Search

Hitherto the scholarly as well as the public discourse on the issue of language in education has largely evolved around the use of Afrikaans as language of learning and teaching. This article is an attempt to expand the discourse into three directions. The first is to include the other official languages as well in the discourse, secondly to consider not only the issue of language of learning and teaching, but also the study of the languages as subjects, and thirdly to take a system-wide view of the education system, assessing the extent to which the entire system is conducive to mother tongue education and to the promotion of multilingualism. The attempt is offered out of the belief that firstly, one of the preconditions for the empowerment and elevation of the official languages in South Africa to languages of learning and teaching, is the study of these languages as school subjects; and secondly out of the belief that the education sector in South Africa has a pivotal role to play in the promotion and realisation of multilingualism in South Africa. The study analyses the 2023 matric examination results, as these present a valuable perspective on these topics. The article commences with an overview of the societal-contextual and education system- contextual framework of languages in the education system of South Africa. While the desirability of education through the medium of the mother tongue has been indisputably argued, the choice or availability of language(s) of learning in teaching in any education system depends on a number offactors, including the official language of the national jurisdiction of the particular education system, and historical inertia. The teaching and learning oflanguages throughout history have occupied an important place in school curricula. Typically 25 percent of curricula time of national education systems is allocated to the study of the official language or mother tongue, and eight percent to the study of additional or foreign languages. With regard to which languages are selected for school curricula, the image of a set of concentric circles can be used. From the inside outwardly these circles denote the following: home language(s), official language(s), regional languages, world languages, and other indigenous languages. To commence with mother tongue as language of learning and teaching, despite the most congenial of constitutional guarantees and the most lofty policy statements, after thirty years since the dawn of the current socio-political dispensation, there is little evidence of the empowerment of the indigenous official languages as language of learning and teaching in education instutions. To aggravate matters, in the case of Afrikaans a trend to downscale the language as language of learning and teaching is evident, and it is difficult not to suspect animosity from government to phase out Afrikaans as language of learning and teaching. For the study of languages as subjects, it is heartening that copious space has been made available in prescribed school curricula, right up to matric level. For the National Senior Certificate (matriculation examination) at the end of Grade 12, learners are required to offer seven subjects, of which four are compulsory. The four compulsory subjects are two of the official languages (one Home Language and one First Additional Language), Mathematics or Mathematics Literacy, and Life Orientation. Furthermore, learners are required to offer three subjects, out of a list of 25 approved subjects. A maximum of two additional languages may be included in these three subjects. The 2023 matric examinations were taken in 28 languages, at all three levels namely Home Language, First Additional Language, and Second Additional Language. In the 2023 matric examination 48 385 learners completed the examination for the subject Afrikaans Home Language. This number has been growing the past five years. In the same year, 12 7 623 learners completed the examination for the subject English Home Language. It seems as if substantial numbers of Afrikaans first language speakers as well as first language speakers from the other indigenous language groups, completed the English Home Language examination. The number of matric examination candidates who took the language in Afrikaans as First Additional Language too is encouraging, and furthermore, the past five years this number has increased from 83 889 in 2018 to 9 7 654 in 2023. It appears that the picture of Afrikaans Home Language and Afrikaans Additional Language, English Home Language and English First Additional Language, and the other official languages as Home Languages, encompasses to a large extent the total image of the teaching and learning of the official languages in the South African education system. The study of the indigenous languages other than Afrikaans has not gained noteworthy traction in the South African education system the past thirty years. While the numbers of candidates who sat for the 2023 matric examination in the subjects Afrikaans Home Language and Afrikaans First and Second Additional Language, are heartening, it is for those having the interest of the Afrikaans language at heart still no reason to resign to unqualified self-complacency. In conclusion some recommendations for the improvement of practice are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education systems are shaped by various internal and external contextual forces (De Beer, 2017). External contextual trends typically include language, demography, geography, technology, politics, and financial and economic trends. Religion represents one of these external contextual trends that can affect an education system (see Van der Walt, Potgieter & Wolhuter, 2010; Wolhuter & Van der Walt, 2018). Making use of established metableti-ccomparative