Teacher responses to rationalisation: transformation and adaptation in the Western Cape, South Africa

This paper seeks to understand the impact of the restructuring of the teaching corps in schools in the former House of Representatives educational system in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. As a system catering for children classified coloured and which was relatively more privileged than those (eleven others) which catered for children classified African, it has been targeted as a site from which to redistribute resources for redeployment elsewhere. The paper explores the dynamics of this process, particularly with respect to how schools are managing the process of retrenching teachers. It is especially interested in how schools are managing themselves during this restructuring. The paper seeks to argue, based on empirical work conducted in schools, that professional identity and the exercise of professionalism are important indicators in gauging how well schools will cope with educational reform and change. Drawing on studies conducted in ten schools the paper classifies schools into three categories of professionalism and argues that schools with high professional indexes manage stress more effectively than schools with lower levels of professionalism. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.