National identity and nation-building in post-apartheid South Africa

Throughout South Africa’s post-Apartheid history, the ANC-led government has undertaken a distinct nation-building program in pursuit of “a truly united, democratic and prosperous South Africa” (ANC, 2007). This is reflected in a two-pronged approach, coupling political and socioeconomic transformation with the social-psychological aspect of forging a broad and inclusive national consciousness. The ANC’s “rainbow nation” approach embraces cultural diversity through what I shall call the practice of “interculturalism”. Interculturalism is a way of recognizing commonalities, reducing tensions and promoting the formation of social partnerships among different cultural groups. The ANC has also promoted a civic culture based on the principles of liberal democracy, non-racism, equality and the protection of individual rights. Interculturalism and civic nationalism are critically important factors to South African nation-building since together they foster a shared public culture and support meaningful participation in the creation of a truly just and democratic South Africa. Unfortunately, in many ways South African society remains deeply divided by race, ethnicity and economic inequality. This thesis analyses various theoretical approaches to national identity and nationbuilding with the aim of identifying several concepts which arguably throw light on the problems of South African nation-building and national identity formation. It is argued that interculturalism and civic nationalism are context appropriate approaches which have been adopted by the ANC to further an inclusive sense of shared public culture and promote participation in the creation of a shared public future. These approaches have led to the limited emergence of a broad South African national identity. However, South Africa’s commitment to socio-economic transformation has been less successful in generating widespread support for a broad national identity. While some of those previously disadvantaged under Apartheid have benefited from poverty alleviation schemes, service delivery initiatives and black economic empowerment programs, many continue to suffer from homelessness, unemployment and worsening economic conditions. Increasing economic marginalization has caused growing discontent among South Africa’s poor and constitutes the biggest threat to the formation of a cohesive national identity in South African society. Ultimately, it is argued that while interculturalism and civic nationalism have played an important role in fostering the growth of a broad national identity, true South African social cohesion will fail to emerge without a massive and sustained commitment to wide-ranging socio-economic transformation

The three-legged race: A history of Physical Education, School Sport, and Health Education in New South Wales public schools from 1880 to 2012

Despite the burgeoning contemporary interest in education history, there has been an absence of literature documenting the histories of Physical Education (PE), School Sport (SS), and Health Education (HE) in New South Wales (NSW) public schools from 1880 until 2012. This gap was significant in the wider context of the NSW education system as all three subjects were operating throughout this period. Another noticeable gap in the literature was that of a combined history of these subjects, which could be explained based on the lack of clarity, until now, concerning the nature of the relationships between them, despite their coexistence in the NSW public education system. The literature that does exist reflects histories of the subjects in isolation, with a notable prominence of research into PE compared to SS and HE; however, these histories tend to be narrow in scope rather than situating developments and changes in these subjects within broader political and social contexts. Therefore, this study filled these gaps by chronicling the individual and collective histories of these subjects in the NSW public education system, spanning from the introduction of compulsory schooling in this state in 1880 up to the release of the draft Australian Curriculum for Health and Physical Education in 2012 (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2012a, 2012b), which marked the first official shift from a state-based to a national approach to curriculum in this subject area. These rich and comprehensive histories of PE, SS, and HE were produced by addressing the following two major research questions: (1) what factors influenced the historical development of the individual subjects in NSW public schools from 1880 to 2012?; and (2) how did the factors driving curriculum development and change affect the relationship and status of these subjects from 1880 until 2012? A history of education methodology was used to record the curriculum developments and changes in PE, SS, and HE through the analysis of primary and secondary documentary sources. The implementation of the theoretical framework of curriculum history by Goodson (1983) and Musgrave (1973, 1978, 1979, 1988) enabled this study to present a timeline of the events in light of past traditions and factors influencing the subjects as individual and combined entities from 1880 to 2012. Together, the application of a history of education methodology and curriculum history theory provided the opportunity to delve into the interplay of the relationships between these subjects, their shifting status over time, and the broader contexts shaping them during the span of this history. It was the application of theory to the historical analysis that revealed the subjects were socially constructed and in turn elicited the major themes of this study. By viewing PE, SS, and HE as social constructs, this thesis signposted significant politico-social contexts and events in NSW, Australian, and international history as driving curriculum developments and paradigm shifts in these subjects in the NSW public education system. Consequently, a key finding to emerge was the consistent link between the influence of political and social factors at a state, national, and global level and the thematic preoccupations in the subjects’ over time. The second theme acknowledged that although the subjects’ originated as discrete entities in 1880, as time progressed they developed partnerships and were re-defined to better service politico-social agendas of policy makers, educationists, and society at large. It was investigations into the shifts in the status of the subjects that revealed the third theme, which was that PE was the dominant subject of the three from the outset of compulsory schooling in NSW through to the 1970s. From the 1970s until 2012, HE was more prominent given its capacity to serve the politico-social priority of public health, whilst PE was re-defined to overtly encompass health-supporting endeavours to remain educationally relevant and maintain a place in the school curriculum. Throughout the span of this history, the subjects were found to be ‘cooperating to compete’ with one another and other subjects, especially amidst the climate of an increasingly crowded curriculum from the 1970s. Extending the individual subject histories and recording a collective history of the subjects in the context of broader politico-social factors has not been heretofore attempted in a combined analysis, even though there was widespread evidence suggesting that the three subjects have rarely sat separately in the NSW curriculum since 1880, based on their synergetic pedagogies and rationales. This combined history also contributes original scholarship by highlighting the subjects’ longstanding struggles for dominance and status as part of their coexistence in the NSW public education system. Upon reflection on the emerging themes, there is scope for future studies to investigate the individual and combined histories of these curricula Australia-wide and/or specific to other types of education systems, such as the private or Catholic school system, to determine whether the subjects in these environments were equally influenced by politico-social factors

The Olympic Villages and Olympic urban planning. Analysis and evaluation of the impact on territorial and urban planning (XX-XXI centuries).

L'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen