Policy Imperatives: A Case of Gender Non-Conforming Learners

Abstract

As the Bill of Rights prescribed by the South African Constitution stipulates, all people, irrespective of gender, race and religion, have a right to equal opportunities. This is articulated by the Gender Schema Theory as it stipulates that some cohorts of learners are aligned to socially accepted behaviours while other gender aschematic learners perform parallel to socially recognized behaviours. Therefore, all learners are entitled to equal treatment and they have a right to education, especially because South Africa is a country renowned for its rainbow-nation characteristic, allowing it to accommodate diverse citizens. It is for this reason that this paper investigated whether school policy logistics have an impact on gender non-conforming learners in one rural Senior Secondary in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Two teachers were purposefully sampled as participants for this qualitative case study research. To collect data, semi-structured interviews were administered. Using thematic analyses led to the formation of themes which were used to discuss findings. The study found that (i) there are dynamics in policy formulation and also that (ii) there is a violation of school policies. This subjects them to social exclusion and social control that marginalises gender minorities. The study recommends that gender specific school policies be redefined to promote gender neutral and inclusive schools, thus creating societies where everyone is welcome and protected as suggested by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. Keywords: Policy, Gender, Non-conforming, Diversity.