Reconciliation

Reconciliation is impossible without the acknowledgement and understanding of the complex, difficult but rich history of our country.

The Constitution (Links to an external site.)stresses that it is important that the divisions of the past are healed and that a new society is established which is based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights.

Reconciliation (Links to an external site.)has as its aim the valuing of differences and diversity (Links to an external site.)as the basis for unity. It means accepting that South Africa is made up of people and communities with very different cultures and traditions and with very different experiences of what it means to be South African.

Reconciliation is impossible without the acknowledgement (Links to an external site.)and understanding of the complex, difficult but rich history of our country.

The conditions of peace, of well-being (Links to an external site.) and of unity – adhering to a common identity, a common notion of being South African – flow naturally from the value of reconciliation.

Reconciliation also requires an active engagement in the ‘reconstruction of society’, for there can be no reconciliation without transformation. In this way, the value of reconciliation is inextricably woven into the value of equality (Department of Education 2001:20).

The heterogeneous classroom is an extension of society and therefore the ideal place to start with reconciliation, justice, tolerance, concern for human dignity and mutual respect.

As the classroom can be seen as a mirror image of the larger society, it is therefore also the ideal place to help learners practise the social skills (Links to an external site.) they will need to function successfully as grown-ups in our new democracy in South Africa.

Values such as social justice (e.g. protection against abuse and ridicule from others), equality (no unfair discrimination and respecting the rights of others in the group), non-racism and non-sexism (ensuring that all learners are accepted and equally valued for their contributions, guarding against typecasting in roles and tasks), respecting human dignity (Links to an external site.) (showing respect and kindness towards each other in groups and in class), an open society (allowing all learners to participate in activities and to have access to books and the Internet, and having transparent goals), accountability and responsibility (being accountable to other group members for the task being done and for their own behaviour as individuals) and a spirit of peace, tolerance, inclusion and acceptance of each other can result from the careful implementation of cooperative learning by an educator who ensures that planning focuses not only on tasks and group formation, but also on the social skills learners need to learn while interacting with their peers (Kitshoff, 2006:25).

Think about ways in which you as an educator can protect and and promote the rights of learners.