‘n Evaluering van opvoedermoreel in skole in Wellington

Abstract

Teaching is one of the most challenging and demanding professions in the world. It seems as though teachers are being stretched to the limit and that this has a negative impact on educator morale. Expectations placed on educators seem to be expanding exponentially in South Africa. A study has been undertaken to analyse and assess educator morale in schools in the Wellington area. The main aim of this study was to establish which factors influence educator morale. The aims that emerged was a literature study about educators’ morale and to establish how educators’ morale influence the functioning of schools. The last aim of the study was what can be done to assure continuous high educator morale. The literature study formed the starting point of this investigation. The literature study was followed by a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods within an interprevistic research paradigm. A questionnaire was used to collect data and feedback was given to three focus groups. The questionnaire concentrated mainly on aspects on national and provincial level, those in the school community and on school related levels whilst the third group related to the daily educational task of the educator in the classroom. The qualitative instrument was handed out to 137 respondents in schools in the Wellington area. The validity of the responses and the findings were tested by means of feedback to the focus groups to get their views about the findings of the literature study and the feedback from the questionnaires. The reliability of the data was tested by means of interviews with three focus groups. Triangulation was applied by means of qualitative and quantitative research methods, a literate study and focus group interviews. In conclusion, recommendations were provided to improve educators’ morale in schools in South Africa.