Throughout the focus group interviews it came to the attention of the researcher that the majority of teachers at the four FSSs where the data was collected, had received in- service training, but this was not taken positively by all of the attendees. They felt that the training did contribute to their development at all.
When the respondents were asked the question: “How did the development workshops and training you received from the DBST assist you to identify and support learners with barriers to learning?” P1 (focus group 1) said: “The officials from the department are not prepared when we attend their workshops. They only read from the slides.
P4 (focus group 1) said, “They cannot answer when we ask questions. They don’t know the answers themselves. That’s why I did not learn anything from them.” To the researcher it appeared as if the participant was angry and had a grievance towards the DBST official, resulting in no learning taking place.
The question was asked: “Are you able to fill in information for a learner who needs additional support using the SIAS and the Supports Needs Analysis forms 2 and 3?” P11 (focus group 3) said: “It was not training, it was only orientation. There are sooooo many forms. I will not be able to use it.” The researcher got the impression that the participant was not going to use the SIAS document. His body language clearly showed he was bored and negative towards the SIAS policy.
6.8.1 The district-based support team’s lack of adequate knowledge
District officials also face their own challenges during training sessions. They are trained by trainers and therefore they are the ones who should help teachers to be professionally trained. It should be borne in mind that the training, experience and backgrounds of district officials differ vastly. In the opinion of the teachers who were interviewed, the district
officials are not always able to address questions coming from teachers in the training situation. They receive the training manuals and are expected to train teachers whether they understand and agree with the content or not (Department of Education, 2013:6-10). The participants further said they would like an effective training programme specified for FSSs and training to be done by well-prepared officials.
The researcher presumes that circumstances are not always very pleasant and suitable for training sessions, but when teachers arrive with a negative attitude it is very difficult to keep them interested in the presentation. On the other hand, the presenters must seek better ways of getting teachers interested and positive about training.
The most common barriers to learning that need to be identified and addressed in FSSs are reading, writing and mathematical barriers. In many instances DBST members do not have the necessary skills to analyse a learner’s functional level and guide the FSS teachers (Department of Education, 2013:2-4). The training, experience and backgrounds of the DBST officials differ vastly and they are not always able to address questions coming from teachers in the training situation. Furthermore, “the inequitable and dominating effects of apartheid also produced generations of teachers, of all races, with distorted and deficient understanding of themselves, of each other and of what was expected of them in a divided society. That left the quality of teacher professional competency as a concern” (Department of Education, 2011:19).
Considering Bronfenbrenner’s microlevel, many teachers in this study do not have learner support or remedial training to address the barriers to learning that some learners in their classrooms have. Even on the mesolevel the learner support specialists, who are part of the focus of the DBST, are not all trained in Learner Support methodology and thus they cannot assist the teachers. The provincial Department of Education (which forms the exolevel in this study) has not trained the professional support staff of the DBST. One can understand that individuals on different levels can become frustrated and negative about the situation (Department of Education, 2013:6-10). According to the school visit reports and monthly reports from inclusive education officials, it is a common issue in many schools in the province that teachers feel that they are not equipped to assist learners in their classrooms because the officials from the DBST also lack the specific competency (Department of Education, 2011:20).
6.8.2 The DBST: Lack of transport, bad roads and unsuitable training facilities
According to the monthly reports of the Department of Education of the North-West Province, the DBST members face numerous challenges such as transport to and from training sessions, unsuitable training facilities and lack of audio-visual equipment to deliver professional training (Department of Education North-West Province, 2014:12-14). They have to travel long distances on a daily basis to training venues, sometimes up to 150 kilometres on a single trip. The roads are bad during rainy seasons and some schools can be reached only by trucks or 4x4 vehicles. It is worse when training is to take place in the rural areas. Electricity is another problem. In windy and rainy conditions there is often no electricity, which hampers electronic presentations (Department of Education, 2013:6-10).
P6 (focus group 2) complained about the officials in the following way: “They never start on time. They are always late and we travel with public transport. The transport people leave us behind if we’re not done on time, we asked them to come and collect us.”
The researcher realized that participants were in need of the training sessions done by the DBST, but it seemed that sometimes the training could not be done as a result of the transport problems and problems with training facilities. The transport issue and problems with the training facilities sometimes resulted in no training taking place. At other times the training was done, but the participants felt they did not learn anything as they only concentrated on the fact that they would miss their communal transport taking them home. That was why they did not concentrate during the workshop. This was mentioned by more than one participant (see P6 focus group 2).
6.8.3 Vacancies in the district office
To the question posed by the researcher: P1 (focus group 1) said: “The officials from the
department are not prepared when we attend their workshops. They only read from the slides. They cannot answer when we ask questions. They don’t know the answers themselves. That’s why I did not learn anything from them
The participants blamed the DBST officials for not assisting them immediately. It needs to be mentioned that according to the new structure the core DBST consists of only 16
inclusive education officials (North-West Department of Education, 2005:3-5). Therefore there are not enough DBST officials to assist teachers at FSSs.
6.8.4 Referrals to the DBST
To the researcher it seemed as if the teachers from the full-service schools who were interviewed, did not understand the procedures of the referral of learners who need additional support. The question was asked during the focus group interviews: “If you refer learners who need additional support to the SBST, will you and they receive support from the SBST?” P9 (focus group 2) said: “I don’t waste time when learners need additional support. I don’t ask the SBST for help. I just phone the district office and speak to a therapist. They help me to place a learner in a special school or they will come to the school.”
It was emphasized by monthly reports from inclusive education officials that schools did not follow the procedures of referral. The class teacher or principal contacted the DBST or the therapists and expected immediate assistance when learners did not progress favourably. Schools often waste learners’ time for years without requesting any additional support or interventions. Schools then expect the DBST, especially the therapists, to drop cases they have been working on and rush to attend to their call and perform miracles. It is reported that often teachers and sometimes even principals do not work through the SBST and other referral procedures (North-West Department of Education, 2015: 6-8).
6.8.5 Attitude of DBST members
The participants complained that members of the DBST did not assist them when they asked questions. Some teachers felt the district officials were not competent. Others felt they were irritated with the teachers. P4 (focus group 1) said: “It’s all new to me. When I ask questions they’re sarcastic or become agitated. So they can’t give us a policy to read more or other books to refer to.” From the discussions during the focus group interviews it was clear that teachers at FSSs felt they were ineffectively trained by DBST officials for the exceptional situations in a FSS.
6.8.6 Conclusion on the themes about the DBST training of full-service school teachers
It can be concluded that FSS teachers did not feel capacitated after the DBST training. It was as if they had wasted their time although they attended training sessions. One could conclude that the training was not of a good standard. The capability of the DBST officials could be questioned too, as well as their attitudes when training and supporting teachers at FSSs.