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Abstract
This article examines the psychology of migrant learners’ resilience, their right to education, and how migrant organizations and South African civil society are supporting and reinforcing the agency of migrant learners and their parents. It is based on a year-long study conducted by researchers at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Education Rights and Transformation (CERT), funded by the Foundation for Human Rights. Testimonies, participatory workshops, surveys, interviews, and focus groups with learners, parents, educators, officials, and civil society activists in three South African provinces were studied––Gauteng, Limpopo, and the Western Cape––spanning rural, urban, and township areas. The article is framed by the traumatic experiences of migrant learners before entering South Africa, during their stay, and often when they are deported. Topics covered in the testimonies include children’s rights to, and in education, they also traverse gender issues, the travails of unaccompanied minors, and obstacles preventing migrants’ participation in schooling and society.
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Author biographies
Mondli Hlatshwayo is a Researcher at the Centre for Education Rights and Transformation, Faculty of Education, University of Johannesburg. His research interests include xenophobia and racism, the labour process, and worker education.
Salim Vally is the Director of the Centre for Education Rights and Transformation, Faculty of Education, University of Johannesburg. He has published extensively on education and social policy as they relate to social class, transformation, and social justice. He also has an abiding interest in critical pedagogy, participatory action research, and trans-disciplinary approaches to policy and practice.
