Abstract:
The purpose of the study is to determine and describe how Life Orientation (LO) teachers
attach meaning to the teaching of critical content they view as controversial and can only
be facilitated as courageous conversations. The Independent Education Board (IEB)
introduced the formal, structured facilitation of conversations on controversial topics in the
LO classroom in February 2016. The LO curriculum covers vital topics such as race,
sexuality, mental health, sexual orientation, gender identification, ethnicity, culture, belief
systems and privilege that require courage and teacher vulnerability. To explore the
phenomenon of LO teachers’ lived experiences of courageous conversations, my study had
to determine the meaning teachers attach to these controversial conversations. This
meaning-making is dependent on the LO teacher’s needs, skills and agency to facilitate
courageous conversation in an open, trusting, safe and respectful environment. Currently,
there is limited support to develop the skills to plan, facilitate and make sense of teachers’
lived experience of courageous conversations. Moreover, the lack of recognition of LO
offers minimal incentive to facilitate these formative conversations as nation-building
narratives. Social constructivism was utilised as a research paradigm in this study to
construct meaning from lived courageous conversations. An inductive approach was used
to analyse nine LO teachers’ individual lived experiences of courageous conversations,
followed by a focus group discussion to interpret their collective experiences.
Phenomenology was best suited to understanding and describing the complexities of their
lived experience, anecdotes and emotions elicited during courageous conversations. A
nominalist approach to this study supposed that socially and historically constructed teacher
identities influenced the meaning gleaned from the lived experience of courageous
conversations. Interpretivist theory was utilised during the critical phenomenological
interviews as it allowed the researcher to enter the participants’ lifeworld and share their
lived experiences within their specific context. A qualitative methodology allowed insight to
be gained from exploring and unpacking these lived experiences. These insights clarified
the participants’ identity and growth as they developed new knowledge and understanding.
Positive narratives and meaningful interactions promote skills development regardless of
the initial cognitive and emotional dissonance individuals may experience.
