectories. Based on the findings, we argue that scholarship of teaching and learning at UoT can be reimagined towards contributing to recurriculisation with aim to promote diversity and inclusion within South African classrooms.

Keywords:

SoLT, xenophobia, social cohesion, cultural responsive schools, initial teacher education, migrant learners, violence, decoloniality.