Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Education supporting factors is of great importance for children who are growing up in very challenging circumstances. The challenge of poverty affects people differently and people also react differently towards it. If educators can understand why certain children can withstand certain risk factors such as severe contextual backlogs, whilst others cannot, they will have a better understanding where to intervene, and also how to put preventative measures in place. (Garmenzy, 1991). This resilience who is intrinsic amongst children, acts as protective factors against certain developmental factors to which children might be exposed to. The different supportive structures who is critical for the learners, acts as extrinsic protective factors. The stronger the protective factors are, the better the parents can resist the pressure from poverty (Ross,1995). This study therefore aimed to understand what education supporting factors exist for learners who are growing up in challenging circumstances. The researcher worked from an interpretive paradigm. The study’s orientation is a basic qualitative research and included the following: purposive sample selection to identify research participants, open questionnaires to gather their biographic information, individual interviews and field notes to generate data, and content analysis to analyse data. Research findings indicate that the encouragement and extensive support that the learners enjoy plays a huge role in their lives. The study also highlighted that if the learners’ intrinsic resilience can be further developed and when the extensive support is sustainable, the learners can be successful and handle life’s challenges. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Onderwys ondersteunende faktore is van groot belang by kinders wat in uitdagende omstandighede groot word. Die uitdaging van armoede raak mense op verskillende maniere en mense reageer verskillend daarop. As opvoeders kan verstaan waarom sommige kinders risiko faktore soos erge kontekstuele agterstande kan weerstaan, terwyl ander nie kan nie, sal hulle ’n beter kans staan deur te weet hoe om in te gryp, en hoe om voorkomende maatreëls te tref (Garmenzy, 1991). Hierdie veerigtigheid wat inherent onder leerders is, tree as beskermende faktore op teen ontwikkelingsfaktore waaraan die kind blootgestel kan word. Die verskillende ondersteuningsnetwerke wat kritiek is vir die leerders, tree op as eksterne beskermende faktore, want hoe sterker die ondersteuning is, hoe beter kan ouers die druk wat deur armoede veroorsaak word weerstaan (Ross,1995). Die studie het dit ten doel om te verstaan en insig te bekom met watter faktore onderwys ondersteun, vir leerders wat in uitdagende omstandighede grootword. Die navorser het binne ’n interpretivistiese paradigma gewerk. Die studie se orientasie is ’n basiese kwalitatiewe navorsing en het die volgende ingesluit: doelbewuste seleksie om te bepaal wie die deelnemers was, oop vraelyste om hul biografiese inligting te bekom, individuele onderhoude en veldnotas om data te genereer, asook inhoudsanalise om die data te analiseer. Navorsingsbevindinge dui daarop dat die aanmoediging en uitgebreide ondersteuning wat die leerders geniet ’n groot rol in hul lewens speel. Uit die studie was dit duidelik dat as die leerders se inherente veerkragtigheid verder ontwikkel word en die uitgebreide ondersteuning is volhoubaar, kan die leerders suksesvol wees en die alledaagse uitdagings met gemak hanteer.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) put many interventions in place to provide quality education to all schools, but barriers still remained in low-income communities. Most barriers developed due to inadequate resources such as: poor teacher training, lack of community involvement, lack of transportation, poor service delivery and sustainability within the community. Numerous communities suffered discrimination in the form of unjust distribution of social benefits and resources. The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), however, expects all learners to follow the same curriculum and achieve the same type of quality education. This is impossible when schools have inadequate resources. The aim of the research was therefore to explore how teachers understood the concept of quality education through their lived experiences at a low-income school. This exploration took into account what teachers viewed as contributing to or hindering a quality