In this article I reflect on my attempts to decolonise religious education at a historically white university in a post-apartheid South Africa. This pre-service education project conducted in 2017 happened against the backdrop of two events, namely, a renewed curriculum policy, Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) and the #RhodesMustFall (RMF) and #FeesMustFall (FMF) protests. These events encouraged me to reflect on my academic role as a teacher educator preparing pre-service teachers to teach religion in schools. This led to me asking many questions such as, what is the effect of my teaching religious education?, How do teacher-educators prepare religious education pre-service teachers for a multicultural and multireligious society?, How does my teaching align itself with the decolonisation of education? and How do I redress the colonial past in my religious education classroom?The data which included reflective reports, student experiences and self-reflexivity acknowledged the findings that religion education served as a unifying factor in building social cohesion. The significance of this paper lies in the argument that decolonisation becomes an imperative if one is striving for social justice and intends to commit oneself to a more equitable society where crossing borders must be a seamless act.
In this article, I give an account of my 'Checkmating HIV&AIDS' action research project, which was an attempt to break the 'culture of silence' concerning HIV&AIDS and sex and sexuality in my classroom. In this project, I focused specifically on one code of sport, namely chess, and I point out and discuss the potential of using chess as an educational tool in addressing HIV&AIDS. It was found that learners enjoy playing chess and that it can be used in the Life Orientation classroom to promote HIV&AIDS awareness. This type of alternative awareness is relevant as learners in most schools were becoming fatigued by HIV&AIDS information overload. The project portrays the role of the teacher as a researcher and critical change agent in an HIV&AIDS-challenged society.Keywords: HIV&AIDS, action research, chess, checkmating, culture of silence, prevention, awareness.
RésuméCet article est un compte rendu de mon projet de recherche-action « mettre le VIH/SIDA échec et mat », qui avait pour but de briser dans ma classe la « culture du silence » au sujet du VIH/SIDA ainsi que le sexe et la sexualité. Au cours de ce projet, je me suis concentré sur un seul sport, à savoir les échecs. J'indique et discute la possibilité d'utiliser les échecs comme outil d'enseignement en matière de VIH/SIDA. On a constaté que les apprenants aiment jouer aux échecs et que ce sport peut être utilisé dans la classe de « Life Orientation » afin de promouvoir la sensibilisation au VIH/SIDA. Ce type de sensibilisation alternative est pertinent, car les apprenants dans la plupart des écoles se fatiguaient de la surinformation sur ce sujet. Mon projet d'enseignement décrit le rôle de l'enseignant comme chercheur et agent de transformation critique dans une société confrontée au VIH/SIDA.
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