21st-Century South African teachers in turbulent educational waters

Abstract

Teachers in the South African education system face numerous challenges that negatively affect their well-being and contribute to the high attrition rate in the teaching profession. Given that few studies in the South African context focus on teacher well-being, this article fills that gap by exploring how teachers experience profession-related challenges and how these affect their well-being. By merging the force field model (Samuel & van Wyk, 2008) and the PERMA model (Seligman, 2011) as theoretical frameworks, four forces, namely contextual, institutional, programmatic, and biographical, were used as a lens to explore the push and pull factors that impact the well-being of teachers. Data were collected using eight electronic open-ended questions and eight semi-structured individual interviews (case studies). The findings revealed that factors teachers identified as pushing them away from the profession were unsatisfactory remuneration, lack of resources, uninvolved parents, learner diversity, and an overwhelming workload. Pull factors that attracted them to the profession were the stability and convenience of following a teaching career, feeling valued, and being passionate about facilitating learning.