Making schools safer in South Africa: An antihomophobic bullying educational resource

ABSTRACT

The limited research indicates that homophobia is widespread in South African schools and that schools are ill-prepared to challenge homophobic bullying. In this context, using Kumashiro's antioppressive educational framework, the author outlines the process of developing an antihomophobic educational resource for use in South African schools, its theoretical grounding, and the social and cultural complexities involved. Factors influencing the development of the materials were linguistic diversity; crisis in education, inequality, and violence; and religion and culture arguments. This groundbreaking initiative fits with the broad focus in South African educational policy on transformation, social justice, and inclusion in the postapartheid context that is increasingly understood to include lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex identities.

KEYWORDS:

• LGBTI
• schools
• South Africa
• antihomophobia materials

Notes on contributor

Dr. Finn Reygan, previously Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of the Free State, manages national and regional projects that focus on issues of diversity in education in South Africa, regionally and internationally.

Notes

1. The term stabane was historically used to refer to intersex individuals and more recently is a derogatory word similar to the English-language term faggot. The term skesana refers to effeminate men who have sex with other “real” men and take (or are presumed to take) the passive role in sexual intercourse.