Understanding the educational needs of rural teachers: a case study of a rural education innovation in KwaNgwanase.

Abstract

This dissertation examines the following key educational issues: the needs of rural teachers, the role of rural parents in education and the nature of support provided by non-governmental organisations. The literature on South African education, rural education and in-service education and training provides a theoretical framework for the evaluation of an education innovation which began in 1986 in KwaNgwanase, in the Ubombo Circuit of the KwaZulu Department of Education and Culture. The focus of the study is to show how an innovation can be adapted by rural teachers to suit their own specific needs. It is acknowledged that improving teacher support and school provision within a rural area in South Africa is only a small step in transforming an inadequate education context. It remains the role of the state to provide a meaningful system of education for all South Africans, but communities can, and should, play a role in deciding how this service can best be utilised. The study suggests that aspects of the innovation has potential for replicability in other rural areas and may provide a strategy to address the need for appropriate in-service education and training for rural teachers.