A pastoral care of female teachers facing work-related challenges – A South African view

Abstract

In the last few years, South Africa experienced a mass resignation of teachers, specifically public school teachers. This could have been triggered by the heavy workload and intimidation and incidents of school violence that posed a threat to female teachers and their environment. This had a negative impact on the education sector which plays an important role in shaping the future of the country through educating and training children. This is a serious challenge for the education sector and requires urgent attention, not only from people in the teaching profession, but also from the church through pastoral work. The author is of the opinion that happiness in the workplace plays a pivotal role in a person’s progress and production; if there is nothing that makes a person happy and there is a lack of excitement, it might lead to resignation. The objective of this article was to determine some challenges leading to the unhappiness of teachers in public schools, specifically female teachers. The research concentrated on some practical theological guidelines on what could be done to deal with the challenges. Although teachers from both gender groups resigned, this research specifically focused on the challenges of female teachers as a result of gender inequality.

Contributions: New knowledge towards promoting the rights of female teachers in context of gender equality. Researchers on gender as well as female teachers who were oppressed in their work environment will begin to understand women’s right as a human right.