Work and personal life: Which strategies do secondary school educators use to deal with the interaction?

Abstract

The general objective of this study was to investigate which strategies secondary school educators use to deal with the interaction between their work and personal lives. A non-probability purposive voluntary sample (N = 21) was taken of secondary school educators from the Potchefstroom and Promosa areas in the North West Province. Data was collected through a phenomenological method of semi-structured in-depth interviews and was analysed by the use of content analysis. Strategies that were reported by the educators included support and understanding from important others, work satisfaction, keeping work and personal life apart, acceptance of their teaching environment, planning ahead, experiencing teaching as a calling, experience in the educational field, communication, religion or prayer, doing exercise and staying active, and doing the work that is expected of them.