'I am nothing just zero' : exploring the experiences of black unemployed teachers in a South African rural community.
Date
2008-12-24T07:38:09Z
Authors
Hlahla, Makwena Julia
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Abstract
A substantial body of international research exists dealing with the experiences of
unemployment. However, there is relatively little research focusing on unemployed
people with postgraduate degrees and no research on qualified unemployed teachers in
South Africa. Against this background, this research explored the experiences of eight
unemployed Black African teachers in a rural village in the Limpopo province, South
Africa by means of face-to-face, in-depth interviews. The study found that the majority of
those interviewed had chosen teaching because it had a vocation or calling and that this
aspect of their career choice made their experiences of unemployment even more painful.
It was also noted that being unemployed was a particularly difficult state to accept
because of the emphasis on the importance of education in the communities from which
the teachers came and the accompanying belief that a tertiary qualification would almost
inevitably secure employment. It also found that the participants expressed a number of
the negative experiences such as loss of self esteem and a sense of self worth. More
specifically, it was found that the inability to fulfil the traditional gender role as head of a
household was one of the most significant problems confronting the unemployed men.
Additional findings of particular interest include the fact that by contrast with other
research, this group of teachers did not experience the extent of social isolation so often
found in the international literature. It was suggested that a possible explanation for this
finding related to the particularly strong social ties that operate in Black African rural
communities in South Africa. A number of suggestions concerning further research into
the experiences of unemployed graduates are made in the concluding sections of the
study. It is suggested, for example, that it would be useful to explore the extent to which
the experiences of unemployed Black African teachers in urban communities relate to
those described in this research.
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Keywords
Black teachers, Unemployed teachers, South Africa, Rural community