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Exploring the work-life balance of professionals who work with special needs children

Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2019.

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Other Authors: Pillay, Preshanta
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2020
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Pillay, Preshanta
author_browse Pillay, Preshanta
author_facet Pillay, Preshanta
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2020 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2019.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:36:14.350Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2020
publishDateRange 2020
publishDateSort 2020
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/77844 Exploring the work-life balance of professionals who work with special needs children Pillay, Preshanta u17357684@tuks.co.za Matsvororo, Kudzai Debra UCTD work-life balance (WLB) special needs children professionals working with special needs children WLB challenges and outcomes WLB strategies Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2019. The rise in popularity of work-life balance (WLB) as an essential determinant of one’s health, wellbeing and effectiveness in modern society has included research on the WLB of those caring for children with special needs. Most previous studies have however focused on investigating the WLB of parents of children with special needs and consequently, very few studies have looked into the WLB of the professionals who work with these children. The purpose of my study was therefore to close this gap in the literature by gaining some insight into the work-life experiences of professionals who work with special children. The study sought to unearth how work-life balance plays out in these professionals’ lives and also to discover the factors that influence their work-life balance. Another objective was to ascertain the challenges that they face in integrating their work and life domains and to bring to light the strategies that they use to cope with their various work-life demands. An inductive qualitative inquiry carried out through combined phenomenological and autoethnography research design was used to investigate the work-life experiences of a sample of professionals who work with special needs children in therapy, pre-primary and primary schools, in the Gauteng Province in South Africa. Purposive and snowball sampling methods were used to select participants for inclusion in the study. Data was collected through a series of unstructured in-depth interviews, unstructured observations, personal memory and photographs. Seven themes emerged from the findings of the study. The results also indicated that the majority of the sampled professionals who work with special children were experiencing work-life conflict due to the time-based and strain-based conflict that emanated from their work domains. These professionals’ WLB was also found to be mostly influenced by work-related factors as the work domain appeared to be their major source of conflict. The study also unearthed some very interesting and unconventional micro-level WLB strategies used by these professionals in their attempt to achieve greater WLB. An example of such strategies include the use of prayer and faith in God to reduce perceptions of conflict and enhance capacity to deal with life’s adversities. The findings from this study may therefore be used to develop and focus meso and macro level interventions to assist professionals who work with special needs children to better manage the various demands from their life domains. This will in turn ensure a healthier lifestyle for these professionals, which also has positive implications for the developmental outcomes of the children under their care. Moreover, enhancing these professionals’ ability to achieve WLB is anticipated to improve their motivation, satisfaction and retention. Human Resource Management MCom Unrestricted 2020-12-29T11:50:53Z 2020-12-29T11:50:53Z 2020/04/15 2019 Mini Dissertation Matsvororo, KD 2019, Exploring the work-life balance of professionals who work with special needs children, MCom Mini Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/77844> A2020 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/77844 en © 2020 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
work-life balance (WLB)
special needs children
professionals working with special needs children
WLB challenges and outcomes
WLB strategies
Exploring the work-life balance of professionals who work with special needs children
title Exploring the work-life balance of professionals who work with special needs children
title_full Exploring the work-life balance of professionals who work with special needs children
title_fullStr Exploring the work-life balance of professionals who work with special needs children
title_full_unstemmed Exploring the work-life balance of professionals who work with special needs children
title_short Exploring the work-life balance of professionals who work with special needs children
title_sort exploring the work life balance of professionals who work with special needs children
topic UCTD
work-life balance (WLB)
special needs children
professionals working with special needs children
WLB challenges and outcomes
WLB strategies
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/77844