Monitoring perceptions of social progress and pride of place in a South African community

Publisher versionA social indicators community project was conducted in 2007 to monitor living standards and quality of life in Rhini, a low-income suburb of Grahamstown, Makana Municipality, South Africa. Since 1994, under democratic rule, considerable progress has been made in service delivery to the formerly disadvantaged in South African society in terms of access to housing, infrastructure, and a social safety net to mitigate the high rate of unemployment. A representative cross-sectional household study (n 1020) conducted in 2007 in Rhini found that a positive assessment of the household’s situation and personal life satisfaction did not reflect better living conditions. Lack of income and employment opportunities appeared to dilute gains from higher living standards. The project also inquired into attitudes to place names and a proposed name change for the city under discussion at the time of the survey. It is argued that a place name with which one can identify may be as important as service delivery to enhance community satisfaction and overall quality of life. Dissatisfied residents who had limited access to services and expressed less civic pride were more likely than others to opt for a proposed name change for the city of Grahamstown that would better reflect the country’s new identity and multicultural heritage. It is concluded that a useful pursuit for community quality-of-life studies in countries undergoing social transformation will be to inquire into the complex combination of factors that drive perceptions of material and symbolic progress

Children's views and strategies for making friends in linguistically diverse English medium instruction settings

Despite one in four children in Australia entering preschool using English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D) (Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2017), Australian classrooms are predominantly monolingual English-speaking. This mismatch in languages may affect how participation and relationships are established. This chapter explores children’s strategies for making friends in settings characterised by linguistic diversity but where the medium of instruction is English. Child friendly interviews (video recorded) with 72 preschool-aged children, 3-4 years, were conducted in at a preschool in inner-city centre. Children were asked to talk and draw a picture about making friends when there are language differences. Children’s responses not only revealed their competencies in using non-verbal strategies to communicate with each other but also reflected inclusive attitudes. The importance of using a variety of languages as media of instruction, such as including songs and words representative of the minority languages of the classroom, and having conversations about language difference are highlighted