Exploration of bereavement on learner’s psychological well-being in selected primary school in Ugu District.
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Date
2018
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Abstract
This is a qualitative study focusing on exploration of bereavement on learner’s psychological well-being in selected primary schools in Ugu district’ psychological well-being. Based on the objectives of this study it evident that losing a loved one is indeed a traumatic experience for anyone; more so for children who are still in the battle of discovering themselves. Often, children are left out when death strikes, yet they are the most affected by the loss of a significant other. In order to generate data, the researcher drew meaning from tem participants, all of whom had lost a significant other such as a mother, a father, an aunt, and grandparents. This was done with an aim of letting participants share their own personal experiences of the loss at such a young age; and how it affected their wellbeing and academic/scholastic performance. Findings revealed that seventy percent of the participants in the study have not yet come to terms with the loss of their loved ones even though some happened five years ago. They also mentioned they felt very alone and helpless, and mostly isolated themselves during the bereavement period as they did not receive any support from their families or schools. Problems they experienced ranged from social isolation, helplessness, depression, financial problems and academic problems often leading to failure and others dropping out of school. There were limitations in conducting the research one was the study used a case study. A case study uses small sample sizes, which means data collected cannot be generalizable. Data consisted of the opinions of those few selected as participants from the school. Moreover, there was only one ethnic group selected for the research, which means the data does not include every bereaved child but only those selected from that particular group. Thus, the implication for future research on the same topic can be can be conducted in school with diversity in racial and ethnic groups to broaden the research’s results. The study recommends that there should be a policy with guidelines to help educators with learners dealing with bereavement in schools. The study was done in one racial group, therefore for future studies it could be done on other racial groups to compare findings. It is also important that psychological services such as counselling and other psychological interventions services be provided for these learners.
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Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu- Natal, Durban.