Significance of the study and its contribution to research

This study is significant in the field of Philosophy of Education, specifically for the theory on deliberative democracy. Both staff members and parents indicated that they wanted their requests to be heard. They wanted a voice, they wanted to engage in deliberations, and to play a specific part in decision making. The parents indicated that they wanted to present their views as parents. The staff members wanted the board to enable democratic decision making so that

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they could have a say and give input. There were categorical requests to be heard. The parents and teachers did not want to rubber-stamp. It was not just a case of being a member. It

therefore is clear that deliberative democracy cannot just be about people engaging, but also about the way they do, namely to express their equal intelligence or intellectual voice, as claimed by Ranciére. The parents and staff members wanted the opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns. As expressed by a parent, “parents rightfully trained can have a positive effect on the school”.

This means that deliberative democracy is not just about people talking back, as Benhabib would argue, but, more importantly, that they express their equality in terms of speech, and this is what the staff wanted. They regarded the school board as a committee of a chosen few to which they had no access and could offer no voice. But they also wanted to express their equal intelligence or intellectual voice and that is why they wanted change. This, I feel, is an

important contribution to the debate, since the stakeholders, particularly the staff, wanted a voice and, more so, wanted to express their intellectual voice in a particular way; a way in which they would be heard and acknowledged as equal citizens. In other words, they wanted full participation as equals.

7.4.1 How does this study fit into the field of education?

Again, I believe that the answer lies in allowing teachers, parents, learners and other stakeholders a voice in the operation of the school that they represent. For too long, those stakeholders have been spectators in a game played by the education authorities that govern the schools. Teachers, parents and learners have not been allowed to exercise their democratic right to express themselves, voice their concerns and opinions, and in this way to express their intellectual voice. They have been the silent majority that has been required to raise a hand to vote, but not to express their equality in terms of speech. I believe that the time has come for education authorities to give teachers, parents and learners an equal voice in the governance of education institutions.

For years these stakeholders had accepted whatever was given to them, whether they wanted it or not. They were forced to accept decisions that were made on their behalf, that concerned them, but in which they had no voice. A single decision, for instance about a summer and a winter uniform for a school, can easily be settled by giving everybody an equal voice instead of having parents tear out their hair when there is a demand for a uniform and not the means to purchase it. They are forced to put themselves into debt for a cause in which they had no voice.

On the other hand, if the discussion had been opened to all and not just to an exclusive few, the

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parents’ cooperation would have been no problem. The same would apply to disciplinary procedures in a school, or drawing up a code of conduct for teachers, learners and school board members. It is imperative to allow all stakeholders who will be affected by particular decisions to be part of that decision-making process. All stakeholders have a right to equality in terms of speech, especially when it comes to matters, decision, discussions and policies that affect them.

7.4.2 Finding a voice: how, who and what have I become?

I want to reflect on how this study has influenced and changed me as a person, and who I have become. As I reflected on how teachers, parents and learners should have a voice in education, I am reminded of my formative years as a teacher, a principal and as an education director. I think back on how the voices of parents, teachers and learners were stifled, and today I realise how wrong it was then and how wrong it is today. Over the past few years I have found my voice through this study, and have come to realise that all stakeholders should be allowed to express their equality in terms of speech. As an educator I am now free to advocate that.

7.4.2.1 Who I have become

Many events have contributed to who I am today. One does not start out as an independent thinker. After qualifying as a teacher, my potentialities as a person were recognised very early in my teaching career. I was appointed as a principal after just a few years of teaching. It was while serving as a principal that I realised that every person in my care, every child in my care, needed my guidance and my compassion. I recognised the potential in every educator and learner in my care through my encounters with principals under whom I served. One principal was extremely exacting, whilst the other showed care, compassion and concern. It was here that I could fulfil the words of Waghid (2010, 36) that deliberative engagement must be

accompanied by the desire to treat people fairly, justly and humanely. In other words, I must be compassionate towards others – people differentiated on the basis of skin colour, sex, religion, status, creed and the like. My attitude has been that we are all born equal and we have the potential to become whatever we set our minds to. This has determined my compassionate attitude towards my fellow human beings.

