Beyond academisation: Freirean praxis and the repoliticisation of VET in South Africa

Abstract

This article explores the tension between the academisation of vocational education and training (VET) and efforts to reclaim its transformative potential. Drawing on Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy, it argues for the repoliticisation of VET in South Africa, where the post-apartheid VET system remains shaped by inequality, outdated curricula, and low social status. Rather than viewing VET merely as preparation for employment, repoliticisation foregrounds student agency, dialogical praxis, and the pursuit of epistemic justice. Centred on the experiences of 15 students who participated in Learning Cycle Group (LCG) meetings – structured, dialogical spaces informed by Freirean pedagogy – the study draws on participatory data to examine how students resisted being positioned as passive recipients of training. Instead, they articulated aspirations rooted in social justice, critical reflection, and collective transformation. The findings reveal that when students engage as co-investigators of their realities, VET can become a site of critical consciousness and political becoming. Integrating Freirean ideas into VET is thus presented not as elitist academisation but as a counter-hegemonic move that reclaims the humanising and political dimensions of education, positioning VET as a democratic space of dignity and dialogue.