The thesis aimed at explaining why some Zimbabwean teachers have migrated to South Africa while others have not despite experiencing the same economic and political crisis. The focus was on external secondary brain drain, which is the movement of human resources from one country to another within the Southern African Development Community region (SIRDIC, 2008). It was premised on the theoretical argument that uneven development in the SADC region sustains the movement of human resources from the poorer countries to the richer or ‘core’ countries in the region particularly South Africa. The thesis reviewed literature on the Zimbabwean crisis and conducted a quantitative field survey, which was supplemented by a qualitative aspect, in order to analyse the determinants of teacher migration to South Africa. The field survey involved the self-administration of questionnaires by 200 Zimbabwean teachers, half of them teaching in South Africa and the other half in Zimbabwe, as well as collected life stories from five migrant teachers, interviewed four school heads, and perused circulars. The research found that Zimbabwe’s reversed economic growth and social development constituted the background on which teacher migration occurred. This brain drain, which mainly involved highly qualified and specialised mathematics and science teachers, coincided with the peak of the Zimbabwean crisis around 2008 indicating its survival significance. Teacher migration continued after 2008 due networks and teachers’ salaries that remained inadequate as they were close to the poverty line. Several recommendations were made including strategies for reducing the brain drain. / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Development studies)

Zimbabwe is suffering from an acute shortage of teachers mainly as a result of teacher emigration to South Africa and abroad. The southern migration of Zimbabwean teachers has received little research attention which has mainly focused on the migration of medical personnel. The purpose of this study is to uncover the factors that drive the migration of teachers from Zimbabwe to South Africa and to explain how these factors function within a grounded theory approach to teacher migration. To achieve this, a review of literature and an empirical study of a small sample of migrant Zimbabwean teachers resident in South Africa were undertaken. A constructivist grounded theory design was used. A theoretical sampling method generated a sample group of thirteen participants who were all qualified Zimbabwean teachers who had migrated to South Africa and been in the country for between one and five years. Data generation and collection consisted of two phases: in the first phase the participants were asked to write a life history narrative or provide a verbal narrative of their life history focussing on their migration. In the second phase they participated in individual interviews to clarify or expand on issues raised in the first phase. Three stages of coding were used in the analysis of the data, namely initial, intermediate and advanced coding. This led to the generation of a grounded theory on teacher migration. The grounded theory indicated that Zimbabwean teachers see migration as the best way to attain an ideal status. An ideal status is conceived to be the ideal interplay between the work conditions, standard of living and social esteem which teachers believe befits members of their profession. Depending on various criteria, teachers fall into one of the following status categories: further diminished status, diminished status, ideal status or ideal status surpassed. Migration is a drastic and demanding way to improve one’s status and it is adopted by teachers only after other strategies to this end have been exhausted. Weighed against existing theories of migration, the grounded theory contributes to understanding teacher migration and retention through the innovative use of the core category status. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Socio-Education)

The thesis aimed at explaining why some Zimbabwean teachers have migrated to South Africa while others have not despite experiencing the same economic and political crisis. The focus was on external secondary brain drain, which is the movement of human resources from one country to another within the Southern African Development Community region (SIRDIC, 2008). It was premised on the theoretical argument that uneven development in the SADC region sustains the movement of human resources from the poorer countries to the richer or ‘core’ countries in the region particularly South Africa. The thesis reviewed literature on the Zimbabwean crisis and conducted a quantitative field survey, which was supplemented by a qualitative aspect, in order to analyse the determinants of teacher migration to South Africa. The field survey involved the self-administration of questionnaires by 200 Zimbabwean teachers, half of them teaching in South Africa and the other half in Zimbabwe, as well as collected life stories from five migrant teachers, interviewed four school heads, and perused circulars. The research found that Zimbabwe’s reversed economic growth and social development constituted the background on which teacher migration occurred. This brain drain, which mainly involved highly qualified and specialised mathematics and science teachers, coincided with the peak of the Zimbabwean crisis around 2008 indicating its survival significance. Teacher migration continued after 2008 due networks and teachers’ salaries that remained inadequate as they were close to the poverty line. Several recommendations were made including strategies for reducing the brain drain. / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Development studies)

Zimbabwe is suffering from an acute shortage of teachers mainly as a result of teacher emigration to South Africa and abroad. The southern migration of Zimbabwean teachers has received little research attention which has mainly focused on the migration of medical personnel. The purpose of this study is to uncover the factors that drive the migration of teachers from Zimbabwe to South Africa and to explain how these factors function within a grounded theory approach to teacher migration. To achieve this, a review of literature and an empirical study of a small sample of migrant Zimbabwean teachers resident in South Africa were undertaken. A constructivist grounded theory design was used. A theoretical sampling method generated a sample group of thirteen participants who were all qualified Zimbabwean teachers who had migrated to South Africa and been in the country for between one and five years. Data generation and collection consisted of two phases: in the first phase the participants were asked to write a life history narrative or provide a verbal narrative of their life history focussing on their migration. In the second phase they participated in individual interviews to clarify or expand on issues raised in the first phase. Three stages of coding were used in the analysis of the data, namely initial, intermediate and advanced coding. This led to the generation of a grounded theory on teacher migration. The grounded theory indicated that Zimbabwean teachers see migration as the best way to attain an ideal status. An ideal status is conceived to be the ideal interplay between the work conditions, standard of living and social esteem which teachers believe befits members of their profession. Depending on various criteria, teachers fall into one of the following status categories: further diminished status, diminished status, ideal status or ideal status surpassed. Migration is a drastic and demanding way to improve one’s status and it is adopted by teachers only after other strategies to this end have been exhausted. Weighed against existing theories of migration, the grounded theory contributes to understanding teacher migration and retention through the innovative use of the core category status. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Socio-Education)