Contextual factors influencing the implementation of an HIV&AIDS programme

Abstract

The primary aim of this study was to explore the manner in which contextual factors influence the implementation of HIV&AIDS programmes in schools, by investigating the lived-experiences of teachers who were responsible for the implementation of such programmes. The findings of this study mainly add to the vast body of knowledge on the implementation of the school’s curriculum. In addition to this, the study highlights the manner in which educational policy can become a workable instrument by setting parameters for the development of an HIV&AIDS school policy, and for effective implementation of an HIV&AIDS programmes in schools. Furthermore, this study will contribute to addressing the barriers that negatively influence HIV&AIDS programme delivery in schools. Another outcome of this study could be the possible improvement of the training of teachers and curriculum developers. The conceptual framework of the study dealt with the following: a description of the HIV&AIDS pandemic (as a background), the impact of the pandemic in the South African context, expectations and responsibilities of schools and teachers with regard to the implementation of HIV&AIDS programmes, and theories that underpin behaviour change, and form the basis of HIV&AIDS prevention programmes. The important role of the school as a societal agent, and its important role in the prevention of HIV&AIDS infection, emerged clearly in this study. The study was conducted according to a qualitative research approach, guided by the interpretivist and constructivist epistemologies. An instrumental case study design was utilised, during which semi-structured interviews, as the main data collection strategy, were conducted with purposively selected participants from three schools (cases). The individual semi-structured interviews were supplemented with observations, a reflective journal and visual data collection and documentation strategies. Four prominent themes emerged subsequent to an inductive data analysis that was done, namely: teachers’ perceptions and experiences of the HIV&AIDS programme, managerial factors in the school, societal and community influences, and HIV&AIDS as a topic in the school subject Life Orientation. These identified and structured themes broadly categorised the empirical findings that were related to the primary and secondary questions of this study. Although the implementation of HIV&AIDS programmes in schools was made compulsory, the study indicated that schools were not adhering to this requirement, due to factors such as a lack of sound management practices in schools, insufficient training of teachers and school managers, uninvolved stakeholders, and the lived-experiences of teachers with regard to the HIV&AIDS programme. Based on the findings of this study, recommendations were made with regard to the role that the Department of Education, school management, teachers and the community can fulfil, in order to improve the implementation of HIV&AIDS programmes in schools. This study also provides a suggested framework for developing and implementing an HIV&AIDS policy for schools, in an effort to prevent HIV&AIDS infection.