Beyond the legacy of 1976: Morris Isaacson High School, popular memory and the struggle for education in central Soweto
Author:
- 2 January 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in African Studies
- Vol. 79 (1) , 21-36
Abstract
Morris Isaacson High School in Jabavu, Soweto, has often been described as the epicentre of the June 1976 Uprising. It has become a focal point for memorials and annual commemorations. Few South Africans know anything else about the school. This paper argues that, while the school did in fact play an important role in the Uprising, it has a longer and possibly more important history as an educational institution catering to often extremely poor, working class families in the heart of Soweto. I discuss Morris Isaacson in historical memory, including an analysis of the filming of Sarafina! and conclude that in educational terms, Morris Isaacson has been much neglected. Astute leadership and committed alumni in recent years have managed to leverage the school’s political fame to attract state and private sponsorship. But this material assistance has not entirely resolved the school’s problems, which are mostly rooted in the deeper deprivation of its neighbourhood.Keywords
This publication has 11 references indexed in Scilit:
- Nostalgia for a beating: discipline, generational authority and corporal punishment at a Soweto High School, c.1960–2000History of Education, 2018
- The Glory Days of Morris Isaacson: Why Some Soweto High Schools Were Able to Succeed Under Bantu EducationSouth African Historical Journal, 2018
- Learning Amidst the Turmoil: Secondary Schooling in Soweto 1977–1990South African Historical Journal, 2016
- Champions of the poor or “militant fighters for a better pay cheque”? Teacher unionism in Mexico and South Africa, 1979–2013Safundi, 2016
- Soweto's Islands of Learning: Morris Isaacson and Orlando High Schools Under Bantu Education, 1958–1975Journal of Southern African Studies, 2015
- Autonomy and accountability in the regulation of the teaching profession: a South African case studyResearch Papers in Education, 2004
- ‘We must infiltrate thetsotsis’: school politics and youth gangs in Soweto, 1968–1976Journal of Southern African Studies, 1998
- The (black) male gaze: Mbongeni Ngema's Sarafina!South African Theatre Journal, 1996
- New South African cinema: Mapantsula and SarafinaScreen, 1994
- The origins and development of the South African student's movement (SASM): 1968–1976Journal of Southern African Studies, 1992