Abstract
The overarching aim of the study was to investigate teachers’ resilience in supporting
learners with symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in a mainstream school. The aim
of the study was guided by the following research question: “What factors contribute to
teachers’ resilience when supporting learners with ASD in a mainstream school?” A new
approach to education has been adopted in South Africa. Its goal is for all learners, including
learners with symptoms of ASD to have access to, value and succeed in life-long education.
In the past, learners with symptoms of ASD were educated in separate schools, such as
special schools and specialised settings.
Qualitative research explored the views of teachers supporting learners with symptoms of
ASD in a mainstream school. Six teachers from a school in the Thabo Mofutsanyana
Education District were interviewed using semi-structured interviews and focus group
discussions. The key results of the study showed that the teachers’ individual traits and
relationships with their friends, families, community, school and culture were socialecological
resources that enhanced the teachers’ resilience when supporting learners with
symptoms of ASD. Further, the study revealed that patience, dedication, equipping oneself,
self-care and capacity building also influence resilience.
Furthermore, this study found that social-ecological support helped predict resilience and that
individual factors’ impact on resilience was umpired by relationships with family and
contextual factors. In answer to the main research question, the study established that socialecological
support and resilience have a strong relationship. The social-ecological support
that teachers supporting learners with symptoms of ASD in a mainstream school obtained
from their contexts was found to influence their resilience. This study observed that resilience
from the partnership between the teachers’ social ecology and their individual attributes
reinforced resilience. In conclusion, the study found that people in the social ecology of
teachers who support learners with symptoms of ASD are obligated to offer meaningful
support and resources for teachers’ resilience when supporting learners with symptoms of
ASD in mainstream schools.
Keywords: autism, resilience, teacher resilience, Autism Spectrum Disorder, mainstream.