Creating a home away from home: examining the working conditions of housemothers employed in a public all-girls boarding school in the Eastern Cape of South Africa

Abstract

This study analyses the working conditions of housemothers employed in a public all-girls boarding school in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Most literature dedicated to the schooling system tends to prioritize the role of the teacher, whilst often side-lining or overlooking the role of housemothers who play a crucial role in schools with boarding facilities such as hostels. In addition to a good academic programme and great extracurricular activities, parents often choose schools according to how well their boarding facilities and hostels are run. Housemothers play a critical role in this regard, as they are responsible for creating a 'home away from home' for the students through the provision of guidance, care, and support amongst many other roles. Although public boarding schools do not run for profit, their hostels follow a strict capitalist-like regime that utilizes various methods to create a 'home away from home' for students. This study adopted a Labour Process Theory (LPT) to analyse the work processes and working conditions of housemothers employed in a public all-girls school in the Eastern Cape. Although traditionally applied in 'for profit' organizations, the LPT is ideal for this study because hostels in boarding schools use capitalist mechanisms to provide quality services to attract parents to send their children to these schools. This research adopted a qualitative research approach, as it seeks to unearth the subjective experiences of housemothers employed in a public all-girls boarding school in the Eastern Cape. The findings in this study indicated that housemothers do indeed play a central role in the governance of the girls' hostels in the boarding school. The hostels are governed through diverse control mechanisms, which housemothers must adhere to. Housemothers are also divided into various categories to boost efficiency and save money. This is done through the division of labour amongst the housemothers who occupy three different roles, from matrons (at the top) to housemothers (regular), and student housemothers (who are not paid in monetary terms, but through accommodation and food). The findings also indicated that housemothers have limited agency in their work. The findings also showed that housemothers are required to display specific emotional characteristics to provide various forms of support to students at the expense of their own emotions. Lastly, housemothers are expected to dress in a certain way to present a sense of professionalism, as representatives of the school. Overall, this study showed that the capitalist-like methods applied by the school's management team in the hostel system affect the labour outcomes and experiences of housemothers.