methodology, this article seeks to highlight the impact of religion as a formative factor of education in the BRICS countries. Religion is treated significantly differently in the education systems of the BRICS member states. In schools in India and China, no religious activities are allowed in accordance with the respective constitutions, while any religious activities may take place in schools in Brazil, Russia and South Africa, provided that the activities comply with particular guidelines. Broadly considered, any religious activities are conducted in primary schools in Brazil, provided that attendance is voluntary. Religion in Brazilian schools is influenced by the strong position of the Roman Catholic faith in Brazilian society, which could potentially be detrimental to minority groups in Brazil (Senefonte, 2018:440). Learners in Russia, according to Russian law, are free to choose for themselves the religious module in which they wish to receive education. Schools in Russia do not, however, always implement this legislation correctly, since a school's resources actually determine which module the learners should take. The manner in which religion is being dealt with, causes unhappiness among learners and parents as they do not really have freedom of choice regarding the religious module in which they wish to receive instruction (Zöllner, 2016). The legislation in China clearly states that no religious activities may take place in public schools, yet the ruling party of China intends to enshrine tenets of atheism in learners in schools (Vickers, 2022; Wang & Froese, 2020). Compared to the other BRICS member states, China has the most officially, constitutionally recognised ethnic groups. In terms of legislation and policy formulations, the ethnic minority groups obtain various benefi s in terms of education. The wide variety of ethnic groupings poses various challenges to the government of China as the views of all these groups in the education system have to be taken into account. Various documents, including the South African Schools Act 76 of 1996, and other education policies provide clear guidelines as to how religion ought to be dealt with in South African schools. In South Africa, learners are taught various major deities worldwide. All learners in South Africa are exposed to the concept of religion through the subject Life Orientation (Grades 7-12). Teachers in South Africa face the challenge of respecting all kinds of religions and not preaching their own views on a religion. This challenge of respecting all religions can result in confl ict in schools, as learners may feel that they will be discriminated against if one type of religion is singled out, for example during assembly. This underscores the role and value of South African teachers in inculcating citizenship values (see Wolhuter, Janmaat, Van der Walt & Potgieter, 2020). The Government of India faces opposition from minority groups with regard to religion in schools as the socio-political hegemony religion is especially preferred in terms of the drafting of academic textbooks (Traub, 2018). This preferential treatment of a particular religion is contrary to the Indian constitution, as no single religion may be singled out, nor should any religion be discriminated against (Majumdar, 2018). The preference given to a particular religion in textbooks can result in a negative impact on the education system of India. The analysis and interpretation show that there is still a close relationship between religion and education in the BRICS countries. However, all five BRICS member states face different problems regarding religion and each of the five member states also deals with its problems differently. This conclusion is now unpacked in this summary, and in detail defended in the ensuing full text. In terms of dealing with religion, South Africa appears to be more tolerant than Brazil, Russia, India and China, although this tolerance still causes more problems for the South African government, in the sense of opposition from various adherents of a wide variety of faith groupings who would like schools to play a role in strengthening the religious beliefs of their children. Several court cases have been fought in South Africa as schools struggle to accommodate the wishes of all religious groups in South Africa (see Nthontho, 2020). In contrast to forces in all the BRICS countries trying to separate religion and (public) education, the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, the proto-charter of Human Rights Charters in the contemporary world, Article 26 states that everyone has the right to education, education should be oriented towards the total development of the child's personality, and that parents have a preferential right to decide on the type of education their children should receive. The BRICS member states can learn from each other how to deal with religion in schools, even though none have yet managed to deal satisfactorily with religion in education. The common factor among all five BRICS countries is that religion is used again and again (consciously or unconsciously) to reinforce political or ideological hegemony. It seems that the shortcoming in all these countries is pointing to a lack of recognition of the place and role of religion in the lives of their citizens and that secular-political objectives, notably the forcing of official ideological hegemony, as well as the achievement of national unity above the full recognition of religious freedom, are also stated in the education system and in citizens' choice of the kind of religious education of their children. As a result, the role of religion in creating a strong moral fibre for a society therefore never seems to come into its own. Moreover, judging by the United Nations Charter's Human Rights provisions on