Exploring meanings of teacher's experiences in an urban community where low income levels prevail

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The contexts of the experiences of teachers in South Africa, particularly incommunities with low income levels, seem to invite meanings of hopelessness.These meanings appear to be supported by dominant discourses that coulddetermine and limit the practices or actions of these teachers. Within these contexts,however, there are teachers whose actions, reflections or motivations suggest thepossibility of alternative or preferred meanings that may be marginalised or silencedby dominant discourses of hopelessness. The theoretical framework that providedthe foundation for this study was social constructionism, which argues that meaningis constructed through social interaction and that there is no underlying or objectivereality that can be revealed through observation or experience. An understanding ofthis social construction of meaning allows for the construction of alternative orpreferred meanings by individuals or groups in contexts where dominant discoursesdo not serve their best interests. The aim of the research was therefore to exploreand describe the meanings that the participants make of their experiences asteachers in a primary school in Cape Town in a community where low income levelsare prevalent. The study further aimed to describe how these teachers experiencecontextual factors and how these factors contribute to their meaning-making.Furthermore, the purpose of the study was to explore local knowledge in the form ofactions, motivations and reflections of the teachers that suggest possibilities foralternative or preferred meanings.In keeping with the social constructionist nature of the study, a qualitative,interpretivist research approach was used. Participants were selected throughpurposive sampling and focus group discussions were used to generate data. Digitalaudio recordings were made of the group sessions, which were then transcribed andanalysed using the constant comparative method.The research findings indicated that the teachers who participated in the studyexperienced various contextual factors that contributed to their meaning-making.Their experiences of most of these factors were described in similar ways tocomparable contextual factors as portrayed in the literature. Furthermore, thesecontextual factors were linked by the teachers, and dominantly in the literature, tomeanings that could be summarised as hopelessness. However, alongside these meanings, the teachers gave rich or detailed descriptions of a range of actions,reflections and motivations that suggest possible alternative or preferred meanings tothe hopelessness that their context seems to invite, and that dominant discourses inthe literature appear to portray. These findings led to recommendations that werecentred largely on meeting some of the support needs of teachers and children incommunities with low income levels.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University