Educators’ Perspectives of Emotional Support in South African Schools Amid COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic disruption in South Africa resulted in the Department of Basic Education (DOE) implementing measures to salvage teaching and learning in primary and secondary schools. While these measures are critical to strengthen teaching and learning in schools, the emotional well-being of educators who are drivers of teaching and learning are given less attention which can have serious consequences on the well-being the learners they are teaching. Evidence suggests that educators who lack intrapersonal, interpersonal and stress management skills or have not been developed to acquire these skills can impact negatively on learning and the overall emotional and social competence of their learners. Within this context, this study explored the primary educators’ perceptions on the effects of the pandemic on the emotional well being and emotional support provided by the DOE. Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory informed this study. A case study was conducted using semi structured interviews. Overall, 30 educators were sampled as participants using a purposive sampling technique. All interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed for thematic contents using the thematic content analysis framework. The findings revealed that the DOE gave minimal emotional support to educators and instead increased their stress levels. It is recommended that the DOE should address the emotional development for primary educators focusing on stress management and intrapersonal skills to ensure the improved quality of teaching.