Drama as a means of developing cultural competency amongst adolescents

Approaches to school desegregation in South Africa since 1994 have been largely assimilationist, viewing people s identities in a stereotyped way. The transmission of culture in South African schools does not reflect the multicultural and plural nature of South African society. Racism, stereotyping and prejudice often result in situations of conflict. Learners and teachers are urgently required to develop cultural competency, that is, complex understandings of identity, which include understandings of difference, to ensure that school environments are free of racism and other forms of discrimination and the resulting racial conflict. Cultural competency is an approach to multicultural education which needs to adopt and promote the ethos and underlying values of multiculturalism. This thesis reports on Arts-based inquiry which explores the use of dramatic tools and ethnodrama to develop cultural competency among secondary school learners in three selected multicultural schools in South Africa.

Autorentext

Glynnis Moore has a Ph D in education from the University of South Africa. She heads up the English Departments at St Alban's College in Pretoria and has a specific interest in the benefits of drama in the development of young people. She is also interested in multicultural education and problems related to diversity within schools.