Exploring teacher professional resilience: a case of selected rural and remote schools in Lesotho
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Date
2020-06
Authors
Phohleli, Maphohleli Baptistina
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
The aim of the study was to explore teacher professional resilience in rural and remote schools in Lesotho. I was impelled to undertake this study after realising that there were some schools in rural and remote parts of Lesotho which perform well and were producing desirable results, despite working within adverse circumstances far from essential services, compared to some schools in the urban areas. They were schools whose pass rate was at least 60 percent upwards from year 2013 to 2017. The study employed qualitative method using multiple case study as the design. Data was gathered using semi-structured interviews and narratives. I used purposeful sampling to select both male and female participant who were qualified teachers. They were teachers that were already in these schools from 2013 to 2017. Data generated through semi-structures interviews and written narratives were analyzed using thematic analysis, as proposed by Braun & Clarke (2006). Findings from the empirical research point out that teachers understood what teacher professional resilience is. However, their way of conceptualising teacher professional resilience overlooked the ecological perspective of resilience. They also ignored the role played by the environment and the resources available in it for teacher professional resilience. However, most of their assertions demonstrated that they recognise the essence of ecological resources for their development, despite excluding them when conceptualising the concept. The results reflected that the participants are resilient teachers. Nevertheless, in order to develop their resilience better, more support from stakeholders such as learners themselves, parents, leaders and the government through the Ministry of Education need to be strengthened. Future research should therefore consider these important stakeholders to find out their awareness of teacher professional resilience, the role they play and can play to enhance teacher professional resilience. It would also be interesting to find out if resilient teachers facilitate learning in a way that could enhance resilient learners. Teachers’ suggestions on what they think should be done to help teachers to be more resilient in order to produce best results could also be considered. The study should also cover many district to acquire deeper and richer data.
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Keywords
Adversity, Desirable results, Professionalism, Resilience, Teacher professional resilience, Dissertation (M.Ed. (Psychology of Education))--University of the Free State, 2020