4.3 Qualitative SC Results
4.3.3 Theme 1: Strengthening SC Competence
“We have learnt to build relationships with other stakeholders as we believe you cannot operate as an island.” (School C, May meeting); and
“You don’t have the necessary skills, that is why you need to consult with other professionals. These gatherings help us to problem solve and how to connect with other stakeholders.” (School E, May meeting); and
“We cannot operate as an island. At times we need to work together with the stakeholders from outside, hence this platform teaches us to share information and also to work closely with the stakeholders outside.” (School C, July meeting); and
“They teach us how to interact with the other community members because when we meet here, we meet as different schools having different ideas.” (School E, July meeting); and
Post-intervention data also indicated that bonding within social networks led to an increased connection between teachers within and across schools and between stakeholders, as evident from the following excerpts.
“When we are doing the Isithebe activities, we are able to be ourselves so we are able to understand each other and we are able to improve relationships because now we have a better understanding of each other.” (School D, post-intervention)
“These stakeholders also promote unity, it is very important.” (School C, post- intervention); and
“As a teacher it is very important to have relationships with stakeholders. We have volunteers that come to school to help us clean up the school grounds.” (School B, post-intervention); and
“Whenever one of us has challenge, like our children are sick or we have a funeral, we can ask our colleagues for help.” (School D, post-intervention); and
“It also improved the relations amongst the teachers because we are able to understand each other in a more comfortable way and we are able to communicate more open and freely, unlike when we are in the classroom or when we are in a staff meeting” (School C, post-intervention).
4.3.3.3 Sub-Theme 1.3: Leveraging School-Community Networks
Leveraging school-community networks involves creating and sustaining effective working relationships among key partners and stakeholders to provide psychosocial support to learners. Isithebe assisted teachers in communicating and connecting within and across schools, which in turn contributed to SC and increased leveraging networking capacity, evident in the following process and post-intervention excerpts.
“These gatherings promote unity and give us a better insight of each other’s strengths and weaknesses.” (School C, May meeting); and
“The share ideas, learning from each other, getting advice over challenges that we come across” (School D, May meeting); and
“They help us to cope with stressful situations and also to help with the challenged situations because that is where you get help and guidance on how to deal with the problems.” (School C, May meeting); and
“It helps me with my church because I take some of these ideas, like this one, I am going to take it to my church so they can make something and to keep us communicating as a group and helps us make strong relationships with people in my church” (School D, July meeting); and
“The Department of Education does not adequately address all the challenges. We have a lot of infrastructure problems that never get fixed. So, then we have to go out and get the sources for ourselves.” (School E, post-intervention); and
“We are always working with the community because in our school, I can say we are a community-based school. When people see the green around our school they ask how did we get it green, and we say that this is what a school is supposed to model. It shows that you can stay in a dirty area, but your home can be clean and then kids can say… my school is clean, I can make my home clean.” (School A, post-intervention) In addition, extracts like the following from my researcher journal support a heightened sense of belonging and leveraging networking capacity:
“The teachers seemed as if they had gotten closer. There was more open and relaxed communication between teachers who came from the same school” (Research Journal, 29 July 2019).
“The teachers seemed engaged and interactive throughout the day’s proceeding. The teachers worked well in their groups and gave insightful answers to the questions which were presented well to the bigger group” (Research Journal, 21 September 2019).
4.3.3.4 Sub-Theme 1.4: Valuing Positive Family Relationships
Process intervention data indicated that positive relationships for facilitating resilience are mutually empathic and responsive (Gu, 2018). Isithebe mobilised social support by enabling teachers to value positive family relationships inside and outside the school environment, as illustrated by the following excerpts.
“Isithebe also showed how important my family relationships are. I like to share what happened in Isithebe with my family because it brings us closer” (School B, May meeting).
“It also helps us have a bond with family relationships; it gives us that bond” (School C, July meeting).
“And it also strengthens relationships between teachers because sometimes we do have that social relationship, so it strengthens that part” (School D, July meeting).
“So, it is very important because it teaches you to serve yourself as well and also appreciate the relationships you have because those are important.” (School D, July meeting).
“I remember building something like a castle with children by the seaside playing with sand, and I related that to my family, and I thought that sometimes it’s good to have that quality time with your kids or with family” (School C, July meeting).
Figure 4.2
Photographs 57-60: Clay modelling activity during pre-intervention training
Photos by the researcher with permission from the participants
The one activity, we had to make a beautiful box, and we had to put messages inside.
The one activity was to call your friend you have not talked to in a while, and then I got
an invite. My friend invited me to come see her get ordained as a pastor, and we met up to go for coffee at Mugg & Bean. (School A, post-intervention)
Figure 4.3
Photographs 60-61: Photo of a teacher with her three children shared on the WhatsApp group
Photos by the researcher with permission from the participants
In addition, extracts like the following from my researcher journal act as support for the development of relationships between the teachers throughout the intervention.
Today in the venue, there is a buzz and a vibe between the teachers. Even before we started with our activity, the teachers were interacting with one another freely – talking and joking comfortably amongst themselves like old friends. (Research Journal, 29 July 2019)
Photographs 62 to 67 are from teacher-researcher joint meetings and teacher meetings sent via the WhatsApp group.
Figure 4.4
Photographs 62-67: Pictures of Isithebe teacher meetings
Photos by the researcher with permission from the participants