Exploring educators’ and support staffs’ experiences regarding crises containment management in South African schools

Abstract

This qualitative interpretive description research study aimed to explore, interpret, and describe educators’ and support staffs’ experiences regarding the management of crises in their schools in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Informant educators (n = 7) and support staff (n = 1) from four schools (public, rural, and private) completed semi-structured interviews on their experiences. Following thematic analysis, findings revealed crisis-oriented themes regarding current policies within schools, certain crises experiences, languishing, management of these crises, and COVID-19 mitigation. Current policies needed improvement to ensure the physical, psychological, and emotional safety of school members which will in turn influence their well-being. These findings suggest a need for educators, support staff, and school learners to be trained within in-school crisis management practices to prevent avoidable trauma.