Abstract

This work is a study aimed at investigating whether there is disaffection among black adolescent secondary school students in six secondary schools in the Phuthaditjhaba area of the eastern Free State Province of South Africa. Disaffection is viewed as the feeling of displeasure students have towards schooling and its activities arising from negative perceptions of and experiences in school. To investigate this issue, a survey was conducted among two carefully selected samples of students and teachers. In this survey, information was sought on demographic features of the representative student and teacher group. The questionnaire directed to the students contained an adapted form of Mau's Student Alienation Inventory to assess the extent to which students felt powerless, perceived meaninglessness and experienced normlessness, as well as the degree to which they were socially disconnected from others at school. The results obtained were numerous and varied but confirmed that some students were prone to disaffection as a result of both personal factors and school factors. In particular, the study underscored that some demographical factors--namely, students' ages, class size, family background, etc. could render them prone to disaffection