Hair-cutting as a form of religious discrimination: evaluating the school code of conduct in the case of Nazareth Baptist Church learners.
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| Title: | Hair-cutting as a form of religious discrimination: evaluating the school code of conduct in the case of Nazareth Baptist Church learners. |
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| Authors: | Mlungisi Vusumuzi, Hlabisa1 (AUTHOR) HlabisaM@ukzn.ac.za |
| Source: | British Journal of Religious Education. Jan2026, Vol. 48 Issue 1, p4-17. 14p. |
| Subject Terms: | *School rules & regulations, Religious discrimination, Haircutting, Postcolonialism, Social injustice, Religious institutions |
| Geographic Terms: | KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), South Africa |
| Abstract: | Despite numerous reform measures by the state to promote justice and equality, South Africa finds itself far from its main constitutional objective of unity in diversity. The country is still faced with many social injustices and intolerances, and religious discrimination is no different. There have been several court cases heard in South Africa that point to religious intolerance in schools. This paper illustrates systemic religious discrimination against learners of the Nazareth Baptist Church encoded in ten schools' codes of conduct. It offers a postcolonial critique of these codes in a postcolonial/post-Apartheid South Africa. Using a case study approach, which follows an interpretivist document analysis, this research analyses school codes of conduct in northern KwaZulu Natal schools. The schools were purposefully selected based on the criteria that there are three major religions existing in that area: Christianity, Nazareth Baptist Church and African Traditional Religions. The study found that codes of conduct marginalise learners from the Nazareth Baptist Church by forcing them to cut their hair; therefore, misrecognising their religion. It explored how cut-hair is a colonial marker for civility and cleanliness. There is a need for School Governing Bodies to revisit codes of conduct to be inclusive of other religions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of British Journal of Religious Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
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| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Text: Availability: 1 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 190412446 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Hair-cutting as a form of religious discrimination: evaluating the school code of conduct in the case of Nazareth Baptist Church learners. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Mlungisi+Vusumuzi%2C+Hlabisa%22">Mlungisi Vusumuzi, Hlabisa</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> HlabisaM@ukzn.ac.za</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22British+Journal+of+Religious+Education%22">British Journal of Religious Education</searchLink>. Jan2026, Vol. 48 Issue 1, p4-17. 14p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22School+rules+%26+regulations%22">School rules & regulations</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Religious+discrimination%22">Religious discrimination</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Haircutting%22">Haircutting</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Postcolonialism%22">Postcolonialism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+injustice%22">Social injustice</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Religious+institutions%22">Religious institutions</searchLink> – Name: SubjectGeographic Label: Geographic Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22KwaZulu-Natal+%28South+Africa%29%22">KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22South+Africa%22">South Africa</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Despite numerous reform measures by the state to promote justice and equality, South Africa finds itself far from its main constitutional objective of unity in diversity. The country is still faced with many social injustices and intolerances, and religious discrimination is no different. There have been several court cases heard in South Africa that point to religious intolerance in schools. This paper illustrates systemic religious discrimination against learners of the Nazareth Baptist Church encoded in ten schools' codes of conduct. It offers a postcolonial critique of these codes in a postcolonial/post-Apartheid South Africa. Using a case study approach, which follows an interpretivist document analysis, this research analyses school codes of conduct in northern KwaZulu Natal schools. The schools were purposefully selected based on the criteria that there are three major religions existing in that area: Christianity, Nazareth Baptist Church and African Traditional Religions. The study found that codes of conduct marginalise learners from the Nazareth Baptist Church by forcing them to cut their hair; therefore, misrecognising their religion. It explored how cut-hair is a colonial marker for civility and cleanliness. There is a need for School Governing Bodies to revisit codes of conduct to be inclusive of other religions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of British Journal of Religious Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=190412446 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1080/01416200.2025.2462655 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 14 StartPage: 4 Subjects: – SubjectFull: School rules & regulations Type: general – SubjectFull: Religious discrimination Type: general – SubjectFull: Haircutting Type: general – SubjectFull: Postcolonialism Type: general – SubjectFull: Social injustice Type: general – SubjectFull: Religious institutions Type: general – SubjectFull: KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) Type: general – SubjectFull: South Africa Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Hair-cutting as a form of religious discrimination: evaluating the school code of conduct in the case of Nazareth Baptist Church learners. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Mlungisi Vusumuzi, Hlabisa IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 01 Text: Jan2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 01416200 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 48 – Type: issue Value: 1 Titles: – TitleFull: British Journal of Religious Education Type: main |
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