Navigating Citizenship Education: LO Teachers’ Pedagogical and Emotional Experiences Fostering Social Cohesion in Western Cape Schools

Abstract

Social cohesion remains a contested and inadequately realised goal in post-apartheid South Africa, despite its centrality to Citizenship Education (CE) within the Life Orientation (LO) curriculum. While existing scholarship foregrounds structural and curricular constraints, insufficient attention has been given to the lived pedagogical experiences of teachers who enact CE daily. This study explores how LO teachers interpret and enact social cohesion in CE, and the complex relationship between their teaching, curriculum implementation, and social cohesion. Drawing on Freire’s critical pedagogy as a theoretical framework, reinforced by Ubuntu, a qualitative, interpretivist case study was conducted with 16 purposively selected LO teachers across four Western Cape secondary schools — two public and two independents — characterised by socio-economic inequality and cultural diversity. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis, and analysed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis. Four key findings emerged: teacher identity functions as a determinant of CE pedagogy; a persistent misalignment exists between curriculum expectations and classroom practice; teachers adopt adaptive and experiential pedagogies to bridge this gap; and teachers operate as moral agents of social change. The findings reveal that CE is not a neutral curriculum process but an emotionally mediated, identity-driven practice. The study recommends teacher development, context-responsive curricula, and greater inclusion of teachers as stake-holders in policy processes.