Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
Voices of transformation: unveiling critical pedagogy for social justice in South African classrooms through the lived experiences of educators
This dissertation explores how critical pedagogy in the educational landscape of South Africa presents itself in the teaching lives of five pedagogues in finding elements that amplify education as a public good and strengthen teaching for social justice. The discussion foregrounds concepts of critic...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
School of Education
2025
|
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1867613210780106752 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Snyders, Angelika |
| author2 | Omar, Yunus |
| author_browse | Omar, Yunus Snyders, Angelika |
| author_facet | Omar, Yunus Snyders, Angelika |
| author_sort | Snyders, Angelika |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | This dissertation explores how critical pedagogy in the educational landscape of South Africa presents itself in the teaching lives of five pedagogues in finding elements that amplify education as a public good and strengthen teaching for social justice. The discussion foregrounds concepts of critical pedagogy as the teacher-participants reflect on their teaching history which informs their pedagogic repertoires. In doing so, the dissertation introduces the voices and reflections of five teachers residing in the Western Cape of South Africa. The small selection of teachers from contrasting socio- economic communities offers the opportunity to tease out the similarities and contradictions in their teaching repertoires, as critical pedagogy posits that educational spaces are sites of contention intricately shaped by historical influences. It asserts the absence of political neutrality within schools and underscores the fundamentally political nature inherent in the act of teaching (Kincheloe, 2008). The goal of the dissertation is to present a window into the lives of five South African teachers who attempt to use their work as a social and cultural critique in arguing for a better and just world. By engaging their lived experiences and teaching repertoires, the dissertation draws attention to the opportunities, conditions, and contradictions within the educational landscape of South Africa that teachers often confront. The dissertation utilises critical pedagogy as a framework to consider the nuances, conflicts, and challenges that teachers in contrasting socio-economic schooling communities face. In doing so the study teases out the agentic power of teachers who critically engage education in South Africa and challenge the reproduction of injustice to be truly transformative intellectuals. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41920 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | English eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:31.718Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | School of Education |
| publisherStr | School of Education |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41920 Voices of transformation: unveiling critical pedagogy for social justice in South African classrooms through the lived experiences of educators Snyders, Angelika Omar, Yunus Badroodien, Azeem Pedagogy Social Justice South Africa This dissertation explores how critical pedagogy in the educational landscape of South Africa presents itself in the teaching lives of five pedagogues in finding elements that amplify education as a public good and strengthen teaching for social justice. The discussion foregrounds concepts of critical pedagogy as the teacher-participants reflect on their teaching history which informs their pedagogic repertoires. In doing so, the dissertation introduces the voices and reflections of five teachers residing in the Western Cape of South Africa. The small selection of teachers from contrasting socio- economic communities offers the opportunity to tease out the similarities and contradictions in their teaching repertoires, as critical pedagogy posits that educational spaces are sites of contention intricately shaped by historical influences. It asserts the absence of political neutrality within schools and underscores the fundamentally political nature inherent in the act of teaching (Kincheloe, 2008). The goal of the dissertation is to present a window into the lives of five South African teachers who attempt to use their work as a social and cultural critique in arguing for a better and just world. By engaging their lived experiences and teaching repertoires, the dissertation draws attention to the opportunities, conditions, and contradictions within the educational landscape of South Africa that teachers often confront. The dissertation utilises critical pedagogy as a framework to consider the nuances, conflicts, and challenges that teachers in contrasting socio-economic schooling communities face. In doing so the study teases out the agentic power of teachers who critically engage education in South Africa and challenge the reproduction of injustice to be truly transformative intellectuals. 2025-09-30T11:13:01Z 2025-09-30T11:13:01Z 2025 2025-09-30T09:53:51Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MEd http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41920 en eng application/pdf School of Education Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Pedagogy Social Justice South Africa Snyders, Angelika Voices of transformation: unveiling critical pedagogy for social justice in South African classrooms through the lived experiences of educators |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Voices of transformation: unveiling critical pedagogy for social justice in South African classrooms through the lived experiences of educators |
| title_full | Voices of transformation: unveiling critical pedagogy for social justice in South African classrooms through the lived experiences of educators |
| title_fullStr | Voices of transformation: unveiling critical pedagogy for social justice in South African classrooms through the lived experiences of educators |
| title_full_unstemmed | Voices of transformation: unveiling critical pedagogy for social justice in South African classrooms through the lived experiences of educators |
| title_short | Voices of transformation: unveiling critical pedagogy for social justice in South African classrooms through the lived experiences of educators |
| title_sort | voices of transformation unveiling critical pedagogy for social justice in south african classrooms through the lived experiences of educators |
| topic | Pedagogy Social Justice South Africa |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41920 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT snydersangelika voicesoftransformationunveilingcriticalpedagogyforsocialjusticeinsouthafricanclassroomsthroughthelivedexperiencesofeducators |