Browsing by Author "Chetty, Rajendra"

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    The Ambivalence of Indianness in Ahmed Essop’s The Hajji and Other Stories
    (2021) Chetty, Rajendra
    This article explores the ambivalence of Indianness in Ahmed Essop’s debut collection of short stories, The Hajji and Other Stories, 1978, against the contested discourse of the nation. The article is underpinned by Bhabha’s theory of nation and narration, specifically the authenticity and context of cultural location and representation. The image of cultural authority, like that of the Hajji, is ambivalent because it is caught in the act of trying to compose a powerful and religious figure, but stuck in the performativity of typical South African racial, class and religious prejudice. Essop’s ambivalent narration evokes the margins of the South African space, the Indian minority; it is also a celebratory or self-marginalisation space. The ambivalence of the characters resonates across the collection—the insincerity of the Fordsburg community towards Moses and the two sisters; the deceitful Hajji Musa, the hypocrisy of Molvi Haroon seeking refuge with the perpetrator of blasphemy against the Prophet, Dr Kamal’s pretence of having virtues and the charade of the yogi. In essence, the characters display virtues of Indianness and Muslim/Hindu piety that they do not actually possess.
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    Doctoral supervision and COVID-19: Autoethnographies from four faculty across three continents
    (2021) Stevens, Dannelle; Chetty, Rajendra; Jones, Tamara Bertrand; Yallew, Addisalem; Butler-Henderson, Kerryn
    Doctoral students represent the fresh and creative intellectuals needed to address the many social, economic, political, health care, and education disparities that have been highlighted by the 2020 pandemic. Our work as doctoral student supervisors could not be more central nor vital than it was at the beginning of, during, and following the pandemic. Written during the pandemic of 2020, the purpose of this paper was to describe how four faculty from three continents navigated their relationships with doctoral students in the research and dissertation phase of their doctoral programs. Using a common set of prompts, four faculty members each wrote an autoethnography of our experience as doctoral student supervisors. Even though our basic advising philosophies and contexts were quite different, we learned about the possibility and power of resilience, empathy, and mentoring online. Our findings imply that new online practices could be closely examined and retained after the pandemic to expand the reach, depth and impact of doctoral education.
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    Literacy teaching in disadvantaged South African schools
    (John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2019) Chetty, Rajendra
    This article analyses the experiences of teachers of literacy working in underprivileged communities in the Western Cape, South Africa. The purpose is to provide teachers in poorly resourced schools within economically deprived areas an opportunity to voice their experiences of teaching literacy. The article is based on an empirical study using interviews and classroom observation with a sample of 10 teachers. A descriptive account of the observation data was followed by an interpretive analysis. The content analysis of the interview data led to the development of themes and patterns for the discussion. The study reveals the social complexity of literacy education in a post-apartheid and multilingual society and focuses on teachers in Grade 4 classrooms, which is the grade when learners switch from mother tongue (mainly isiXhosa and Afrikaans) to English as language of instruction. Key factors for literacy underachievement include lack of resources, parental support, lack of teacher knowledge, changes in the curriculum, absence of cognitive activities and the social complexity of poverty. The article recommends that a new model of literacy that challenges inequality and provides strategic and sustained teacher support in disadvantaged schools is crucial in a society emerging from oppression and racism.
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    Teacher and learner experiences of violence in a cape flats school, Western Cape
    (University of the Western Cape, 2020) Sitoyi, Zandisile Mawethu; Chetty, Rajendra; Pather, Subethra
    This study aimed to ascertain in what ways violence and crime influence the teaching and learning programme in schools in a disadvantaged community. The context is a primary school in an informal settlement in Samora Machel, Philippi, in the Cape Flats, where violence is endemic. The study shows that violence does not occur in school playgrounds and areas around the school only; classrooms are becoming common sites for violence. This study sought to establish teacher and learner experiences of violence at school, and the role of school management and parents in dealing with it, with a specific focus on school policies on discipline and how violence affects teaching and learning. The investigation also included learner behaviour during recess.
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    ‘Voices’ of school dropouts about the use of illicit drugs on the Cape Flats, Western Cape
    (Criminological and Victimological Society of Southern Africa (CRIMSA), 2017) Potberg, Conrad; Chetty, Rajendra
    The social concerns of communities on the Cape Flats in the Western Cape, are perpetuated by the lack of schooling and it contributes to higher unemployment figures. This article aims to provide a voice for school dropouts on their perspective of the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem and macrosystem that forms the different levels of influence on their lives. The research was lodged within an interpretive paradigm in order to gain in-depth understanding of what is meaningful and relevant to illicit drug users. The study used a qualitative approach to explore the perceptions of school dropouts on the use of illicit drugs. Six semi-structured interviews were conducted with respondents to obtain detailed descriptions of drug abuse. Data was analysed using a deductive content analysis approach. We argue the need for a stronger intervention approach to support the microsystem, in order to alleviate the social concern in communities on the Cape Flats. The theoretical underpinning of the study makes use of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model. The article engages with the concepts of family, friends and school within the construct of microsystems. In the construct of the mesosystem we engage with the linkages and processes between the concepts of the microsystem. The concept of community is interrogated within the construct of the exosystem and social values within the macrosystem.