Diversity and barriers to learning

At Good Hope High School we have a diverse, multicultural, multinational and multiracial school population. We acknowledge and are aware that students from different cultures, backgrounds and educational environments learn in distinctly different ways. 

 Our students are diverse in their cultures and ethnicity, their experiences, their learning styles, and we understand that learning is dynamic.  Effective teachers understand this and use a variety of teaching methods to promote learning in the classroom.

*The National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) came into effect in January 2012 to improve the implementation of National Curriculum Statement (NCS). 

The CAPS are designed to support teachers by combining all the important information from the NCS into a single document, and by covering all content, planning and assessment requirements for each subject. 

The CAPS also continue to support the key principles that underline the NCS, including:

-    Social transformation

-    High knowledge and high skills

-    Integration and applied competence

-    Progression

-    Articulation and portability

-    Human rights, inclusivity, environmental and social justice

-    Valuing of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS)

-    Credibility, quality and efficiency *  

Cultural Diversity

The first contact of children with culture is through their parents’ lenses or filters through which they view the world. It is central to what they learn, how they make sense of what they see, and how they express themselves. When children reach the point where they start attending school, then it becomes the role of both the parents and teachers to help filter information.

Parents carry the first responsibility in educating their children about diversity, and they should provide a safe environment to discuss the topic, where stereotyping is not accepted or engaged in. Parents need to set an example that reinforces acceptance, equality and cultural competence, by looking at the way they handle diversities themselves, and how they handle their prejudice and bias.

 S. Andrade. 2010. Diversity and Children Series. Available: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/diversity-and-children-series-part-2/

  (Accessed: 08 January 2013)

At Good Hope High School we are committed to deliver all the requirements of the CAPS programme, and to embed its key principles into all teaching and learning.

* B.E. Johnstone, E.L. Llewellyn, S.I. Mathibela, S.M. Oelofsen, B.G. Rennie, A.A.van Kampan

   July 2011. Via Afrika Computer Applications Technology Grade 10 Teacher’s Guide. Cape Town: Clyson Printers