Browsing by Author "Cornelissen, Timothy Paul"

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    Exploring the resilience of teachers faced with learners’ challenging behaviour in the classroom
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-12) Cornelissen, Timothy Paul; Oswald, M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. Educational Psychology
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT : In 1994, South Africa made the shift towards a democratic dispensation characterized by equality and social justice. In order to prevent democracy from being an empty ideal, mainstream as well as special schools in the South African education system had to go through a process of restructuring and transformation in order to create an inclusive school environment conducive to the learning and development of all learners. This brought about increased responsibilities for teachers. However, research indicates that many teachers were not prepared or equipped to successfully manage the transformation of schools and classrooms to accommodate all learners in an inclusive, equitable and quality education system. This created numerous challenges which contributed to teachers’ stress and attrition. One of the most prominent difficulties was an inability to cope successfully with challenging learner behaviour. This seems to have had a detrimental effect on the teachers’ resilience. The inability to cope with challenges presented by the diverse learner population, accompanied by the gradual decline in their resilience, contributed to an unrewarding classroom ethos. Following Ungar’s socioecological perspective on resilience, which informed the theoretical framework of this study, I viewed resilience as being influenced by the reciprocal interaction between the individual and the environment. This qualitative case study, informed by an interpretivist paradigm, was designed to explore teachers’ lived experiences and the various factors impacting upon their resilience. It also aimed to offer a deeper understanding of how resilience influences the ability of teachers to manage challenging learner behaviour. To address these issues, a special school (school of skills) in the Western Cape Province was chosen as the case for the study. Three teachers from the academic sector and three from the skills sector formed part of this case. Semi-structured individual interviews, non-participant observation, and a semi-structured focus group interview were used to gather and triangulate data. Four themes emerged from the data: risk factors, internal stressors, protective factors, and internal strengths. The findings indicated that risk factors were dominating the available protective factors present in the lives of the participating teachers, making the attainment of resilience a complicated task. Nevertheless, the study also showed that increased resilience enhances the management of challenging learner behaviour and simultaneously enhances well-being, motivation and self-confidence. The importance of gaining sufficient knowledge about learners’ contexts, their challenges and how to apply various techniques to meet their needs, was highlighted.