Sarah McNutt
Sarah McNutt
Cornell College
Participant in the 2010 ACM Student Symposium on Off-Campus Study
- Program: Cornell College EDU-260 Policy to Practice: Comparative Education Systems, South Africa and Namibia - October 2008
- Graduation: May 2010
- Majors: French and Politics
Post-Apartheid Language Policy in South Africa and Namibia
The implementation of a national policy in relation to language of instruction in post-apartheid South Africa and Namibia in primary schools has been an on-going struggle.
During October 2008, I had the opportunity to participate in Professor Gayle Luck's course on comparative education policy. Over the course of three and a half weeks, we traveled from Johannesburg, South Africa to Windhoek, Namibia as well as to several smaller villages in Northern Namibia.
Throughout the course, policy research was supplemented by unique opportunities for experiential learning. I believe our experiential learning opportunities can be categorized into three primary areas: 1) visits to largely rural primary and secondary schools, 2) meetings with teachers as well as government officials, and 3) time spent at cultural and historic sites of importance. These opportunities provided insight into why language policy at the primary school level has failed to develop in these countries.
In this presentation, I will discuss three factors. First, the political history of both South Africa and Namibia which makes it politically impossible to institute certain languages as the language of instruction, particularly Afrikaans. Second, the continued use of tribal languages in home environments and lack of federal resources for classroom materials. Finally, the fact that many parents believe their children will be most competitive in the global arena if they are educated in English from a young age. The generation of teachers currently teaching, however, is almost universally not qualified to teach in English nor multiple tribal languages.
Photos and materials on this page are courtesy of the presenter.
Photos and the contents and materials in this presentation may not be reproduced or used in any way without the express, written consent of the presenter.