Born-free learner identities : changing teacher beliefs to initiate appropriate educational change

Abstract

An earlier paper focused on how born-free learners constitute, negotiate and represent their identities after almost two and half decades of democracy in South Africa. Utilising the theoretical framework of subjective realities of educational change, in this article I set out to explore what implications teachers’ beliefs hold for born-free learners, and how teachers’ beliefs can be changed or adapted to initiate appropriate educational change. The focus of this article is on the beliefs of teachers and how the change thereof can contribute to educational change, based on how learners perceive their identities. The epistemological lens of social constructivism and the research strategy of narrative inquiry was used. Fifty-eight born-free learners across 6 research sites participated in this study. Semi-structured interviews and field notes comprised the data capture, which were analysed using the qualitative content analysis method. Findings reveal that shifting and diverse self-identifications of born-free learners hold fundamental and crucial implications that reside at the heart of educational change, namely a change in teachers’ beliefs and in teachers’ practice.