Revisiting Jürgen Habermas's notion of communicative action and its relevance for South African school governance: can it succeed?

dc.creator	Nonceba Mabovula
dc.date	2010-01-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-07-20T22:11:19Z
dc.date.available	2015-07-20T22:11:19Z
dc.identifier	0256-0100
dc.identifier	2076-3433
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/e0778c16dc8341f6b418a9f94405ba5a
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/14330
dc.description	I apply as theoretical framework the Habermassian principles of 'communicative action' and 'consensus' through deliberation and reasoning. In particular, I focus on 'rational' and 'argumentative' communication through which school governance stakeholders could advance arguments and counter-arguments. I explore perceptions of educators concerning the role of learners, their experience and their democratic participation in school governance. I collected data using focus group discussions with educators in five selected schools in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Data were analysed using natural meaning units which represented specific thoughts, feelings or perceptions as expressed by the participants. Results showed that educators were not very eager to accept learners as participants in the structure of school governance. Finally, I suggest that, through the Habermassian notion of communicative action, school governing body stakeholders will be free to exchange ideas, and that they will not only voice opinions, but also listen, because through the act of engaging and listening (communicative action) participants can be persuaded and their thinking can be transformed.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	Education Association of South Africa (EASA)
dc.relation	http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-01002010000100001
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/0256-0100
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/2076-3433
dc.source	South African Journal of Education, Vol 30, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2010)
dc.subject	communicative action
dc.subject	Department of Education
dc.subject	governance framework
dc.subject	school governance
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.title	Revisiting Jürgen Habermas's notion of communicative action and its relevance for South African school governance: can it succeed?
dc.type	article