Autoethnographic reflections on the survival strategies of Zimbabwean migrant teachers

Abstract

This article was based on a study of the experiences of Zimbabwean migrant teachers in South Africa. The researcher made autoethnographic reflections on an interpretivist study that generated data using semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. The study was carried out in two purposively selected provinces of South Africa. The reflexive autoethnographic study focused on the impact of the research findings on the experiences of migrant teachers on the researcher’s survival strategies. The participants’ experiences mirrored the researcher’s lived experiences in South Africa. Due to the shared lived experiences between the researcher and the participants, evident links emerged. Essentially, the participants’ fears also became the researcher’s fears. Zimbabwean migrant teachers had several fears within and outside school spaces. The paper fundamentally argues that the researcher morphed and adopted some of the survival strategies of Zimbabwean migrant teachers because of the prolonged engagement with the participants.