education, educative education (incl. teaching and learning), in accordance with its full scope of semantic value, does not currently come into its own. The same seems to be the case as regards the human right to parental advocacy with respect to religious education. The experience of the BRICS countries in terms of religion-in-education shows that it is sensible and even necessary, for example, along the path of enlarged parental speech in education and school autonomy, to allow more room for religious freedom in education. The BRICS countries are currently being proposed as the leading grouping of the Global South in a new formative world order. Against this background, current trends regarding religion-in-education in these countries therefore probably represent a bold example. However, it should nonetheless be denounced by the academic community and better examples should subsequently be extracted and presented from other national education systems from future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently education is widely looked upon as a panacea for all societal ills and challenges, and the global community is feverishly pursuing the provision of education to all. This article is a position paper defending the thesis that in the crusade of education for all, and the theoretical superstructure directing the discourse about education for all, a set of vulnerable groups in society has become invisible. The aim of this article is to bring this set of vulnerable groups into the map of the public and academic discourse on education and to serve as prolegomena for the drafting of a research agenda for the provision of education to these groups. The article commences with an outline of the historical evolution of models of social stratification dominant in both the public discourse and analyses in the social sciences. The prototype was Marx's model that laid down socio-economic status as the main dimension of social stratification. This dimension was later supplemented by two additional dimensions, with the result that the public and academic discourse about equality has come to be dominated by the so-called trinity of inequality: socio-economic status, gender and race or ethnicity. Through the cracks of this model have fallen a number of vulnerable groups, which have, therefore, disappeared from the public and academic discourse. Vulnerable groups in society can be defined as people who, because of a set ofparticular circumstances, do not have access to the same set of social support systems to which people typically have access. These systems include family structures (including structures of the extended family), systems of the immediate community in which these people live, governmental structures (such as access to social grants or protection offered by labour laws) and the various forms of capital identified by Bourdieu, namely physical or economic capital, cultural capital and social capital. The article enumerates and briefly discusses the following categories of vulnerable groups (without claiming this list to be exhaustive): refugees, dislodged people or illegal immigrants; the unemployed; street children; people dependent on social grants; parentless or guardianless children; the destitute; domestic workers; the poor; chronically ill people; people living from garbage; and car guards. Against this occurrence of vulnerable people in society, the potential of education as an ameliorative force should be assessed. After being on the fringe of society for centuries (even millennia) and being viewed as of no economic value, the decades after the Second World War suddenly saw an appreciation for the value of education. Causal factors to this new belief include the fact that adult literacy on a world level reached the 50% mark in 1955, the founding of UNESCO and the appearance of the Human Capital and Modernisation Theory. In a short time, education has come to be seen as a solution to every societal ill. Advocates for education can indeed marshal a raft of empirical research supporting their belief. However, the ameliorative societal effect of education is no universal, deterministic law. The societal effect depends on the learner(s) and the contextual ecology (geography, demography, social system, economy, political system and religio- and life philosophical systems) of each case. Therefore, while education appears to be the obvious way to empower people finding themselves to be members ofvulnerable categories, for this potential of education to be realised, the explication of the contextual ecology of each of the vulnerable categories should be placed on the Education research agenda, followed by a development plan for education for each group, based on the results of such analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the public and scientific discourse about education in South Africa, it has become commonplace to refer to the poor quality of the South African education system. Another frequently mentioned topic is the discrepancy between the investment from the national budget in South African education and the return on this investment. Therefore, this article will refer to economic principles in an attempt to arrive at a better understanding of productivity in the education system in general, with specific reference to productivity in the South African education system. While the focus on productivity in the education system may possibly be criticised as presenting a narrow neoliberal view of education, it should be emphasised that the neoliberal economic revolution has had a substantial influence globally and contributes, by means of the introduction ofparticular measures, to greater efficiency in many institutions, such as the use ofproductivity indices to understand the functioning of a particular institution. It is pointed out in