Pedagogy

Visual arts

Curriculum

Drama

Identity (music)

Aesthetics

Politics

Political science

Constructivism (international relations)

International relations

Sociology

Poverty

Social constructivism

Social science

Multilingual Margins A journal of multilingualism from the periphery

In this paper the focus is on the impact of gang culture on schoolchildren. Theresearch question investigated here is whether teaching the drama Krismis van MapJacobs offers any solutions to learners in gang-infested areas, given the framework ofthe Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). Two sub-questions consideredwhether the teaching of the drama should take place in Kaaps and whether the themeof Map Jacobs is still relevant within the CAPS curriculum 30 years after it was writtenby Adam Small. Theoretically, the paper is based on Pierre Boudieu’s (1991) view thata speaker’s ‘position’ in society determines whether he is heard, Bernstein’s (1990) ideathat social interaction influences your relationship with language and Vygotsky’s (1978)theory of social constructivism. The study concludes that a life with gangs provides nosolution for issues like poverty and unemployment, and that the youth should escapefrom a featureless existence through striving for good education and engaging withliterature. The paper is published with the kind permission of the SA Academy forScience and the Arts, as it originally appeared in the book Adam Small: Denker, Digter,Dramaturg; ‘n Huldingingsbundel (2017, SAWK).

Gang culture, Identity and Kaaps: Using Adam Small’s Krismis van Map Jacobs in Cape Flats schools