Identifying the needs and assets of a Primary School in a rural community : a case study

Abstract

Schools are one of the major services present in many rural communities in South Africa. Whole school development requires a broad set of participants, and a shared vision of what the school should be like in the future, looking at the whole system and not just the parts and the interaction between all parts. The shift in school development is from a deficiency-based model to a capacity building model. The research question is: What are the educational needs and assets of a primary school in a rural community in the Greater Sekhukhune District? The study is action research, a qualitative ethnographic study using a descriptive case study. Within the Emancipatory Action Research Model, the community action planning workshops were implemented for data collection using semi-structured interviews, silent observations and note-taking (all data were audiotaped). Data were analysed inductively which implied that data were transcribed, coded, categorised, and analysed. Findings reflect the educational needs and assets, and the community education programme. Twelve indicators of effective school-family-community partnership were identified and served as guidelines to develop the community education programme. A Logic Model of programme development was applied to design the identified school-family-community partnership programme.