South African teachers' experiences of educational challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory case study was to explore and describe South African teachers’ experiences of the educational challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown regulations, and subsequent school closures caused one of the biggest disruptions to education around the world. Consequently, teachers faced various challenges and stressors that had the potential to impact their well-being and ability to teach and further affect education. This interpretivist, qualitative case study was informed by a conceptual framework comprised of Bronfenbrenner’s process-person-context-time model and Pearlin’s stress process model. News articles from March 2020 to March 2021 were collected from the Government Communication and Information System database and three South African teachers from two primary schools (one private school and one public school) were individually interviewed and asked to complete a general information form to gain an in-depth understanding of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on teachers. The general information form contained general questions and the Trait Well-Being Inventory to ascertain the possible impact of participants’ subjective well-being on their experiences of the pandemic. The generated data was thematically analysed to identify, interpret, and understand patterns of meaningful information.

The findings of this study provided an understanding of South African teachers’ experiences of school closures, online education, and the return to school during the pandemic. Teachers’ experiences highlighted both negative and positive experiences during the pandemic, including the challenges teachers encountered, such as the disadvantages of online education, learner-specific stressors, the phased reopening of schools, COVID-19 infections and deaths, teacher-specific stressors, and the negative impact of the pandemic on their wellbeing. Moreover, teachers’ positive experiences during the pandemic included the benefits of online education, and the enhanced external resources and internal strengths teachers used to cope. In addition, the findings of the study provided an understanding of teachers’ need for psychological support, school support structures, and teacher training to aid their long-term well-being and resilience.