Social order perspective on raising student achievement

Abstract

Despite significant and sustained gains recorded on the national secondary school leaving examinations between 1999-2004, South Africa's large-scale secondary school reform has receive little international attention. Defenders of the reforms have argued that the 'success' in raising student achievement extended beyond gains in the percentage pass rates to include increased numbers of students completing secondary schooling, a growth in the number of students eligible for admissions to university and a decline in the number of 'collapsed' secondary schools in disadvantaged communities. Using a comprehensive dataset that includes national examination results for all candidates between 1996 and 2004, survey information from a group of 'collapsed' secondary schools located in disadvantaged communities, qualitative data from school ethnographies, as well as official and unofficial documentary sources, the paper locates student achievement within a framework of structural change in the post-apartheid social order. It shows how student achievement is embedded in complex shifts in the state, economy and civil society. Specifically, the paper examines how structural shifts are enacted at the levels of timein-school, student expectations, school choice and student selectivity.

Opportunities for a democratic pedagogy: a comparative study of South African and Swedish teachers' attitudes to inclusive education

“…Fleisch (2008) describes the school development in South Africa with reference to secondary schools based on a thorough statistical review on changes since 1994. His statistical presentation indicates success in raising student achievement with an increased number of learners in secondary schools, also in disadvantaged areas.…”

“…Sweden and South Africa can be seen as verifying different phases of construct. Fleisch (2008) mentions social order as the main explaining factor of educational change as a form of construct. In Sweden the loosening up of the social systems has reached the levels of emphasising the individualistic approach, whereas the SA society is moving towards the setup of social institutions in order to stabilise the societal context.…”