The lived experiences of educators who provide psychosocial care and support in a disadvantaged South African primary school

Abstract

The aim of the study was to explore, understand and describe the lived experiences of educators who provide psychosocial care and support in a disadvantaged primary school in South Africa. The focus was on their community, citizenship and pastoral role, strongly associated with the concept of uBuntu. The relevant policy documents as well as Bronfenbrenner’s Bio-ecological Systems Theory were reviewed and used to guide the investigation. In the empirical investigation a qualitative research approach was adopted using a phenomenological case study design. The study was conducted in a disadvantaged primary school in the Gauteng Province. By means of purposeful sampling, 15 information-rich educators were selected for participation. They wrote naïve sketches on how they experienced the psychosocial care and support to their learners. Thereafter, in-depth interviews were conducted, audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The analysis and interpretation of the data were executed by means of acceptable scientific methods. The findings revealed that the educators identified the learners’ psychosocial needs related to their physical care, emotional needs, cognitive challenges and needs in respect of teenage pregnancy. The educators believed that the learners’ psychosocial needs were related to parental issues (e.g., unemployment, constant relocation, poverty and drinking problems), the emotional and physical abuse of learners, child-headed families and orphans, and language problems in the classroom. The educators were challenged on how to fulfil their pastoral role to address the learners’ needs, particularly regarding the sexual abuse of learners, the lack of parental involvement, their own lack of skills on how to address disciplinary issues in the classroom, and the lack of support by the relevant authorities. It was concluded that educators needed community involvement and support, as well as in-service training, in order to empower them to be able to address the learners’ psychosocial needs. To this end, the study designed an in-service training programme for educators that can serve as a prototype for schools to adapt to their own needs. Recommendations were made for further studies, while the limitations of the research on which the thesis was based, were also pointed out.