Policy Imperatives: A Case of Gender Non-Conforming Learners

As the Bill of Rights prescribed by the South African Constitution stipulates, all people, irrespective of gender, race and religion, have a right to equal opportunities. This is articulated by the Gender Schema Theory as it stipulates that some cohorts of learners are aligned to socially accepted b...

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Main Authors: Bulelwa Makena, Viwe Lungisani Feni
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Noyam Journals 2023-08-01
Series:E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://noyam.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/EHASS2023485.pdf
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author Bulelwa Makena
Viwe Lungisani Feni
author_facet Bulelwa Makena
Viwe Lungisani Feni
author_sort Bulelwa Makena
collection DOAJ
description As the Bill of Rights prescribed by the South African Constitution stipulates, all people, irrespective of gender, race and religion, have a right to equal opportunities. This is articulated by the Gender Schema Theory as it stipulates that some cohorts of learners are aligned to socially accepted behaviours while other gender aschematic learners perform parallel to socially recognized behaviours. Therefore, all learners are entitled to equal treatment and they have a right to education, especially because South Africa is a country renowned for its rainbow-nation characteristic, allowing it to accommodate diverse citizens. It is for this reason that this paper investigated whether school policy logistics have an impact on gender non-conforming learners in one rural Senior Secondary in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Two teachers were purposefully sampled as participants for this qualitative case study research. To collect data, semi-structured interviews were administered. Using thematic analyses led to the formation of themes which were used to discuss findings. The study found that (i) there are dynamics in policy formulation and also that (ii) there is a violation of school policies. This subjects them to social exclusion and social control that marginalises gender minorities. The study recommends that gender specific school policies be redefined to promote gender neutral and inclusive schools, thus creating societies where everyone is welcome and protected as suggested by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
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spelling doaj.art-7532d0c64c12408a8107625d2a73c7af2023-09-25T15:06:37ZengNoyam JournalsE-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences2720-77222023-08-0148957963https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2023485Policy Imperatives: A Case of Gender Non-Conforming LearnersBulelwa Makena0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7340-3001Viwe Lungisani Feni1 Faculty of Education, Walter Sisulu University, Butterworth, South AfricaReikaeletse Secondary School, Xhariep, South Africa.As the Bill of Rights prescribed by the South African Constitution stipulates, all people, irrespective of gender, race and religion, have a right to equal opportunities. This is articulated by the Gender Schema Theory as it stipulates that some cohorts of learners are aligned to socially accepted behaviours while other gender aschematic learners perform parallel to socially recognized behaviours. Therefore, all learners are entitled to equal treatment and they have a right to education, especially because South Africa is a country renowned for its rainbow-nation characteristic, allowing it to accommodate diverse citizens. It is for this reason that this paper investigated whether school policy logistics have an impact on gender non-conforming learners in one rural Senior Secondary in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Two teachers were purposefully sampled as participants for this qualitative case study research. To collect data, semi-structured interviews were administered. Using thematic analyses led to the formation of themes which were used to discuss findings. The study found that (i) there are dynamics in policy formulation and also that (ii) there is a violation of school policies. This subjects them to social exclusion and social control that marginalises gender minorities. The study recommends that gender specific school policies be redefined to promote gender neutral and inclusive schools, thus creating societies where everyone is welcome and protected as suggested by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.https://noyam.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/EHASS2023485.pdfpolicygendernon-conformingdiversity.
spellingShingle Bulelwa Makena
Viwe Lungisani Feni
Policy Imperatives: A Case of Gender Non-Conforming Learners
E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
policy
gender
non-conforming
diversity.
title Policy Imperatives: A Case of Gender Non-Conforming Learners
title_full Policy Imperatives: A Case of Gender Non-Conforming Learners
title_fullStr Policy Imperatives: A Case of Gender Non-Conforming Learners
title_full_unstemmed Policy Imperatives: A Case of Gender Non-Conforming Learners
title_short Policy Imperatives: A Case of Gender Non-Conforming Learners
title_sort policy imperatives a case of gender non conforming learners
topic policy
gender
non-conforming
diversity.
url https://noyam.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/EHASS2023485.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT bulelwamakena policyimperativesacaseofgendernonconforminglearners
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