Voices on Apartheid - A Minor Field Study on Teaching and Learning in the South African Reconciliation Process

Abstract: This essay is a MFS case study conducted at a South African high school in 2010. The study examines how students and teachers perceive the meeting with apartheid in a post-apartheid classroom within the framework of History and English. The empirical data consists of observations and interviews with Grade 11 students and teachers in an affluent school environment in Cape Town. The study shows that there are gaps between how the teachers and learners perceive apartheid as relevant and relatable and how a silencing classroom climate limits the space for interaction on the subject matter. From the position of the South African steering documents and a socio-cultural perspective on learning, I discuss the didactical challenges that arise from a gap between the student and teacher perceptions.