Year: 2021
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Learner engagement is a multi-dimensional construct that is prominently used as the conceptual framework for understanding why learners leave school early.This framework has also been used to investigate and establish intervention strategies to prevent learners from becoming disengaged in the schooling context.Within the South African context, reports from the Department of Education have indicated that the number of learners dropping out of school is rising, and this could be due to a large number of learners failing a grade and subsequently needing to repeat the grade.The South African government has implemented a continuum of support models in which more support structures are introduced into schools to help struggling learners.One such support structure introduced by the Western Cape Education Department is learning support teachers.Learning support teachers are appointed to provide academic and emotional support to academically struggling learners.Research has shown that struggling academically can be an early risk factor for disengaging and leaving school early.Learning support teachers thus play a mediating role in facilitating intervention strategies for learner engagement.This study investigates how learner engagement is facilitated within the schooling context by specialised support stafflearning support teachers.To investigate the role that learning support teachers play in facilitating learner engagement in school, the researcher used a basic qualitative enquiry situated within a social-constructionist paradigm.The researcher made use of purposive sampling to recruit six participants.Thereafter, an online platform was used to conduct semistructured interviews.Participants were also asked to complete narrative texts in which they shared support stories with the researcher.The researcher additionally used reflective field notes during the data gathering phase of the study.Thematic analysis was used to analyse the raw data and establish various themes.The data ultimately showed that learning support teachers play a role in facilitating learner engagement, but this is limited to the learners referred for support.These learning support teachers enable learners to engage in their small group context by implementing different teaching strategies and taking time to build trusting relationships with the learners.It is worth noting that many of the strategies used by learning support teachers can be applied in the mainstream classroom.The data also
Author: Elzahn Amanda van der Linde
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3179091261