Images and Imaginings of Schooling: Missions, Visions, Emblems and Mottos of Schools in Qwaqwa

Abstract This article critically examines how selected schools in Qwaqwa (a remote town in the eastern Free State province of South Africa) imagine and “image” schooling through mission and vision statements, mottos, and emblems. We use the word “image” to refer to the way in which schools often use images to represent particular views about schooling and what it entails. Visual architecture of schools in the forms of vision and mission statements, mottos, and emblems communicate specific ways of thinking about schooling that resonate with the cultures and beliefs of the communities where the schools are located. Therefore, a critical analysis of such symbolic representations can reveal philosophies and views about schooling held and promoted not only by schools but also by the communities in which they are located. How do specific communities come to associate education with certain symbols, catchphrases, and idiomatic expressions? Is there a correlation between the ways of imagining and imaging schooling and the sociocultural and ecological landscape of the surrounding communities? The article is based on empirical data collected from 20 primary schools in Qwaqwa. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews administered to 10 principals and 10 members of school governing bodies of selected schools. We also took photographs of visions and missions, mottos, and emblems of selected schools, which we later coded and themed for content analysis. Findings of the study revealed that schools in Qwaqwa viewed education as a public good and as a tool for individual and community development.