Township high school learners’ perceptions of child trafficking: implications for curriculum making
Abstract
Child trafficking is a form of modern day slavery of which the scope of the issue is not well conceptualised. It requires ongoing research to establish to what extent the problem is escalating and what interventions could be put in place to guarantee that policies on the issue are enacted. South Africa is described as the major trafficking destination in sub-Saharan Africa with women and children being trafficked from more than ten different countries. This research study endeavours to expose the extent to which township high school learners’ perceptions of child trafficking influence curriculum making. The need for this is intensifying since child trafficking in its explicit form shows little evidence of its existence within the formal South African curriculum. The research study offers a new perspective on child trafficking in that it focuses on township high school learners and will thus provide another lens through which to consider child trafficking. Numerous policy documents and research reports recommend that more studies of a qualitative nature to be done in South Africa on child trafficking, as existing research focuses predominantly on statistical evidence and not lived experience or perceptions. Thousands of children die worldwide and millions more are physically, emotionally, or socially scarred by the harmful practices of trafficking. The aim of the study was to firstly explore what child trafficking is as a human rights violation, secondly to determine the township high school’s learners’ perceptions of child trafficking, and lastly how those perceptions influence curriculum making to address child trafficking as a human rights violation. A scholarly literature study was conducted to explore the background of human and child trafficking, a discussion on the act, means and purpose of trafficking, and child trafficking as a human rights violation. To think anew, I proposed a socially responsive curriculum perspective to respond to child trafficking as a human rights violation. The study was conducted at two township high schools located in the Ikageng township in the Potchefstroom region, North West. The study employed a qualitative phenomenological methodology, framed within an interpretivist paradigm. Convenience sampling was used where Grade 11 learners, consisting of 6 boys and 6 girls, were sampled. Data was generated using semi-structured one-on-one and focus group interviews. To arrive at the main findings depicted in Chapter 5, themes in Chapter 4 were clustered. From the main findings of this research study it seems that township high school learners perceived child trafficking to be fuelled by ecological factors. As most of the learners came from a low socio-economic background, they mostly associated child trafficking with poverty and financial gain to the traffickers. Learners also understood human rights violations in terms of the Constitution of South Africa, although the focus was mainly on their rights, as opposed to also perceiving rights with having responsibilities. Regarding the curriculum, learners referred to child trafficking within the context of the hidden curriculum, where media played a major role in their understanding of child trafficking. The main findings showed the importance of awareness raising to combat child trafficking as a human rights violation through including child trafficking within the formal school curriculum and approaching the curriculum as socially responsive. Upon reflection on my research study, I make recommendations for further research.
Collections
- Education [1686]