Elaine Browne.pdf - Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

the execution of visual art activities. One teacher shared her frustration in this regard: “Maybe
you want to use A3 pages. You cannot work on A3 pages, (because) we do not have proper
desks. We don’t have a sink. You really need a sink in your class otherwise you cannot tackle
painting and it becomes a problem”. With regard to lack of music resources, one respondent
shared his frustration about his inability to introduce learners to music as follows: “They (the
learners) are not exposed to these instruments, you see, they are not exposed. They cannot tell
the difference between a violin and a guitar and they do not know how the various instruments
sound”. Another despondent teacher remarked, “Dis nou net ‘n jammerte, ons het nie die regte
resources. Baie van hulle ken nie die verskillende tipe instrumente nie 24 ”.
It was also clear that the poor socio‐economic environment availability of and access to
resources. One school’s resources were abysmal as the school was exposed to constant
incidents of burglary and vandalism: “Hulle steel dit uit. Jy kan nie so ‘n tekening in jou
klaskamer ophang nie 25 ”. At this particular school, there was no electricity. Classrooms had no
ceiling. Windows were broken. Since the school was situated in an area where most residents
are unemployed, the school cannot afford to purchase any arts materials.
Sub‐theme 3.4: Staff allocations
The interviews furthermore revealed that the allocation of this learning area to specific
teachers happens on an ad hoc and random basis. One teacher described the annual workload
allocation process as follows: “Arts and Culture is becoming the dumping ground of all schools.
24 It is a pity that we don’t have the correct resources. Many of them don’t know the instruments’ names.
25 They steel it. You cannot display such a drawing in your classroom.
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