I learned to become a critical thinker and not just accept what was placed before me. We are all fellow human beings who face many challenges. Some challenges are the same, others may be different, but the important consideration is that we understand each other and have

compassion for one another. I particularly have encountered a lack of compassion in school board meetings. Not only do school board members lack sympathy for each other at times, and become quite agitated and impatient, but there often, for one reason or another, is a lack of

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compassion for individuals whose names may have come up for discussion. I have learnt to weigh arguments critically before drawing any conclusions or coming to a decision.

I have been challenged intellectually and emotionally by Benhabib, Young, Pring, Ranciére, Waghid and others. Given South Africa’s past and the unequal education that many had to endure, now is the time for all of us to put that compassionate imagining into action and do our part, wherever possible, in redressing some of the ills of the past. I work at an institution where we offer values-based education. I believe that our common values should guide our interaction with each other. As human beings we are dependent on each other. As has aptly been stated, no man is an island. Therefore, in our interaction with each other we need to allow for

deliberation. Democratic, meaningful deliberation will allow us to see the other side of our humanity, and should drive us to deal compassionately with one another.

I am convinced that far more can be achieved in our school boards when we allow each one’s intellectual voices to be heard and, no matter what is said or how people feel about certain matters, that we deal compassionately with one another. Through what I have become, I have been able to share not only with the faculty that I head, but also the students that I teach. In my compassionate interaction with others, I have come to realise just how human I am and how I need their compassion in return.

7.4.2.2 What I have become

As a result of this study I have become consciously aware of the fact that every single human being has a voice that should be heard. I learnt anew that one should not judge on the basis of sex, colour, creed, ability or any of the other ways in which human beings judge each other.

We should respect each other because we are all human beings. We should value each other because of our humanness. Above all, everyone has a voice that should be heard, and in fact must be heard. In the practice of democratic citizenship we recognise each other as equals because each one of us has a voice, a story to tell, and deliberative democracy demands that voices be heard even if they cause controversy. This will invoke discussion and deliberation, which will give us an opportunity to exercise our compassion towards the other. Although this is practical and exercised throughout life, it should be displayed in all school boards where people from different walks of life meet to deliberate on educational matters.

I have been personally stirred to make sure that, when I engage with the students in my lectures, I allow them to have a voice. At the same time I have encouraged members of the committees on which I serve to allow their voices to be heard, and not just come to vote. I have experienced a new freedom in which I am not afraid to voice my opinions and concerns on

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meetings that I serve. Furthermore, I encourage principals, teachers, parents and learners in our Seventh-day Adventist schools to exercise their democratic right to be heard, especially on matters relating to them, to education and to the operation of their schools.

7.4.3 Potential criticisms and possibilities for future studies

Here I propose to answer any potential criticisms that might arise on the basis of this study. I would never have thought that teachers and parents would be so intent not only on engaging, but engaging meaningfully and in a democratic way in the deliberations concerning the schools they represent. Some critics might argue that it will be well-nigh impossible to give all

stakeholders a voice through the school’s governance structures. I argue that this is in fact possible through a process of representation, committees and dissemination of information. All the stakeholders have representatives on the school board. Parents and teachers must be well represented. Through staff meetings, PTA meetings and sub-committee meetings, information can be placed on the school board agenda and, after discussions, information can be shared with the stakeholders. In this way everyone has a voice on the operation of the school. The needs of all the stakeholders will be met and everyone will feel that they have participated democratically.

Another criticism can be levelled at the fact that there are those who still hold on to the

prejudices of the past and this could easily be a stumbling block to the effective functioning of a multicultural board. Here I feel that all involved, especially those serving as governors and the education authorities, should develop a sense of compassionate imagining, in terms of which all can be valued and accepted for who they are. People are different, cultures differ, levels of education differ, but with training and compassionate imagining, all should be able to express their equality in terms of speech.

In order for this debate to continue, further studies could be carried out to see how the

highlighted concepts would apply to high schools only or to primary schools only. This study involved two high schools and three primary schools operated by the SDA church’s Education Department. Further studies can involve non-private schools, in other words state school, to determine if any problems exist in their school governing body practices. I suspect that they have their problems as well, which may be the same or different. Nevertheless, it would be worthwhile investigating their deliberative democratic citizenship practices. The concept of compassionate imagining would be another worthy concept to investigate. With everything that is going on in education today we need to know how inclusive or exclusive school governing body practices are. Are all the groups inclusive, or is there still a subtle practice of exclusion

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among stakeholders and a lack of compassion in dealing with one another. Maybe others could add to the debate by viewing their experiences as governors of schools or as stakeholders in particular schools.