This independent research focused on the role of the teacher in relation to the provision of social care. I continued to research how my fellow teachers and I implement social welfare at my school. My learning about delivering social care for pupils 122 A micro perspective - helping pupils from within 122.
Within South Africa, there are policies related to the provision of care for the welfare of students by teachers. How my lived experiences have contributed to my passion for providing wellness care to students. How can we as practicing teachers best support the implementation of student wellbeing care?
In Chapter One I outlined the focus, purpose and context of the study and the need for welfare care for learners. In Chapter Five I look at how teachers can be better supported in carrying out welfare care. In this self-study I seek to better understand my role as a teacher in relation to the provision of welfare care to learners.
In this study, I used a self-study methodology to explore my practice of providing wellness care to students at my school.
HAVE BECOME MOTIVATED AND PASSIONATE IN PROVIDING WELFARE CARE
Theme 2. Teachers are Enacting Welfare Care by Making Provision for School Uniforms and Stationery
I have found that many students stay away from school because their parents do not have the means to buy pencils, crayons and writing materials. To help these students, some of the teachers use their money to buy crayons, pencils and paper. My colleagues and I believe that students should not be deprived of basic education because of circumstances beyond their control.
Therefore, we feel that it is our duty as teachers to provide these subjects for these disadvantaged students, as it is our responsibility to ensure that students are purposefully engaged throughout the day. I made them reading sheets so that each child can have one copy of the story during reading time. This hit me hard financially because I had to spend my own money on paper because every student was expected to buy a stack of paper that was part of their stationery list at the beginning of the year and many of them couldn't afford it .
I did not want these students to be deprived of primary education or disadvantaged because of circumstances beyond their control.” As Bhana, Morrell, Epstein, and Moletsane (2006, p. 4) note, “In resource-constrained situations, students are most negatively affected because their family circumstances are likely to be worse and the schools they attend are likely to have fewer schools. I also believe that many of these students are enthusiastic and committed to learning and therefore they should not be further deprived of education.
Furthermore, during my discussions with colleagues, they noticed that students were often absent because they did not have school uniforms, school shoes and school tracksuits. These items are then sorted and distributed to poor students as many of our students do not have school uniforms or they come to school with torn clothes and some try to squeeze into small shoes or uniforms. Their parents are unable to buy school clothes due to extreme poverty.”. 2010) highlights that teachers in poor schools in KwaZulu-Natal donate school uniforms to students.
This support is shown by teachers at my school, as many of them collect and distribute school uniforms, shoes, sweaters and any unwanted items of clothing. This helps learners so that many of them can come to school happy, self-confident and motivated to continue with their schooling and not drop out of school because of not being in school uniform. Interestingly, Vilakazi (2013, p. 63) in her self-study draws attention to how "the presence of the uniform gave [her] self-worth and therefore created an interest in learning, appreciation of education and confidence in [her] . ] capacities and qualities” .This comment made me.
Teachers are Enacting Welfare Care by Bringing on Board Sponsors, NGOs, Religious Organisations and Businesses as a Support Base
Theme 4. Teachers are Enacting Welfare Care by Providing Sports, Games and Excursions for Learners
These students enjoyed this outing and many indicated that it was the first time they had gone out to eat at a restaurant. For my colleagues and me, this outing was so special because we knew we had given some of these students the opportunity to have a new experience. Even with so many problems in their lives, I believe that these students should not be stressed even more.
My involvement and passion in sport has enabled me to help these learners progress further by allowing them to participate in sporting opportunities that they would otherwise not have. These learners are expected to collect firewood, cook food, clean their homes and sometimes take care of their siblings or sick grandparents or parents. That's why I liaised with my peers at the local Cricket Union, the local sports clubs, sponsors and businesses to provide these learners with the right equipment.
At the end of the coaching and development program, a gala event is organized for these learners. The emphasis here is on participation and encouraging these learners that their teachers are always willing to coach and assist them by offering them sports events and games. In addition, some of the children who participate in the program get the opportunity to be coached and managed by professional coaches and clubs because of their skills and talents that are showcased.
It also gives them the opportunity to study with some of the best sportsmen and women in the country at top institutions. The mini-cricket program helped many children from low socio-economic areas to be introduced to sports and physical education and ultimately their participation in the Mini-cricket program led to the holistic development of learners from poor communities. That's why I decided to organize a Fun and Sports Day for learners in the Foundation Phase (grades 1 to 3).
The aim of organizing this event was to offer every learner an opportunity to participate in a day full of fun activities and novelty races, regardless of where these learners come from. I met with teachers in the Foundation Phase, explained the purpose and outlined the process regarding their intervention and support. Many of them wanted this to become an annual event at my school, as the event was a great success and, most importantly, that all learners in the Foundation Phase participated.
Theme 5. Teachers are Enacting Welfare Care by Attending to the Emotional and Social Development Needs of Learners
Teachers implement wellness care by paying attention to the emotional and social development needs of students. In the next chapter, chapter five, I look at how teachers can be better supported in implementing welfare care. The focus of this study is on the role of the teacher in establishing well-being for students.
In this chapter, I show how I used an independent, arts-based learning method to explore my third research question: How can we as practicing teachers be better supported in delivering social care for students. This chapter addressed my third research question: How can we as teachers in practice get better support in implementing social care for students?. In the previous chapter (chapter five) I focused on my third research question: How can we as teachers in practice get better support in the implementation of social care for students?.
This helped me to better understand what additional support is needed from teachers in providing welfare care to students. The chapter showed that teachers cannot work in isolation to provide welfare care to students. In Chapter 1, I introduced the focus, purpose and context of the study and explained the necessity of welfare care for students.
I clarified my view on the responsibilities of teachers in providing welfare care to students in South African schools. It was also a tool to motivate and encourage my fellow teachers to become passionate about implementing welfare care for students. In chapter five, I examined how we as teachers can be better supported in providing welfare care to students.
I explained how I used collage as an arts-based self-study technique to explore my third research question: how can we, as practicing teachers, be better supported in implementing student wellness? I am now in a position to contribute to public awareness about teachers providing welfare services to students. By participating in this self-study process, I have read more broadly about research by others into the role of the teacher in creating welfare care.
My learning about delivering social care for pupils. Micro perspective - helping students from the inside. STUDY TITLE: Understanding the teacher's role in the implementation of social care for students: Independent study.
