More Than a Teacher: Understanding the Teacher-Learner Relationship in a Public High-School in South Africa

Abstract

Teaching is considered a caring occupation due to the nature of the interaction between teachers and learners (Hocschild, 1983). Care giving can be a demanding task, however, emotional labour invested in the occupation – with regards to their relationships with learners – contributes to job satisfaction, commitment and be emotionally rewarding. The proximity or distance of these relationships are dependent on five emotional geographies, namely socio-cultural, moral, professional, physical, and political relatability (Hargreaves, 2001). This paper draws on a case study of teachers at a former Model C high-school in South Africa to examine the formation and development of relationships formed between the teacher and learner. The article suggests that teachers adopt three additional roles outside that of teaching. These roles, the coach, counsellor, and parental figure, foster emotional understanding (Denzin, 1984) between the teacher and learners, which creates a positive classroom climate. These roles are deemed necessary for the fulfilment of successful relationships with learners. However, there are challenges which teachers face when attempting to develop these bonds with learners, which include a negative classroom climate, socio-cultural distance, and sexual harassment – faced by women teachers.

The emotional experiences of teachers teaching learners with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“…Thus, they re-taught the work as a key way to ensure that learners got the benefit of schooling. Doing this gave teachers a sense of achievement and fulfilment knowing that on a personal level they could contribute to learning (Hargreaves, 2002;Soldaat, 2019). Thus, when this moral purpose of teaching was achieved, then teachers were able to access the psychic rewards of teaching (Hargreaves, 2021).…”

“…Here they could receive the psychic rewards of teaching (Hargreaves, 2021) by being responsible for ensuring that learners had access to learning. Soldaat (2019) also indicates that the reason why teachers go the extra mile for their learners is because of the beliefs that teachers have about their responsibility towards the well-being of learners. It is for this reason that teachers took the extra time to teach after school.…”

The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on teaching practices and teacher-learner professional relationships in a rural school context.

“…The sociocultural differences create either closeness or distance. Soldaat (2019) describes the sociocultural aspect as addressing cultural differences between different groups sharing space.…”