PROMOTING QUALITY TEACHING AND LEARNING IN SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS: TEACHERS' REFLECTIONS ON THEIR PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS

The article reports on a study conducted to explore the challenges faced by teachers in promoting quality teaching and learning in public schools and the educational implications of such challenges to teachers' psychological needs and health. Since teachers are custodian of knowledge required for good classroom practice that supports quality teaching and learning, a need exists for education ministries to continuously support teachers by provision of training and development and psychological needs and health programmes. The study used a mixed method approach, wherein 160 self-administered, open-ended questionnaires were distributed to randomly sampled teachers. Structured interviews were conducted to 10 purposively sampled teachers. The findings revealed that poor conditions of work, poor salary structure, ineffective school leadership, and a lack of professional autonomy impede on quality teaching and learning and negatively impact teachers' psychological health. The study concludes that promotion of quality teaching and learning and learners' academic achievement requires a good psychological health status amongst teachers. This study recommends that Limpopo Department of Education should ensure that teachers working conditions are improved and come up with initiative to support psychological health programmes, such as wellness programmes.