Abstract:

During the years 2020/21 the COVID-19 pandemic’s negative impact was felt by all schools in South Africa. Under lockdown conditions, districts, school managers and teachers had to rethink the ways that daily school practices have been executed in schools as they sought new strategies to teach learners at a distance. Yet the pandemic revealed numerous differences between affluent and poor schools which characterise the South African education. In challenging circumstances, all learners including those from disadvantaged schools needed humanising and liberating education. This qualitative study examined what values and school cultures effective managers of poor schools follow in a time of unfortunate disaster. Six school management team members were interviewed and observed as they tried to inject new hope, resilience and hope in a decrepit environment. The results of the study show that the missing link in failing schools are values embedded in resilience and pedagogy of hope necessary in diverse environments. The conclusions demonstrate that from initial teacher training, teacher practice should embrace strategies for facilitating and sustaining resilience in schools. Furthermore, in times of uncertainty such as the one created by the pandemic in schools around the world, values linked to resilience will bring hope for all role-players. Even the best of educators and learners may not survive without the necessary values to overcome adversity.

Keywords:

COVID-19 pandemic, Poor schools, Resilience, School cultures and values, School effectiveness.