Stage 5: Terminating interview session: This stage was an indication that the interview had come to an end, this is where the researcher made an indication by using phrases such as “in
5.2. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
5.2.1. The role of education, culture and religious practices in promoting academic resilience for the post-school youth
The third objective was to analyse the role of education, culture and religious practices in promoting academic resilience for the post-school youth. According to Feldman and Masalha, (2007: 7) culture plays a significant role in shaping reality, moulding resilience and in contributing to one’s ability to adapt in the midst of risk. Culture shapes reality, norms and values that the resilient ones tap onto in order to cope and make sense of their environment.
140 Phillips et al., (2014: 29) indicated that religion and spirituality had been found through research to play an important role in the lives of older adults and youth adults and has significant positive impact on their mental health. Differing religious orientations were found to have the power to influence coping styles at both intrinsic and extrinsic levels orientations. Theron and Theron, (2014: 299) in the research conducted on education services and resilience process in Black South African students experiences revealed that education was the only formal service featured with any regularity in participants stories of their constructive adjustment to poverty and associated challenges during childhood and youth. Education impacted resilience processes in ways that were constructive evident in the post school youth who participated in the study.
Education was presented through the experiences of youth as important in nurturing resilience of the youth in Tembisa Township. The coping strategies highlighted in the study indicated that the school acted as a strong supportive structure which played a very big role in motivating youth and in giving direction through the implemented discipline measures, rules and regulations that governed the school programme. The schools provided the academic resilient youth with hope through the peers and teachers that were always there, willing to help with academic matters and offering friendship. Education was found to be the most important activity that kept the youth going in Tembisa Township through the inclusion of some extra-mural sporting activities that helped in relieving stresses of learners and contributed to physical fitness ‘though limited resources were highlighted as an issue’. The youth prioritised education and ensured coping academically through spending large amounts of time working hard at their education related activities; this gave learners focus, hope, teamwork exposure, desire to achieve, problem solving skills, time management as well as discipline and determination to achieve set goals.
Some of the youth in the study proved to hold strong Christian religious belief where there were expressions of “strong belief in God and God’s ways”. The youth believed that religion provided them with a sense of identity ‘defining the value of a human life according to beliefs in their faith. These youth believed that religion provided with self-realisation and understanding of the life struggles as not being there to destroy them but to build a positive character that can be used to help others in the families and community. Religion was presented and providing a sense of self-worth, that the adversities do not have to determine the future but be viewed as stepping
141 stones to a better future that can be used to motivate other youth. Religion also presented with a sense of hope, as some religious groups applied their belief of caring and giving and demonstrated this through provision of food to feed the poor, retreat camps to teach survival skills; and homework and tutorial help for impact education in Tembisa Township. The study identified that youth believed that religion plays a role in moulding good behaviour and instilling disciplined values to deal with challenging risks in Tembisa Township.
Culture was another protective factor that shaped youth’s reality and ability to adapt to the challenges faced by the Tembisa Township dwellers. Cultural orientation in Tembisa Township guided some of the youth in the study to choose the right friends of a similar age that shared common goals in their education. Culture presented with a sense of responsibility to some youth, where it was expressed that they needed to do well in their education and career path in order to be head of the family. In the Black culture a ‘male person is the head of the family that should fulfil a providing role’. Culture was found to provide other participants with a sense of identity and ancestral connection, where a male youth participant expressed that he believed that the deceased parents were watching over his family hence the academic success. He also expressed that he was working hard to do well and find employment so that he can perform a cultural ceremony for the deceased parents. Culture provided a sense of unity; families of youth were united, supportive of one another, protective of one another and sharing the little they had. It is culturally acceptable to honour the family structures as most families believe that this comes with doing well in life. The resilient youth were also found to respect elders, submit to authority while accepting encouragement from parents towards their academic success. The respect for elders as it is the expectation in the culture of post youth participants played an important role towards adapting to environmental challenges. The community had a culture of identifying with one another in terms of all the families being Black, which instilled as sense of ‘Ubuntu’ in the Tembisa community.
142 5.2.2 Educational interventions that help instil resilience in the post-school youth of Tembisa Township?
5.2.2a Educational resilience programmes that can be included in the learning process to