Paper Title
Cultural Assimilation in South African Schools: The Role of Learner Codes of Conduct

Abstract
Every school in South Africa is lawfully obliged to adopt a Code of Conduct (CoC) to which all learners attending that particular school, is required to succumb to. Such a CoC is supposed to advance the rights of all learners. However, particular pronouncements in it suggest that the CoC of some desegregated schools not only violate the cultural rights of marginalised learners, but that it also advances the assimilation of these learners into the dominant culture. This is evident from recent actions by learners at particular South African schools who protested against their schools’ hair code as it is contained in the CoC. Moreso, various media reports not only report on the perceived discriminatory nature of some CoC, but also on the discriminatory practices legitimised by it. Using Critical Policy Analysis, I analysed some South African schools’CoC to explore how these, through particular pronouncements, promote the assimilation of marginalised learners. In this paper I therefore report on particular policy pronouncements as contained in the CoC of some schools and the extent to which it promotes the assimilation of marginalised learners. This paper concludes with recommendations on how school CoC could be made more sensitive to culturally diversity and so counter cultural assimilation. Keywords - Assimilation; culture; diversity; school policies; South African education, marginalised learners; Codes of Conduct