Teaching and Learning Challenges Experienced by Grade 12 Teachers in Rural Schools of Dzondo Circuit, Vhembe District

Abstract

Rural secondary schooling in South Africa often operates under conditions that differ from those assumed by national curriculum expectations, particularly at the Grade 12 level, where learner performance is closely monitored. Teachers in rural schools work within environments characterised by constrained resources, uneven institutional support and limited continuity between school and community learning contexts. While these challenges are commonly discussed individually, less attention has been given to how they interact to shape classroom practice. This study investigated the challenges faced by Grade 12 teachers in rural schools in Dzondo Circuit of Vhembe District. An interpretivist paradigm and theoretical framework of constructivism helped in the qualitative case study design to explore the lived experiences of the participants to understand how the conditions of context influence teaching and learning. Constructivist framework was appropriate because it recognizes learning to be a dynamic process that is informed by the interaction within the classroom, language, context and interactions between learners and their environment. The data was gathered based on face-to-face semi-structured interviews with fourteen purposely chosen participants which comprised of ten Grade 12 teachers and four Grade 12 learners in four rural secondary schools in Dzando Circuit. The data were thematically analysed to determine the similarity of patterns, meanings and experiences as far as teaching and learning dilemmas are concerned in the selected rural schools. The findings show that teaching and learning difficulties are not isolated classroom problems but the result of interacting structural, institutional and socio-cultural conditions. Resource availability, classroom organisation, community attitudes and language mediation collectively influence learner participation and instructional practice. Consequently, teaching shifts from curriculum facilitation to management of contextual constraints, and learner engagement reflects perceived educational value as much as pedagogical clarity. The study backs up previous studies that have found that rural schools are not only short, but they are also overcrowded and lack parental involvement and professional support. However, what it does provide at first, is that these issues in the Dzondo Circuit converge to affect Grade 12 teaching and learning. As demonstrated in the research, the issues of the teachers are not as simple as classroom problems, but they are sys