Implementation enablers and constraints of a school-based intervention in a rural context

Abstract

School-based intervention in a post-colonial context forms part of a transformational process to address equity and the right to quality education. Interventions have had limited effect reducing the disparity between the haves and the have-nots, thereby perpetuating the cycle of intergenerational poverty and inequality. Quality Talk, a classroom discourse intervention, was used as a case study to explore the broader issues of school-based intervention. Using a mixed-methods integrated design the data collected was used to identify potential enablers and constraints of school-based intervention research in a rural context. Building on active intervention implementation models in health and education research I propose an integrated approach to school-based intervention that focuses on a multilevel process of implementation. The implementation process emphasises the interrelationship between the intervention, participants, and context. The role of researcher, as an active ingredient of implementation, is to assess and align the intervention within its contextual setting with the participants as they reflect on the intervention implementation process. The implementation of the intervention is linked to developing a multilevel support system focusing on professional development, leadership, and perceptions and attitudes towards the intervention. Together these factors aim at facilitating the transitioning of school and individual readiness to intervention implementation thereby developing teacher competence in providing quality education to students in the classroom.