Female Morality As Entrenched in Batswana Traditional Teachings in Initiation Schools
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Female morality as entrenched in Batswana traditional teachings in Initiation Schools by Gaogalalelwe Katide Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS – WITH SPECIALIZATION IN RESEARCH CONSULTATION At the UNIVERITY OF SOUTH AFRICA Supervisor: MRS BM SEMENYA FEBRUARY 2017 Student Number: 42060915 DECLARATION I declare that Female morality as entrenched in Batswana traditional teachings in initiation schools is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. ………………………..(Signature)……25/02/2017…………….(Date) ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank the Almighty God for giving me the ability to finish this research study. I thank Kgosikgolo Tshepo Mankuroane for allowing me entrance to his village to conduct research there. I also thank Rre Mabe, his wife Emma Mabe and their family for their hospitality and for opening their house to us when we were in Taung. Mrs Banti Mokgatlhe was also central in the process of negotiating entry into Taung. I thank her for her selfless contribution. My participants - without you the study would not have been a success - Ke leboga go menagane, boMme. My supervisor who enlightened me and never thought my efforts were worthless. Your wisdom and integrity were amazing and highly appreciated. My husband, Mlamuli Paul Katide who never stopped believing in me. My children, Phendukani, Ntsika and Thato Katide who always gave me a reason to smile even when I was stuck. My younger sister, Tlotlo for knowing I can always count on you. My sister, younger brother and my parents for the endless support and for reading my work. Melusi Mbatha, Reabetswe Molobela and Lesego Ramphele, the conversations we had edified my thinking. Thank you Mbongiseni Mdakane, for the endless support. iii ABSTRACT The state of moral decline has recently come under scrutiny in South Africa and abroad. Moral development is nurtured and developed by moral teaching. South Africa has put in place various avenues for moral education in order to curb moral degeneration. However, due to the continuing social ills that are experienced in the country further avenues of moral education ought to be explored. Due to the multicultural nature of the South African population, moral considerations should consider the strengths that cultural diversity in moral education can contribute toward a moral society. Moral teachings have been explored through education and religious chastity; however, the indigenous knowledge systems of South Africans have not been tapped in this regard. This is partly because the scientific world has not seen it fit to accommodate these knowledges in the knowledge production sphere. The study employed a constructivist grounded theory approach to explore the role of traditional teachings in Batswana female initiation schools and how the traditional teachings contribute to morality and the construction of womanhood. A decolonial epistemic perspective, the African epistemology and social constructionism were used as concepts that formed a framework to allow the critiquing of main stream theories and to allow a grounded theory to emerge from a Batswana female initiation context. Unstructured interviews with initiation instructors as primary data sources were conducted. Secondary data sources included initiation songs and dance; conversations with people who are involved in initiation schools, people who are knowledgeable in Setswana culture and the cultural celebration that the researcher attended were used. The textual data was analysed using the Attride Sterling model of thematic networks. Womanhood as a particular identity and female morality as mainly determined by context are the main themes in the study. Womanhood and morality are intertwined within this context that determines womanhood according to acceptable behaviours. An ethic of responsibility was the overarching theme when analyzing how female morality and womanhood is constructed in the context of initiation schools in Taung. Keywords: Initiation Schools, Initiation Instructors, Female Morality, Womanhood, Batswana, Constructivist Grounded Theory, Indigenous knowledge systems, Taung, Ubuntu, Thematic networks. iv Contents Student Number: 42060915 ....................................................................................................... ii DECLARATION ....................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. iv CHAPTER 1 .............................................................................................................................. 1 CREATING CONTEXT ............................................................................................................ 1 Problem statement ............................................................................................................ 2 Moral teaching and moral development: A brief historical background .......................... 4 The research question ....................................................................................................... 9 Aim and objectives of the study ....................................................................................... 9 Rationale and motivation of study .................................................................................... 9 How the study unfolds .................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 2 ............................................................................................................................ 13 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................ 13 Morality and moral development through the prism of theory ...................................... 13 On the ‘faulty’ parallelism of care and justice in moral development theories .............. 15 Ethics of care as a signifier of female morality and female moral development ........... 16 Culture as a prism for understanding moral development .............................................. 19 Morality: An African perspective ................................................................................... 23 Constituting Womanhood (Bosadi) ................................................................................ 25 Indigenous knowledge, moral education and the importance of initiation schools ....... 30 v Draft Policy for initiation schools in South Africa. ........................................................ 33 Female initiation Rites .................................................................................................... 34 Batswana Female initiation Rite (Bojale) ....................................................................... 37 Initiation as a rite of passage .......................................................................................... 38 Initiation as a space for teaching moral behaviour and shaping identity ....................... 42 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 43 CHAPTER 3 ............................................................................................................................ 44 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................................ 44 The Decolonial Perspective ............................................................................................ 45 An African Epistemology ............................................................................................... 48 The Ubuntu Philosophy .................................................................................................. 50 Social constructionism.................................................................................................... 51 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 52 CHAPTER 4 ............................................................................................................................ 54 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS ............................................................................... 54 Qualitative research approach ........................................................................................ 54 Research Design: Constructivist Grounded Theory ....................................................... 55 Research process: Negotiating Entry .............................................................................. 56 Research context ............................................................................................................. 58 The History of Taung ........................................................................................... 58 Initiation schools in Taung ................................................................................... 59 Key role players in initiation schools ................................................................... 59 Protocol of getting access to the Chief ................................................................. 60 vi Positionality and Reflexivity in Research .....................................................................