education, both at personal and interpersonal levels in the school. It also considered how the school system, the WCED and the social environment contributed to positive or negative outcomes regarding quality. This was important as teachers were seen as the key agents towards change in quality education. Social constructionism and a social justice approach provided the foundation of this research and enabled the voices of previously disadvantaged communities to be heard. In keeping with the theoretical frameworks of the study, a qualitative, interpretivist research approach was used. Participants were selected through purposive sampling and focus group discussions as well as individual interviews were used to generate data. Digital audio recordings were made of the group and individual sessions, which were then transcribed. The data collected in this study were analysed through thematic analysis. The research findings indicated that teachers experienced numerous barriers with regards to contextual factors and unjust distribution of resources. Furthermore, teachers reflected that with good pedagogy they were able to maintain quality education, by teaching a curriculum that was relevant to the context of the learner, even when resources were limited. This process was very time-consuming and not cost-effective. However, even though teachers were able to recognise the barriers present in their school they insisted that there were many positive aspects to working in a low-income school. These findings led to recommendations that were centred largely on meeting some of the support needs of teachers in low-income communities. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Wes-Kaapse Onderwysdepartement (WKOD) het baie intervensies in plek gestel om gehalte-onderrig te verskaf aan alle skole, maar baie hindernisse was steeds teenwoordig in lae-inkomste gemeenskappe. Baie van die hindernisse het ontstaan as gevolg van onvoldoende hulpbronne soos: swak onderwysopleiding, gebrekkige gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid, onvoldoende vervoer, swak dienslewering en volhoubaarheid in die gemeenskap. Daar was teen talle gemeenskappe gediskrimineer in terme van ongelyke verspreiding van sosiale voordele en hulpbronne. Die Kurrikulum- en Assesseringsbeleidsverklaring (KABV) verwag egter dat alle leerders dieselfde kurrikulum volg en dieselfde tipe gehalte-onderrig behaal. Dit is onmoontlik om te bereik indien skole onvoldoende hulpbronne het. Die doel van die navorsing was dus om onderwysers se konsep van gehalte-onderrig te verstaan deur hulle beleefde ervaring in ʼn lae-inkomste skool te ondersoek. Die ondersoek het in ag geneem wat onderwysers beskou het as ʼn bydrae of ʼn hindernis tot gehalte-onderrig, op sowel persoonlike as interpersoonlike vlak in die skool. Daar is ook gelet op watter positiewe of negatiewe invloede die skoolsisteem, die WKOD en die sosiale omgewing op gehalte-onderrig het. Dit word as belangrik geag omdat onderwysers gesien word as die belangrikste agente vir verandering in gehalte-onderwys. Sosiale konstruksionisme en ʼn sosiale geregtigheidsbenadering is die grondslag van hierdie navorsing en stel die stemme van voorheen benadeelde gemeenskappe in staat om gehoor te word. In ooreenstemming met die teoretiese raamwerke van die studie is ʼn kwalitatiewe, interpretivistiese navorsingsbenadering gebruik. Die deelnemers is deur middel van doelgerigte steekproeftrekking geselekteer en fokusgroepbesprekings en individuele onderhoude is gebruik om data te genereer. Digitale klankopnames is gemaak van die groep- en individuele sessies, wat toe getranskribeer is. Die data wat in hierdie studie ingesamel is, is ontleed deur middel van tematiese analise. Die navorsing het aangedui dat onderwysers talle struikelblokke ondervind het met betrekking tot kontekstuele faktore en onregverdige verspreiding van hulpbronne. Verder het onderwysers weerspieël dat hulle met goeie pedagogie in staat was om gehalte-onderwys te beoefen deur die kurrikulum binne die konteks van die leerder te onderrig, selfs wanneer hulpbronne beperk was. Hierdie proses het egter baie tyd in beslag geneem en was nie koste-effektief nie. Selfs al was onderwysers in staat om die struikelblokke in hul skool te herken, het hulle steeds die positiewe aspekte van werk in ʼn lae-inkomste skool uitgelig. Hierdie bevindinge het gelei tot aanbevelings wat grootliks handel oor ondersteuning van die onderwysers in lae-inkomste gemeenskappe deur vervulling van hulle behoeftes.