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Schooling in the shadow of benevolence: The experience of scholarship recipients in affluent schools

Geyer, Kelly; Walton, Elizabeth

Authors

Kelly Geyer



Abstract

In a quest for improved educational outcomes that will lead to access to and success in higher education and the workplace, many affluent independent South African high schools offer scholarship places to talented and deserving learners. Learners selected for ‘inclusion’ in these schools can be presumed to be given unquestioned benefits and yet the voices of these scholarship recipients are seldom heard. By listening to these learners in a study framed by the idea of ‘voice research’ we found that while grateful for this opportunity, they are also aware of the limits of benevolence and find that their full participation in the academic, sporting and social life of the school is constrained by their own disadvantaged economic positions. With reference to literature and the voices of the participants, we conclude that while offering many advantages, scholarship programmes have limitations which need to be acknowledged at an individual and systemic level.

Citation

Geyer, K., & Walton, E. (2016). Schooling in the shadow of benevolence: The experience of scholarship recipients in affluent schools. South African Journal of Higher Education, 29(1), https://doi.org/10.20853/29-1-461

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date 2016
Deposit Date Jul 19, 2024
Journal South African journal of higher education
Print ISSN 1011-3487
Electronic ISSN 1753-5913
Publisher Stellenbosch University
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 29
Issue 1
DOI https://doi.org/10.20853/29-1-461
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/37310125
Publisher URL https://www.journals.ac.za/sajhe/article/view/461