the article that the primary aim of the national education system is to provide for the educational needs of the target group, namely the citizens of that country. An education system is effective if the education supply provides, in an attainable and sustainable manner, for the actual educational needs of the target group. It follows that the education system is materially andfinancially efficient if educational needs are providedfor in the most affordable manner. Different role players in the national community have an interest in the output of a particular education system, including, for example, parents, the state, commerce and industry, together with other organisations in the community. To ensure that the education system provides effectively for their educational needs, these role players provide financial and infrastructural resources to the functionaries of the education system. The trust of these role players in the education system is strengthened if they are convinced that the resources will be used in the most attainable, sustainable and affordable manner and that the application of these resources will be towards the primary function ofproviding education and training on pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Thus, it is clear that an education system is successful if- * its elements are integrated in such a manner that it effectively provides for the actual educational needs of the target group; * the education interest groups are convinced that the resources they make available are applied in the most attainable and sustainable manner; and * the particular education system functions according to the reciprocal relationship between the internal and external trends to ensure that the maximum outputs are realised. Productivity is a concept that is rarely used by education practitioners and education researchers in relation to education and the education system. Many educationists may suspect that the use of concepts from the financial and managerial world, such as productivity, input and output, will result in the commercialisation and corporatisation of education systems. However, it is argued in this article that modern commercial and management concepts should be made applicable to the education system in order to ensure a learner-centred education system, which will assist learners in equipping themselves with the required competencies to fulfil their unique roles in life. By focusing on principles such as effectivity and efficiency, the functionaries of the education system will be able to ensure that its beneficiaries have trust in the outcomes of the education system. In essence, productivity means that one should do as much as possible with the resources available. Therefore, productivity represents the relation between available resources and the outcome of the use to which the resources have been put. The productivity index can be calculated as follows and should be used to improve the operation of a particular education system: P = O/I [P represents the productivity index, O the output and I the input] Productivity can be improved by either reducing the input and maintaining the same output, or increasing the output and maintaining the same input, or increasing the output and, at the same time, decreasing the input. Productivity can be improved by working more cleverly, rather than simply working harder. The endeavour to improve the productivity of the education system should not be a random exercise, but rather a deliberate, planned, continuous and managed project. The first step in this exercise should be a thorough and objective analysis of all elements of the education system and the required actions to change whatever is deemed to be in need of improvement. A second guideline is that productivity improvement should be executed in a balanced manner. The possible positive and negative consequences should be considered in the context of the relevant internal and external trends. The third guideline is that the productivity improvement exercise should be done on a continuous basis and by using uncomplicated indicators involving input and output. It is important that the information acquired from the productivity exercises should be used in the planning of and budgeting for the education system. The external and internal contextual trends should be concretely acknowledged, especially the internal contextual trend of a reciprocal nature. Another important aspect concerns a thorough analysis of the organisational management structures - the flatter, the better. Particular attention should also be given to the elements of the structure for teaching as a component of the education system in order to find places where productivity should be improved. Regarding the education support services, due consideration should be given to whether it is better to provide the services within the education system or to use qualified external services. We conclude that a focus on productivity can and should result in improving the operation of education and the education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Events in the modern world regularly remind the observer that a universal formula for the peaceful coexistence of diverse cultures has not yet been found. Approaches to intercultural coexistence have an unmistakeable educational dimension. In South Africa the accommodation of cultural diversity in education is also the subject of major controversy, as is evident from, for example, the policy on religion in education and the never-ending series of court cases about Afrikaansmedium schools. A widely accepted approach used in reforming and improving education systems is that of international-comparative perspectives, i.e. learning from the experience of other countries and other education systems. Canada is not only one of the