Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to explore how a teacher intervention programme
could be adapted for use with community volunteers. This study forms part of the
broader Supportive Teachers Assets and Resilience (STAR) and Supporting Home
Environments in Beating Adversity (SHEBA) research projects. The rationale for
undertaking this study emanated from previous research findings by Ferreira and
Ebersöhn (2012), indicating the possibility of adapting a teacher intervention and
implementing it in contexts other than schools. The context of volunteer care work
was identified as one possible context that could benefit from the initial teacher
intervention.
I followed a Participatory Reflection and Action (PRA) approach and used an
interpretivist lense. Following a case study design, for phase one of the data
collection process, three female participants (one teacher, one principal and one
volunteer care worker) participated in a focus group discussion. For the second
phase of data collection, 30 participants (27 teachers, one principal, one viceprincipal
and one care worker) were involved in PRA-based activities, focusing on
their experiences of the STAR teacher intervention in previous years. In addition to
the PRA-based data collection and documentation strategies, I relied on observation,
visual techniques, field notes and a research diary. Following data collection, I
completed inductive thematic analysis.
Findings of the study indicate that the teacher intervention programme could be
adapted for use by community volunteers, but that the core principles of the initial
teacher intervention had to be maintained. More specifically, participants indicated
the importance of an adapted intervention being embedded in asset-based principles, including discussions on relevant policies and work-related skills, as well as involving
regular monitoring and evaluation processes. In terms of suggested changes to the
teacher intervention, findings indicate participants view that body mapping as a
potential care and supportive tool should be revised in terms of implementation
procedures, that more work-related skills should be added to discussions, and that
additional relevant policies should be included in an adapted volunteer intervention
programme.
