Teachers’ perceptions of school-based support teams in the Johannesburg East School District

Abstract

The aim of this research study was to explore how teachers in a sample of primary schools in the Johannesburg East school district of Gauteng perceive the school-based support teams (SBST) at their schools. These support teams are supposed to be existing structures within public schools in South Africa according to the policy outlined in Education White Paper 6 (Department of Education, 2001). Teachers in South African government schools often face considerable challenges in the implementation of inclusive education. These include catering to the individual needs of all learners within classrooms that contain a large number of learners. A mixed-method exploratory descriptive design was used to carry out the exploration of this study. Five government primary schools in the Johannesburg East school district participated in this study and there were fifty-four educators that voluntarily completed a questionnaire that consisted of both open- and closed-ended questions. Data from the questionnaires were analysed by using frequency and descriptive analysis, as well as thematic content analysis. Results from this questionnaire indicated that the majority of the respondents have a positive outlook on the school-based support team approach and would like this approach to continue within their school. They do however require additional support from the district support team and would need assistance from both the district and school-based support teams in order to constructively deal with specific barriers to learning. This will improve the collaborative support and emotional well-being of the educators, thereby improving the quality of education provided to the learners.