Adapting a teacher intervention programme for use with community volunteers

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.