A School For 'In-Betweeners'

Abstract

This dissertation, constituted from a juncture within our educational landscape, one that has particularly come to light under the banner of #FeesMustFall, postulates the role of an educational facility and its resultant typology. It explores an alternative education as being both didactic and economic. It is self-evident, that our current South African institutional models give a matrix of ‘what not to do’ through their existence as insular pockets within their respective urban fabrics. These institutions have abrasive urban interfaces that give little to the production of a socially conscious learning environment, especially not one in which the context and surrounding community is absorbed and considered. The search for a new typology thus lies in the in-between — the mediation between context and institution. This basic need exists as one of the highest expenditure items on the country’s budget, with South Africa spending a higher proportion of its budget on public education than both the United Kingdom and United States of America (Cohen, 2017). Despite this, there still remains fissures within our scarred educational landscape — ‘gaps’ that need to be filled. The implications of this skewed education system are still deeply prevalent. They are evidenced by retention rates as well as dropout rates recorded in high schools and universities. Nationally, a report released by Statistics South Africa (2016), places high school dropout rates at 44,6% of the population (Lehohla, 2016). In Gauteng, the rate is at 40,5%, just below the national average. Compounding this, in a report conducted by the Council on Higher Education: A proposal for undergraduate curriculum reform in South Africa, 2013, it is said that 55% of students across all institutions are estimated never to graduate (Council on Higher Education , 2013, p. 45). Compounding this is the interplay of school drop-outs — a phenomenon that plagues multiple communities throughout our context, particularly those with a history of injustices. It is these school leavers that this dissertation seeks to address.