INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILD CARE IN URBAN SOUTH AFRICA

various needs and challenges? How does such a center approach the challenge of caring
for them? Does this institutional approach appear to be working or not?
These questions are responsive to the challenge put forth at the end of Braitstein’s
article, calling for research to go beyond asking whether institutionalized childcare was
good or bad, and to begin asking how these institutions can be improved. (2015) John
Bryson argues that one of the most critical components in improving an organization’s
operations is a clear understanding of the problems and solutions it faces along with a
clear sense of its mission. (2004). Braitstein’s challenge, then, could be approached by
answering my questions surrounding the needs of the children and the care the center
provides. I will explore how one center in particular seeks to improve in the lives of
children and what it has determined to be the non-negotiable components of the childcare
it provides.
In order to answer these questions, I will spend the next few chapters describing
the results of immersing myself in a center, directly observing and participating in the
lived experiences of its children. I will discuss what I saw through the framework of their
stages of life- early childhood where they enter the center, the day-to-day challenges
made more obvious after a period of adjustment and continuing into middle childhood,
and their preparation for an adult life afterwards. The details will be described in the
chapter that follows.
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