Rural Support Experience of Student-Teachers in South Africa: The Need for Supportive Infrastructures and Language Teaching

Abstract

Rural communities in South Africa have various inadequacies and a lack of social support systems for the people and their inhabitants. Experiences and observations showed that the majority of the student-teachers in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa undergo their teaching practice activities in one or two rural locations, which led to many of them having to suffer from a lack of support and social amenities in their place of teaching practice. This study explores student-teachers experiences, ranging from the challenges and opportunities available for them during the program. Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) approach was used to underpin the study. The study falls within the transformative paradigm, and participatory research was used to design the study. Convenient sampling was used to select ten student-teachers posted to rural locations for their teaching practice within the Eastern Cape province. Reflection was used to elicit data from the participants, and the data were analysed thematically. The study found that inadequate resources and social amenities, and language barriers are challenges encountered by the student-teachers. The study also found that the provision of supportive infrastructures and the intensification of Language teaching is imminent among rural learners. Hence, the study concludes with recommendations for the provision of supportive infrastructures and the intensification of language teaching as solutions to assist student teachers in rural teaching practice.