Teachers’ Struggle: the case of white English‐speaking teachers in South Africa

This paper reviews and explains the perceptions of a specific group of teachers in South Africa—white English‐speaking teachers. The analysis, based on research conducted during 1986‐1987, investigates the context in which these teachers perceive their subordination and articulate their interests. The discursive approach which is used here poses the notion of white English‐speaking teacher as a construction of social identity which is contingent in the historical sense and is a product of discursive articulation. The article analyses the historical and the material conditions in which the teachers’ work is situated. It explains the nature of the teachers’ perceived subordination and social identity. Finally, the paper offers a short note of conclusion about the implication of this analysis for the possibility of a pluralist notion of teachers’ unity.