The role of the educator
Item
- Title
- The role of the educator
- Description
- In South Africa, like all other capitalist societies, workers are forced to work for wages to buy the things they need to survive. The land, factories, mines, etc are privately owned by the capitalists. Because the capitalists own the land, factories and mines they control the wealth that is produced. With this wealth, as well as with the ownership of several newspapers and investment in radio and television stations, the capitalists can try and influence how people think. The capitalists also use the political rights and the wealth they have to influence how the government behaves. In South Africa, black workers have no political rights, because of apartheid. So they cannot influence the government in the same way as the capitalists. Workers standing on their own are also weak against their employers because the employers do not need any one particular worker. But the employers cannot do without all their workers. Machines without workers are useless. So if all workers can organise themselves to act together, to act collectively as it is called, then the balance of power changes. Capitalism needs the labour of workers to survive. So organised workers can be the most powerful weapon against capitalism. But the capitalists in South Africa are very powerful. They have a good friend in the apartheid state. Workers need to be well organised to challenge the power of the capitalists. But to build this strength, we need unity. We also need discipline and clear direction. The first step in making a union strong is for the union to have a very large membership. But the members cannot be sleeping members. They must understand the broader aims and objectives of the union and how the union fits into the wider struggle in South Africa. They must also have the skills and knowledge to be able to participate actively in all the activities of the union. Democratic practices increase the strength of workers' organisations and make them more effective. Democratic organisations are also necessary for building democratic societies because they make it possible for the masses of the people to participate in decisions about their lives.
- Subject
- Capitalism and education
- Black people -- Education -- South Africa
- Teachers, Black -- Psychology
- CheckCat
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/110914
- Rights
- National Union of MetalWorkers of South Africa
- Rights Holder
- National Union of MetalWorkers of South Africa
- Provenance
- The item is held at the Cory Library for Humanities Research, Rhodes University, on behalf of the Labour Research Service
- Type
- text
- Extent
- 25 pages
- Format
- Language
- English
- Location - Physical Location
- Cory Library for Humanitites Research
- useGuidelines
- The materials are made available explicitly for research and educational purposes. Any use of these materials must be cleared with the Labour Research Service.
- Date
- 19--?
- Item sets
- General Materials
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