Towards inclusive education and training: developing the South African system for the challenges of change

Schools are by nature generally rigidly structured hierarchies and tend to operate counter to innovation in general. Some scholars have also argued that schools and those who inhabit them find it difficult to change their thinking and practice. In the light of these assertions, the critical question then is: how can stakeholders be assisted to reach a similar understanding of an innovation and to implement and manage the change process effectively? This theoretical essay explores the South African education scenery in the context of the Education White Paper 6 and proposes three critical and interrelated conditions necessary to facilitate and promote system wide changes.