Version 1
: Received: 7 April 2024 / Approved: 10 April 2024 / Online: 10 April 2024 (11:54:28 CEST)
How to cite:
Kafu-Quvane, B. Unveiling the Secret Sauce: Unravelling How Teachers Decode School Culture for Optimal Learner Retention in Schools That Are in Adverse Conditions. Preprints2024, 2024040736. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.0736.v1
Kafu-Quvane, B. Unveiling the Secret Sauce: Unravelling How Teachers Decode School Culture for Optimal Learner Retention in Schools That Are in Adverse Conditions. Preprints 2024, 2024040736. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.0736.v1
Kafu-Quvane, B. Unveiling the Secret Sauce: Unravelling How Teachers Decode School Culture for Optimal Learner Retention in Schools That Are in Adverse Conditions. Preprints2024, 2024040736. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.0736.v1
APA Style
Kafu-Quvane, B. (2024). Unveiling the Secret Sauce: Unravelling How Teachers Decode School Culture for Optimal Learner Retention in Schools That Are in Adverse Conditions. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.0736.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Kafu-Quvane, B. 2024 "Unveiling the Secret Sauce: Unravelling How Teachers Decode School Culture for Optimal Learner Retention in Schools That Are in Adverse Conditions" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.0736.v1
Abstract
This paper explores teachers’ professional practices to gain a thorough grasp and a deep understanding of what it takes to retain learners in an environment where most schools fail to do so. I approach the study using a qualitative multiple case study design and position it within the interpretive paradigm. I purposively selected 50 post-level one teachers from five schools. Cavanagh and Dellar’s theory on culture of school improvement, which emphasizes the transformation of schools into learning communities through social interaction, interpersonal relationships, and support among various stakeholders, including parents, teachers, and learners, was used as theoretical lens for this research. To generate data, I used focus group discussions. I present and discuss data through four themes namely, fundamental values, ethics and behaviour in the classroom, their influence in building learners’ moral vocabulary in the classroom, Classroom rituals in running the classroom smoothly and learner productivity, the effects of the celebrations on the classroom-learning communities, role served by heroes and heroines in learners learning together. In conclusion, one dynamic that stood out is that not all values that teachers had were mutually consistent or harmoniously realisable. Despite that, teachers focused on the central task of teaching, learning and management with a sense of responsibility, purpose and commitment. Teachers seemed to have mind-sets that supported a good work ethic, achievement, commitment, passion and love to attend their teaching duties diligently. Teachers uphold the values through rituals that symbolised order, that prepared students for learning and helped in binding learners of the school and teachers to each other and emphasised the unique values of the school culture. They also uphold them by celebrating academic achievement and had learners and other people who were taken as heroes and heroines of the school and were looked up to by other learners and members of the staff and generally set the tone for the way things were done.
Keywords
school culture, leadership, learner retention, adverse conditions
Subject
Social Sciences, Education
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
