Trust, time and collective-individual priorities for educational development in marginalised communities

Abstract

This article captures educational development from the perspective of those living on the social margins in South Africa, whose collective-individual priorities resulted in education for the community. The data were fugitive, in the minds of people for the most part, a small sample of key informants being selected by deliberate decision for in-depth interview to probe and uncover their perspective. These data were supplemented with observations of planning meetings, site visits and archival records of meetings, over several years. The data indicate that the development of education is grounded in trust and trust-building, and takes time. The process is described, which suggests, amongst others, an experience more typical to East Asia than Africa, an important temporal dimension in such provision and a mechanism assisting them alleviate their condition through education.

Keywords:

• ethnography
• alleviate poverty
• educational development
• alliance