Comparing teacher resilience in primary schools in challenged contexts

Abstract

The purpose of this comparative secondary analysis study was to contribute knowledge on teacher resilience in spaces of high social disadvantage by employing Sense of Coherence as theoretical framework. The study purposively sampled extant data from the Isithebe study, which included conveniently sampled teachers (n = 36) from six purposively sampled peri-urban primary schools characterised by adversity. The extant data (completed Teacher Resilience Questionnaires) were analysed and compared with the objective to investigate how well the underlying variable structure of the Teacher Resilience Questionnaire holds in the setting of the present study. A further objective was to analyse Teacher Resilience Questionnaires to compare teacher resilience traits that can act as either protective resources or risk factors. Data were analysed using SPSS by computing descriptive, reliability and inferential statistics. The results indicated that the underlying variable structure of the Teacher Resilience Questionnaire holds up well in the setting of South African, peri-urban primary schools in challenged contexts, except for the Teacher Emotion scale. There were no significant differences in teacher resilience between the six schools or between the two age groups. Results further indicated that perceived teacher resilience of teachers in peri-urban primary schools in challenged contexts was high. Specific traits which seem to act as internal protective resources for the teachers in spaces where structural disparity abounds as well as contextual resources were identified. These teacher protective resources are comparative to other resources found in other parts of the world. However, unlike other countries, protective resources contributed equally to high teacher resilience.