Connecting the "divide" : narratives of five white educators who are currently teaching in Kwazulu Natal, as the only white educator in schools with predominantly black learners.

Abstract

his thesis, based on a visual study of five educators in South Africa, primarily concerns itself with the experiences of white educators who are currently teaching as the only white educator in schools with predominantly black learners. More specifically, my study is an exploratory research effort, which examines three research objectives. These are: (1) what are the experiences of white educators teaching in schools with predominantly black learners; (2) why are their experiences constructed in such ways; and (3) what is the relationship, if any, between their experiences and their social identities — such as race, gender and class. I selected ethnography as a research tool for this study, in that it encompasses the examining of visual representations for information about people, which are visual documents produced by those under study. Photographs can become stitched into the fabric of people's lives, reflecting and representing social persons and social relationships. It is therefore hoped that the visual images that the five white participants of this study take, disclose the texture of their own experiences of teaching in schools with predominantly black learners. The study participants are all currently teaching in schools within KwaZulu Natal.