culturally most diverse countries in the world, but is also widely hailed as a model for the accommodaton of cultural diversity and an occupant of the moral high ground in respect of human rights in this regard. In this article Canada's approach to cultural diversity in education is analysed, and the results of that exercise are then projected onto the South African screen. The evaluative theoretical framework employed is that of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the UNESCO Convention of the Rights of the Child (1989). Canada's demographic diversity consists of three dimensions. The first being that of people belonging to the First Nations (i.e. the original population) versus later arrivals. The second dimension is the Anglophone-Francophone faultline running through the Caucasion majority of the population (people of European descent). Thirdly there are the recent immigrants from the non-Western world. On the Francophone-Anglophone issue, the Canadian constitution rules that citizens have the right to education through the medium of any of these two official languages, on the condition that there is sufficient demand for education in that language in the geographic catchment area of a school. According to statistics, both the French and English languages succeed in maintaining their position throughout Canada, not only in provinces where they are the majority language, but also in provinces where they are the minority language. Neither of these languages is losing ground as a second language in schools. Schooling was made compulsory for children of the First Nations peoples in 1911, when the notorious Residential Schools were established where these children were educated with the aim to assimilate them deliberately into Western culture and alienate them from their own culture. The last of these schools closed in 1996. In the 1970s the assimilation policy was replaced by a policy of multiculturalism. First Nations peoples were henceforth free to send their children to mainstream schools, or to schools managed by the National Indian Brotherhood. Nonetheless, the report of the Haldane Commission of Investigation into the education of the children of First Nations peoples (2012) reports persistent discrimination experienced by the children of First Nations peoples, and also a higher school drop-out rate among such children. In respect of the accommodation of the cultures of the recent immigrants in Canada, the country can be commended for creating space for the languages of said immigrants. They are used not only as languages of learning and teaching, but are also taught as foreign languages in schools, where Anglophone or Francophone children can also study them as foreign languages. However, the same cannot be said for religion -- Canada has followed the road of the rest of the developed world in trying to create an artificial separation of religion and education, a policy which can be criticised on many grounds. The academic progress of the children of at least some groups among the recent immigrants is also not on a par with that of the children from more settled communities. In this article it is argued that the position of Afrikaans in South Africa may be compared to that of French in Canada; the position of indigenous African languages in South African education to that of the situation of the First Nations peoples in Canadian education, and the position of the recent stream of immigrants into Canada with that of their counterparts in South Africa. The conclusion is drawn that Canada's handling of the Francophone-Anglophone diversity does indeed offer an object lesson for South Africa's handling of Afrikaans in education. The same cannot be said of Canada's provision of education to First Nations children; hoewever, even from these policies valuable experience can be gained that might have relevance for South African education. The Canadian experience and policies on the educational issues surrounding the handling of the recent immigrants, their commendable accommodation of linguistic diversity, as well as their illconceived policy in respect of religion in education, as well as the unequal progress and achievement of these children compared to the children of Caucasian parents, might contain valuable lessons for South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the twenty-first century's knowledge society - that is societies/economies which have evolved from industrial production and services to the production of knowledge as driving axis - takes form, an ever-increasing value is attached to the higher education sector. Any higher education project stands or falls by the quality of its academic staff complement, which in turn depends on how attractive the academic profession is as a career. The aim of this article is to investigate the attractiveness of the South African academic profession, by means of the data of the CAP (Changing Academic Profession) international survey of the academic profession. Internationally the following factors are impacting on higher education and on the academic profession: globalisation; information-, the communication- and knowledge revolution, the neo-liberal economic revolution and democratisation. On top of these world-wide trends, higher education in South Africa is both the scene of a radical make-over of the entire education system (change to outcomes-based education, introduction of a National Qualifications Framework, desegregation, equalisation of opportunities, multiculturalism, democratisation) and it is regarded as a major instrument to effect an ambitious series of societal goals: economic goals, cultural goals, social goals and political goals. The above have radical implications for all aspects of the professional lives of academics: their tuition activities, research, community service, administrative activities, relations with institutional governance, entrepreneurship, and physical facilities and remuneration. From the investigation it appears as if the South African academic profession is under big work pressure. They work longer hours than what South African labour legislation sets as norm. In comparison with other professions they are under remunerated. Moreover, they have been dispossessed of much of their freedom and autonomy that have historically been regarded as an essential part of the professional environment of the academic profession. On top of that they are experiencing other frustrations, such as the influx of academically inadequately prepared students, and a lack of sufficient research funds. Amidst these circumstances a substantial percentage of the academic profession consider leaving the profession. According to available evidence, the attraction of the South African academic profession is diminishing. As the higher education sector (and by implication the academic profession) is pivotal for the nascent knowledge society, the diminishing attractiveness of the academic profession in South Africa should, as a matter of urgent priority, receive attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From recently published research it appears as if learner discipline at South African schools is a problem. While the issue of learner discipline at South African schools has been researched from a variety of perspectives (including the experiences of school principals, the experiences of learners), a clear, distilled educator perspective is lacking. Educators after all experience learner discipline problems firsthand, and are on the receiving end of learner discipline problems. The aim of this research is the construction of such an educator perspective, in order to determine whether or not a discipline crisis exist in South African schools and, if so, what are the extent and nature thereof. A sample of educators at schools in the Vaal Triangle region, North-West Province and Free State Province completed a questionnaire, which surveyed the following aspects of learner discipline at their schools: state of learner discipline in their classes and in their schools, nature and frequency of discipline problems, methods used to maintain discipline and the effectiveness of those methods, and the effect of learner discipline problems on the lives of educators. The biographic information of respondents indicated that the sample included the total spectrum of educators in South Africa, regarding age, experience, post-level, grades and learning areas which educators teach and school categories (historically black, historically coloured, historically Indian and historically white schools) in which educators are employed. The majority of educators regarded the state of learner discipline at their schools and in their classes as either good or very good. 1.7% of respondents regarded the discipline situation in their classes as very poor, 13.6% as poor, 72.1% as good and 8.1% as very good. 5.2% of respondents regarded the discipline situation in their schools as very poor, 19.3% as poor, 67.4% as good, and 8.1% as very good. The results indicated that it is the relatively minor forms of discipline problems which dominate. The following discipline problems are encountered by most teachers on a daily basis: disruptive behaviour, rudeness, dishonesty, obscene language, cheekiness, untidy/wrong clothing, neglect of duty, telling lies, and absenteeism. At the same time there exist reasons for concern about the wide spectrum of problems which educators encounter on a weekly basis (for example absenteeism, telling of lies, obscene language, moodiness, untidy/wrong clothing, neglect of duty, and bullying) and also about the serious forms of discipline problems (such as vandalism, theft and violence) which occur as regularly as monthly. Turning to methods which educators use to maintain discipline, it appears as if preventive methods (which are educationally the preferred methods) are lacking. Reactive methods of maintaining discipline dominate. These methods include: reprimanding, isolation within the classroom, isolation outside the classroom, extra work, detention, referral to principal and referral to school governing body. The continual use of corporal punishment by 14% of educators -- twelve years after it was officially abolished and at the risk of facing criminal charges -- is cause for concern. Apparently educators do not have methods which in their experience are very effective. Many educators use methods which they themselves experience as ineffective. For example, 50% of educators who use isolation within the classroom as method, and 70% of educators who use isolation outside the classroom, regard these methods as ineffective. The situation regarding learner discipline causes 85% of educators to be at times or regularly unhappy in their work, has caused sometimes or regularly tension in the family lives of 58% of educators, and has led to health problems in the case of 54% of educators. These figures are disturbing.… [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how education may be related to the needs of contemporary society as embodied in the connections and relationships between education on one hand, and spirituality/ religion, quality of life, wellbeing and happiness issues, social capital, social justice, human rights and morality on the other. These issues tend to be investigated as separate issues or phenomena, each with its own philosophical ramifications and structural intricacies, and each with certain connections and intersections with education. They are seldom connected with one another or with education in particular. Since the human being is intended to be an integral whole, education should also be a holistic undertaking that will shape and develop the less mature person into a fully integrated, mature person. Most definitions of education emphasise guiding the less mature person to responsible behaviour, and to accepting responsibility for actions taken and behaviour displayed. These definitions do not, however, seem to acknowledge the fact that education should also lead to moral integrity. They do not embrace the idea that education should not only lead to the wellbeing and happiness of less mature individuals, but also to healthy societal relationships. Neither do they seem to reflect the fact that education should contribute to enhancing the quality of life of everybody involved, as well as that of the broader society. To investigate this, we weighed the evidence and opinions on the subject of education-related concepts in question in terms of how the proverbial "person on the Clapham bus" would see things. Our thinking was preference-utilitarian in that we looked for what would satisfy the preferences of sentient people. Our reflections were guided by "reason-and-mind". We departed from a view of education in the broadest sense of the word (i.e. not restricted to teaching-learning, instruction only), with the emphasis on how education is pivotal in our individual and collective lives, and how it helps making sense of concepts such as spirituality, quality of life, human wellbeing, happiness, social capital, social justice, human rights and morality. Education manifests itself in so many forms and in so many locations that it can only be defined in general, generic terms. It is usually considered to be a process or action in which more mature individuals interact with less mature individuals for the purpose of guiding, forming, equipping and enabling the latter for their future occupations, and also assisting them to become mature and responsible members of the various societal relationships to which they will belong in future. Spirituality refers to a sincere respect for, appreciation of and adherence to a sacred dimension in the life-world of people. It is a lived passion; a state of being focused and energetically motivated; a condition characterised by a feeling of being totally captured. It is the conduit through which a transcendental, ultimate reality impacts on human beings, transforming them so that they increasingly tend to live their lives in service of these ultimate realities. It is the manner in which one more or less methodically relates beliefs and experiences of inspiration and/or transcendence, to the actual practice of life, by orientating oneself on sources of spirituality. The educator should embody the desired form of spirituality by being committed to and captured by some inspirational force or other that may be of a religious or a non-religious nature. By emulating the spiritual example set by the educator, educands may either acquire the same spirituality for their own journey as human beings, or reject the example set by the educator, in which case the educands (the individuals who are being educated) orientate their own selves towards a new spiritual principle. The "organic individual" (person with integrity) is one who has made a conscious ideological choice. The spirituality associated with, and flowing from, such an ideological choice helps them to transcend self-centredness. They do not serve the interests of the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor and weak, but will want to serve the interests of change for the better of all. Spirituality is a prerequisite for inspirational education since it connects at the deepest level with the most fundamental manner-of-being of being human. Without education no person can grow up to become a fully organic person imbued with a particular spiritual or ideological directedness and openness. The role of education is to inculcate the values and norms of social justice in a sense of fairness, and to the benefit of all. What people say about happiness and quality of life and the prerequisites for these, resonates with the fundamental tenets of education. It confirms the fully organic person's spiritual directedness and openness regarding social justice, fairness and peaceful coexistence which, in one way or another, is the outcome of education. It emphasises the modus vivendi approach to morality and social justice, as well as the notion of "liberal toleration". It is aimed at promoting peaceful coexistence in plural societies. Social capital can be understood as the benefits that accrue for individuals and groups from mutual trust, reciprocity, networking and collective action. The accumulation of social capital depends on cooperation between individuals as well as the relationships between them. It creates a bridge which spans differences. Education should contribute to the social capital of the communities it serves, because individuals should not only understand their position as an individual within a particular group, but should also have a notion of what to contribute to the group in terms of social capital. As human beings we are subjected to a moral compulsion to search for a better and more just world - a world that arguably is best attainable through education. The need for sincerity and honesty in human relationships, based on the principle of openness to mystery and respect, accentuates the intrinsic relationship between social justice, quality of life and spirituality as phenomena in our life worlds. To act ethically is to be considerate of the interests of others, without expecting reward or punishment, requiring no one but oneself to witness the act. Education is a pivotal activity that treats all these (and other related) phenomena as pedagogical aims, thereby reinforcing itself as a formative enterprise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]